The Traveler set sail once again.
Tesoro, who now had a huge bump on his head courtesy of Arashi, didn't descend into rage over his defeat.
Although he still didn't understand why Arashi knew so much about him, that single phrase—
"Your future has already arrived."
—made him even more determined to build the world's greatest entertainment empire.
"Bege~"
After watching the Traveler disappear into the horizon, Tesoro turned toward Bege with burning excitement in his eyes.
"Mr. Arashi truly is a monster. Thanks for the warning. If not for your reminder, I probably wouldn't have gotten away with just a punch!"
"But one day… I'll definitely become an even greater monster than him!"
"Don't joke around, Tesoro."
Once Arashi had left, Bege immediately returned to his usual cool demeanor.
Lighting a cigar slowly, he looked up at the taller Tesoro.
"You seem to have overlooked one very important issue."
"That is…"
"Mr. Arashi's age."
"Even though we respectfully call him 'Mr. Arashi,' the truth is…"
"He's younger than all of us."
"That's a very cruel reality."
"Because while you grow stronger, he's also growing stronger."
"And by the time you begin to age…"
"…he'll still be at his peak."
"So stop talking about surpassing Mr. Arashi."
"However—"
Bege exhaled smoke slowly.
"I trust Mr. Arashi's judgment."
"If he says your future has arrived…"
"…then your future truly has arrived."
Tesoro grinned.
He also believed his future had finally begun.
The West Blue was merely his starting point.
As long as he traveled the world and gathered enough gold, he would eventually return to the New World and begin realizing his ambitions.
At that time—
The Donquixote Family, the Celestial Dragons, even the World Government itself…
Would all become slaves to his money.
Glancing once more toward the direction where the Traveler had vanished, Tesoro clenched his fists tightly.
"Mr. Arashi…"
"See you in the New World."
The Traveler sailed steadily across the sea.
Wearing a straw hat, Arashi sat leisurely fishing while opening his system panel.
He now possessed 25,000 Travel Points.
More than enough to raise his Observation Haki another level.
Without hesitation, he spent 20,000 points upgrading Observation Haki to LV8.
Then he slowly closed his eyes.
LV8 Observation Haki activated silently.
Compared to LV7, the increase in raw sensing range wasn't particularly dramatic.
At LV7, Arashi could already hear every whisper within the range of his Haki.
But LV8—
Allowed him to hear the thoughts of everyone within that range.
This was the power of "hearing."
Similar to Enel's Mantra from the original story—
But even stronger.
Enel relied on combining his Observation Haki with the Goro Goro no Mi's electrical waves to expand his sensing range across Skypiea.
Arashi needed none of that.
As long as he activated LV8 Observation Haki and covered a certain area, every thought within that range became impossible to hide from him.
And just like that—
The moment he activated it, he clearly heard the whispers and inner thoughts of Robin and Perona inside the cabin.
"Robin-chan, let me tell you a secret!"
Perona's voice was extremely soft.
Ordinarily, Arashi never would have heard it.
But now, every word sounded as though she were whispering directly into his ear.
"What secret?" Robin asked curiously.
"Do you remember last night?"
Perona giggled mischievously.
"Even though Arashi wouldn't let me sleep with him, I still sneaked over in the middle of the night and squeezed into his arms!"
"Hehe~ I'm amazing, right?"
"Nani?!"
Robin sounded genuinely shocked.
"Y-you really ran over to Arashi's room?!"
HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT—
Arashi practically got electrocuted on the spot.
He jumped to his feet instantly and vanished toward the cabin.
"PERONA, GET OUT HERE!"
Rushing into the cabin without hesitation, Arashi grabbed Perona by the collar and carried her out immediately.
Damn it!
That kind of thing absolutely could not be shared!
"Eh?! What are you doing?!"
Perona blinked in confusion after suddenly being hauled away.
"I was talking with Robin-chan!"
"What talking?! Starting now, I'm teaching you Armament Haki!"
"Wah, really?!"
The moment she heard that, Perona instantly became excited.
"Robin-chan, I'll tell you the rest tonight~"
"Tonight I'm sleeping with you!"
"!!!!!"
It's over.
Seeing Perona still determined to continue telling Robin about last night, Arashi immediately broke out in cold sweat.
Little girl—
You absolutely cannot say things like that!
Meanwhile, Robin seemed very interested in whatever Perona wanted to say and smiled softly.
"Okay."
Arashi didn't dare linger another second.
He dragged Perona straight onto the deck before pointing at a chair opposite him.
"Sit."
"Okay!"
Perona obediently ran over and sat down, looking at him expectantly.
"Before training starts…"
Arashi sat across from her and spoke seriously.
"You must promise me one thing."
"What happened last night…"
"…absolutely, absolutely, ABSOLUTELY cannot be told to Robin. Understand?"
"Why not?"
Perona blinked innocently before puffing out her cheeks.
"Fine~ If Arashi says not to tell, I won't."
"Hehe~ So this is our secret?"
"Yes, yes."
Arashi nodded rapidly.
"This is a secret just between the two of us. You can't casually share it with other people, okay~?"
"Not even Robin-chan?"
Arashi's expression instantly turned terrifyingly serious.
"Okay okay okay! I won't say it!"
Perona nodded earnestly.
"So can we start training now?"
"Remember—absolutely cannot tell anyone!"
Still worried, Arashi reminded her one more time before abruptly waving his hand.
"That's enough for today. We'll officially begin your Armament Haki training tomorrow."
"…Eh?"
Perona blinked blankly.
After staring for several seconds in stunned silence—
She suddenly exploded.
"I WANT TO TRAIN ARMAMENT HAKI RIGHT NOW, YOU JERK!!!"
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