Chapter 26: The West Sea

With a blink of an eye, the time had come for departure. In front of Shakky's Bar, Bardock had already said his farewells to everyone, with only Hancock remaining for the final goodbye.

"Bardock, are you really not staying?" Hancock asked.

"Hancock, we all have our own paths. Parting is only temporary. As long as we continue to sail the seas, I believe we'll meet again sooner or later."

"Here, a parting gift. Sandersonia, Marigold, and I prepared it for you."

Hancock handed Bardock a package, which he casually accepted. It felt like books. Scratching his head, he said, "As expected of you ladies, so thoughtful. I didn't prepare anything like this. Can I open it?"

"Open it later, along the way."

"Alright then. So, farewell, Hancock, everyone. I'll miss you all. Leo, Mansherry, let's set sail."

"Let's go!"

"Safe journey, Bardock!"

"Mansherry, make sure to come and visit us!"

"Bardock, don't charge into any more storms!"

"Don't jinx it. We're off."

With those parting words, Bardock controlled the ship, lifting it into the sky and quickly disappearing into the distance.

As Bardock and his companions disappeared from view, Rayleigh took out his flask and took a sip. "Bardock's right. We'll definitely meet again. Now, I'll start training you all properly. Your strength is still far from sufficient to survive on the seas."

"Rayleigh, please train us rigorously. We're counting on you!" Hancock said seriously, her face filled with determination.

"Please!" Sandersonia and Marigold chimed in together.

"Don't worry. Just don't give up halfway. Let's move to a more suitable place for training. We can't do much here."

Bardock's ship soon sailed far from the Sabaody Archipelago. He took out the package Hancock had given him and gently opened it. "As expected, it's books. Navigational Skills: From Beginner to Master, West Sea Sailing Guide, Medical Compendium of Drum Island, Knitting Mastery: 108 Knitting Techniques Unveiled, and a nameless manuscript: Nine Snake Haki Training Method. Well, this is…"

Although Bardock had learned about Haki development from Shanks, those were Shanks' personal experiences—based on his own understanding and comprehension of Haki. However, people's constitutions and aptitudes vary greatly, sometimes even more than between humans and animals.

Despite Bardock's short training time, he had already encountered several issues, but he hadn't found any answers. Shanks was currently wandering around the East Blue, so Bardock could only fumble his way through trial and error. Now, just when he needed it most, Hancock's book Nine Snake Haki Training Method came as a lifesaver. It provided a systematic method to develop Haki, specifically designed for the warriors of Amazon Lily, offering a more general and comprehensive approach, which perfectly addressed Bardock's current concerns.

"Mansherry, Leo, time to divide up the gifts!"

"Bardock, what kind of gifts? Something tasty?" Mansherry asked excitedly.

"It's knowledge."

"Huh?"

...

Bardock had two ways to quickly reach the West Sea. One was to fly over the Red Line, crossing the Calm Belt to reach the South Sea, and then cross the Red Line again to get to the West Sea. The other was to first cross the Red Line and then fly directly along it through the Calm Belt to the West Sea.

He ultimately chose the second route since the first would take him near the Navy Headquarters, and it wouldn't be ideal to accidentally run into Borsalino.

The Calm Belt's existence was quite unreasonable. The sea was calm and windless, with massive sea kings swimming beneath the surface. Fortunately, they were flying high above, so there was no need for concern.

Bardock mused, "Do storms just stop when they reach the Calm Belt? What about tsunamis? This seems more and more like the work of a Devil Fruit power. If humans mastered this kind of power, storms and tsunamis would be things of the past."

"The air is moving again. Have we crossed over already?"

Feeling the breeze against his face, Bardock flew the ship forward for a while longer until they were well past the Calm Belt. Then, he lowered the ship to the sea's surface.

"Illusia… Illusia… Here it is. Wow, it's so far."

Bardock flipped through the map, finally locating his destination.

"Leo, Mansherry, let's sail the rest of the way. We can't stay in the sky the whole time."

"That sounds fine."

"I have no objections. It'll give Bardock a chance to practice his navigation skills."

"I do need to learn navigation, but what about training? The Great Sage is a bit too small for that."

"Yeah, Bardock, I barely have any space to move around!" Leo complained, running a few steps before reaching the edge of the ship.

Mansherry remained silent, smiling at Leo. She didn't mind the small ship. In fact, with the ship being smaller, she could see Leo all the time.

"Got it! I can control the Flying Nimbus to fly upward, so naturally, I can make it apply downward force too."

An idea struck Bardock. He wrapped the Nimbus around himself like a blanket and then controlled it to change shape. The Nimbus eventually transformed into a suit of clothes. With a thought, Bardock felt a force pressing down on him.

"Now I've got full-body resistance training covered. Every movement I make will be a workout. But there's only one Nimbus. How can I train all three of us? Leo, you're in charge of lookout duty for now while I work on this ability."

"No problem, Captain."

Bardock restored the Nimbus to its original form, then extended three tendrils. One tendril wrapped around Bardock, gradually transforming into clothing. He let the other two tendrils wrap around Leo and Mansherry.

"Captain Bardock, these clothes are beautiful," Leo and Mansherry said, admiring the cloud-like attire.

"Let's see if you still like them in a minute," Bardock said, applying downward pressure.

"It's so heavy, Captain! I can't move!" Mansherry, who wasn't used to training, quickly struggled under the pressure, and Bardock immediately lessened the force.

"Sorry, Mansherry. From now on, I'll gradually increase the weight. Let me know how you're feeling at any time."

"Okay, Captain," Mansherry responded softly, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Mansherry, there's no need to be embarrassed. You haven't trained yet, and you're a doctor. I don't expect you to fight. The main reason for your physical training is to ensure you have enough stamina to use your abilities and escape in dangerous situations. So, don't push yourself, alright?"

"Understood, Captain."

"Good."

Bardock continued refining the Nimbus-weighted gear. Since the Nimbus was a single entity, he couldn't apply different amounts of pressure to each person. Luckily, he noticed that the amount of Nimbus covering each person determined the force they experienced. Bardock, having the most Nimbus, bore the greatest weight, followed by Leo, and then Mansherry.

To balance stamina and effectiveness, Bardock set the pressure for himself and Leo to twice the normal gravity, while Mansherry had 1.2 times gravity. This meant Bardock and Leo were under double the usual gravitational force, while Mansherry was only slightly above normal.

"That'll do for now. I'll keep improving it later."

"Captain Bardock, there are pirates ahead! They're firing cannons at a merchant ship!"

"Haha, West Sea pirates, huh? Let's get closer."

After speaking, Bardock realized he was the one who had to steer the ship. He glanced toward the battle—since the pirates were after loot, the merchant ship could still hold out for a while. There was no rush, so he awkwardly navigated the ship toward the pirates.