Sniff! Sniff!
Suddenly, Zack's nose twitched. His eyes opened as he instantly stood up. He jumped from the deck to the island and punched the rubbery man who was hogging all the food by himself.
"Invite me to eat!"
Luffy flew out like a cannonball and struck against the mountain. Seeing this opportunity, Zack instantly started eating Elephant Fish Tuna that Sanji had won in Logue Town.
But just when he had eaten a few bites, a punch landed on his head.
"And, you wait for us to sit!"
It was none other than Nami. Only her fist was strong enough to stop him from eating anything. Soon, other Straw Hats and Crocus joined in for the food. Luffy also ran toward the table as he started eating in his unparalleled manner.
"By the way Crocus-San, can you tell us a little bit more about Haki?" Zack suddenly asked.
His words stunned everyone including Crocus. He looked at Zack and asked, "How did you know that I know Haki?"
Zack rolled his eyes and said "Isn't it obvious? Although not all pirates are bad, there are some worse pirates. You stay at this place which is the entry point of pirates."
"Not to mention, you joined a certain pirate group. Without devil fruit power, only Haki allows you to survive in the Grandline. You must be very strong to live here."
"Hahaha! I don't know how you know about me. I am not that strong. I am just a doctor. But, I do know something about Haki." Crocus suddenly laughed which surprised Zack. He was prepared to lie once again but it seems like it wasn't needed.
"Really, Flower-Ojisan?" Luffy suddenly picked interest in this topic. Everyone looked at him with surprise but soon, they realized why.
"You bastard!"
All of them smacked Luffy into the sky. On the table, the entire food was gone. Everyone got distracted by Zack's question that they almost forgot that Luffy was still eating.
"Hahaha!" Seeing the Straw Hats ganging upon Luffy, a picture of a certain pirate came into his mind. Although that pirate wasn't as idiotic as Luffy, his certain behaviors were the same.
Crocus sighed 'Is this the fate Roger? One who inherited your hat…. Will he be that person? I don't know if he will but it wouldn't be bad teaching them something. At least, the journey in the Grandline won't be easy.'
"Ahem!" Crocus made up his mind and cleared his throat. His action made everyone turn their eyes at him.
"Haki is a power system that is mostly seen in the other half of the Grandline. In this half, which is also known as Paradise, normal people can't use Haki."
"But, the threats of Marines in this sea is greater than the other sea. Before even you could make a journey to the other half of the Grandline, they will execute you if you remain weak."
"Current Admirals and some other Marines possess not only the strength training from childhood but also some powerful devil especially the Admirals who possess Logia."
"Of course, at your current state or even after a few years, you might not succeed in fighting against Admirals. But, as long as you don't encounter them, Haki can help you smoothly reach the second half."
At this moment, Nami raised her hand and asked "Crocus-San, if Admirals are so powerful, why do Pirates still exist?"
Crocus shook his head and said "Everyone has their dream. Pirates are free-spirited people. There are a lot of bad ones but no matter whether they are good or bad, they are dead set on their goals."
"As long as you have Will, you can get stronger. Although Admirals might be strong, they still can't defeat some of the most powerful pirates on the seas. While they have the power of strong Devil Fruits, those who have mastered Final Haki regime supreme."
"Pirates have existed for the longest time and they will continue to exist. Anyway, these are the things you shouldn't be worried about. So, let's talk about Haki."
"Since you know about Haki, do you know how many types of Haki are there?"
Zack nodded his head and said "Observation, Armament, and Conqueror Haki."
"Conqueror?" Zoro and others looked at him with confusion since he hadn't mentioned it yet.
Crocus nodded his head and said "Haki is the power that lies dormant in all living creatures. It can be practiced by humans, by fishmen, and even by animals."
"Observation Haki is the sixth sense that allows you to sense the presence, strength, and emotions, as well as see others' movements before they make it. While Observation Haki is passive, it doesn't work if you aren't calm."
"The calmer you are, the better your Observation Haki will be. The best way to train Observation Haki is Blind-Folding Method. You put a blindfold on someone's eyes and then start hitting him."
"Remember, Haki lies within you in the form of a Spiritual Energy. So, it can be tapped into as long as they try hard enough. But of course, you don't have to rush."
"The best way to awaken Haki is by putting your life in life and death situation. Most of the time, you just need the basic knowledge but of course, it can still be awakened on its own if you are lucky enough."
Hearing his words, everyone looked at Zack for a moment. Zack's idea of training Observation Haki was true. And, he was also training it by putting his life on the line.
They didn't notice it till Crocus told them. But, if he had been doing this for some time, has he awakened it?
Seeing their curious gaze, Zack shook his head "I haven't awakened it. When you awaken Observation Haki, you basically see the movement of your opponent. I am feeling it right now."
Crocus was surprised to hear his words.
"It seems like you are very close to awakening it though. While it is true that you will see your opponent's action and presence with the help of Observation Haki, you still need to sense it at first."
"Since you are already sensing your opponent's movement, it seems that you are slowly tapping into Observation Haki."
"Wow!, Zack, you are amazing." Suddenly, Nami wrapped her arms around him and cheered but she quickly realized what she had just done and let him. She didn't blush and tried to control her emotions.
"Zack, you bastard..... I will also awaken the Observation Haki and get the hug from Nami-San." Seeing that, Sanji got all fired up.
"Yosh! I should prepare ten bats for you." Zoro nodded his head and spoke. But, underneath his calm eyes, he was pretty much shaken. Zack was catching up so fast that Zoro felt like he wasn't putting any effort at all.
But, suddenly he clenched his fists.
'Grandline! The sea with the monsters on each island. I must get stronger here. This is the only sea that can challenge me to my limits.'
Zack also noticed his expression and turned his head at Crocus. He didn't learn something new about Observation Haki but Luffy and others did.
"Crocus-San, can you tell us about Armament Haki now?"
Crocus nodded his head and said "Armament Haki is the flow of spiritual energy on your body to create an invisible armor. It not only gives you the offensive advantage but also the defensive powers."
"Unlike Observation Haki, this is very much necessary to fight against Logia since they can't be hurt by normal attacks. There are two ways to train Armament Haki."
"First, you need to train your Observation Haki in order to be master at sensing your spiritual energy. Once you can sense your spiritual energy, you will be able to put it outside your skin and condense it around your body."
"But, you have to remember one thing. Haki is just like stamina. It gets depleted and can refill but unlike Stamina, it gets depleted really quick. In other words, you need to train your body to its absolute limit."
"Your stamina, your endurance, your physical strength must be strong enough to use Haki. Currently, none of you possess such strength or stamina. So before you try to learn Armament Haki, you must train your body to its limit."
At this moment, Zack finally understood what Milhawk truly meant. He released a deep breath and thought for a moment.
'If Armament Haki can only be practiced after one's strength reaches a certain point, why is it easy to use Observation Haki? Wait, is it even possible?'
Zack's eyes widened as he asked "Crocus-San if Haki can get depleted, does that mean even if we use Observation Haki, our Haki will run out quickly."
Crocus nodded his head and said, "While Observation Haki doesn't use Haki like Armament, it does use some of it which means at your current strength, even if you do master Observation Haki, you won't be able to use it for a long time."
"So, first you must increase your strength and then try learning Haki."
"As for Conqueror Haki. I don't know much about it nor I can tell you. The only thing I can tell you is that you need to have Supreme Ambition to awaken Conqueror Haki."
"Without ambition and Will to put your life on the line for your dream, it would be impossible to awaken Conqueror Haki except if you are born with it. But, only very selected individuals possess it. You should never let anyone suppress or destroy your dream to awaken Conqueror Haki."
"And, most importantly, if you want to stand at the top of these oceans if you want to become the Pirate King."
At this moment, Crocus's eyes turned serious as he said "You must have Conqueror's Haki."
At this moment, Luffy's expression got serious as he stared at Crocus. Zack stared at Luffy. At this moment, he wanted to see Luffy's reaction.
In original seriousness, it was only after Ace's death he realized that he needed to be strong enough to become a Pirate King. But now that he found a new requirement to become a Pirate, his mood changed.
"Flower-Ojisan… if I must need Conqueror Haki to become a Pirate, I will awaken it."
Luffys' words stunned Crocus and others for a moment. But, suddenly, Zack let out a smile. He knew Luffy had the Conqueror Haki and he didn't want Luffy to be ignorant about this matter.
There were many times Luffy suffered due to his ignorance. For Straw Hat, it would've worked because of the plot. But for now, Zack knew the butterfly effect will hunt him down.
He was bound to make a lot of changes. So, he must help his captain to face those changes.
Soon after, they started discussing some normal things as two strange things happened. Luffy declared a battle against the whale and Vivi and Mr.9 asked for a ride.
This time, it was simply because Zack picked up the Log-Pose.
"Crocus-San, Zack told me that we have to follow the route island by island to reach the last island in the Grandline. Is it really how it works?" Nami asked.
Crocus nodded his head and said "There are seven starting points from this point forward. Each point has a different route but eventually, all of them will end up at the last island also known as 'Lode Star'."
"Ohhh! Then, what if the next island is something we can't step on?" Nami asked.
Crocus shook his head and said "There is no other way. Either do it or return and choose another route."
Nami fell in distress hearing that as Luffy finally decided to let Vivi and Mr.9 travel with them. At the same time, Zack had already returned to the ship and started training.
"Oi Zack, I just discovered something. Can you help me check it out?" Usopp shouted from the cabin which surprised him. Zack walked inside and saw Usopp in front of a mortar and peso. There was some power in it.
He heard him using it but didn't know why. More importantly, Usopp had always been busy creating a new weapon to stand beside others, so he simply thought he was making something new.
"What's this?" Zack curiously asked.
Usopp picked some of the power and put it on Zack's hand. At first, Zack didn't feel anything but soon, he felt the power sucking his strength at a rapid rate.
He instantly dropped the power on the ground and looked at Usopp with surprise.
"Before you brought one net and two rods so I simply thought they were kinda like metal but after hearing their name, it confused me. If they were called Sea Prism Stone, why would they be metal?"
"So, I asked Zoro's help to cut a small piece of the net. Instead of melting it, I tried grinding. And, look what I found."
Saying so, Usopp proudly took a tattered and broken iron.
"See? This is iron and this is Sea Prism Stone. When you told me about the Sea Prism Stone, I was really into it. I thought about it again and again because I don't understand how you can turn stone into metal."
"The most logical solution would be to merge them. This way the metal will retain the ability of the Sea Prism Stone. Just as I predicted, when I started hammering the iron, some dust fell."
"This dust looked like the crumbled parts of the stone. So, I realized that the marines didn't merge them completely. Just think about it for a second."
"Why would the tip of that Marine Captain's staff contain the power to negate devil fruit but not the whole staff? I found the answer. It's because only the tip of that staff contains this stone in the powder form."
Hearing his words, Zack widened his eyes and asked "So, you mean the Sea Prism Stone can't affect the devil fruit's ability unless it comes in contact within a certain distance?"
"Yep! It works like this. If I create a rod, then I can merge one part of the rod with Sea Prism Stone but it won't affect another part unless I merged the entire it within the entire rod." Usopp nodded his head and explained.
Zack brightly smiled and patted Usopp's shoulder.
"Damn, you are awesome. That means you will be able to create the bullets faster, right?"
Usopp rubbed his nose with a sly smile as he nodded his head.
"Until we reach the next island, I will continue to hammer out more Sea Prism Stone Power. Once we reach the next island, we can start melting some iron, and then I will merge this power within those irons to create bullets."
Zack nodded his head and said "Alright! By the way, I also need a lot of normal bullets. So, don't stress yourself too much. I only need some of the bullets with Sea Prism Stone."
Usopp shook his head and looked at him with glowing eyes.
"Zack, I want to be just like you. Although I am not going to eat any devil fruit, I want to fight like you and become brave."
His words stunned Zack. He never thought that God, the diviner, or the prophet himself wanted to be like him. His eyes almost turned moist. At this moment, his heartbeat was soaring.
'This time, Usopp, I will make you a lot stronger. You will be fighting your dad without any hitch once we meet them.'
"Alright you two, I was searching for you guys. Zack, we are ready to set sail." Nami walked inside the cabin as she spoke to them.
"Oh!" Zack suddenly left the cabin as the ship drifted away. He rushed to the back of the ship and shouted.
"Crocus-San, Goodbye!"
"Laboon, we will give you a big surprise next time we meet."
Zack waved his hands toward both of them as the ship slowly moved toward the horizon.
"What kind of surprise are you thinking off?" Suddenly, a voice rang from behind. Zack didn't even need to turn around to know the person behind him.
"Zoro, do you believe in fate?"
Hearing his question, Zoro tilted his head in confusion as he didn't understand.
"We have a big fate tied with that whale. Hahahaha!"
Zack laughed as he walked toward the front. Zoro just looked at him with confusion.
Zack reached in front of Merry and looked at her head.
"Luffy, our journey has just begun. Don't you think it will be amazing?"
Suddenly, Luffy stretched out his hand and bumped Zack's chest.
"Zack, thanks for convincing me to let you join my crew."
Zack just stood there with confusion and shock as he didn't understand why Luffy suddenly said these words. But on other hand, Luffy raised both of his hands toward the horizon and shouted.
"Let's go!"