I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

These behaviors do indeed resemble those of a user of the Blade-Blade Fruit.

"Unlike Armament Haki, the Six Powers is a pure physical technique. Once you master the Six Powers, your whole body becomes a weapon."

"Iron Block, Tempest Kick, Shave, Moon Walk, Finger Gun, Paper Drawing."

"These physical techniques are not only combat moves, but also enhance our control over our bodies."

At this point, Zephyr paused:

"You've probably heard of skills like 'Life Return,' right? Onigumo is a master of it. He can transform into an eight-sword style swordsman using this skill, and with his face... many people mistakenly believe he's a Zoan-type Spider-Spider Fruit user."

The image of Onigumo's demonic, regrettable face immediately flashed into Higuma's mind, and he nodded in deep agreement.

“Life Return is a higher-level ability to control the body than the Six Styles. It allows free control of the body, hair, and internal organs. Once consciousness is infused into it, any part of the body can be freely controlled,” Zephyr continued.

"This skill isn't exactly a pure combat technique. It can also be used for quick eating, rapid replenishment of nutrients, sobering up, etc... In short, the Navy's development of the Life Return skill is not yet systematic... Everyone has their own way of using it."

"If mastering Armament Haki is about increasing one's potential, making one stronger and tougher."

"So, the return of life is to delve deeper into the power of the human body itself and pursue better control over the power of the body."

At this point, Zefa took a deep breath, and his body suddenly expanded rapidly as if inflating a balloon, his already burly waistline suddenly becoming thicker.

Even the wrinkles on her face smoothed out as a result.

He exhaled again, and his swollen body deflated, quickly returning to its original state.

"This is a martial art that combines Life Return with paper drawing. Life Return Paper Drawing Martial Body allows you to freely adjust your body shape to suit the needs of the battle... That's right, this technique was developed based on the three-stage transformation of Zoan-type Devil Fruit users."

"If we use running as an analogy..." Zephyr pondered for a moment, then began:

“Training in Armament Haki is equivalent to increasing physical fitness and raising your upper limit, which of course allows you to run faster and farther.”

"The key to saving life is to accurately manage one's physical strength and find the most suitable running posture, stride frequency, and breathing rhythm, thereby conserving energy and running faster and more steadily."

Higuma nodded deeply.

In my past life, athletes of all types had different body shapes.

Long-distance running, sprinting, and marathons are all running, but the athletes' body types are different. They undergo long-term training, and their muscles are shaped to better suit the specific sport.

However, if one masters the ability to return life... one can freely transform into a body type suitable for various sports.

Higuma himself knew it perfectly well.

He knew better than Zefa how important the return of his life was to him at that moment.

If he could control the return of life, he could freely manipulate the heart's beating speed, which is equivalent to breaking the processor's limitations and freely overclocking and accelerating it.

By then, hypnosis and stimulating hormones will no longer matter.

He can activate the Emperor Engine anytime, anywhere, relying solely on himself.

This reminded Higuma of someone.

The user of the Momo-Momo Fruit, World Destroyer Wald.

Wald can increase his speed exponentially, making his explosive power unparalleled. It was with this ability that he competed with Garp, Roger, and others in the old era.

If he could control the frequency of the Emperor Engine at will, Sun Bear might be able to do something similar, multiplying his speed and power through the burst of the Emperor Engine.

Compared to his explosive power, Wald has a weakness: his Armament Haki is not very strong. He was defeated by Luffy, who had not yet mastered Armament Haki during his two years of training.

In comparison, Higuma, whose entire body is made of iron, is comparable in strength to a user of Armament Haki.

"If returning life means relying on consciousness to control the body, then the iron block might not be unable to go further and become a steel block, a diamond block, a sea stone block, an adamantium block..." Sun Bear thought.

Seeing that Higuma was silent, Zephyr hesitated for a moment, thinking that he was still troubled by not having mastered Armament Haki.

He thought for a moment and spoke again:

"But the return of life can only mean changing the physical form with one's own consciousness and freely controlling the body; this is not the end yet."

"When you reach the highest level of life return, if your subjective consciousness is strong enough and you can perceive the changes in your body, you will be able to perfectly control your own body and have perfect control over every bit of physical strength and every bit of muscle power."

"To use running as an analogy, it means constantly changing your body shape with your mind to find the most suitable posture for running, so as not to waste any energy."

"This is a different path from cultivating Armament Haki. Although fewer people take it, it is not necessarily weaker than the former."

At this point, Sun Bear's eyes lit up slightly, but Zefa felt a little empty inside.

The so-called theoretical highest level of life return and perfect control over the body were all fabricated by him.

Humans aren't machines, so how can they have such a strong subjective consciousness to be able to perceive the subtle conditions of the body during a continuous and intense battle?

He wrote this part simply to give Higuma something to look forward to, so that if he really couldn't develop Armament Haki later, he would at least have a goal and wouldn't be completely discouraged.

"Then, the real training will begin. If you can persevere to the end... at the very least, you will become an elite vice admiral like Momousagi or Chaton, a candidate for general."

Zephyr looked at Sun Bear, who nodded firmly.

“Then… let’s begin,” Zephyr said.

"Also participating in this elite lieutenant general training program are several other people recruited from the global conscription... Let's wait and see who among you will make it to the end."

Thus began a long and seemingly endless training program.

From that day on, the man codenamed Black Dragon embarked on the path to becoming a general.

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

Slap it.

A pair of hands closed the heavy notebook in their hands.

The notebook cover had four large characters written on it.

Sun Bear Notes

"Wonderful."

The man clapped his hands, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his face.

"Has such a long time passed? That's amazing."

The man wore sunglasses that obscured his features, but they couldn't hide his burgeoning charisma and handsome face. A wisp of fine, short stubble on his chin added a touch of maturity.

He thought for a moment, and then, in a flash, a red pen appeared in his hand.

He reopened the notebook, which had become densely filled with writing, and flipped through it to the very end.

And on the last page, he carefully wrote two words.

"Read."

At this time.

A gray and white cat pounced on the table, its little head resting on the top of the laptop.

"What are you looking at? Let me see too."

The man impatiently grabbed the blue and white cat by the scruff of its neck, lifted it up, and placed it on the other side of the table.

"It's fine for me to see, but I'd be so embarrassed if you saw it."

He rubbed his forehead with one hand, then slammed the heavy notebook shut again. The notebook then disappeared from the bar counter.

"Boss lady, give me another glass of milk."

He looked up and smiled at the young, green-haired proprietress behind the bar, revealing a set of white teeth.

The smile was almost dazzling in the tavern, causing the proprietress to momentarily lose her composure.

"You've gone too far!"

The cat bared its teeth and claws at the man, then pounced on his face, pressing its paws hard against his skin.

"Shameless bastard, dare you show your true face?"

The man casually pulled the cat down again, saying nonchalantly:

"Don't get me wrong, this is who I really am. I was just forced to live with a different face before."

As he spoke, the man glanced around the bar, his eyes slightly unfocused, revealing a sense of vicissitude rarely seen at his age.

This is where dreams begin, the starting point of everything.

East China Sea, Windmill Village Tavern.

Chapter 998 Ten Years

"Milk, come here!"

But then a low shout was heard.

A glass filled with milky white milk flew through the air, tilted itself, and then the white liquid spilled down from the sky, falling directly into Sig's mouth in front of the bar.

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

"Wow, that's amazing! Is he a magician?"

"Wonderful!"

The other people in the tavern clapped, assuming it was a magic trick performed by a stranger, and didn't think much of it.

In the East Blue, especially in remote kingdoms like the Goa Kingdom, Devil Fruit users are still legendary. The power that Higuma displayed was seen by them as some kind of magic, worthy of applause, but nothing more.

The blue and white cat grumbled sullenly at the bar:

"You're so lazy... Hurry up and make one for me too."

A small bowl filled with milk floated over and landed in front of the blue and white cat. It stuck out its tongue and licked the milky white liquid, creating ripples on the surface.

"What a convenient ability! I want one too." The blue and white cat looked on with a wistful expression.

Sieg wholeheartedly agreed.

Telekinesis can be said to be the same ability as Tatsumaki and Fubuki in One-Punch Man. It is similar in performance to Shiki's Float-Float Fruit ability, but it does not require touching an object with both hands in advance, making it more convenient.

Rounded up, it's equivalent to a Tornado character card with low compatibility and incomplete abilities.

"In the past two years, Vegapunk and Aokiji from the parallel world next door have gone completely mad. They've even used the power of the Time Reversal Fruit, constantly talking about creating the most effective telekinetic training program, and spending all their time figuring out how to torment my body."

Thinking back on the two years he spent next door, Sieg still feels a pang of sadness.

There are no shortcuts to becoming stronger. Higuma underwent rigorous training within the Navy, while he was also suffering madly in the parallel world next door.