Sailing: I was falsely accused of watching Nami bathe, but I'm blind.

So, in the days that followed, Kai began this almost self-destructive, insane training!

He repeatedly used various parts of his body (fists, arms, legs) to strike the hard rock, frantically gathering his will while enduring excruciating pain and injury, attempting to activate and solidify Armament Haki!

His body was covered in wounds, old ones not yet healed, new ones added.

The entire depths of the mine were filled with his suppressed groans of pain and the heavy smell of blood.

But his eyes (in his perception) grew brighter and more determined! Because he could clearly feel that his control over Armament Haki was improving at a slow but extremely solid pace!

From initially only being able to gather a faint feeling at the fingertips, to later being able to cover the fist with a thin layer of hardening energy, which was still very unstable but definitely existed!

At first, it could only be maintained for one or two seconds, but later it could be maintained for more than ten seconds, or even half a minute!

From initially only being able to cover a very small area, it later became able to successfully harden an entire fist, or even half of an arm!

Although he was still far from reaching the level of Fujitora-senpai, where his entire body was covered in an indestructible aura, and although the color of his Haki wasn't a distinct black like others (perhaps because his Haki was different in nature, or because of his special training method?), Kai knew that he had finally... successfully taken the most crucial step!

He finally truly unlocked the door to Armament Haki!

This is a significant milestone! It means that the last and most important weakness in his strength system is beginning to be addressed!

With Armament Haki, even if only at a basic level, his attacks will be able to truly threaten opponents with strong defenses or elemental abilities! His defense will no longer rely solely on dodging, but will possess a stronger ability to withstand attacks!

Kai felt the faint yet real, powerful and hard-textured invisible energy on his fist, and a tired yet relieved and confident smile finally appeared on his lips.

Armament Haki, acquired!

A new power is quietly awakening within him! His future will become broader, and also more... unpredictable!

In the dark and damp abandoned mine of Steelbone Island, after a period of almost self-torturous and insane training, Kai finally succeeded in unlocking the door to Armament Haki.

Although there is still a long way to go before he can master it, this is undoubtedly a huge leap in his strength.

With his newfound power and unwavering resolve, Kai left Steelbone Island and returned once more to the ceaseless waters of the Grand Line.

He needs to find new goals and new challenges to test and consolidate his spiritual progress, while also continuing to gather intelligence to prepare for the future path.

He chose Vientiane Island, a port city with highly developed information infrastructure and a flood of rumors and intelligence, as his new foothold.

This is a well-known intelligence hub in the middle of the Grand Line. It is said that as long as you can afford the price, you can buy any information you want, from internal Navy operations to the latest movements of the Four Emperors, and even some scattered rumors about Poneglyphs or Devil Fruits.

After arriving at Vientiane Island, Kai did not rush to take on new bounty missions. Instead, he spent a few days immersing himself in the island's vast and complex intelligence market.

He frequented various underground taverns, black market exchanges, and intelligence broker hideouts in remote corners, pushing his perception to the limit to "listen" to all sorts of information flows.

Soon, he heard a great deal of follow-up news about the Enies Lobby incident that shocked the world.

And almost all of these messages revolved around a name he was both familiar with and deliberately avoided—the Straw Hat Crew.

"Have you heard? The Straw Hats actually made it out of Enies Lobby alive! And they even brought Nico Robin and that cyborg Franky with them!"

"They didn't just come out alive! They turned Enies Lobby upside down! They even issued a Buster Call! They're a bunch of lunatics!"

"The Marine Headquarters is furious! I heard that the bounties of the entire Straw Hat crew have increased dramatically! Captain Luffy's bounty has skyrocketed to 300 million Berries! Swordsman Roronoa Zoro's is 120 million! Even archaeologist Nico Robin's bounty has risen to 80 million!"

"That's not all! Their long-nosed sniper (even though he's wearing a mask, his features are too obvious), their talking tanuki pet, even their lecherous cook and their navigator girl, they're all on wanted posters! The entire Straw Hat Pirates are now truly 'all wanted'!"

Upon hearing this news, Kai remained completely unmoved, even feeling a slight sense of... "I knew it."

Given the commotion the Straw Hat crew caused on Enies Lobby, it's perfectly normal for them to have a high bounty on their heads.

Three hundred million Berries... This number is indeed enough to make the entire Grand Line take notice.

Luffy's growth rate is indeed astonishingly fast.

He then heard more news about the Straw Hat crew's next move.

"It's said that after the Straw Hat crew left Water 7, they didn't immediately head to the New World. Instead, they went to... uh, I think it's called the 'Devil's Triangle'? What a bunch of fearless guys!"

"I also heard that when they were in Water Seven, wasn't that old ship called the Going Merry completely scrapped? That cyborg Franky actually used the wood from the legendary treasure tree 'Adam' to build them a brand new, super powerful pirate ship! I think it was called... the Thousand Sunny?"

A new ship? The Thousand Sunny? Kai's fingertips twitched slightly.

He recalled the soulful lament of the Going Merry that he had sensed in Water Seven, and Usopp's anguish.

It seems that the ship that carried their initial dreams has finally reached its end.

The new ship symbolizes a new beginning for them... a new beginning that has nothing to do with Kai anymore.

"Oh right! And that cyborg Franky, it seems he's officially joined the Straw Hat crew too! They're really getting stronger and stronger!"

Franky joined too? Kai wasn't surprised.

Although that guy behaved strangely, he seemed to uphold some kind of unique "morality" and was in sync with the Straw Hat crew.

Besides news about the Straw Hat crew, Kai also keenly caught another piece of information that seemed to be related to Luffy, but was even more unsettling.

"Hey, have you heard? The second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, 'Fire Fist' Ace, seems to be hunting down a guy named 'Blackbeard' Teach all over the world lately!"

"Ace? That monster with a bounty of 550 million Berries? Why is he chasing Blackbeard? I heard that Teach used to be on Whitebeard's ship, but he killed his crewmates and defected?"

"Who knows! But Ace is known for being a brother-obsessed guy. I heard he and Straw Hat Luffy are sworn brothers! Could his high-profile pursuit of Blackbeard be related to the Straw Hat Luffy?"

Ace...Fire Fist Ace...Blackbeard Teach...

Kai frowned slightly.

He vaguely remembered the name Ace.

It seems that back in Alabasta, he briefly sensed an extremely powerful, sun-like, fiery aura that briefly intersected with Luffy's aura.

So he was the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Luffy's sworn brother?

As for Blackbeard Teach... Kai seemed to have vaguely sensed an extremely gloomy, dark, and eerie aura filled with ambition and a desire to devour others near Mock Town even earlier (when he was king), but he didn't pay attention to it at the time.

Unexpectedly, this Teach turned out to be a traitor to the Whitebeard Pirates, which attracted Ace's pursuit.

Kai's intuition told him that this matter was probably not simple.

Ace's pursuit of Blackbeard may be hiding a huge storm, possibly even involving a battle at the level of the Four Emperors!

As Kai sorted through this complex and confusing information in his mind, his mood became somewhat heavy.

The Straw Hat crew's influence is expanding rapidly at a speed beyond his imagination.

They not only have higher bounties, new and powerful ships, and new allies, but they have also directly challenged the authority of the World Government, becoming the focus of attention for the entire world!

This means that it will likely become increasingly difficult for him to completely sever ties with them in the future.

Wherever he goes, he seems unable to completely escape news about them.

Moreover, as their strength and influence continue to grow, the possibility of encountering them again or even clashing with them in the latter half of the Grand Line or even in the New World is becoming increasingly greater!

This feeling made Kai feel inexplicably irritable and... stressed.

His feud with the Straw Hat crew doesn't seem to be something he can easily resolve; it's more like an invisible thread of fate that binds them together, ultimately... perhaps an inevitable battle is on the horizon.

With this in mind, Kai's determination to become stronger became even more urgent! He had to improve his strength at a faster pace in order to gain the upper hand in any potential future conflicts, protect himself, and ultimately achieve his goal!

To improve one's strength more quickly, besides diligent training, one also needs... more resources!

Higher-intensity training requires more specialized venues and equipment.

Purchasing better equipment requires a lot of money.

Establishing a broader and deeper intelligence network to deal with more complex situations and more powerful enemies also requires continuous financial investment.

Chapter 70 Killing the Straw Hat!! You framed me!!!

Kai weighed the remaining bounty in his hand.

Although hunting Mr. X brought him a huge fortune, after spending it all over this period (buying intelligence, renting ships, buying training materials, etc.), there is not much left.

He needs more money! He needs more power!

The only way out is to continue his bounty hunter career and... set his sights on more dangerous and more valuable "prey"!

He was no longer satisfied with hunting down ordinary pirates in the first half of the Grand Line.

He needs stronger opponents to hone his skills and higher bounties to cover his expenses.

His gaze (his mind's eye) began to fall upon those... powerful pirates operating in the waters at the edge of the New World, with bounties truly exceeding 100 million! Even those... troublesome targets connected to the legendary "Supernovas"!

He also began to focus on more complex private bounty missions involving multiple factions.

These types of tasks are often extremely rewarding, but they also come with very high risks and ethical gray areas.

But he couldn't care less about that anymore.

For power, for the goal, he was willing to pay the necessary price, even if it meant walking on the edge of gray or even black.

Money and power have become Kai's most pressing needs at this stage.

To meet this need, he is prepared to face greater challenges and venture into deeper darkness.

Soon, a mission that met Kai's requirements of "high risk, high reward" was delivered to him through an extremely secretive underground channel.

Mission objective: Capture (dead or alive) a man named "Razor" Zeke.

This person was originally an important member of a pirate crew that was making a name for itself in the New World. The captain of that crew is said to be one of the Supernovas who later became known as the "Worst Generation" (who exactly he is can be set, such as Kid, Hawkins, Apoo, etc., or you can simply create an original character).

Zeke defected after stealing an extremely important item from the ship (possibly a rubbing of a historical text recording an important route, blueprints for a powerful weapon, or a rare Devil Fruit?), and is currently being pursued by both his former pirate crew and the Navy.

The identity of the person who issued the mission is unknown, but they are extremely generous, offering a bounty of 150 million Berries! They also require the mission executor to keep the mission information absolutely confidential and not to disclose it to any third party.

The difficulty of this task is obvious.

The target, "Razor" Zeke, is already extremely powerful. He is said to be skilled at using two razor-sharp short blades, is incredibly fast, and ruthless. His bounty is close to 90 million Berries.