"Y-you… who the hell are you?!" Morgan's face went paper-white. Sweat poured down him as the fear of death finally crushed his greed and arrogance.
Tabito couldn't be bothered to answer. The spear tip pressed forward slightly, piercing skin; blood seeped out. "I only planned to trade this for some cash. You insisted on throwing in something extra." He raised his other hand. A phantom image of the Human Emperor Banner flashed across his palm and vanished, and an invisible suction force enveloped Morgan.
Morgan's whole body jolted violently. His eyes went vacant in an instant as a soul filled with brutality, terror, and unwillingness was forcibly ripped out and drawn into the banner.
Tabito didn't stop. He tapped his own forehead with a finger, then pointed it at the vicious soul of Morgan that had just been absorbed and hadn't yet been fully refined. A soul-searching secret technique from the Heavenly Demon Soul-Devouring Art activated in silence! With his current cultivation, soul-searching someone who had only just died and whose soul strength was ordinary would cause some damage, but it was enough to obtain key information—and it wouldn't scatter the soul completely (turning him into an idiot was unavoidable).
A moment later, Tabito withdrew his finger. A flash of understanding—and unexpected delight—passed through his eyes.
"As expected… a guy who climbed the ranks with lies and hypnosis has plenty of secrets buried in his heart." He murmured. Beyond all the filth—how Morgan forged merits, oppressed civilians, embezzled and lined his pockets—the biggest haul he cared about revealed itself: a complete set of superhuman martial arts training methods from within the Marines' own system, called the "Six Powers"!
Soru, Tekkai, Kami-e, Geppo, Rankyaku, Shigan.
Six physical techniques that surpassed ordinary human limits—their principles and training methods laid out clearly in the information he'd extracted.
Soru: One of the Six Powers. In an instant (0.36 seconds), the user rapidly kicks off the ground dozens of times to generate explosive recoil and move at high speed. To an enemy, it looks almost like instantaneous movement.
Tekkai: A defensive technique of the Six Powers. By forcing power into a thoroughly trained body, the user gains iron-like hardness. Even bullets and blades can't break through. However, the user cannot move freely while using Tekkai—except for Jabra. The principle is accelerating blood flow to increase muscular motion.
Kami-e: A defensive technique of the Six Powers. The user releases all force from the body and, by reading airflow changes caused by an opponent's movements, makes their body as light and thin as paper. With precise control, they can narrowly evade attacks aimed at them.
Geppo: One of the Six Powers. With powerful leg strength, the user steps on the air itself to produce strong midair support, allowing them to "walk" in the sky like climbing stairs—though they can't remain aloft for long. With this high-altitude movement, they can attack from an enemy's blind spots.
Rankyaku: One of the Six Powers. Rather than dealing damage through a kick landing directly, the user swings an ultra-fast, powerful kick that whips up a vacuum blade to slash the opponent—easily cleaving a target in two.
Shigan: One of the Six Powers. A technique with the power of a fired bullet. The user gathers full-body strength into a finger and, with a hardened fingertip, releases a strike in a flash. The fingertip carries bullet-like penetration and can easily pierce the human body.
If he had to say, what Tabito wanted most were Rankyaku and Shigan. Right now, his long-range attack options were simply too few.
Then came Soru and Kami-e for evasion. Whether he learned Geppo or not didn't matter much—once his strength improved further, he could fly through the air, even ride a sword. Why bother "stepping" through the sky with Geppo when he could do that?
As for Tekkai… hell no. Even a dog wouldn't learn that!
"Even though I already knew what the Six Powers are, without the concrete training methods and power application tricks, trying to figure it out myself really is twice the work for half the results." Tabito was in an excellent mood. He'd already gotten the basics of Haki training—now he'd even obtained the Marines' trump-card body technique secrets. This trip to the Marine branch had been worth it! Far more valuable than merely getting sixty million Beli!
By now, the branch base was in total chaos. More than half the buildings had been damaged in that brief but fierce clash. Tabito didn't linger. He headed straight for the branch storeroom and safes. With a sweep of the Human Emperor Banner, several freshly refined, stiff-moving Marine corpse puppets appeared. They brutally pried open the locks, swept all the stored military funds and supplies clean, and stuffed them into several large sacks. He didn't know the exact amount, but it was definitely far more than sixty million Beli.
Carrying the bulging money sacks, he walked out the branch gate—and ran straight into Nami and Carina, who'd just returned from shopping after hearing the commotion and rushing over.
The two of them stared at Tabito—spear in one hand, money sacks in the other—while smoke still rose from the branch buildings behind him and groans and cries echoed from inside. They were dumbstruck.
"B-big man… didn't we agree we were coming to exchange the bounty? Th-this is…" Carina stammered, pointing at the sacks in his hand, then at the smoking base.
"Done buying what you needed?" Tabito's expression didn't change, as if he'd merely taken a walk. "If you're done, then let's go. We'll talk on the way—there's a small nuisance here."
With that, he didn't pause at all and strode quickly toward the docks where the small boat was moored. Nami and Carina exchanged a glance. Both saw the doubt and alarm in the other's eyes, but neither dared ask. They hurried after him.
Only after the small boat left Shells Town's pier again and entered open waters did Tabito, while counting the stolen Beli (a considerable sum), briefly recount what had happened.
"What?!" Carina's brows shot up in fury. "That Marine captain was going to swallow a sixty million bounty and only give you ten thousand?!" She couldn't help but curse. "Those guys wearing Marine uniforms are blacker-hearted than Pirates!"
Nami, hearing that, only lowered her head in silence. A bitter trace surfaced at the corner of her mouth. She thought of Cocoyasi Village, of Arlong and Captain Nezumi's collusion. Marine corruption and oppression of civilians wasn't news to her—it was a raw, personal wound. Tabito's method had been extreme, but… in some way, she actually felt it was satisfying.
"Then what do we do next? The Marines definitely won't let this go." Carina asked anxiously.
Tabito tossed the money sacks into the cabin, his gaze settling on the boundless open ocean, his voice calm. "It doesn't matter. In East Blue, there's no Marine who can do anything to me. But for now, we do need to lie low for a bit, and while we're at it…"
He paused. A sharp, eager light flickered in his eyes. "Find a deserted island and stay for a while. I need time to properly settle and digest what I've gained recently."
The foundational training method for Haki, the complete secret techniques of the Marines' Six Powers, and a large new intake of souls and negative energy… he needed time to fully absorb and merge them, turning them into real, tangible strength. Especially the Six Powers—if he could combine them with a cultivator's physical foundation and the Busoshoku Haki he'd begun to grasp, his close-range combat ability would undergo a qualitative leap.
And then…
Tabito seemed to think of something, and a trace of anticipation rose in his heart. The road to becoming stronger was getting clearer and clearer. He looked toward the far-off sea horizon—beyond it lay a world broader and more dangerous, and that also meant more "supplies."
(End of Chapter)
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