"The key to Iron Cutting lies in sensing the breaths of all things and channeling your will into the blade."
"This already touches upon Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
Once you know the method, you can awaken both immediately—like this."
Badak raised his sword horizontally to his chest with his right hand, gathering focus.
An invisible force wrapped around the blade. As Shanks and Rayleigh would say, it was like an intangible armor—yet Badak could perceive it clearly.
It protected the sword from damage while enhancing its offensive power. In truth, Zoro had already met the conditions for awakening Haki back in Alabasta.
But since Koshiro hadn't taught him the next steps, he never progressed further.
Recalling Hawkeye's slashing motion, Badak swung his sword sideways.
A slash arced diagonally upward, effortlessly cleaving the ruined building ahead into two halves.
"A Flying Slash—stronger than Tempest Kick, with far greater range. I guess this makes me a swordsman now."
"Armament Haki isn't just for weapons. You can also coat your body with it."The upper half of the split building slid toward Badak, who wrapped his left fist in Armament Haki and delivered a full-force punch, shattering the structure completely.
Amid the swirling dust, Badak spat out debris and shook his head. "Next time, I won't do something so stupid—no point inhaling all this dust for nothing."
"Now, let's try Observation Haki."
Calming his mind, Badak activated Observation Haki.
"Uh-oh. Daz Bones is about to die."
It turned out Daz Bones had lost consciousness from severe blood loss after being slashed.
In the pirate world, such injuries weren't usually fatal—Zoro had suffered worse many times, and Usopp had endured even more severe wounds before bouncing back as a brave warrior of the sea.
But the rubble from Badak's destruction of the building had compounded Daz Bones' injuries. Worse, his Supa Supa no Mi ability deactivated while unconscious, leaving his body vulnerable.
The falling debris nearly crushed him to death.
With both factors combined, he was indeed on the verge of death.
Badak quickly dug him out and pressed several of Mansherry's blood-donation dandelions onto his wounds, stuffing one into his mouth as well.
"Truly a fruit ability that can heal anything—even injuries like this are instantly cured. You're lucky you ran into me."
If Daz Bones had been conscious, he would've retaliated with a few Dust Shots. After all, who was really responsible for his condition?
"Who am I? Where am I? What happened to me?"
These were Daz Bones' first three questions upon waking. Then he remembered—he'd been defeated.
A swordsman had sliced through his steel-hard body, making him a stepping stone for someone else's path to greatness.
He touched the spot on his chest where the blade had struck, only to find it smooth and unharmed, as if it had all been a dream.
"How long are you going to lie there?"
Badak, seated on a nearby rock, spoke up when he saw Daz Bones awake but still sprawled on the ground, feeling around in confusion.
"You? So this isn't a dream? I really lost—you cut through my steel body. But... how are my wounds gone?"
Daz Bones sat up, still unable to believe it.
"Of course, I used a miracle drug on you—Blood-Donation Dandelion.
" One pill heals all wounds, two refresh your mind, and three banish fatigue.
Truly essential for home, travel, or sea adventures.Badak took out another dandelion to show him, indicating this was what had saved him.
Daz Bones fell silent for a moment before asking, "Why save me? This medicine must be incredibly rare."
"It is rare. Most people wouldn't see even half a pill in their lifetime—even the Celestial Dragons don't have any.
Coincidentally, I happen to have quite a few. As for why I saved you... I think you're impressive. I want you to join my crew, become my ally."
Badak had far more than just "quite a few"—he could produce as many as needed.
With enough blood donations and time, Mansherry could even distribute one to every person on the sea.
Yet despite this, the life-saving medicine remained priceless.
Daz Bones nodded. "Join your crew? Are you a pirate?""No, at least not now," Badak shook his head in denial before continuing, "Let me introduce myself.
I'm Badak, currently the leader of an adventure crew.
Our goal is to explore the seas. Eventually, we'll enter the Grand Line and reach the New World.
Along the way, we'll inevitably clash with various strong opponents, and might even get bounties placed on us for violating World Government prohibitions.
So I can only say we're not pirates... for now."
"I can join you. Even if you were pirates, it wouldn't matter.
I've grown tired of being a bounty hunter anyway. But I have one condition—you must teach me how to cut through steel."
Daz Bones stared intently at Badak. "Just like you did earlier."
"Iron Cutting? Of course. I can also teach you how to awaken Haki—Armament Haki to enhance defense and offense, and Observation Haki to sharpen your senses."
Badak had no issue with Daz Bones' condition.
Once someone boarded his ship, he'd find ways to improve their combat abilities anyway.
Even without being asked, Badak would have taught him various methods to grow stronger, since like Leo, Daz Bones was also positioned as a combatant.
"Haki? How does it compare to Iron Cutting?"
This young man from the West Blue had never encountered masters with Awakened Haki before. To him, Iron Cutting was already an incredibly impressive ability.
"Want to test it? This time, I won't use my sword."
Badak placed his sword on a rock and walked up to Daz Bones.
"You asked for this. Man Cutting!"
Daz Bones immediately launched a flurry of rapid attacks—fingers, palms, arms, legs, feet—any body part could transform into blades slashing toward Badak at any moment.
He actually fought more ferociously than before.
But soon he noticed something strange—when Badak had used his sword earlier, he needed to constantly parry the slashes or quickly retreat beyond attack range using speed.
Yet now, Badak didn't counterattack at all, merely dodging all strikes within a small area with nimble movements.
Sometimes even when facing away, he could evade the blades at the last possible instant.
Daz Bones stopped, remembering Badak's words. "Is this Observation Haki that enhances perception?"
"Correct. Next is Armament Haki for defense and offense. Finger Gun!"
Badak realized even with Armament Haki, normal attacks might not damage Daz Bones' steel body. That wouldn't do—he needed to leave an impression of Armament Haki's overwhelming power. Channeling Haki into his index finger, he employed the Six Styles technique Finger Gun.
"Man Cutting!"
After the earlier demonstration, Daz Bones already believed in Haki's might. This time, he exerted every ounce of strength, pushing his ability to the limit to reinforce his body's durability.
With a "thud," meeting little resistance, Badak's finger pierced straight through Daz Bones' body. This strike combined three abilities: the Six Styles' Finger Gun, Armament Haki, and sensing the breath of all things.
Such a result wasn't surprising.Daz Bones acted as if he wasn't injured at all, his face filled with joy as he lowered his head earnestly and said, "Boss, Daz Bones at your service."