Chapter 653: SFDI - 653
"Damn it!"
Natsu was feeling quite upset because he hadn’t even finished his attack before the opponent ran away.
The others were in a similar situation. Since BIG MOM’s strongest move hadn’t even managed to hurt Drake, the battle naturally had to end here.
Drake keenly sensed that the move "Three Thousand Miles" was definitely not just a matter of a little consumption for BIG MOM; it probably had some special side effects.
The female shadow that suddenly appeared from her body was indeed very eye-catching.
After all, in the original storyline, her secrets were never fully revealed.
What exactly happened during her sixth birthday? How did she obtain Sister Carmel’s Soul-Soul Fruit ability? No one knew the answers.
Meanwhile, on the small island where the two were about to return, the battle there had already reached a stalemate.
The miscellaneous soldiers had already retreated under the previous battles and BIG MOM’s overwhelming Haoshoku Haki impact when she arrived. The main fighting was between Fairy Tail and the officers of the BIG MOM Pirates.
For everyone in Fairy Tail, Devil Fruits and Haki were new and strange powers. But for the members of BIG MOM’s crew, magic and ninjutsu weren’t any different.
So, at the start of the fight, both sides mainly tested each other. Only after understanding each other’s abilities would they begin real combat.
But before the fight could produce a clear outcome, Drake and BIG MOM returned, and the matter was left unresolved.
Watching the Queen Mama Sangha’s ship sail away into the distance, along with the Egg Tart Ships, everyone shared the same mood as Natsu.
This indecisive battle was truly uncomfortable — everyone had suffered losses but hadn’t gained anything in return.
Natsu looked back at Drake and said, "Next time we meet, I will definitely defeat that guy!"
Natsu’s opponent was Charlotte Owen. Both wielded fire and high-temperature abilities, but neither could really overpower the other; even their Taijutsu was evenly matched.
Overall, Owen had the advantage, mainly because of his Observation Haki.
Erza was the most affected by this. She said, "That Haki power is really interesting. I wonder if we can learn it!"
Drake thought for a moment and said, "In theory, Haki is just an application of life force. It doesn’t involve Chakra or other special energies, so we should be able to master it."
"It’s definitely worth trying. Now, the next step is to find a teacher who can guide us in practicing Haki."
Talking about famous teachers in the pirate world, of course, we have Kaido. One strike of the Cherry Blossom, two strikes of the Overlord, three strikes of Devil Fruit awakening — he’s a master who can teach everything, and graduates become Four Emperors!
Drake chuckled silently, dismissing this idea.
When Drake first arrived in this world, he already fought Kaido, but he didn’t see him learn the Three-Color Haki.
So, Kaido’s training should be advanced classes; for basic training, others should be sought.
Drake thought about his connections in the pirate world — he actually had quite a few options.
The first was Wano Country. Of course, he wouldn’t look for Kaido but for Hyougoro, who was imprisoned in the Udon prisoner mines.
Hyougoro was once the extreme yakuza boss of the Flower Capital, known as "Flower Hyougoro." He had a lot of respect from the people of Wano and was regarded as a "Hero" by the citizens.
Of course, he was also one of the top samurai in Wano, or he wouldn’t have become a yakuza boss.
In the original story, Luffy learned his "Flowing Cherry Blossom" from him, so teaching Haki should be no problem.
Drake could easily ask the Shumatsu Kō family for a recommendation. Considering what he had done in Wano, Hyougoro would likely agree.
But Wano was a complicated place, and Drake didn’t leave any good impression there.
And he had other better options.
During the Marineford War, Whitebeard’s crew owed him a lot of favors. With that relationship, asking them to guide his Haki training shouldn’t be a problem.
...
A messenger bird was happily flying when suddenly, a huge shadow blocked out the sun overhead.
The bird lowered its head and saw the enormous bird-shaped shadow on the sea surface, feeling a sense of impending doom.
Its neck stiffened as it looked up, seeing a giant bird with feathers like jumping flames.
The big bird tilted its body, lowered its altitude, and flew beside the messenger bird, making it imagine the worst — that it was about to be eaten.
But at that moment, it saw that there was actually a group of people sitting on the back of the big bird.
Drake waved some banknotes at the messenger bird, which dutifully overcame its fear of the giant bird and moved closer.
The bird took the banknotes with its beak, then pulled out a newspaper from its chest bag and handed it to Drake. Then, it quickly flew off in another direction.
Drake opened the newspaper, wanting to find out what major events had happened recently — Morgan’s World Economy Report was the fastest way to get the news.
It had been over a year since the Marineford War, and the situation in the sea seemed to be growing more chaotic.
In the original storyline, Whitebeard and Ace died in the war, and the Marine victory over the Four Emperors was unquestionable. The Marines aimed to prove their ability to dominate the sea, hoping to intimidate ambitious pirates seeking fame in the age of pirates.
But no one expected Whitebeard’s final words to trigger a complete upheaval of the era.
This time, Whitebeard’s full retreat left the Marines even more overwhelmed. Everyone knew the Marines could no longer control this era.
So, new pirates began rising faster. Drake saw several news reports of pirates attacking Marine bases.
Once, pirates wouldn’t attack the Marines voluntarily — that was the job of the Revolutionary Army!
It could only be said that these rookies were crazy, trying to gain fame at an even faster pace.
Correspondingly, the Marines had become even more aggressive. One news report showed a photo of Admiral Akainu Sakazuki returning, standing on a pile of various pirate flags.
Strangely, in the original storyline, Sengoku retired after winning the Marineford War. But this time, he lost, yet he sat firmly in the Marshal position with no news of replacement.
It seemed that now, both the Marines and the Five Elders needed Sengoku to clean up the mess, rather than leaders like Akainu, who were more aggressive.
Unlike the chaotic overall situation, the New World, which was originally the most dangerous sea area, was surprisingly quite peaceful.
Probably because the Marineford War proved the strength of the Sea Emperor, so the New World they suppressed was so calm.
But for true ambitious people, the Four Emperors didn’t scare them.
Luffy became famous because of his activity in the Marineford War, and during his retreat to train, the Supernovas of his generation didn’t want to be left behind.
News of Kid burning the Red Hair Pirates’ flag and Urouge entering the Wano Sea was prominently displayed in the newspapers.
Drake couldn’t help but feel a bit troubled—there was no mention of the Whitebeard Pirates in the newspapers at all. Looks like it will take some effort.
Remember, the last time they parted ways, he already took the Life Paper with him.
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