章節 11: Chapter 11: “One-Eyed” Worley
Worley, known as One-Eyed Worley, hails from the Grand Line. He was originally the captain of a merchant ship's guard, and his swordsmanship was quite formidable—just a step away from becoming a swordmaster. During one battle with pirates, he lost one of his eyes, but in return, he fought ferociously and drove the pirates away.
Unfortunately, the merchant captain was not satisfied and scolded him, calling him incompetent and useless, blaming him for the loss of many valuable goods. Although the captain didn't directly demand compensation from Worley, the words clearly pushed all responsibility onto him.
Losing an eye had already left Worley in pain, and now, not only was he unrecognized for his efforts, but he was also at risk of being blamed for the loss. In a fit of rage, Worley killed the captain, seized the merchant ship, and began his career as a pirate.
Five years have passed since then, and Worley now carries a bounty of 35 million.
Worley was currently in a terrible mood. He had planned to stay at the Sabaody Archipelago for a week, coat the ship, and buy supplies before heading straight to the New World, but things kept going wrong.
On the first day, his battle captain, Iron Hook Hawk, and several other crew members didn't return after being out all night, and they didn't show up the next day either.
Hawk was one of the veterans on the ship and a fierce fighter. In one battle, his opponent severed his left hand, but Hawk still managed to decapitate the enemy. After attaching an iron hook to his arm, Hawk became even more brutal and fearless, earning a promotion to battle captain with ten men under his command. He was reliable, and his absence could only mean something bad had happened to him.
To maintain order among his crew, Worley sent out search parties for two days, but they didn't find a trace of Hawk or his men, not even any news.
When the seventh day arrived, something else went wrong: the ship's navigator, Pont, went missing.
If losing Hawk only made Worley angry, losing Pont nearly drove him mad. Fighters are common enough on the Grand Line, but skilled navigators, especially those who can navigate the treacherous waters of the Grand Line, are rare. Worse still, they were about to head for Fish-Man Island, a journey impossible without a navigator experienced in reading the currents. Without Pont, it was practically suicide.
Worley sent everyone out to search, and finally, they found Pont—a flyer for a human auction on Island No. 1 had his picture on it. Pont was being auctioned, with a starting price of 2 million, and the auction was scheduled for the following day. Worley was so angry he nearly ground his teeth to dust.
With no other option, Worley began preparing the funds to buy back Pont while secretly sending people to recruit a new navigator.
But navigators are hard to find, especially ones willing to serve on a pirate ship. Before they knew it, the day before Pont's auction had arrived...
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"Why is it always Tekkai? Training Tekkai every day, are they crazy? Don't they know Tekkai can harm people?"
"Oh, someone's practicing Kami-e—and they've even started to grasp it! Not bad, not bad, that's mine now."
Perched high on the branch of a red mangrove tree, Bardock watched the naval training field from afar. From this distance, an ordinary person wouldn't be able to see anything, but Bardock took in every detail, right down to counting the drops of sweat on the soldiers' faces.
Bardock had scouted out this spot the first time he came to the naval base to collect a bounty. He hadn't forgotten about learning the Navy's Rokushiki techniques.
Rokushiki—or the Six Powers—included techniques like Soru, Geppo, Tekkai, Kami-e, Rankyaku, and Shigan. They covered various abilities like high-speed movement, mid-air maneuvering, defense, evasion, close-quarters combat, and long-range attacks, all techniques that pushed the human body beyond its limits. Only officers in the Navy could learn them, and most of them mastered only one or two techniques.
Those who mastered all Six Powers could learn a further skill called Life Return, which allowed them to infuse their consciousness into every part of their body, freely controlling their muscles, hair, and even internal organs.
What Bardock was most interested in were Soru and Geppo. His defense was already strong after his transformation, and he had his swordsmanship for attack; what he lacked was a rapid movement technique. However, the naval officers here mostly seemed to focus on Tekkai—standing shirtless as soldiers attacked them to strengthen their defense.
"Finally, he's here. That old man—hurry up and start, I can't wait anymore," Bardock muttered to himself as he spotted an older naval officer entering the training field, immediately sharpening his focus.
Bardock had overheard this old man's training schedule the day before when he was collecting his bounty, so he had come at just the right time to observe. The old naval officer was Rear Admiral Fritz Ford, commander of the naval base on Island No. 66. This was a character who hadn't appeared in the original story, and despite his age, he still came to the training field every day for an hour of exercise before finishing his work.
Ford waved off the salutes from the nearby sailors and stripped off his shirt, revealing a body covered in scars. He began his warm-up stretches, the fluidity of his movements catching the attention of everyone around him.
Once warmed up, Ford started with Soru, rapidly stomping the ground dozens of times in a split second to generate explosive momentum for high-speed movement. To the ordinary eye, it looked like he was teleporting from place to place, appearing and disappearing so quickly that it was impossible to follow.
But Bardock was different. His eyes followed Ford's every move, and a slow smile crept across his face as he realized the key to mastering Soru: it wasn't just the rapid stomping that mattered. The critical part was holding back the power until the final stomp before releasing it. This was why Bardock had understood the theory but never succeeded in executing it until now.
After Ford's high-speed movement, he immediately transitioned to Geppo, using his powerful legs to kick the air, allowing him to walk through the sky as if climbing invisible stairs.
Bardock noticed that the principles of Geppo and Soru were closely related, with many aspects of force application overlapping.
When Ford descended from the air, he landed in front of a row of wooden stakes. Extending his index finger, he rapidly jabbed the stakes, creating holes in each one. He continued until all five stakes looked like honeycombs.
Ford then stepped back and unleashed several Rankyaku, slashing the stakes to pieces with the vacuum blades created by his high-speed kicks.
"Looks like I've still got it!" Ford muttered to himself, satisfied. Ever since he had mastered both Armament Haki and Observation Haki, he hadn't relied on Tekkai or Kami-e as much. Now that he was nearing retirement, this level of exercise was sufficient for him.
Bardock, watching from his perch, was grinning with satisfaction. He had finally grasped the methods for all Six Powers. Now all he had to do was practice until he mastered them.
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On the road from Island No. 66 back to his residence on Island No. 46, Bardock found himself itching to try out Soru.
"I'll start by reducing the number of steps and then gradually increase the power," he thought.
Bardock was the type to act immediately on his thoughts. He tried stomping the ground quickly, but failed to control his strength, stumbling forward a few steps.
After contemplating for a few seconds, he tried again.
As he continued to practice while walking, the sky gradually darkened.
Suddenly, with a swish, Bardock shot forward a short distance, then swished again, returning to his original spot.
"I finally did it! I've gotten stronger again! Let's see how far I can go with a full-power Soru," he exclaimed, excited to test his limits.
With a loud *boom*, the sound echoed louder than before, and he covered a distance several times farther than his earlier attempt—about 12 meters. Bardock's body was still getting stronger, so who knew how far he could go with Soru in the future?
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Bardock shouted suddenly, his voice sharp and alert. The killing intent coming from the nearby tree roots was unmistakable.
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