"Well, who knows about that!"
Don gave a slight shake of his head.
At the harbor, Don's ship rested quietly in one corner of the dock.
"Finally, no more changing ships!"
Seeing the vessel obediently docked, Robin let out a long sigh of relief.
Ever since joining Don, they had to switch ships every so often.
"When we reach Water 7, we'll have a proper ship built!"
As the most famous shipbuilding city in the Grand Line, Don naturally wanted to have a fine vessel crafted there.
"Indeed. The shipwrights there are renowned!"
Issho—"Smiling"—nodded, clearly having heard about Water 7's reputation.
The three boarded the ship. Robin used her powers to turn the vessel around, gently steering it away from the harbor.
Don handed her the Log Pose pointing toward Little Garden.
Issho sat quietly at the corner of the deck, eyes closed, seemingly unaware of the world.
Robin, on the other hand, used her Hana Hana no Mi ability—dozens of arms sprouted along the sides of the ship, rowing rhythmically.
Don sat beside her, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, lost in thought.
In truth, he had opened his data interface to check his current status.
Upon noticing a change in the description of his Conqueror's Haki, Don's brows lifted slightly in surprise.
The description had changed.
The words "control" and "mastery" had vanished.
[Conqueror's Haki (The Aura That Shakes the World) (Basic Level)]
Did it evolve—or was it transformed?
Could it be that mastering it completely meant finding one's own will?
But as far as Don knew, Conqueror's Haki didn't grow stronger in itself—it merely reflected how deeply one could apply it.
Whether it was Haki Infusion or Intimidation, they were just different manifestations of the same essence.
Then why had the description changed? Was it because of his data system?
His state of mind was still evolving—slowly blending deeper into this world.
Whether that was good or bad, he couldn't say.
Closing the panel, Don turned toward Robin and gently stopped her hand from following the Log Pose.
Robin tilted her head, glancing at the hand resting across her chest, then lifted her gaze toward Issho.
Issho, eyes still closed, breathed evenly—he seemed to be asleep.
"The ship's too small," Issho suddenly said without opening his eyes.
"Even if I wanted to move, there's nowhere to go."
Robin: "..."
"Speaking of which," Don said, "when we reach Little Garden, should we test the strength of the Giants?"
"I've never met one myself," Issho admitted, opening his clouded eyes to face Don.
"But I've heard that once Giants reach adulthood, their power is extraordinary."
"But unfortunately," he added, "their talent is too great—so great that they struggle to grasp certain abilities."
"You mean Haki?"
Issho immediately understood what Don was implying.
"Yes, Haki," Don nodded, curiosity in his tone.
"Their natural strength is already overwhelming, so most Giants don't bother learning Haki at all."
Robin, intrigued, asked, "So there are no Giants who can use Haki?"
"There are some," Don replied, shaking his head slightly,
"but most of them can't. Even animals can use Haki, after all."
"Still," Issho said with a serious expression, "if a Giant could master Haki, that would be truly terrifying."
"Perhaps that's why it's harder for them," Don mused.
Indeed, it was strange.
Armament Haki required strong physical endurance—and Giants were born with it.
If they could channel Haki through such massive bodies, the sight would be monstrous.
Maybe, in the laws of this world, Giants had an inherently harder time awakening it?
Don found the idea worth experimenting with.
He vaguely remembered a young Giant girl who had mastered Haki—something involving Pure Gold, and a Devil Fruit that allowed her to change size.
Touching his chin thoughtfully, he then glanced toward Robin.
She was now in the prime of her youth and beauty.
Perhaps one day, they could go searching for Pure Gold.
Meanwhile, as Don, Issho, and Robin sailed toward Little Garden, reports from the Alabasta desert reached the stationed Marines.
The massive canyon left behind bore the clear signs of a battle between powerful individuals.
And the story of a meteor falling from the sky quickly spread alongside it.
The base commander immediately dispatched units to investigate while sending the report up the chain of command.
Soon, the World Economic News received word from their News Coo couriers.
Though the reporters hadn't captured the moment Don and Issho fought, they had caught glimpses of their figures.
Don's name now appeared on the newsroom's priority watchlist.
His entrance into the Grand Line was already headline material.
Now, with him appearing in Alabasta—and evidence of a devastating clash with an unknown powerhouse—there was no question it would make front-page news.
Marine Headquarters.
Tracking Don wasn't difficult.
He wasn't exactly subtle, and the Marines easily confirmed his landing in Alabasta after checking Rainbase.
They had been monitoring him closely ever since.
"Just as expected—he's entered the Grand Line," Fleet Admiral Sengoku said, rubbing his temples with a weary sigh.
Answering the World Government's constant questions had been exhausting enough.
Especially after the World Economic News had published nearly everything about Don.
Now that he had fought two Marine Admirals and vanished, the Government's pressure only intensified.
Worst of all, they were seriously considering issuing a bounty on him.
After all, the destruction he caused in the North Blue had been outrageous.
The Government might not care about the lost islands—but they did care about anyone capable of destroying them.
"A man like that entering the Grand Line was inevitable," Sengoku said grimly,
"but what worries me more is—who exactly did he fight?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned at the incomplete report.
Don's strength was roughly understood—strong enough to rival an Admiral.
Whoever could match him and leave such devastation behind had to be on that same level.
"That meteor," Sengoku muttered, "was likely the doing of his opponent."
"What kind of power could cause that?"
"The Float-Float Fruit," Tsuru replied without hesitation.
Sengoku blinked, then frowned.
"You mean Shiki the Golden Lion? But he's been off the radar since escaping Impel Down."
"No," Tsuru said slowly, shaking her head.
"I mean the power could do it—but this wasn't the Float-Float Fruit's work."
Sengoku stared at her, narrowing his eyes.
"Then make it clear—what are you saying?"
END OF CHAPTER
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