"Roman, we've already made up for the training we missed..."
At the back of the Golden Merry, there was an additional white section of the ship. It looked like an extra compartment added to the back of a pickup truck. Of course, this was clearly one of Roman's creations.
"Paper Dance - Training Ground"
Compared to the previous training ground that merely reinforced the ship, this was a real training ground. If it weren't for the fear that the Golden Merry couldn't support it, Roman would have added two more 'training grounds' on either side of the ship.
And now, the entire Straw Hat Pirates: Luffy, Roman, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and even Vivi and Marianne... also known as Miss Golden Week, were all in this 'training ground'. Of course, the ever-diligent 'White Knight' was steering the ship.
Facing Nami's cautious words, Roman waved his hand.
"Training is essential. In this world, physical strength is the foundation of everything. But:"
"This time, the adventure in Little Garden almost wiped us out." Roman's words were harsh but true.
If it weren't for his ability to 'elementalize' his limbs, Zoro might have had to learn from the Golden Lion Shiki and replace his legs with swords, becoming a 'Five-Sword Style' swordsman! What a joyous occasion, what a joyous occasion...
No!
"Of course, in this world, there are all kinds of Devil Fruit abilities, and our opponents aren't mindless monsters, but humans who scheme, outnumber, and overpower. So"
Roman snapped his fingers, and sheets of white paper flew around the training ground, forming puppets. These were simple puppets with torsos and limbs, not 'White Knights'.
"Paper Dance - Minions."
"Hey hey hey, isn't that name a bit too casual..."
Facing Usopp's complaint, Roman shrugged.
"Sorry, with my current strength, creating this many puppets can only reach the level of small fry. But:"
Roman waved to Luffy.
"Stand in the middle of those puppets."
"What the heck,"
Luffy stood among a bunch of white paper puppets, looking bored and almost ready to pick his nose.
"These puppets aren't even enough for me to fight—"
"Of course! I already said this move is called 'Small Fry,' how can you expect them to last a few seconds against you?"
Roman retorted while pointing, and white paper strips flew from his fingers, wrapping around Luffy's head, making him flail his arms and legs.
"Don't tear it off!"
After securely covering Luffy's eyes with the paper strips, Roman nodded to Marianne, the little girl painter with a hat. She first threw 'Focus Gold' onto Luffy, making him look surprised as he suddenly lost his vision. Then she threw red paint onto the paper puppets.
"Hey? Hey! Hey?"
Luffy, with his eyes wrapped in paper, reached out his hands and 'looked' around. It was obvious that his vision was focused on the paper puppets stained with 'Rage Red.'
"Why do I feel like I 'see' several..."
"Luffy, next, I'll let the puppets attack you!"
Roman's voice made Luffy quiet down; he trusted Roman wouldn't do anything pointless.
"But you can only dodge, no fighting back! And no using your Devil Fruit powers."
Without waiting for Luffy to react, Roman immediately controlled the numerous puppets to swarm him, their fists and feet mercilessly striking at Luffy! And since they were just a bunch of paper puppets, their attacks didn't make any 'whooshing' or 'whistling' sounds, making them harder to predict.
"Hahaha, fun, fun~~~"
With the 'Focus' buff, these paper puppets, only at the level of ordinary pirates, were nothing to Luffy. Even with his vision blocked, in Luffy's 'perception,' bright red blobs moved around. This dodging game didn't seem...
"Ah~~~~ Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
Luffy suddenly screamed in pain, like he was stung by a bee: one of the paper puppets with noticeably less red paint had punched Luffy's arm, causing his scream!
"What... what is this..."
Seeing his arm turn red and swollen, Luffy yelled, while Usopp, watching from the side, proudly explained.
"Hmph, this is a 'Pain Puppet' made by combining nettle leaves I collected with Roman's ability."
"These puppets' fists and feet are covered in tiny white thorns. If you accidentally touch them, your skin will turn red and swollen, burning with pain, unbearable! Even for you, Luffy."
"Ah, this..."
Luffy wanted to say something, but the red blobs in his 'perception' swarming again made him shut up, focusing on dodging the 'Pain Puppets' attacks! Even though being hit made his skin red and burning, he gritted his teeth and didn't use his powers or fight back!
"Is this kind of training... really effective?"
Nami and Vivi, watching Luffy get red and swollen all over in no time, crossed their arms, looking sympathetic:
It really looks painful!
"Of course, the advantage of humans is that they know how to use various conditions to train."
Without a good teacher and proper training, how could one become a master?
Luffy's grandfather is the powerhouse Garp; Zoro's teacher is Koshiro, who can cut paper with a sword; Sanji's teacher is the legendary pirate Zeff, who retired from the Grand Line unscathed. Their foundations are very solid, but a solid foundation alone is not enough to survive in the Grand Line, so:
"I've explained the three types of Haki to you before..."
"And Observation Haki can sense the opponent's attacks, even predicting a few seconds into the future."
"Don't underestimate a few seconds; it's enough to avoid many deadly traps!" Roman explained to the others while commanding the paper puppets to attack Luffy.
"Of course, I don't expect everyone to quickly master Observation Haki. After all—"
Even Roman himself hadn't fully grasped it, let alone the occasionally successful Luffy.
"But at least we should quickly learn to distinguish between puppets and real people, and to sense hostility and killing intent. So"
Roman's tone shifted, making the nearby people, especially Nami and Usopp, feel a sense of foreboding...
"After Luffy falls, you will take turns!"
???
"No... no way?"
Usopp was dumbfounded. As someone who helped make the 'pain puppets,' he knew exactly what kind of pain they could inflict:
It was like being stung by bees all over your skin, causing unbearable pain without much damage.
"Do... do I have to too..."
Facing the trembling Nami, Roman nodded matter-of-factly.
"Yes, although we can handle the fighting, it's best for everyone to learn some dodging skills—Vivi, you too."
Can I refuse?!
"Okay, Roman..."
Seeing that Nami couldn't escape, Vivi could only nod tearfully.
As Luffy, swollen all over, collapsed, Zoro, with a few twitches of his eyebrows, untied the bandana from his arm and tied it over his eyes, then boldly stepped into the center of the puppets. Then.
In just a few minutes, another twitching 'fatty' lay on the ground.
"I... I'll go change clothes..."
Nami, whose legs were so weak she had to lean on Usopp to stand, realized for the first time how 'stupid' it was to wear a short skirt! She decided to change into long pants immediately... no, better yet, a padded outfit...
"I... I'll go change too..."
Usopp, drenched in cold sweat, also turned to leave, deciding to put on armor...
Smack, smack!
Two merciless iron hands landed on their shoulders from behind, along with Roman's cold voice.
"It's your turn soon, you're not going anywhere!"
The two despairing faces turned to Roman, their eyes full of pleading, but—
"For fairness, I'll join the training last."
With that, Roman grabbed his shirt collar and tore it into pieces, revealing his perfect muscles.
"Go on, stop dawdling."
I'm shirtless, and you're still not going?
"Roman, you're ruthless—"
In this situation, Usopp couldn't come up with any excuse like 'I have a disease that prevents me from training,' and could only walk tearfully towards the puppets he helped create.
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