The next night, Dragon brought the fifteen billion Berries as promised.
The middle-aged Wood Clone used the system to make a remote deposit and then bought a courtyard house in Loguetown to hide the massive sum of money.
Luo Chen's main body met with the Wood Clone at night.
"Main body, I plan to continue staying in Loguetown to wait for Dragon's subsequent fifteen billion Berries, and also to facilitate long-term transactions with the Revolutionary Army," the middle-aged Wood Clone revealed its intentions.
Luo Chen agreed.
The Revolutionary Army was definitely a major client. Dragon surely had plenty of funds, and if he could exchange information for it, his strength could improve by leaps and bounds.
"Then you can lie low here."
Luo Chen arranged for the clone to settle in Loguetown.
He withdrew the Wood Clone's power to avoid hindering his upcoming battles.
After the Wood Clone left, Luo Chen returned to the deck.
Nami looked over curiously. Luo Chen didn't say much, simply sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and entered the [Skill Training Space].
It was the same vast, white, boundless space.
In the void ahead floated the light screen of the skill list.
[Cultivation Point Balance: 179100]
Nearly one hundred and eighty thousand cultivation points. Luo Chen's spirits were lifted.
With this "huge sum," his strength was bound to take a qualitative leap.
'I'll spend fifty thousand points to learn Armament Haki. If the introductory level is enough, I'll invest the rest into Taijutsu training.'
Luo Chen made his decision and communicated with the system to learn Armament Haki.
[Selecting a master tutor for the host...]
[Master tutor selection complete: "Hero of the Marines," Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp.]
[The master tutor is a special projection and does not possess any personal will or stance. The host can train with peace of mind.]
In the white space, the figure of a stout old man appeared.
The old man had short, grayish-white hair, a scar over his left eye, and wore a Marine uniform and a "Justice" coat.
He was picking his nose without a care for his image, his laughter booming like thunder. "I'll be the one to teach you Armament Haki!"
Once Garp entered his teaching state, his expression became serious. He started from the basics and went deeper.
"Armament Haki. Its core function is to enhance attack and defense."
"Introductory Armament Haki is limited to armament and hardening."
"You can coat your body or weapons with Armament Haki to increase your attack and defense power."
"I'll demonstrate for you first."
As Garp's voice fell, his fists turned pitch black, as if coated in a thin film.
A small mountain several tens of meters high appeared out of thin air in front of him.
With an exhalation of breath, Garp slammed a fist into the mountain peak.
The entire mountain instantly turned into a sky full of rubble, collapsing into ruins in an instant.
The black armament on his fists faded, and his skin was completely unscathed.
Garp smiled. "Without Armament Haki, my punch wouldn't have been this powerful, and my fist would have definitely been injured."
He added, "Besides enhancing attack and defense, Armament Haki is also the simplest and most effective way to deal with Logia-type Devil Fruit users."
"When you attack with Armament Haki, the elementalization of a Logia-type user becomes ineffective."
Luo Chen nodded slightly. He knew all of this.
Garp reminded him, "But mastering Armament Haki doesn't mean you can counter all Logia users."
"A powerful Logia user can anticipate your attack and simultaneously use their elementalization to hollow out a part of their body, causing your attack to miss."
Luo Chen's eyes were thoughtful. It did seem possible. The prerequisite was that the Logia user's Observation Haki was strong enough, and their body's reaction speed was fast enough.
With Smoker's strength, he probably couldn't do that.
But Luo Chen still kept it in mind. If he were to face a Marine Admiral one day in the future, he would have to be wary of them using this technique to dodge attacks.
Garp said no more and officially began to teach the training techniques for Armament Haki.
The [Skill Training Space] once again made Garp's body transparent and slowed down the flow of time so that Luo Chen could observe clearly.
After ten days in the training space, Luo Chen successfully used Armament Haki for the first time. But it was difficult to maintain steadily; it was just a fleeting moment.
After twenty days in the training space, Luo Chen could successfully coat his fists with Armament Haki and maintain it for several minutes.
After thirty days in the training space, Luo Chen finally fully mastered the techniques of Armament Haki. He could now coat any part of his body with armament at will.
Luo Chen's upper body was bare, his arms turned pitch black, but his torso and other parts were still the color of normal skin.
Garp explained, "Your physique is not strong enough right now. Using Armament Haki will consume a lot of stamina. As you improve your physique, the coverage area of your armament will also increase, until it can cover your entire body."
Luo Chen nodded.
Armament Haki was a relatively advanced combat technique. The requirements for physical fitness were quite high. The strength of a Headquarters Captain was the minimum requirement to learn it. To make one's armament stronger, or even cover the entire body, one had to reach the level of a Vice Admiral.
With a thought, Luo Chen's figure arrived in the [Taijutsu Training Space].
[Cultivation Point Balance: 129100]
'One hundred and twenty thousand cultivation points. I can train in the Taijutsu space for one hundred and twenty hours.'
'Three days should have passed in the outside world by now. Not too long. Let's continue training.'
Before starting his training, Luo Chen had informed Nami and Luffy's crew. They wouldn't disturb him during this time, unless they encountered danger.
On the small green planet, the tall and fiery figure of the woman in the leather suit appeared.
She still took off her leather suit, training Luo Chen's concentration during practice and combat.
As Luo Chen's body grew tired and injured again and again, the green planet would release life energy, strengthening his physique.
After one hundred and twenty hours together, Luo Chen gradually managed to achieve a heart as calm as still water, no longer distracted by the woman's temptations. Although his combat skills and experience were still far inferior to hers, he had grown a lot.
From being defeated in three moves at the beginning, Luo Chen could now fight her in close combat for dozens of moves without being defeated. Of course, the strength the woman used would also increase as his physique improved.
"Good progress, but you're still a long way from defeating me."
At the end of the one hundred and twenty hours of training, the woman put her leather suit back on and commented nonchalantly.
Luo Chen smiled. "That day won't be too far away."
For the first time, the woman in the leather suit revealed a smile. Her red lips curled up, exuding a seductive charm. "I'll be waiting."
She zipped up the front of her suit, covering her fair skin, and her figure slowly disappeared.
Luo Chen looked at the empty space in front of him, a puzzled look on his face.
Was this woman a projection, or a real person?
'I'll find out in the future.'
Luo Chen did not immediately return to reality.
He called up the system interface with a thought.
[Host: Luo Chen]
[Taijutsu: Lv6 (Equivalent to a Rear Admiral ≈ Pirate with a 200 million Berry bounty)]
[Skills: Armament Haki (Introductory), Six Powers - Shave, Six Powers - Moonwalk]
[Ninjutsu: Flying Thunder God Technique, Wood Style Ninja Technique Collection]
[Cultivation Point Balance: 12000]
[Next Cumulative Deposit Reward Tier: Thirty Billion Berries]
By spending one billion two hundred million Berries, his Taijutsu had risen two levels, from Lv4 to Lv6, skipping Commodore and reaching the level of a Rear Admiral.
This time, the word "Headquarters" no longer appeared before "Rear Admiral."
Luo Chen guessed it was because the highest rank in a Marine Branch was Commodore. "Rear Admiral" should always refer to the Marines of Headquarters or equivalent branches in the Grand Line or the New World.
'A Rear Admiral... In terms of physical strength alone, I shouldn't be weaker than one of the Supernovas, X Drake.'
Drake, a pirate supernova of the same generation as Luffy, had a bounty as high as 220 million Berries. Interestingly, before becoming a pirate, Drake was a Marine Rear Admiral.
Of course, Luo Chen was a genuine fugitive wanted by the Marines, while Drake was a spy sent by the Marines to infiltrate the pirates.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....patre0on.c0m/talecrafter]