Chapter 49: INIIDF-Chapter 49 Looking At The Future
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Shanks' words suddenly enlightened Liam, clarifying his thoughts.
Life Return.
Haki.
Two parallel paths stretched out before him.
...
Like the legendary hermit who lived on mountain herbs and dew, through rigorous training or sudden enlightenment, they gained meticulous control over their own bodies.
They could infuse consciousness into it, making their hair as flexible as waving arms, allowing any part of their body to stretch, contract, and even rapidly absorb and digest large amounts of energy based on their subjective will to compensate for their own consumption... That was Life Return.
However, mastering Life Return didn't necessarily mean possessing strong combat abilities.
Instead, for those who already possessed formidable martial prowess, mastering Life Return allowed them to perfectly control their bodies and unleash even greater martial prowess.
...
Everyone, whether they were frail and sickly from an early age, or a born monster who stumbled on landing, had energy within them. This energy was called Haki. Some people even awakened this power naturally and intuitively knew how to use it. For instance, Elsa from Skypiea possessed Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) strong enough to rival Enel enhanced by the Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder-Thunder Fruit), covering the entire range of Skypiea, "listening" to the position of everyone...
But learning to use Haki didn't automatically translate into strong fighting abilities.
Rather, for those with strong fighting abilities, mastering Haki allowed them to unleash even greater fighting power.
For example, Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)!
This untrainable, purely innate "king's potential" Haki clearly had no direct correlation with the strength of Awakening.
When Ace was weak as a child, he spontaneously unleashed Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) to stun the bandits who threatened his younger brother, Luffy. However, as he grew into the powerful commander of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates, he seemed to forget this ability. During the Summit War in Marineford, he relied on Luffy's temporary burst of Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) to spare his enemies...
...
Liam suddenly realized that perhaps, due to the perspective of the manga story, he had previously been biased in believing that Haki was the only way to become a strong fighter.
It seemed that those without Haki weren't considered strong.
Moreover, the strength of Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) in particular was an absolute measure of strength.
But was this really true?
Rob Lucci of CP-9, who didn't possess Haki but was proficient in Rokushiki, if thrown onto an island full of Haki users like Kuja Island... except for the Empress, Rob Lucci could probably rampage through island!
The Kuja Warriors' arrows were powerful, but they might not be able to match Lucci's speed after using Soru from Rokushiki.
And the Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) of the Kuja Warriors might not be able to break through the defense of "Tekkai".
Since the power of Haki varied from person to person, the skill level of Life Return and the mastery of Rokushiki should also continue to improve their limits.
With powerful rokushiki, even without haki, one could still compete with the Empress.
Rob Lucci, who lost to Luffy on Judicial Island, did not lose because Luffy had mastered Haki at that time, but rather because Luffy miraculously managed to exhaust him to death... Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that after losing to Luffy, Lucci would continue to strengthen his physical abilities and refine Rokushiki...
That's why Liam suddenly felt that it was not impossible for a "Tekkai" master to directly confront an Iron Fist wielding Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) without using Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki). There may indeed be such a person in the world of One Piece.
One of the Yonko, "Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin.
Her skin was called "Steel Balloon", and it was so tough that even Caesar's self-confident missiles couldn't damage her skin.
Liam seriously suspected that Big Mom, with her extraordinary talent for consuming vast amounts of food, was a natural genius at "Life Return". She might even unconsciously maintain an exceptionally high level of Tekkai at all times.
...
"So in the end, what's really important is one's inherent power," Liam mused. "With enough power, my so-called talent in Life Return can manifest even greater power."
Shanks chuckled, "For example, with your talent, learning Rokushiki should be much easier for you, much easier than for an average person!"
"Conversely, if someone lacks stamina, even if they understand the technique, they won't have enough explosive power to perform aerial moves or withstand bullets and blades," Liam added. "Similarly, if one's body is naturally weak, even covering it with Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) might not have much effect."
"Exactly," Shanks agreed.
A thought struck Liam and he laughed, "If I was stronger to begin with, would you have agreed to teach me Haki earlier?"
Shanks made a face and exhaled a little alcohol. "Absolutely. You're too weak. Teaching you Haki would take forever. While teaching you, I'd also have to train your physical strength, and I only took six months off from my crew. That's not enough time."
Outside the porthole, the sea was gradually getting darker.
Shanks didn't treat Liam like a child. After spending time drinking and chatting on a pleasure boat, he was in a talkative mood...
Curious, Liam asked, "If 'Life Return' can harden the body like iron, and Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) can strengthen the body, making it even stronger, wouldn't mastering both make someone invincible?"
The cabin was dimly lit, with only starlight streaming through the small round porthole. Shanks was lying on the bed, legs crossed, playing with his straw hat. He smiled slightly, "Nice thought! But in reality, using Life Return and Haki at the same time is very difficult."
Liam was confused, "Why is that?"
"Who knows," Shanks joked. "Maybe Haki and Life Return just don't play well together.
That might explain why few people use both Rokushiki and Haki at the same time, Liam thought.
Shanks continued, "For reference, Devil Fruit powers are also difficult to combine with Haki..."
"Ah..." Liam trailed off, waving to 'B.I.B.' who was doing push-ups on the floor.
'B.I.B.' quickly understood, removing a small 'earpiece' from his head and tossing it to Liam.
Liam placed the "earpiece" in his ear, tapped it twice, and a virtual screen appeared in front of him. He quickly navigated to chapter 784 of the One Piece manga, remembering a scene where Doflamingo was amazed by Luffy's ability to maintain the elasticity of rubber while also using Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) for enhanced defense...
In contrast, Doflamingo never used Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) to strengthen the strings created by his Ito Ito no Mi (String-String Fruit)...
Similarly, when Smoker used his Elementalization to become Smoke, he only solidified his fists to use Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)...
The blue flame-patterned left arm detached from 'B.I.B.' and flew to Liam, extracting the core of the Pipe-Pipe Fruit from his chest.
"If the powers of the Devil Fruit work on a special energy principle," Liam observed the glowing triangular chip with its spiral patterns, "Then perhaps the difficulty in combining fruit abilities with Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) is due to the different forms of energy being difficult to harmonize..."
Shanks looked surprised.
"Or more simply," Liam mumbled, "Whether it's Life Return, Haki, or Devil Fruit abilities... they're all manifestations of energy in the human body. That might explain why it's hard to use two different abilities at the same time! It's a challenge to truly multitask..." Like Luffy, a pure-hearted person who can unconsciously multitask. "We can't look forward and backward at the same time. So we can't maintain 'Tekkai' while covering it with Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)."
"Your hypothesis..." Shanks put the straw hat on his face, "is bold, but interesting!"
Looking forward and backward... Liam tapped the "earpiece" twice, and the blue flame-patterned left arm reattached itself to 'B.I.B.'.
Liam and 'B.I.B.' locked eyes, their glowing gazes reflecting the same thought:
Multitasking seems quite possible.
...
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