Chapter 40: The Wonder of the Body, the 'Black Body' Style!
Indeed.
For Roy, the text displayed on the glowing screen was his greatest harvest.
Counting the two guardian deities of the Alabasta royal family, and all of Baroque Works' top agents from Mr. 5 to Mr. 0 (Crocodile) and Miss All Sunday (Nico Robin)...
In this Alabasta operation, he had obtained a total of twelve Devil Fruit abilities!
This had directly unlocked his fourth fruit slot.
And the appearance of a fourth slot was another massive power-up.
But that wasn't all.
"A Special Fruit Slot..."
Roy looked at the text in the Encyclopedia, lost in thought.
Clearly, the change in the Fruit Encyclopedia had exceeded his expectations.
But at the same time, he wasn't overly surprised.
In his eight years of studying the Encyclopedia, he had already noticed something. The Encyclopedia appeared as a book, but he could only access the section for recording fruits.
The latter half of the book had always been unopenable. So, he had always suspected his cheat had more secrets.
And now, it was confirmed.
"Collecting 60 fruits unlocks a fifth, special slot. It's three times harder to unlock than a normal slot... does that mean it's three times as strong?"
Roy analyzed. "'Fruit Fusion'..."
Just the name was enough to make his imagination run wild.
"As I analyze and collect more fruits, will the Encyclopedia open even more pages and unlock more abilities?"
Roy felt the excitement of finally leaving the starter village and seeing the vastness of the world.
But he quickly suppressed that excitement. Forget unlocking more functions; just collecting the 60 fruits needed for this 'Special Fruit Slot' was still a long way off. He was barely halfway there.
Dreaming about the future was good, but getting ahead of himself wasn't.
So, Roy quickly turned his thoughts to another problem.
"I need to recall Yuji and Ryuji to refresh their status. That way, I can give them an extra fruit ability with the new slot."
Roy knew this was crucial.
"But meeting them... is going to be tricky."
Both Yuji and Ryuji were now criminals under intense scrutiny by the World Government.
Getting them to infiltrate Marine Headquarters to refresh their status was impossible.
And him sneaking out to meet his clones was also risky—if he was caught, his cover would be blown instantly.
In other words...
"I urgently need an ability that allows me to meet my clones secretly, without anyone knowing."
Roy frowned.
Coincidentally, he knew of a very powerful fruit that fit this requirement perfectly.
But that fruit wasn't at Marine Headquarters.
"After my training with Teacher Zephyr is done, I need to find a way to leave Headquarters."
Just as Roy was thinking this...
"Roy."
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Binz?"
Roy opened the door to see Binz standing there.
"What's up?" Roy asked familiarly. He and Binz had become friends over the past few weeks.
"Teacher Zephyr asked me to take you to training."
Binz smiled.
"Training?"
Roy paused, then laughed. "I don't need a guide. I know the way to Training Room 3..."
But to his surprise...
"No, Roy. You're not training in Room 3 today."
Binz grinned mysteriously.
"Teacher Zephyr asked me to take you to the center of the 'Z' Training Camp... the [Zero Training Room], which only he uses."
"Hm?"
Hearing this, Roy's expression changed.
"You mean..."
He looked at Binz seriously.
Binz nodded. "Exactly what you think. Teacher says... starting today, your real training begins!"
He turned to leave. "Follow me."
Roy took a deep breath and followed.
Soon, after winding through various training rooms with Binz, Roy arrived at the 'Zero Training Room.'
This room was unprecedentedly huge. Roy immediately recognized that the surrounding walls were also made of the special 'Z-Alloy.'
Most notable was the center of the room.
There was a platform, and above it, a massive pipe-like structure hung from the ceiling.
'Black Arm' Zephyr was standing on the platform.
Seeing Roy, Zephyr grinned.
"So? Were you getting impatient? Did you think this old man was scamming you?" Zephyr laughed loudly.
"Honestly, a little bit... If it wasn't you, Teacher, I would have reported you for fraud by now," Roy said with a straight face.
The master and disciple looked at each other and laughed.
"Come on up. This is where you train."
Zephyr beckoned. Roy didn't waste words. He walked onto the massive platform with a serious expression.
And then...
"..."
Nothing happened.
"?"
Roy, muscles tensed and ready for anything, looked at Zephyr in confusion. What are you doing, old man?
"Don't rush."
Seeing Roy's confusion, Zephyr laughed again.
"I told you, you have talent... so your training will be unique."
"But before that, I need to ask you—how strong do you think I am?"
How strong?
Roy looked at Zephyr, puzzled.
"Teacher Zephyr, you are incredibly strong... In fact, you are the strongest person I have ever fought."
He said it sincerely.
It was the honest truth.
He still remembered the punch he exchanged with Zephyr.
In that punch, Roy had used one of his strongest physical fruit combinations.
Although he couldn't use the Beast or Hybrid forms to maximize his strength due to his cover, the combination of the Quetzalcoatlus, Rhino, and Strong-Strong fruits was still immense—he was confident he could wrestle a Sea King and win.
But against Zephyr's serious punch, he was still sent flying.
Even an aging, retired, maimed Admiral was still an Admiral—they represented the absolute peak of individual power on the sea.
Zephyr was clearly pleased with Roy's honest answer.
The old man chuckled and continued, "Then where do you think my strength comes from?"
"Haki, of course," Roy answered without hesitation.
Zephyr's nickname was 'Black Arm.' It was obvious his strength lay in his Armament Haki.
That was what Roy wanted to learn most. With Armament Haki, dealing with Logia users would be much easier. Not every Logia user had a weakness as obvious as Crocodile's.
But...
"Correct, but also wrong."
Hearing his answer, Zephyr shook his head gently.
"Haki is just the result, Roy."
He looked at Roy. "The real answer... is 'Physique' and 'Technique'."
He spoke of the conclusion he had reached over his many years.
"Logia, Zoan, Paramecia—Devil Fruit users have unique gifts and talents that naturally surpass ordinary humans."
"For non-ability users like us to catch up, we can only rely on physique and technique."
He didn't notice the strange look on Roy's face at the words 'non-ability users.'
Zephyr looked at Roy, enunciating each word.
"Because he understood this, Garp created his 'Iron Fist'."
Roy understood.
Almost every Marine at Headquarters knew about 'Marine Hero' Garp's unique training method.
Without using Haki or abilities, he punched the Seastone plating on the bottom of warships, again and again.
Year after year, tempering his 'fist bones.'
Until finally, even without Haki, he could shatter mountains with a single punch. That was why he was 'Garp the Fist.'
Zephyr's meaning was clear.
"Like Garp, I also have my own unique training method and martial art."
Zephyr's voice was filled with pride.
"Unlike that reckless idiot Garp, who focused everything on his fist—what I pursued was the tempering of the entire body."
He looked at Roy with expectation.
"And this is what I am going to teach you."
He raised his left fist.
"I am used to fighting with my arms, so people call me 'Black Arm'."
"But in reality, whether it's skin, bone, muscle, organs, or even blood—the perfect martial art that tempers and unleashes the potential of every part of the body is the true essence of my style."
"Its name is... 'The Black Body Style'."
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