Their strengths weren't far apart, which told Jin something else too. From them, you could take a measure of the Flower Kingdom's depth.
Like Wano, the Flower Kingdom had sealed itself off. Outsiders rarely set foot within its borders. That suited Jin. If the Eight Treasures Navy were willing, they would make a fine "go-between."
He had no blood feud with them and no wish to make one. A beating did not have to become enmity. He had salvaged what needed salvaging and swallowed what needed swallowing. The devil carrier eased to a halt. The waves lay smooth and quiet, as if nothing had happened.
Jin flicked a glance at the ship's interface.
[Primary Authority: Captain Jin]
[Hull Data: length 48 m, beam 22 m, height 12.6 m, weight 150 t, internal space 2.5 × 1.2 × 0.5 km]
[Abilities: Munch-Munch, Fungus-Fungus, Candy-Candy, Hell Red Serpent, Silence, Triceratops, Bomb-Bomb, Earth-Earth, Spring-Spring, Bronze-Bronze, Kraken]
[Weapons: great guns 56, heavy cannons 325, firearms 12,068, cold steel 564]
[Crew: Bartholomew Kuma (chef), Sir Crocodile (bosun)]
[Next Evolution Requirements: Soul Crystals 3562/2000, high-grade steel 50,000 t/2000 t, gold 13/10 t, silver 37/30 t, rare earths 368/300 t, active matter 6/10]
Perfect. More soul crystals than he needed, and plenty left over. The other materials had been trickling in from pirate holds all along. Active matter was only four units short. If he counted the Castle-Castle Fruit slated to be stripped from Bege, then he was only three shy.
Not too many. Not too few. Just right.
Half an hour later, Jin identified himself openly as a king from a World Government member nation and was met by a recovering Chinjao with courtesy rather than a grudge. Jin even returned part of the seized stores and the bodies of the Eight Treasures' men. Gratitude followed quickly.
Chinjao, broad of chest and generous of spirit, bore no hatred despite defeat. When he heard Jin wanted to tour the Flower Kingdom, he agreed to help without fuss. Wine flowed. Talk warmed.
"By the way," Chinjao said, squinting over the rim of his bowl, "that punch of yours reminded me of an old foe. A Marine vice admiral. Monkey D. Garp."
"I trained under Garp," Jin answered.
Chinjao's hand paused. His whiskers stirred. Jin hurried to add, "He mentioned you to me. Said you were one of the strongest opponents he'd ever faced."
"Oh?" Chinjao's eyes narrowed. "That braggart said that?"
He remembered Garp all too well. One punch had caved in his head and stolen the key to his treasure vault. Once, Chinjao had buried his hoard beneath a diamond-hard peak of jade ice that only his pointed skull could pierce. Now he stared at the mountain and sighed. Like marrying a goddess and being gelded the next morning. How could a man not grind his teeth?
Among the Eight Treasures Navy, the story had long since become a dinner joke.
"I've heard your tale," Jin said. "Perhaps I can try. If I can split the treasure ice, you can open the trove."
His punch had not restored Chinjao's pointed scalp. Luffy had managed it, but Jin suspected that had been a freak meeting of Haki and the Gum-Gum Fruit, a burst of awakening without intent. Otherwise how could a dent become a spike? It wasn't exactly scientific.
Then again, trying to apply science to pirates was the least scientific thing of all.
"You?" Chinjao rumbled. "Your Haki and potential are great, but that mountain won't yield to brute force. You need technique. All strength focused into a needle point. Like driving a nail. The strike must break from within."
He lifted a finger and held it an inch from the mast. With a soft hiss the fingertip punched through the wood without touching it.
"Think of it this way. A good hammerer lands one blow and the nail sinks flush. That's living power. If you beat it stiffly, the nail bends and won't bite. Hitting people is the same."
"Fast, precise, ruthless. Learn it and even a master of Armament Haki can't stop it."
Jin watched carefully. So that was it. Garp's odd, non-Ryuo body blows that hurt like blazes without visible damage were born from this idea. Armor-piercing force.
"There is another," Chinjao said. "Seepage force. From the outside it seems nothing, but inside the damage blooms. The two together open the jade ice."
Jin's eyes lit. He had climbed the Haki ladder mostly by feel and grit. Garp's training had fixed his basics and corrected his striking, but it had been battle-first instruction. It fit him then. Now he had reached a plateau, and Chinjao's words were a window flung wide.
Haki was power, but nations and masters shaped that power with different arts. Marine body arts, Fish-Man Karate, the Eight Treasures' Eight Impact Fist—all could be braided into Haki.
Of course, nail force and seepage were advanced refinements. How much a person drew from them would vary. That was fine. He would ask, and he would learn.
Out of a quiet pride, Chinjao was more than willing to demonstrate his craft to the young man who had studied under Garp. He taught on the spot. Nail force. Seepage force. Fingers, knuckles, the chain of muscle and will that carried them.
Jin learned quickly. He already had his own framework for channeling Haki. With Chinjao's guidance, the pieces clicked in place. In a single day he grasped the entry forms.
Chinjao was startled. Sai and Boo were floored. It sounded simple. Most men would need ten or twenty years of hard labor to touch it. Law and Reiju listened on the side and could not catch hold of the thread at all.
When Jin had it, Chinjao took him to the jade ice mountain. Law eyed the glass-smooth face and, for a moment, wondered if his ROOM could cleave it. In theory, yes. The cut ignored hardness, material, distance. Only the Haki field of a stronger will could warp the space and resist it. But then he imagined Chinjao's face if he parted the vault like a clementine and decided to keep his hands in his pockets.
On the crown of ice, Jin breathed, let his aura roll, and raised his Armament-hardened fist. He swung.
Haki gathered on his knuckles and shaped itself into a sharp cone. It speared into the layer that even blades could not cut.
A crystalline ping rang. Then the Haki that had seeped within cleaved and spread like invisible knives.
Cracks leapt outward. The line widened. The mountain shuddered.
With a thunderous roar the jade ice split.
"It cracked. It's opening!"
Sai and Boo shouted. Chinjao folded his arms over his chest, satisfaction warm in his eyes, a sliver of sourness behind it. Garp had learned his piercing trick during their own duel all those years ago. If not for that shaved skull, where would Chinjao stand today?
But when the treasure glittered into the light, his eyes went wet. My money. All my money.
Treasure regained, the Eight Treasures Navy erupted. Songs, dances, wine, drums. Joy shook the shore.
"In the Flower Kingdom there are men stronger than I," Chinjao said later. "Each rules a corner. Each wields Haki his own way. Nail force and seepage are two among many. If you plan to study, I can have my grandsons guide you inside."
He paused. "But the realm is not calm. Beyond the land dispute with Bosa, there are rebels in the hills."
Jin nodded. "I'm there to learn. I won't meddle."
"That's not what I meant. I mean do not show your royal status. Rebels strike at crowns."
"Understood."
The Flower Kingdom was modeled on an ancient land. Officials rode in palanquins. The wind smelled of lacquer and ink. People were sorted into four classes. Nobles walked dogs and birds for amusement while commoners went hungry.
Jin's purpose was only to travel and study. He would call on the local masters, sharpen his Haki, and leave the politics to men who craved them.
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