Chapter 54

After welcoming Cavendish, Alfred, and the white horse named Farul as the newest members of the Grimheart pirates, the night has swiftly passed.

Now, two more chairs were added to the dining table as Cavendish and Alfred took a spot for themselves.

"Does it really taste good?" Rowan looked puzzled as he watched Cavendish munching onto a rose.

"Why, yes! Rose is perfect sustenance for a royal prince such as myself. No food will ever defeat-"

Cavendish abruptly stopped as he smelt a wonderful aroma flowing out from the kitchen nearby.

Carmen stepped out with exquisite-looking dishes, which were sizzling due to being held under her arms that transformed into fire. Cavendish was bewildered as the rose he was munching onto fell out of his mouth, while Alfred stroked his beard in approval.

"Please, as if a raw flower will ever taste better than a meal made by my pinky toe." Carmen stared at the rose on Cavendish's hand with disdain.

"Royals don't munch on wild plants like animals." Carina shook her head in disapproval. "This is what they do." Putting on a large white napkin around her neck, Carina fluently grabbed the fork and knife that laid in front of her, ready to savor the meal served by Carmen.

Alfred tilted his head in confusion, "Mademoiselle Carina, I apologize for an interruption, but you are not following the etiquette rules in the right way."

"Hm? What did you say?" Carina's smile froze as a dark aura appeared behind her, causing everyone, except for Rowan, to shiver in fear.

Not interested in what goes on around him, Rowan already began his meal, wildly wolfing down the foods without any care. Similarly, Farul, who was sitting on the floor next to Cavendish, threw in the whole mountain of hay into his mouth at once.

'Can we just have a normal meal for once, please?' Dan cried inwardly as he spectated the chaos in front of him.

After their breakfast was completed, the dishes were cleaned and the crew gathered around the deck, resting and enjoying their time.

Particularly, Carina seemed to be counting the stacks of Belis, brought by Cavendish, with eagerness.

"-And so I was exiled from my kingdom for being too popular!" Cavendish said while dramatically posing. "Ah, my devilish handsomeness knows no bounds!"

Dan scratched his head, "That doesn't sound right. All women won't get married unless it's you?"

"Sadly, it is indeed true, monsieur Dan." Alfred said while maintaining his formal and upright posture.

"Then with seventy-four henchmen, Alfred, and my beloved Farul, I set out my journey as the great adventurer, only for my evil side to vanquish all except for Alfred and Farul! Poor souls, and poor me, for I am guilty of such unforgivable wrongdoing, and I am now left with no choice but to forever carry on this guilt for my life..." One drop of tear came out from Cavendish's left eye as he spun like a ballet dancer.

Alfred shook his head in negative, however, "I have already told you, master Cavendish, but it wasn't your fault in the first place. The subordinates were not loyal to you and attempted to take your life when you were out of commission. In a way, Hakuba saved you."

The glow around Cavendish instantly faded as he turned around to Alfred with a dull look.

"Really?" Cavendish asked, and Alfred nodded.

"I see, so that's how you ended up here. Sounds unrealistic, but the Grand Line isn't realistic in the first place." Rowan crossed his arms and voiced out. "So you guys must be quite familiar with the Grand Line, huh?"

"Of course! My country, Bourgeois Kingdom, is located in the second half of the Grand Line, known as the New World!! When it comes to knowledge regarding the Grand Line, you won't be able to find many informants such as Alfred and I!" Cavendish held out his arms wide proudly.

Carina muttered to herself while continuously counting the Belis, "Second half? Grand Line divided into two halves? Makes sense. After sailing around half the globe, we will be facing the Red Line once again. The sea before that Red Line is known as the Paradise, and after it is the New World."

"So you got to here from the New World? Was there a mechanism similar to the Reverse Mountain, that allowed you to travel past the Red Line? How does it exactly work?" Dan asked in curiosity, ready to write the information down in his journal.

"There are two paths that the sailors may take to cross the Red Line, in either direction. One path involves traveling through the upward current like the Reverse Mountain. This path is strictly regulated by the World Government, and requires a specific pass to sail through." Alfred momentarily paused. "The other path involves traveling downwards, deep into the sea, where there lies an underwater island owned by the fish-men. Master Cavendish and I arrived the Paradise using the first path, before master Cavendish became wanted."

Rowan felt conflicted hearing that. 'One below... that might be it. But fish-men...' Rowan's mind replayed the horrendous acts that Arlong and his crew did to his village, and frowned.

"W-water?!" Carmen sighed as she heard Alfred's explanation. Making a dramatic pose, Carmen spoke haughtily, "I hereby suggest that we use the first path!! World Government? They are incompatible against Carmen the Flame Empress!!"

Seeing how everyone's attentions were gathered on Carmen, Cavendish growled in jealousy and made a dramatic pose of his own, "Flame Empress?! No. If anything, I, the White Knight, shall be their doom!!"

"Which one are you?! Royal Prince or White Knight? Stick with one!!" Carmen shouted back comically as she and Cavendish headbutted one another.

Rowan ignored the two and focused on Alfred once more. "How about the pirates? Surely if it's the second half of the Grand Line, they must be stronger, no?"

"I must mention that the pirates in the New World are very dangerous, well beyond the ones that sail in the Paradise." Alfred spoke calmly. "Mainly, the Four Emperors of the sea, Yonko, known as the four strongest pirates in the world, are known to reside in the New World. Even without that, there is one particular ability that differentiates the pirates from the New World with the pirates from the Paradise, known as 'Haki.'"

Rowan's eyes narrowed hearing that. "Haki? Never heard of it before."

"It is the power that stems from one's spiritual energy, the willpower." Alfred's monocle flashed as he grabbed with his hand and adjusted it, "It is mainly divided into three categories.

First, the Observation haki, in which a user gains a sixth sense that feels the presence of one's enemy and surrounding at the very basic level.

Second, the Armament haki, where one's will is physically coated in form of an armor that allows one to strengthen oneself and one's weapon, as well as to injure devil fruit users that are normally intouchable by physical means.

And last, the Conqueror's haki, known as the extremely rare type of haki that only the selected few are inherently born with. I am not sure how this haki works, but I have once seen a user causing the others to lose their consciousness in an instant moment."

Subsequently, Alfred rolled the sleeve of the black suit he was wearing, revealing his right arm. Then, his arm suddenly turned pitch black.

"This is the demonstration of the Armament haki. Right now, I would be able to directly inflict damage upon Mademoiselle Carmen. The gap between knowing and not knowing haki is tremendously huge, and learning it will increase the chance of one's survival by a huge margin."

"Hmm, Armament haki you say? Injure devil fruit users?" Carina cracked a laugh as she turned her gaze to Carmen, who growled and stomped her feet in anger.

"Armament... how would bounce work with or against that?" Rowan was thoughtful after hearing the explanation. 'An armor... simple bounce will no longer be sufficient anymore. The blunt air shots like Bounce Rush will become useless. However,' Rowan took out a bullet from his pocket, 'if I can imbue Armament on the bullet and use Entropic Blast, or use it with Sonic Boom...'

"Yo Cavendish, can you use haki as well- oh hi." Dan froze and shakily smiled as he saw Hakuba-possessed Cavendish staring at him with a devilish smile, before turning his head back with sweat. "Ha, haha... Observation, Armament, and Conqueror were they? So how do we learn them?"

"Haki is... very ambiguous in terms of awakening it. In the end, everything is related to one's spiritual will. The best methods one can attempt to use, involve the use of blindfold for Observation and enduring painful strikes for Armament. But there is no guarantee if one will ever awaken it, just as how being a blind person does not guarantee you to awaken the Observation haki." Alfred calmly explained.

"Master Cavendish has been practicing the haki starting from half a year ago, after master and I departed from the Bourgeois Kingdom. As for me, I have managed to master basic forms of Armament and Observation haki."

"Ha, Armament?!" Carmen pointed her finger towards Carina haughtily, "Doesn't matter if I can dodge all with Observation! Useless!!" Only to shrink back as Carina took out the Seastone cuff.

Prominence continued to rest at the secluded edge of the island and the shiny sun floating above the blue sky brightly. Rowan stood up from the chair, having finished listening to Alfred's explanation.

"With the indefinite amount of time we are given, mastering haki should be one of our most prominent goal; the enemies we face against will only continue to get stronger." Rowan said to all the crew members, who nodded in agreement.

"Hakuba," Rowan turned his gaze to Hakuba-possessed Cavendish, who began to sweat and shake. "Wake Cavendish up. Rest is over, and we are training haki like there is no tomorrow."

Hakuba-possessed Cavendish frantically nodded before his expression faded away. Immediately after, Cavendish woke up from his spot, sighing in relief that nothing happened while he was unconscious.

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"Uh, guys? Are you sure- ow!!" The blindfolded Dan yelped in pain as a small wooden log, which was tied on a rope that was hanged on the mast frame, slammed onto his face.

Lifting the wooden log away from Dan and releasing it once more, Rowan sighed. "Yeah, we are getting nowhere with this. This whole training just seems inefficient. I'd rather do basic exercises like push-ups."

Carmen was having the hardest time in terms of learning haki. Whatever object thrown towards her would be evaded effortlessly, since she unconsciously transforms into fire and burns them into ashes. Her training regime ended up with no progress whatsoever.

In contrast, Carina was dodging the objects with ease even when she was blindfolded, but claimed that she didn't feel anything; she simply dodged by hearing the sounds and feeling the sensations of the wind gushing as the objects were thrown. The exercises were too easy for her to train haki.

Cavendish was crossing his arms with his head turned in refusal, "I said I refuse!! Alfred, I, the former royal prince, do not wish to partake in such a savage training regime!"

"You said it master Cavendish, you are the 'former' royal prince. Now please get here." Alfred said with a gentle smile as his hands held out a blindfold to Cavendish.

"Neigh~!!" Farul cried while raising one of his forelegs, cheering for Cavendish, who pulled on his long blond hair in frustration.