[Ding! This system does not offer credit or discounts.]
The system's response was cold and merciless, instantly crushing Kane's fantasy.
"Tch, such a money-grubbing system."
Kane mentally flipped it off. Since he couldn't afford to pay, he'd have to pay with his body instead.
The afternoon sun was scorching, the deck radiating the smell of heated pine tar.
In a corner, a group of Marines were gathered furtively in the shadows, their eyes darting between Kane and Garp.
"Place your bets! I bet Lieutenant Kane can learn it in three days! He's the monster who awakened Armament Haki after just four days of getting beaten up!"
"Three days? You're underestimating Vice Admiral Garp's fists! Observation Haki requires mental cultivation, it has nothing to do with physical strength! I bet five days!"
"Wasn't that just luck? Lieutenant Kane may be tough, but he doesn't seem... too bright. I bet a week!"
Bogard leaned in the shadows, listening to his subordinates' chatter without intervening, silently noting down these brats' names in his little notebook—their training would be doubled later.
At the center of the deck.
Kane had a thick black cloth blindfolding him, his hands behind his back, trembling like a condemned man awaiting execution.
"Ready, kid?"
Garp's voice came from all directions, elusive and unpredictable.
"Vice Admiral, can we make a deal? Could you not hit my face? I barely recognize myself in the mirror these days..." Kane made a last-ditch attempt to negotiate.
"Enough nonsense! Will enemies on the battlefield spare your head because you're handsome? You have to see with your mind!"
Kane took a deep breath, his body tensing slightly.
With his vision deprived, his other senses did become somewhat sharper. The sound of waves hitting the hull, the cries of distant seagulls, even the Marines swallowing their saliva became clearer.
But he knew none of that was useful.
"Begin!"
Before the words faded, a sudden sense of danger prickled his scalp.
Kane instinctively tried to dodge left, but before he could even process the thought, a sharp pain exploded on his right cheek.
"Thud—!"
Kane was sent flying sideways, tumbling three times across the deck before stopping.
"Too slow! Too dull!"
Garp stood in place, still holding half a pack of Rice Crackers, not even having moved his feet, "Don't listen with your ears! Sound can deceive! Sense the aura! Sense the malice!"
Kane rubbed his face as he got up, a thousand curses running through his mind.
Sense my ass!
You've completely reined in your aura, not even a hint of killing intent when you throw a punch! What is there to sense!
But he didn't give up.
His Violation Value balance was already below 100,000. This time, he truly couldn't pay to save himself—he had to rely on his own ability.
"Again!" Kane shouted.
Just as the force of Garp's fist came at him once more, in his state of extreme tension, a sudden flash of insight struck Kane's mind.
Wait.
Who am I?
I'm the Storm Man! The man who ate the Natural Logia Storm Fruit!
Whenever an object moves, it compresses the air, it creates wind.
Even if Garp's fists were swift, even if his movements were concealed, as long as he moved within this material world, he would inevitably disturb the airflow!
"Storm Domain... activate!"
Since I can't see you, I'll turn the entire deck into my "vision"!
Kane adjusted his breathing, positioning himself as a still eye of the storm, straining to perceive the subtlest flows of air around him.
"Hah..."
In an instant, the world transformed in his perception.
The darkness of sight was replaced by a three-dimensional network woven from countless streams of air. The vortices formed by sea winds brushing past masts, the warm air masses expelled by Marines' breathing, the faint breezes seeping through deck crevices...
And...
A terrifying human-shaped vacuum was moving at high speed!
"Over there! Forty-five degrees to the right rear!"
Kane's head jerked sideways in an eerily unnatural motion.
Whoosh—!
A powerful fist wind grazed his scalp, tearing away several strands of hair yet missing his head entirely.
"He... dodged it?!"
The Marines running betting pools in the corner stared wide-eyed, the bookie scattering Berry coins across the deck.
Even Garp uttered a soft "Oh?" pausing mid-bite of his Rice Cracker.
"A fluke?"
Garp raised an eyebrow, vanishing instantly to reappear behind Kane, delivering a kick toward his backside.
Air compressed!
Lower rear, airflow disrupted!
Before Kane's brain could process the information, his body followed the air currents' guidance, drifting forward like weightless falling leaves to narrowly evade the sneak attack.
"It wasn't a fluke!"
Bogard's pencil snapped audibly, his eyes wide with shock behind his sunglasses: "Twice now! He truly predicted the Vice Admiral's movements! And in just half a day!"
"Quite interesting..."
Garp's grin widened, radiating the excitement of a hunter discovering premium prey. "Developing your fruit ability into a perception radar? Quite clever indeed. But..."
"What if the storm itself can't keep up with this old man's speed?!"
Garp's figure vanished completely.
Boom—!
The atmosphere on the deck seemed instantly vacuum-sealed.
Kane felt his clear airflow network collapse abruptly!
The disturbances were too numerous and rapid! Fists everywhere, that old man's afterimages everywhere! Impossible to distinguish real attacks from lingering traces!
"Don't get cocky! Observation Haki isn't just radar! It's foresight!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Though Kane detected the air currents, his body couldn't match that terrifying frequency!
"Seeing but unable to evade—doesn't that make you more desperate?! Puhahahaha!"
"Aaaaaah! Don't hit the face! I still need it to make a living!"
The following hour witnessed a brutal "blind men describing an elephant" spectacle on deck. Kane tumbled through the air like a ragdoll in a spinning washer, kicked relentlessly by Garp.
Pain.
Excruciating pain.
Yet within this extreme pressure, this despair of his fruit ability failing completely, Kane was driven to the cliff's edge.
Don't want to spend money! Don't want to get beaten anymore!
This intense obsession purged all distractions from his mind.
Gradually, amidst the furious barrage of fists, Kane sensed a new power budding within him.
Something beyond airflow perception, more profound and mysterious.
It was intuition.
It was the body's most instinctive warning of danger, forged through countless beatings.
One second before the next attack arrived, a blurry image flashed through Kane's mind—
A fist would strike his left rib!
Without conscious thought, Kane forcefully twisted his waist mid-air, raising his right hand as if guided by divine inspiration.
Black Armament Haki instantly covered it, precisely blocking his left rib.
Boom!!!
This time, he wasn't sent flying. Instead, his feet plowed across the deck for over ten meters before he came to a steady stop.
He blocked it.
The moment Garp threw his punch, he had already "seen" it!
Kane tore off the sweat-soaked blindfold, revealing eyes that, though bloodshot, shone with an intense light.
[Ding! Congratulations, host! Under extreme violent pressure, you have successfully awakened [Observation Haki (Basic)] on your own!]
[Achievement reward obtained: Violation Value +10,000 points!]
"Ahahahaha!"
Kane couldn't help but burst into wild laughter, not caring that it tugged at the wounds on his face.
Saved a hundred thousand! And even earned ten thousand!
This beating was worth it!
"Huff... huff..." Kane gasped for breath, looking at Garp opposite him, who was happily munching on a fresh bag of rice crackers. Despite the excruciating pain all over his body, his eyes were filled with gratitude. "Thank you for your guidance, Vice Admiral!"
"Tch. Even if you cheated earlier, that last bit was the real deal."
Garp tossed the last rice cracker into his mouth, brushed the crumbs off his hands, and gave a rare piece of positive feedback.
"Now, you'd barely not be considered cannon fodder in the New World."
Kane was just about to complain about what kind of compliment that was.
Suddenly.
Brr Brr Brr... Brr Brr Brr...
The golden Den Den Mushi in Bogard's arms suddenly began ringing frantically. The urgent ringing instantly froze the atmosphere on the ship.
Garp frowned and reached out to take the receiver.
"Moshi moshi, this is Garp. If that Sengoku guy is going to nag about doughnut reimbursements again, tell him I'm not here."
"GARP!!! What kind of time is this, you bastard? You still have the mood for doughnuts?!"
Sengoku's hysterical roar came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, so loud that one could almost feel the spray of saliva through the receiver.
More importantly, Kane keenly heard the chaotic alarm sounds and angry shouts in the background noise of the call!
Something big had happened!
Kane's heart skipped a beat.
"Wherever you are! Head to the Edd War waters in the New World at full speed immediately!"
Sengoku's voice carried an unprecedented gravity.
"Latest intel! Shiki the Golden Lion has gathered all the fleets under his command!"
"He's intercepted the Roger Pirates in the Edd War waters of the New World!"
"Those two madmen... are about to go to war!!"
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