After leaving Shells Town, Tabito didn't choose to head straight for the next bustling town. Accumulating strength required consolidation, and the newly acquired "Six Powers" secrets and Haki training methods needed time to digest. Under Nami's deft navigation, they soon found a medium-sized island far from the regular routes—lush with vegetation, rich in fresh water, and seemingly uninhabited.
They dragged the small boat up onto the beach. Tabito looked at the island that would become his temporary training ground and gave his first order:
"Stay here for one month."
"One month?!" Carina blurted out. She stared at this Desolate island—nothing but forest and beach—imagining the dull days ahead, her face full of resistance. Nami frowned slightly as well. Her mind was always fixed on Cocoyasi Village and Arlong. She wanted to save money faster, and maybe… just maybe, find a chance to get help from this mysterious, overwhelmingly powerful "master" to save her village. Lingering on a Desolate island for a long time clearly didn't match what she hoped for.
One night a few days later, deep into the darkness, the two girls secretly tried to untie the small boat moored at the shore, planning to slip away under cover of night. But just as they clumsily fumbled with the rope, a humanoid corpse puppet surfaced from the shadows like a ghost, silently blocking the gap between them and the boat. At the same time, Tabito's calm voice came from a nearby treetop, unnaturally clear in the quiet night:
"Where do you think you're going?"
The two of them nearly lost their souls on the spot. Carina's legs went soft—she almost collapsed onto the sand.
Tabito drifted down and landed in front of them. Under the moonlight, his expression revealed neither anger nor joy.
"Stay here and prepare my three meals a day. In exchange, your safety is guaranteed by me. All daily chores will be handled by the corpse puppets—you won't need to lift a finger. If you perform well, there may not be no chance in the future to earn your freedom… and even achieve your own wishes."
He paused, his tone turning faintly cold.
"But if you try to leave without a word again… I won't mind adding two more fairly colorful souls to the Human Emperor Banner. Or two more obedient 'maid' corpse puppets."
Carrot and stick—simple, effective.
Feeling the corpse puppets' icy dead aura, remembering Tabito's methods—how he toyed with souls and killed without hesitation—and weighing the "hope" hidden in those words, Nami and Carina exchanged a glance. In each other's eyes was fear, helplessness, and a compromise that looked a lot like resignation.
At least… for now, it seemed he just wanted cooks, not something worse.
And so, life on the Desolate island took shape.
Nami and Carina's jobs were indeed so simple it was surprising: just use the supplies Tabito provided (mostly from the hefty stores looted from Mad Treasure and Morgan) to cook three meals a day, and occasionally change up the flavor with wild fruit gathered on the island or freshly caught fish.
Washing up, chopping wood, building a more comfortable shelter, even keeping watch and patrolling—every bit of physical labor was handled by the tireless corpse puppets. The Mad Treasure corpse puppet and several newly refined humanoid corpse puppets became the best laborers and guards.
Tabito even, for once, asked if they wanted to cultivate alongside him—he'd teach some basic body-strengthening methods or Six Powers techniques. But both girls shook their heads without hesitation.
Nami's mind was on navigation skills and saving money; she had no interest in fighting and killing. Carina was even more blunt.
"My lord, practicing that looks so exhausting and painful. I'll just focus on keeping you fed so you'll have the strength to train, okay?"
Tabito didn't force it. Everyone had their own path. As long as they did their job, that was enough.
The true hard cultivation belonged to Tabito alone.
His schedule was regular like machinery.
Every day before dawn, he rose—either facing the sea or heading deep into the forest—and ran the Heavenly Demon Soul-Devouring Art. From the Human Emperor Banner's increasingly abundant baleful aura and resentful intent, he drew out pure negative energy and refined it into his True qi. Inside the banner were the souls of the Treasure Pirates, the remaining stragglers of Buggy's Pirates, as well as Morgan and some of his confidants. The energy they provided was mixed and impure, but the total amount was considerable—resources that let him raise his cultivation quickly.
After breakfast came the time to temper the Six Powers. He chose an open stretch of beach as his training ground.
Soru—stomping the ground dozens of times at high speed to produce explosive reactive force, achieving instantaneous movement. With a cultivator's precise control of the body and leg strength far beyond normal, Tabito practiced again and again, quickly grasping the trick. When he moved, afterimages trailed behind him, and the sand was stamped into one shallow pit after another.
Kami-e—relaxing muscles, sensing airflow, evading attacks like a sheet of paper. This required extreme concentration and keen perception, pairing perfectly with his Kenbunshoku Haki training.
Geppo—an aerial application similar to Soru, forcefully kicking the air to gain hang time. At first he failed repeatedly and crashed down, but with powerful coordination and True qi assistance, he gradually managed to step through the air for several paces.
Rankyaku—ultra-high-speed kicks that produced razor-sharp slicing attacks. The key was explosive speed and condensed power in the legs. Tabito tried to thread a wisp of True qi—or the rudiments of Busoshoku Haki—along the kicking trajectory to amplify its power and cutting force.
Shigan—concentrating full-body power into the fingertip to produce bullet-like piercing force. For him, this was relatively simple. Condensing True qi into his fingertip was enough to simulate it—and surpass it.
Afternoons were reserved for focused Haki training: widening Kenbunshoku, deepening Busoshoku.
He sat with eyes closed, spreading his perception in a finer, more delicate way, trying to catch every tremble of leaves in the wind, the swimming paths of fish beneath the tide, even the emotional ripples in Nami and Carina's quiet conversations in the distance.
As for Busoshoku, he kept trying to move that gray-black energy beyond simple surface Hardening—toward more flexible "coating," wrapping it around his weapon (his black iron greatspear), and even pushing it outward to attach beyond the body and launch impacts.
At dusk, he directed the corpse puppets to use island timber and leftover materials from previous ships to build a sturdier, roomier single-mast sailboat. The old "small boat" was simply too cramped.
After dinner, he meditated and regulated his breath, reviewing what he'd gained that day. He used meditation in place of sleep, letting body and mind fuse and improve further in silence.
Over and over. Dull, yet fulfilling.
The island's sun and moon wheeled on. Tides rose and fell. Before anyone noticed, a full month slipped by.
When Tabito opened his eyes again and felt the surging power within him, he knew this seclusion was over.
His cultivation successfully broke through to Qi Refining, Fifth Layer.
The gray-black True qi in his dantian had grown denser and more profound. When it circulated, it faintly carried the sound of wind and thunder. His physical qualities had risen sharply under the Six Powers tempering and the feedback of cultivation—muscle and bone density increased, storing explosive strength.
The Six Powers had been trained to the point of complete mastery. Soru and Geppo were used freely; Tekkai and Busoshoku Hardening could be switched instantly or stacked together; Kami-e combined with Kenbunshoku greatly boosted evasion; Rankyaku's flying slashes could easily cut through reef rock; Shigan's power surpassed the past. When these techniques were fused with his own cultivation battle methods, a strange chemical reaction occurred—his close-quarters killing ability skyrocketed.
Busoshoku Haki had successfully reached the realm of "coating." He could steadily cover the black iron greatspear with that power, shrouding the spear in a faint black glow and greatly increasing its sharpness and sturdiness.
Kenbunshoku improved more steadily—mainly enhancing mid-to-short-range precision and the capture of hostile intent, reaching the point where he could fairly clearly "predict" an enemy's next primary attack method. As for the more profound realms—foreseeing the future, "hearing" all things—just as he expected, those were not reachable through short-term grinding. He would need harsher battles and life-and-death insight to seek a breakthrough.
(End of Chapter)
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