The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
This was where the Celestial Dragons lived, and also the seat of the World Government that ruled the world.
Inside a luxurious and exquisitely decorated hall, five figures sat or stood. They were the core of the World Government's power—the true rulers of the World Government, the Five Elders.
"Heavenly Yaksha, Donquixote Doflamingo…"
"The underground trading network he established in the South Blue is far more extensive than we imagined. What we uncovered is only a small part of it. The real issue is his identity—it makes him very difficult to deal with."
Even the Five Elders found Doflamingo's existence troublesome.
In their view, the level of trouble Doflamingo posed was no less than that of the Four Emperors. After all, he had once been a World Noble, one of the Celestial Dragons. Even though he no longer possessed those privileges, he still had numerous ways to keep them constrained.
"Enough. Let's put Doflamingo aside for now. The situation in the New World is becoming increasingly grim. The era of countless pirates vying with one another is gradually coming to an end. Among them, four major forces have already become difficult to shake."
"Whitebeard, Edward Newgate; Kaido of the Beasts; Charlotte Linlin; Red-Haired Shanks. Many people call them the Four Emperors… and now it seems the title truly fits."
Each of the Five Elders spoke in turn, their expressions heavy.
The Pirate King Gol D. Roger had opened the great era of pirates. Later, the world's strongest man, Whitebeard Edward Newgate, had effectively shielded that era, making it difficult for the World Government to eradicate piracy. The situation had now evolved into something extremely hard to suppress.
"Once the Four Emperors' forces fully stabilize and divide the seas among themselves, relying solely on the Marine will likely be insufficient to maintain balance."
"The Marine has seemed to decline in recent years. After the current three Admirals—Borsalino, Sakazuki, and Kuzan—there doesn't appear to have been another Marine capable of standing on their own."
"That is true. It's hard to say whether the quality of recruits has declined, or whether Zephyr's effectiveness in training them has decreased in recent years."
At this point, the Five Elders all shook their heads slightly.
Back then, the rise of Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru had been astonishingly fast. In a very short time, they became Marines capable of holding the line on their own.
When the then Fleet Admiral, Kong the 'Steel Bone,' was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the entire armed forces, and Admiral Sengoku the Buddha became Fleet Admiral, those three naturally assumed the positions of the Three Admirals.
Yet in all the years since, no recruit had emerged who could compare to those three. Even the best recruits in recent years fell far, far short comapred to Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru.
"What exactly is the situation with the Marine Headquarters' new recruits now? Perhaps it's time for an inspection."
"How about sending CP?"
One of the Five Elders, seated on a sofa, took a sip of tea and said, "A rather promising newcomer has appeared among the CP trainees. Why not have the CP trainees 'exchange' with the Marine Headquarters' recruits?"
CP was a special organization directly under the World Government, not under Marine jurisdiction. It could be considered parallel to the Marine.
"That works. This 'exchange' doesn't need to be made public. Just contact Zephyr and conduct it privately."
The other Five Elders nodded casually.
To them, this was a trivial matter. Unless a Marine Headquarters recruit emerged who could rival Akainu, Kizaru, or Aokiji, it simply was not worth their attention.
What they truly cared about was the Marine's future development, and the direction the world itself would take.
---
Marine Headquarters.
Inside a secluded training ground, Zephyr was instructing Roya in the training of Haki.
Armament Haki was closely tied to physical strength.
The stronger the body, the stronger the Armament Haki one could train. If the body was weak, then even mastering Armament Haki would result in only limited power.
Take Amazon Lily, for example—the island located within the Calm Belt, inhabited entirely by women. Every citizen there was a warrior, and nearly everyone could use Haki. Yet because their physical strength was lacking, even with Haki, they remained relatively weak.
Training Haki required time; it was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
Attempting to train Haki when one's physical strength was insufficient was a waste of time—a case of putting the cart before the horse. It was better to devote that time to strengthening the body.
Human potential was nearly limitless, and in theory, physical strength could be increased without bound. However, the stronger one became, the harder it was to take the next step forward. Even across the entire sea, there were only a handful of people who could reach Garp's level.
Generally speaking, once one's physical strength reached a certain level—when further improvement became difficult—that was the most suitable time to begin training Armament Haki.
For most people, even if their physical strength were comparable to Roya's current level, Zephyr would still consider it somewhat premature to begin training Haki.
But Roya was different.
In just a few short months, Roya had transformed an extremely weak body into what it was now. With such training speed, concepts like "training Haki too early" simply did not apply to him.
"The strength of Armament Haki varies from person to person, but the degree of control over Armament Haki can be divided into simple, generalized stages that apply to everyone."
Now that he was formally teaching Roya Haki, Zephyr's explanations were meticulous, his tone steady as he spoke step by step.
"Being able to produce Armament Haki and barely wrap it around your fists or weapons to slightly increase attack power—that's considered entry level."
"When you can make Armament Haki stop merely 'wrapping' around, and instead densely adhere to your fists or weapons, forming Armament Hardening—that's when you can be said to have truly mastered Armament Haki."
"Going further, if you can attach Armament Haki to any part of your body and achieve full-body Armament Hardening, then you can be considered proficient."
"Of course, the most fundamental aspect is still the strength of the Armament Haki itself. No matter how perfect your control is, if its essence isn't strong enough, then it's still not enough."
Zephyr continued at length. Roya nodded from time to time, a look of realization appearing in his eyes.
Much of what Zephyr explained aligned with Roya's own prior speculation and deductions—things he had suspected but could not confirm. Now, it was clear that most of his thoughts had been correct.
Being able to achieve full-body Armament Hardening was not, in itself, a sign of extremely powerful Haki. It only demonstrated exceptional control.
If the current Roya could cut through Armament Hardening with a strength rating of ten, then whether it was partial hardening or full-body hardening, as long as its strength was below ten, Roya would cut through it all the same.
Strength was the key.
Unless the strength reached twenty or thirty, no matter how elaborately one played with Armament Haki at a strength of ten, it would still be unable to block Roya's slash.
Zephyr calmly looked at Roya, paused briefly, then spoke again.
"Being able to achieve full-body Armament Hardening is useful in most situations, but strength is the foundation. For now, all you need is to train until you can achieve partial Armament Hardening."
What Zephyr said was exactly what Roya himself believed. If one wielded a sword and thought about full-body hardening for defense instead of how to attack, that would be nothing short of betraying the way of the sword.
No matter what enemy lay ahead—cut them all down with a single strike.
That was Roya's style, Roya's sword path, and also the will conveyed to him by the sword soul fused with his own soul.
Seeing Roya nod, Zephyr smiled faintly, then his expression turned serious.
"Then… next, we officially begin Haki training. Listen carefully. You need to..."