Battle Against Marines Part 2

[White Screen]

Puff!

A massive amount of smoke burst out and covered Liam and himself. Under this smoke, Liam and Smoker quickly ran away together. After they reached quite far away, Smoker finally walked closer to Liam and asked.

"So, what's the reason?"

He didn't like beating around the bushes. The only reason why he came this far was that he was curious about Liam's idea.

"You know me quite well, Smoker." Liam smiled and then continued.

"Actually, I don't want to fight Marines. But this time, I have a reason. You see, I planned to train with our crew on this island for a while. But since the marines have already arrived, we can't simply leave, can we?"

"My goal was to train our crew. Now, the opportunity was presented in front of us. So, how could we simply give up? But, don't worry, we won't kill these marines. By the way, I want to ask something as well."

"Did those guys contact you about the disappearance of those agents?"

Smoker immediately understood his intention and he was quite angry about this. Although he didn't hate Straw Hat Pirates, it didn't mean he won't try to catch them.

Not to mention, he would hate them even more if they attack the Marines. But, he was also helpless about this. After all, Liam wasn't someone who would easily compromise.

Since they were planning on training, they had a reason to stay behind and fight the marines. And, from Liam's tone, he knew that if they are successful, they will definitely get stronger.

He didn't want his marines to become pirates' whetstone. But, he couldn't do anything about it.

Finally, he shook his head.

"For the sake of those notes, I don't care about this. As for your previous question, no, they didn't. It seems like it was extremely secretive or maybe it was simply a coincidence that those CP agents were present there and the reason why they made a move was that I cooperated with you."

Hearing his words, Liam felt something amiss but he didn't know what exactly. He shrugged his shoulders and said.

"Alright then, let's have a small battle."

He clenched his fist and thrust it forward. But, his fist pierced through Smoker's body and Smoker quickly tried to reorganize his body to capture Liam's hand.

"Tch! Don't underestimate me." Liam quickly used Shave and backed away.

"Aren't you going to use that trick?" Smoker was surprised by his approach. The only reason why he didn't want to fight Liam was because of his ability. This ability instantly increases his strength, allowing him to use Armament Haki.

But seeing that Liam wasn't using his ability, he was quite confused.

"Do I need to use it against you?"

Liam smirked and started ridiculing Smoker.

Hearing his words, Smoker's face turned blue in anger.

"Bastard, don't underestimate me."

[White Chase]

Smoker turned his hand into smoke and thrust it toward Liam but Liam was quite fast with Shave as he quickly dodged it.

On the other side,

Zoro's fight with T-bone was also getting intense. As a swordsman, T-bone was quite strong for Zoro. Even though Zoro had realized how to cut Steel, he wasn't strong enough to cut T-bone's flying slashes.

Zoro's flying slashes were rather simple. Even though he comprehended it during Little Garden, he couldn't use it properly. So, while facing T-bone's attack, he was forced to assume a defensive position.

"Phoenix Slash"

T-bone gathered a lot of his strength into his hand and compressed it into his sword. When he swung his sword, a massive slash burst out of the edge of the sword.

This slash was the compressed wind that was so sharp that it could tear the wind itself. When it moved, it took the shape of a phoenix and rushed toward Zoro.

Seeing this slash, Zoro's expression changed. Although he was strong enough to block this slash, he had some other kind of idea.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel the energy inside his body. This energy was the spirit that flows through him.

According to Luffy, this kind of energy can be controlled with an enormous Will. Knowing that the slash was about to reach him, Zoro forced his Will to trace the spirit energy and merge it with his cells.

Armament Haki creates an invisible armor around the body but it also enhances the physical strength. At first, Liam didn't understand how Haki worked.

But, after brainstorming about it, he slowly got some ideas about it.

Haki flows through one's body. But, most people can't trace it. And, even if you trace it, you can't use Armament Haki or Observation Haki. Because Haki is simply just the Spirit.

So, how does one releases Armament Haki? How does one use Observation Haki? At first, Liam didn't know the answer but after a while, he got some clues.

What exactly is the Sixth Sense? It is said that Observation Haki develops the Sixth Sense. Is it precognition or is it battle instinct? After a while, Liam found that it is a mixture of both.

More importantly, how breathing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feelings are used as battle instincts. And, when Haki merges with them, it enhances all of their abilities, while creating a new ability through the power of Spirit.

This ability can be called Precognition.

Through the enhancement of all five senses, people like Fujitora can easily fight against powerful people while being blind. And through the ability of Precognition and properly training it, one can even Foresee future events.

All of this is called Observation Haki.

So, if Observation Haki was related to senses, what was related to Armament Haki?

It's Physical Energy or simply stamina.

But, this is not a normal stamina that the body uses to function. Rather, it is special energy produced by the body to do some heavy tasks. Why does the punch from a trained bodybuilder feel much stronger than a normal child?

It's because of the energy stored inside one's muscles. But, this kind of energy remains inside muscle forever.

Only when a person drives his Haki into the muscles, it enhances that kind of energy. Once the enhancement reaches a certain extent, it can be brought out of the body which creates the hardening.

This was the explanation that Liam gave to Zoro. So, in order to use Armament Haki, he must force the Haki into his muscles to enhance that energy.

Once it is enhanced, it will boost his physical strength. This is why Luffy was able to ignore the side effects of Gear Second and Third after Haki's training.

And, this is why Haki runs out when it is overused. After all, a person's Spirit shouldn't run out, right?

And, Armament Haki runs out doesn't mean Observation Haki can't be used. Because Haki itself is just the Spirit. When it is merged with either muscles or senses, it can finally change into Armament or Observation Haki.

During this battle, Zoro tried to feel Armament Haki quite a lot. But, it was quite harder for him to do so. Unlike Luffy who had full control over his body due to the development of Gear Second, Zoro had to corner himself to a situation where his body passively forces Haki into his muscles.

That's why he wasn't planning on using his attacks to deflect T-bone's attack.

But when T-bone's attack reached closer to him, Zoro finally moved his sword.

Crash! Bang!

Although his sword was strong enough to break it, the flying slash still managed to move forward and slash his chest.

Splash!

Blood gushed out of his skin and fell to the ground. But, there was no trace of anxiety or pain on his face. Instead, it was filled with excitement.

'I feel it. Yes, that's it. That must be Armament Haki. No, I need to feel it again. I can't lose it.'

Zoro closed his eyes once more and tried to feel that energy once again.

"I don't know what you are planning to do. But if you think you can win against me with your eyes closed, then you are wrong."

Knowing that Zoro wasn't using him to train Observation Haki, T-bone sneered at him and swung his sword once more. But, this time, he gathered even more strength into his swing.

"Great Phoenix Slash"

His slash contained a massive power that could tear up Zoro. Many people saw it even Straw Hats saw this but they didn't shout at Zoro.

At this moment, Zoro was in a strange state. He found his mind so calm that he could feel everything around him. This was the state of feeling Breath of All Things.

Only in this state, Zoro could feel the proper flow of Haki throughout his body. It was like energy flowing through his veins. He realized that Observation Haki was quite similar to Breath of All Things.

It's just that Breath of All Things was quite strong.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and a strange aura burst out of him. It wasn't Conqueror Haki but rather the breakthrough of his Swordsmanship.

The Armament Haki burst out and strengthened his arm. The grip on his sword hilt only got stronger as he swung his sword at the slash.

Bang!

...............

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