Chapter 143: Importance of Haki Talent
Hearing her words, everyone was stunned once again but unlike Robin and Usopp, they believed more in Vivi's strength.
Not only did she remain undercover in Baroque Works for three years but also had a lot of courage to fight stronger pirates as a Bounty Hunter.
Now, she also had a powerful Logia Devil Fruit.
"What? Do you have a Logia Fruit user in your crew? Wait, isn't that the fruit of Sir Crocodile?" Buggy shouted in shock.
Hearing his words, other members of Straw Hat Fleet also looked at Vivi in shock. Because this was the Devil Fruit of their previous leader.
Now, it fell in the hands of their crew mate.
They didn't know that Straw Hats can take other's devil fruit.
"So, who will fight the third Vice-Admiral?" Zoro asked.
Since there were three candidates, he believed that there must be a choice.
"Huh? Isn't it something for Liam to decide?" Luffy who was silent most of the time during planning spoke in utter confusion.
Because the entire planning was related to Liam, he had left all of the decision-making to Liam. So, in his mind, it should be Liam who will decide on who will fight whom.
Only after hearing his words, did others react and turn their heads at Liam.
Liam heavily sighed and shook his head.
"Captain, you messed up my plan. I wanted to see Nami say that she will fight a Vice-Admiral."
"But, I can't." Nami stubbornly spoke.
"That's exactly why I want you to say that. Because I know you can't. Everyone here knows that you can't. So, it's not about power but rather courage."
"Why do you think Buggy couldn't awaken Haki for so long? It might be because of talent but there is another factor. It's Willpower. It's Spirit. If you don't even dare to face the challenge, you can never awaken Haki."
When Nami heard his words, her expression turned pale. She didn't feel powerless because of her lack of power but rather because of what Liam said to her.
Even listening to his tone, she could feel disappointment.
Others didn't say anything about it. Even idiots like Buggy and Luffy could feel the tension in those words.
Buggy who knew the reason why he couldn't awaken Haki for a long time couldn't agree more with Liam's statement.
Slowly, Liam's tone began to change as he spoke.
"Nami, we are entering the upper echelon of power in this world. If Mikita could increase the weight of her body by kilograms, then a person under Doflamingo could increase his weight by Tons."
"Abilities like Akainu's Magma fruit can burn you by a simple touch or a person like Hancock could turn you into stone with ease and then break your body."
"People like Supernova Law could simply cut your body in half from several meters away or even swap your soul. People with abilities will only get stronger and weirder as we sail into the New World."
"So, Haki is the most important power that every one of us must master. As Luffy once said, he can't cook, he can't use swordsman, he can't navigate."
"A person's strength is limited. We can't protect everyone all the time. So, we must have the strength to protect ourselves."
"Otherwise, why do you think I am forcing Luffy to train so hard? Isn't it because he always picks fights with stronger opponents? If Luffy can't even protect himself from his opponent, how can he protect others?"
"This is not only for our main crew but also for our Fleet. If you can't master Haki, you can't survive in the New World."
Hearing his words, others couldn't help but feel stunned.
Although what he said was harsh, it made sense. If they can't even protect themselves, how can they protect others?
Especially Luffy felt extremely happy with Liam. Without Liam, he might be in that kind of situation.
Although he was an idiot, he wasn't a complete fool. He acts with confidence because that's what drives him to become a Pirate King.
But, because he is limited by his knowledge, he truly does not understand the true scope of his enemies's strength. So, if he hadn't trained under Liam, he wouldn't be strong enough to face his future opponent.
"I'm sorry, Liam!" Nami almost teared up when she apologized.
Liam heavily sighed and shook his head.
"It's okay. Nobody can change overnight. Just look at Luffy. Three months ago, he was an idiot. Three Months later, he is still an idiot."
"True!"
Everyone nodded their heads. This is a point where they can all agree.
"Hey!" Luffy shouted angrily but he didn't say anything more.
"But, people do grow with the help of others. Three Months Ago, he would only focus on playing around and goofing around. But Three Months Later, he also understood the importance of strength."
"If I hadn't bickered so much about strength, would he have understood the importance of strength? Maybe but at what cost? Death of his crewmates or separation."
When he said that, the atmosphere suddenly got gloomy.
"But, we could prevent that. Didn't we already do it? Because of our battle with Aokiji and my constant bickering, he finally understood the importance of strength."
"At the same time, he also wanted to goof around. So, he needed to grow stronger as fast as possible. To do that, he put his mind and soul into training and managed to learn advanced forms of Armament and Observation Haki in just three days."
"This is why I said those words. So that you can prioritize strength over cowardice."
Hearing his words, others also understood the true reason behind such a growth. It wasn't just talent. It was also his willingness to goof around and the importance of strength in his heart that led to Luffy's growth.
"Wait, what? Did you just say he learned Advance Haki in three days?"
Buggy almost split himself into several parts as he shouted.
Then, he began to shake his head.
"Impossible! Impossible! Vice-Captain Rayleigh told me that it takes time, effort, and constant battle to grow Haki. It is impossible to grow Haki in just three days."
Hearing his words, Straw Hats couldn't help but puff out their chest proudly.
Look, doesn't that mean even a person like Roger's First Mate couldn't understand the true scope of their Captain's talent?
Even Liam had a proud look on his face. He put his hand on the ground and spoke.
"That's the difference in talent between you guys. If your talent is at this level….."
Liam slowly raised his hand to his chest and said.
"Then, people like most Supernova, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp have talent in Haki at this level."
Slowly, he raised the hand to his neck and said.
"Of course, people like Big Mom, Kaido, Whitebeard, and Admirals have talent in Haki at this level. But, their Haki is the result of constant battle. In terms of pure talent, Zoro and Sanji are also at this level."
"My previous talent was around the bottom. But, as I grew stronger, my talent in Haki also began to manifest and reached the previous level. Now, I believe I have reached this level in terms of Haki talent."
This was specifically proven when he managed to lift his Haki to a level closer to that of Luffy after desperate training with Usopp for two days straight.
Then, he raised his hand to his head and said.
"Finally, people like Roger, Garp, and Shanks have the talent around this level. Of course, you have to put other people in these three categories based on your own experience."
"But….."
Finally, he stood up and then raised his hand over his head.
"This is the level of talent that Luffy has. Haki is the manifestation of Spirit and Willpower. A person with unfathomable Willpower can grow his Haki at an astonishing rate."
"Luffy is that person. Not only did he inherit his talent from his parents from the beginning, but he also had the most powerful catalyst for the growth of his Haki."
"But, of course, that doesn't make him invincible. Advanced forms of Haki are simply advanced usages of Haki. If Haki makes you stronger, advanced form doesn't make you invincible."
"It just gives you an extra usage of your Haki. Those who have gone through a lot of battle could still beat Luffy's Advance Haki with their Advance Haki."
"It was only thanks to the medicine that his Haki grew so much."
Hearing his words, Buggy finally understood the true gap in strength between him and Straw Hat.
Most people were surprised and also happy to follow such a captain while Luffy was just listening while picking his booger.
But, among them, one person had some doubts. Zoro looked at Liam and asked.
"If I remember correctly, Luffy and I took the same kind of medicine, right? If Advance Forms of Haki are just applications of Haki. Why is that his Haki grew significantly while mine only grew a little bit?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone