Chapter 179: Hair, Sovereignty, Life Return?
On the deck of the Going Merry, crisp snips of scissors echoed.
Sunlight spilled over the ship's railings, and the sea breeze was gentle.
Ralph sat obediently on a chair, wrapped in a white cloth Nami had found from somewhere.
Snip, snip…
Nami stood behind Ralph, holding a sharp pair of scissors, carefully trimming his waist-length black hair.
"It's really such a shame…"
Nami couldn't help but sigh as she cut, "Such long hair, Ralph, are you really sure you don't want to keep it?"
Ralph thought for a moment, then shook his head in refusal.
Although he had considered changing his look, long hair was just too difficult to manage.
"Alright then."
Nami shrugged and continued her work, "But I'm keeping all this cut hair. Once you become famous, maybe we can sell it to your fans!"
Ralph: "..."
Usopp, who was waiting in line nearby, peeked over:
"Nami, aren't you being a bit too money-minded?"
"What do you know!"
Nami glared at him, "This is called business sense! Who's next? Hurry up, I'm going to give everyone a haircut today!"
The members of the Straw Hat crew were indeed lined up waiting.
Zoro leaned against the mast with his eyes closed, resting.
A few moves of Ralph's Tyrant Blade lingered in his mind.
Sanji was preparing afternoon tea in the kitchen but kept peeking out.
He couldn't wait for his turn to have Nami cut his hair.
Vivi and Chopper sat chatting in a corner of the deck, while Lufia and Usopp sat together by the railing, fishing with homemade fishing rods.
"Speaking of which," Nami paused halfway through cutting and suddenly asked, "Ralph, how on earth did you suddenly grow such long hair?"
This question piqued everyone's interest.
Zoro opened his eyes.
Sanji walked out carrying a tray.
Lufia and Usopp turned their heads.
Even Chopper stopped his conversation with Vivi and pricked up his ears.
Ralph fell silent for a few seconds, then sighed:
"This matter… is complicated. It's somewhat related to the ultimate move Dorry and Brogy used when they sent us off from Little Garden."
"Master Dorry and Master Brogy?!"
Usopp immediately grew excited, "Tell us quickly! What does it have to do with them?"
Lufia also leaned in, her eyes sparkling:
"Is it that 'Giant Race' move? It was so amazing! It punched right through that huge goldfish!!"
Ralph nodded:
"That's right. That move, 'Giant Race,' is the strongest combined attack passed down through generations of Elbaph warriors, known as 'Elbaph's Strongest Spear.'"
"After witnessing the power of that move, I kept thinking—if I could learn it, maybe I could better protect everyone, better…"
He looked at Lufia: "... protect Lufia."
The others shivered, while Lufia blinked, her face full of anticipation as she asked:
"So, Ralph, did you learn it?"
Usopp, however, shook his head:
"Impossible! Even if Ralph is strong, that's the strongest move of the giants, used by Master Dorry and Master Brogy together! How could a human possibly learn it?"
Ralph's expression turned somewhat regretful.
"Usopp is right. I really... couldn't learn it."
"Huh?"
Lufia's face fell in disappointment.
Ralph smiled bitterly, "To use 'Giant Race,' you need the powerful physique and strength of a giant."
Lufia thoughtfully stroked her chin:
"Requiring the strength and physique of a giant race... That really is difficult."
"Difficult? It's more than just difficult!"
Usopp exaggeratedly gestured, "That's simply impossible! Ralph, you're already strong, but you're not a god—you can't create that many miracles!"
Nami and Vivi, having listened for a while, were more concerned about another issue:
"But what does the giant race's ultimate move have to do with Ralph's long hair?"
Nami asked, "You still haven't explained the hair part!"
At that moment, Zoro, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up,
"Hold on. You haven't explained that strange sword technique you used either. I remember it was called 'Tyrant Blade,' right?"
Sanji walked over with a teacup and quipped, "First it's ultimate moves, then hair, now sword techniques... It's like a messy stew. Ralph, can't you explain things step by step, like a recipe?"
Ralph smiled: "No problem. This is just the beginning."
His gaze suddenly shifted to Chopper, who was sitting beside Vivi.
The little reindeer grew nervous under his stare and instinctively straightened up.
"Chopper," Ralph asked, "Do you still remember the rules for patients at Dr. Kureha's place?"
Chopper nodded:
"I remember! Patients aren't allowed to leave the ward until they're fully recovered, let alone fight."
"Exactly."
Ralph continued, "And during the fight with Lufia and the others, I was indeed in a weakened state due to illness, unable to use most of my strength."
Chopper blinked:
"That's right! During the fight, even though your condition was strange, your body was already fully recovered, no longer weak. Did Dr. Kureha use some special medicine on you?"
"No."
Ralph shook his head, "The rapidly healed body, the long hair, the unusable 'Giant Race' technique, and that strange sword technique at the end—all of these were 'miracles' I realized in those few minutes through a sudden enlightenment."
"Sudden enlightenment?"
Everyone exclaimed in unison.
Ralph explained:
"It's about seizing a spark of inspiration and pushing the brain to its limits in a short time. It's similar to... the state Chopper achieves when enhancing his brain with a Rumble Ball, except I don't need drugs."
Chopper's eyes lit up:
"You can do it without drugs?! That's amazing!"
"I used a similar sudden enlightenment once when fighting Hawk Eye."
Ralph said, "Back then, I created 'Tyrant Blade' on my own, forcing Hawk Eye to admit he 'lost due to underestimating me.' This time was similar."
He then began to explain in detail:
"To heal my body as quickly as possible, I attempted to master the Six Powers technique of fully controlling the body through sudden enlightenment—"
"Life Return?"
Zoro frowned, "What's that?"
"It's an advanced application of the Six Powers."
Ralph explained, "Life Return."
"It allows the user to perfectly control every part of their body, even to the extent of controlling hair growth, accelerating metabolism, speeding up injury recovery, and restoring stamina."
Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke:
"Sounds useful."
"Of course it's useful."
Ralph nodded, "Though, for those who can heal just by sleeping or recover by eating meat, it might not be necessary."
Lufia and Zoro tilted their heads simultaneously, seemingly not realizing he was referring to them.
Ralph continued:
"I want to learn Life Return, but the difficulty lies in the Six Powers—I haven't mastered one of them, 'Kami-e.'"
"The principle of Kami-e is to sense air currents, relax the body, and move like paper in the wind—this is actually the 'foundation of body control.'"
"Without this foundation, I cannot perfectly control every cell in my body."
"So you gave up?"
Usopp asked.
"No."
Ralph smiled, "I took a different path—using hypnosis."