"Northwest, about forty meters from here, and southeast, about fifty meters."
Xia Qiu carefully sensed the figures around him. After a month of training, his Observation Haki had improved slightly and become more precise.
During this month of constant use and refinement, Xia Qiu could feel that the energy in his mind had increased significantly. The improvement was slow, but it was indeed growing.
The control of Observation Haki manifested in two ways: reduced Haki consumption for the same task and more fluid control.
The former allowed Xia Qiu to emit Observation Haki in all directions, reaching a maximum distance of fifty meters, and maintaining it for a considerable time at short distances.
The fluid control, on the other hand, allowed him to direct Observation Haki towards a specific direction.
For example, if he only focused on the surroundings and ignored the perception of above and below, he could reach nearly a hundred meters.
If he focused on a single direction, he could reach one hundred and fifty meters in any of the four cardinal directions, two hundred and fifty meters behind him, and nearly four hundred meters in front.
This was determined by the area being scanned; the larger the area, the fewer directions could be scanned.
If he only scanned a very small area to the left and right, the distance could reach three hundred to four hundred meters.
This greatly expanded Xia Qiu's perception range.
Of course, this was for active probing and required sufficient calmness.
A characteristic of Observation Haki is that one must remain calm.
For instance, Aokiji dodged Whitebeard's attack by sensing it in advance and dispersing, yet he was still pierced by the sword, though unharmed.
However, when Aokiji was collided with by Jozu, he was hit directly and spat blood because he lost focus.
Similarly, Katakuri, being too enraged and unable to remain calm, could not dodge Luffy's attack.
Therefore, maintaining calmness is essential.
The drawback was that Xia Qiu's Observation Haki was limited and quickly depleted. His self-training was time-consuming and slow to progress, so he still needed to hunt down strong individuals who possessed Observation Haki.
Next was Armament Haki.
Xia Qiu's Armament Haki had increased significantly through training, but the improvement was limited.
However, after training, he could control Armament Haki relatively freely and minimize its consumption as much as possible.
His Armament Haki could cover both legs with a certain level of strength, but it would be consumed during impacts.
Therefore, he had to reserve some Armament Haki for consumption. If he infused one leg or an entire tentacle with Armament Haki, it could support about three minutes of moderate impact.
If he concentrated the Armament Haki only below the knees of his legs and half of his two tentacles, it could support about five minutes.
His head's ramming horn, dorsal fin, and tail could support it for six minutes, while his teeth varied depending on the intensity of the infusion.
The duration was not long.
It was a bit insufficient for a battle.
This was due to his excessive size; a body length of sixty meters was simply too massive.
A single leg of his was larger than the area Luffy covered with Armament Haki in Gear Fourth, although the latter had higher intensity and consumed more Haki.
Furthermore, the impact strength, reinforcement level, and resistance varied, leading to different Haki consumptions.
However, with training, Xia Qiu could now infuse only a portion of Armament Haki and combine it with his own defenses to enhance his durability.
In addition, Observation Haki could help him utilize Armament Haki more effectively.
If an enemy attacked a specific part of his body, Observation Haki could detect it, allowing him to apply Armament Haki only to that area.
Therefore, the next step was to simultaneously utilize both abilities.
As Xia Qiu pondered this, the door suddenly opened, and Zala walked in. "President, Vivi is here."
"Let her in," Xia Qiu said softly, looking towards the door. Vivi entered the room.
She walked up to Xia Qiu and said, "Mr.0, the Seastone cage you asked me to find a few days ago has been found and is on the ship. However, the Seastone handcuffs were not found."
"It's fine if there are no Seastone handcuffs; the cage is enough," Xia Qiu nodded. Crocodile had a cage made of Seastone. After he killed Crocodile, his office was flooded. Because it was in the middle of a lake and there were Banana Crocodiles inside, ordinary people didn't dare to approach, nor was there a need to clear out the Banana Crocodiles. So, except for the Raindinners Casino near the shore, which was dismantled, the office remained underwater.
The Seastone cage was crucial for his second phase of the plan. Therefore, Xia Qiu had asked Vivi to search for the Seastone cage in the lake in the Rain Country and to see if there were any Seastone handcuffs. He only found the Seastone cage, which was sufficient for him.
Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said, "You must have put in a lot of effort this time, right?"
"This time, six hundred soldiers were mobilized, along with five members of the Bird Claw Unit. Poison and explosives were used to kill all the Banana Crocodiles. After that, we searched for six days before finding the Seastone cage," Vivi replied.
"I appreciate your trouble," Xia Qiu said calmly. "However, I won't give you payment this time. The Seastone cage has great use for me. When I gain benefits from it, I will share a portion with you, worth much more than what you've put in."
Vivi asked curiously upon hearing this, "President, what do you need a Seastone cage for? It's effective against Devil Fruit users. Are you planning to deal with one?"
Xia Qiu glanced at her and said, "Knowing too much is not good for you."
"Alright," Vivi shrunk back slightly.
Xia Qiu continued, "I need you to use Alabasta's official resources to help me find Seastone, Seastone handcuffs, bullets, and weapons. This time, I will purchase them at black market prices."
In fact, Seastone is controlled by the Government, making it extremely difficult to produce. It's priceless on the black market.
In the original story, besides the Marines, the only other known users of Seastone, aside from the Marines and Shichibukai, were Bege. Zefa was originally a Marine as well.
Given Baroque Works' strength, acquiring Seastone would be far too difficult.
Vivi said helplessly, "Wouldn't that just give you more ways to restrain me?"
"If I want to kill you, why would I need Seastone?" Xia Qiu said coldly.
Vivi sighed and said, "I will do my best."
"Then go."
Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said, "Keep training yourself. I need you to become stronger."
"I will."
Vivi nodded, turned, and disappeared into the distance.
After she left, Zala walked in. Xia Qiu said, "Find some people and modify Island Number Three according to my plan."
With the Seastone cages in place, the second phase of the plan could be implemented.
...
Grand Line, New World.
"Father, Father, I went out to battle with Captain Ace and Captain Satch earlier, and I got a Devil Fruit."
Nami held up her hand, a pale purple Devil Fruit in it.
"Gurararara, Little Nami's luck is truly amazing," Whitebeard said with a smile.
"That's right!" Nami said with a proud smile.
Beside them, Marco said, "Nami, according to our Whitebeard Pirates' rules, this Devil Fruit is yours. You can eat it."
"I don't want to."
Nami shook her head and said, "If I eat a Devil Fruit, I can't swim. I don't want to become like that."
A voice sounded from not far away, "Since Nami doesn't want it, give it to me. I'm still missing a Devil Fruit."
"Captain Satch?"
Nami looked into the distance and huffed, "A Devil Fruit is worth 100 million. How can I just give it to you for free?"
Satch smiled and said, "Okay, I can give you 100 million Belly."
Hearing this, Nami's eyes darted around. "No, 100 million is the black market price. You have to give me at least 110 million, no, 120 million."
"Nami, you really do love money," Ace said helplessly from not far away.
"Fine."
Satch smiled and said, "But Nami, you can't raise the price anymore."
"That's hard to say. What if someone offers a higher price?"
Nami hugged the Devil Fruit and said slyly, "So you need to pay quickly."
Satch shrugged and said, "Okay, I'll go prepare the money. I should have it for you in about two days."
"Mhm, mhm."
Nami, thinking about the money she was about to receive, couldn't stop smiling. She hugged the Devil Fruit and ran towards the ship's cabin.
"Is that the Dark-Dark Fruit?"
Not far away, a figure watched Nami with surprise in their eyes. "She actually got it. This is killing two birds with one stone."
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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