Chapter 34: Rusukaina
Titan, two years older than Hades, was also a true monster, especially after eating the Taotie Fruit.
Facing Shakky, he likewise couldn't use his Devil Fruit ability, otherwise Shakky might truly not be Titan's opponent.
Currently, Shakky could still contend with Titan using her own combat experience.
His steel-like physique seemed armored, possessing powerful monstrous strength capable of easily breaking the sound barrier.
Bursting air accompanied every swing of his fists. He hadn't yet awakened Observation Haki, but his Armament Haki had already awakened a year ago.
Every attack Shakky made, imbued with Armament Haki, felt like hitting a wall.
Her more flexible body also continuously troubled Titan.
Compared to Titan, who hadn't yet awakened Observation Haki, even though Titan possessed astonishing explosive strength, he ultimately appeared somewhat clumsy compared to Shakky.
Titan was panting heavily, his stout body had thinned down a bit, covered in sweat as if shedding a layer of oil.
Compared to the intense battle with Shakky, facing Nyx was incredibly dangerous.
Spikes formed from shadow appeared and disappeared unpredictably; he needed to constantly evade them. Even being a step slow could result in serious injury.
Unlike anomalies like Hades, who was born with awakened Observation Haki, awakening Observation Haki is much more difficult than Armament Haki.
For training Observation Haki, Titan wasn't starting from scratch, nor did he need to train blindfolded.
Instead, he had a certain training foundation but hadn't been able to awaken it, lacking a catalyst.
On the Great Sea, the awakening of Observation Haki often occurs between life and death.
Nyx aimed to achieve this effect, further stimulating Titan to awaken Observation Haki.
The powerful vitality of a Mythical Zoan and the Gluttony trait of the Taotie meant that even fatal heavy injuries could be quickly recovered from by eating, as long as he still had a breath left.
Under such pressure, combined with Titan's wild beast-like intuition, he successfully awakened Observation Haki, though it was still somewhat inconsistent.
After a period of refinement, he would be able to master it skillfully.
His overall combat strength also saw a significant improvement.
With Shakky and his mother Nyx as training partners, Hades' powerful bloodline erupted with terrifying potential.
The exhilaration brought by continuously increasing strength made Hades addicted. Ignoring the covert provocations and temptations from the Nine Snake Pirates warriors, Hades threw himself completely into it.
A month later, the Nine Snake Pirates returned to Amazon Lily.
Before this, the pirate ship docked at the shore of a Beast Island, dropping off Hades, Titan, and a few others.
"You will stay on this island to train from now on. We will regularly send over some supplies and food."
Shakky said this to Hades and the others, left a batch of supplies, then boarded the "Perfume Yagara" and sailed away from Beast Island.
Rusukaina is the name of this Beast Island.
It is also the island where Luffy and Rayleigh will train in the future.
In the ancient era, there were still kingdoms on this island, but humanity ultimately lost to the terrifying nature, either dying or leaving the island.
Only those giant and terrifying wild beasts remained.
Because of this, the wild beasts on the island and the unique change of forty-eight seasons a year became the best trial grounds.
The wild beasts of the Kronos Kingdom were completely incomparable to the wild beasts on this island.
Especially since these wild beasts had all independently awakened Armament Haki, their physical strength was further enhanced under the tempering of Haki.
From afar, Hades could hear the roars of giant beasts. In the distant sky, he could also see Pterodactyls spreading their wings, a pair of sharp claws dripping with blood. Even in the shadows, wild beasts were already eyeing them.
The harsh environment, however, excited Hades. People always needed to push themselves; being too comfortable made growth impossible.
"Let's go. For the next two years, we will live on this island. First, let's conquer this island."
Hades strode forward, clenching his fists tightly. He was very satisfied with this island.
Even though he had already formed a systematic body technique, it was still slightly rough. He would thoroughly perfect his body technique on this Beast Island.
High in the distant sky, the Pterodactyl's sharp gaze had locked onto him, seeing him as a delicious prey.
Spreading its wings across the long sky, the Pterodactyl swooped down, rushing towards Hades and the others like a cannonball.
Hades slightly raised his head, staring intently at this Pterodactyl. Currently, he no longer used Observation Haki constantly. After his mother's guidance, he decided to break free from his reliance on Observation Haki.
In reality, he understood the principle, but using Observation Haki had long become his instinct. Constantly using it had caused him to overlook this point.
Furthermore, during training, his Observation Haki allowed him to "see" the internal condition of his body, similar to introspection, enabling him to identify deficiencies and make subtle adjustments.
Therefore, Hades' body technique could be considered very profound on the Great Sea.
Hades raised his hands, wrists slightly bent backward, fingers skillfully striking the air like playing a piano.
With astonishing control and explosive strength, he condensed his strength to a single point. Streaks of "lasers" appeared, shooting towards the descending Pterodactyl from the air at extremely high speed.
From afar, it looked as if Hades could shoot lasers from his hands.
This kind of technique made even Nyx somewhat astonished upon seeing it. Her son was so young, yet his body technique had already reached such a level, which she couldn't compare to.
Just in terms of control over strength, Hades had already surpassed the vast majority of pirates on the Rocks Pirates.
After all, for many pirates, body technique was just using certain techniques to unleash stronger explosive strength and execute powerful moves.
It seemed Hades had truly grown up. In the years she wasn't present, Hades had also achieved astonishing growth, not as simple as he appeared on the surface.
He hadn't even used his full strength in the battle with Shakky.
(end of chapter)