Chapter 21: Training Montage and an Enemy Fleet
Going Merry, Grandline.
Princess Nefertari Vivi woke up to an unknown ceiling. She remembered the events that happened the previous day, and felt like crying. She then held it in and walked out of the room, with a renewed determination that she would do her best to save her country.
The sun was up and the weather was the best kind you could ask for on the Grandline. She felt the cool wind on her cheeks from the generic sonic booms and textbook shock waves transmitted from the everyday training routine of the crew of the Going Merry.
'...'
'These people are FLYING!! Were these guys brought up in places where common sense was so nonexistent that they started ignoring the laws of physics itself?!'
Vivi had been shocked enough yesterday when she had seen Zoro tank swords and bullets with his body. What was happening in front of her was something she couldn't even see but she knew that it was an abnormal scene even according to Grandline standards.
As of today, Usopp had gone from a concerned friend helping his team tap into their hidden potential to the drill sergeant from hell...and he was going full Doom Slayer on them. Since they were going to take on Sir Crocodile in an environment which is pretty much lets him tap the same amount of power as an awakened logia which gave Crocodile powers close to that of a Yonko second commander. His only weakness was his physique and non existent haki.
Hence Usopp was currently punching the three monsters in all directions midair using his full strength. He was making the crew feel the armament haki by pummeling them with it. The crew was hence improving quickly, as death seeking was the main power up mode of the three along with an increased three dimensional movement ability since an early morning dip in the sea was not the best way to start their day. Luffy was especially struggling as he had gotten to real monkey like movements using [Sky Walk], which had just gotten a hang of due to his increased control over rubber.
Zoro and Sanji was in a also in a similar state, but the damage output of [Armament: Hardening] was no joke and Zoro was putting more effort into releasing his sword techniques in an awkward footing, or no footing at all.
Usopp was way above them in speed, power and technique even when considering only his pugilistic skill. He was also mixing in a few doses of [Impact] punches in between, which was near [Rokougan]'s level in damage dealt and gave them enough time to recover from the shock. He did not, however pull his punches and still dealt damage enough to rattle their bones. He was so overbearing that it caused the three to work together and do combo attacks on him to catch him off-guard, which did not yield any results as his observation Haki was almost near the level of future sight.
The fight went on for quite a while, as Usopp took it upon himself to put the three near a near death state. When Usopp felt he reached a threshold for damage dealt, he ended the fight by pummeling them into the ocean and returned back on deck. Zoro and Sanji pulled up Luffy together with them and came aboard. Nami and Vivi, who were sitting and reading the newspaper felt a chill go up their spine due to them being exposed to the unrestrained blood lust leaking from the three.
"One day...one day I'll definitely kick that long nose into hell and back!"
"Before that I'll be the one to cut him!"
Zoro and Sanji started to fight again without caring for their injuries when Usopp reappeared in front of them. Both of them immediately took an offensive stance to strike at him.
"I am hungry. Sanji...food."
"Same here...Sanji, food!"
As always, Luffy saves the day.
...
Sanji was also told to increase his expertise in poison cooking so that the crew would develop immunity towards it. Nowadays, due to their physique's strengthening they could fish deep sea fishes as [Blue Walk] helped them move in water like it was land. Hence the non-fruit eaters were in charge of hunting fish, including the rare and poisonous ones. Usopp had to sit through Sanji's lectures on how to identify them while Zoro randomly caught a few which were mostly poisonous, since he was instructed to catch normal fish.
Their training schedule was quadrupled and Zoro was the first one to activate his [Armament Haki]. It happened on the second day of their journey towards Little Garden while he entered a meditative state after an underwater swordsmanship training.
Zoro was particularly angry at himself for not being able to stand in his capability as the swordsman of the crew. His anger peaked as he thought about how easily Usopp had used his(Zoro's) own moves to his advantage and break his defense. Zoro's [Seimei Kikan] went into overdrive as he basically stormed through the bottleneck of his spirit to unlock [Armament Haki]. Overloading of his life force to shock the spirit also activated his cells to produce more energy, which nearly killed him before Usopp realized the situation and yelled at Sanji to bring a lot of food for Zoro. Zoro devoured so much food that Usopp had to capture a small sized Sea King for him, although Luffy ate a quarter of that too.
"What just happened? Is Zoro alright?"
A concerned Nami arrived beside the four along with Vivi. The entire deck looked like an aftermath of an eating contest between 500 men. Zoro directly went to sleep after he ate then and there, and his body had undergone a huge change. His appearance, which used to look like the original timeline's Zoro became more muscular and well defined. His height also grew to 6'2. The change was so big that his shirt was torn apart and his pants became shorts it also tore through. Usopp estimated that Zoro jumped from 3000 douriki to 4200 douriki in one go due to the metamorphosis, for which he received enough nutrition and had [Seimei Kikan] to take advantage of it to the utmost.
With armament haki unlocked, Zoro had become a true powerhouse, although it would take him a few days to activate it easily. Even then, [Armament: Hardening] was something that even a genius swordsman like Zoro would take months to activate. For now, lightly coating Haki around his weapon was an option for him. Usopp turned towards his confused crew mates to explain the situation.
"What happened was a very envious occurrence. Zoro had somehow used [Semei Kikan] to overdraw his life force to awaken his Haki. Because he immediately recieved energy to completely reconstuct his body, he went through a rebirth process that multiplied his strength. For a week or two, his strength will keep on increasing until his growth plateaus. If somebody told me a Haki awakening along with a metamorphosis happened at the same time, then I would send his to a doctor to have his head checked. I feel it was pretty normal considering the person in question is Zoro."
"WAIT! Did you just say this Marimo awakened his HAKI?! I won't lose to some moss head!"
Sanji was pretty shocked as he jumped into the water, presumably to do some spartan training.
The next day, Sanji awakened his [Observation Haki]. He forced Usopp to personally train him and upgrade his physique in a exhaust, eat and train cycle which lasted for 12 hours. Usopp had warned Sanji that this training was something that once completed, should only be done after atleast 4 months. Luffy also joined in, but the effect way less for Luffy when compared to Sanji, who was using [Observation Haki] to augment [Seimei Kikan] to increase effectiveness. Usopp, Sanji and Luffy went through this brutal self inflicted torture training while Zoro continued to hone his [Armament Haki], as he was denied from using the training until his growth plateaued, or it would have negative effects.
At the end of the second day of the journey, the weather was a little stormy, the Merry was making good time, while the Battle Squad had a significant rise in their power.
Usopp- Due to directly participating in the deadly training, Usopp's [Steel Scales] became strong enough to tank a few named attacks from low level Vice Admirals. Significant increase in healing ability and foot based attacking skill due to Sanji's tutelage. Strength to defend against and retreat from an Admiral with mild to little injuries if he plays his cards right.
Zoro- Due to his metamorphosis, his [Steel Scales] could tank normal attacks from low level Rear Admirals. Swordsmanship had advanced due to his spirit being strengthened- cutting steel requires less time to concentrate and flying slashes became more destructive. He is firmly inside Vice Admiral levels of strength because of augmented strength due to [armament haki].
Sanji- As a man who would kill himself to stay at the same level of strength as Zoro, his spartan training and had yielded results. An awakened [Observation Haki] along with an expert to teach it, he had consolidated it at the beginner level. His douriki rose to 3800 and his fighting skills evolved to the next level. A Vice Admiral class existence with high level stealth and mobility.
Luffy- The Pirate King contender had not been able to awaken his Haki yet, but his skill in manipulating his body has increased his attack power and speed. Even with all their advancements, Zoro and Sanji still does not have even a fifty percent chance at beating Luffy in a fight due to his ridiculous 5100 douriki strength which is further augmented by his devil fruit powers. His endurance had risen to a level where he could battle at full strength for 18 hours and his defense could tank named attacks from low level Rear Admirals.
...
Noon, day three of the journey towards Little Garden.
Most of the crew were resting, since noon was the only time that the crew could rest between training sessions. Nami and Vivi, who were provided with the most time due their training time being significantly lower were lounging on the aft of the ship. Usopp, Luffy and Zoro were fully asleep while Sanji was on lookout.
Nami and Vivi were complaining about their cruel training schedule and how it ruined their skin and whatnot. Sanji was showering them with attention all the while. He was enjoying the situation when he felt a little something was off about the atmosphere.
"Nami-swan, please wake Usopp. My instincts are going off right now."
"Eh? Is there any problem?"
"I am not sure. Just need to confirm it."
Nami immediately woke Usopp, who looked like he was having a good dream.
"WHO THE HE-... Oh Nami, what is it?"
Usopp changed his attitude very quickly seeing the person who woke him up. All the faults considered, Nami wouldn't wake him up for no reason.
"Sanji said he felt something was off and he needed you to check it out."
Usopp then concentrated and used his observation Haki for a sweep search. He felt some bogeys underwater and a large number of reactions from near the horizon. He also picked up two projectiles approaching Merry at high speed. Usopp was a bit pi**ed at these daring idiots who had the stupid idea of attacking a ship which had enough combat power to destroy a country.
Usopp immediately drew [Fear] from it holster and fired two shots into the water. The two shots were imbued with [Haki] and [Focus impact], which drilled a hole in the sea before destroying the two projectiles, which appeared to be torpedoes.
Sanji was startled at this and was praising himself for waking Usopp. That said, his anger was also not small. He immediately jumped and accelerated into the sea and further corrected his course towards one of the hidden enemies- a submarine. Sanji went into full combat mode as he used [diable jumble] on top of the acceleration from [Blue walk] as he pierced through the submarine, as cleanly as if huge focused laser had gone through it.
As Sanji was [Blue Walk]ing away from the explosion from destroying the submarine, Usopp was not silent either. He [Sky Walked] perpendicular to the submarine and used [fear] to turn it into a beehive. He then waited for some of the stronger ones to surface and picked one off of them. The rest were blasted apart from a kick imbued with a [Focus Wave]. He brought the prisoner on board, where Sanji and the now awake Zoro and Luffy were waiting.
"Who are these guys, Usopp?"
Luffy asked. Usopp pointed at the prisoner, who was actually the strongest of the survivors with a look that meant- this guy will answer your questions. The unconscious prisoner was kicked out of his unconscious state by Zoro and almost lost his soul when he was faced with the oppression of the four.
"Who the hell are you guys? Why did you attack us?!"
Luffy was pretty angry at the man and was trying his best to not punch him to kingdom come. The pirate felt his consciousness fading for a second but was brought back by Sanji's kick. He then immediately gave up all the information he knew.
"We are the Flintlock Pirates Fleet...and our Boss had ordered to destroy any and all pirate ships we see! He...he said that all his opponents will be destroyed one way or another by him. So you guys don't have a chance. Hehe, Our fleet is 25 ships strong so you are dead meat!"
The pirate somehow became more and more courageous when he spoke, so Luffy punched him into the horizon. He also looked like he would individually punch each and every member of the Flintlock Pirates since they dared to attack Merry. And the Straw Hats hates those who attack the Merry.
"Raise the sails and turn the ship around. We have a fleet to destroy."
The captain gave his orders. At the same time, the Flintlock Pirates felt a cold wind pass through, and it carried with it the calm before the Buster Call.
...
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
battlemonger
battlemonger I was enjoying my vacation, so I won't apologize.
Also, updates would be a bit irregular since I have a lot of pending work. For that I am sorry.
Thanks for the continued support!
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