https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-107-Nothing-Venture-Nothing-Gain/12608672/
Chapter 108: All-Around Training (4k words)
Chapter 108: Comprehensive Training (4k)
In just two hours, Rainbase had been nearly plundered. The subordinates loaded cash and treasures into large bags and boarded the banana crocodile with Sag, leaving behind trails of dust in the sandy desert.
And following closely behind came a violent storm.
"Sag, I could have led this operation too. Why did you have to come along?" asked Rinetia curiously.
In the room carried by the crocodile, only Sag and Rinetia were seated. Sag stared through the curtains at the front, watching the rain fall steadily. His eyes were calm and indifferent, as if he could see the future.
"That's because..."
Rumble! Rumble!
The raindrops began to make the surface of the desert damp. Suddenly, the desert ahead of them swelled, revealing a giant red crab with a shell covered by sand grass. It stood like a mountain, blocking the path of the crocodiles.
The appearance of this giant crab caused the fast-moving crocodiles to show signs of fear, nearly coming to an abrupt stop.
"Heavenly Destruction Strike!"
Bang!
At that moment, a pitch-black stream of fire shot from the back of the leading crocodile, striking the crab’s massive body. With the force of the Haki-infused blow, the mountain-sized crab’s shell cracked below its eyes, and the flesh within was blasted apart, leaving a gaping hole.
With just one hit, the crab's body trembled before collapsing into the desert.
Despite its size, the crab’s physical constitution was not formidable. Sag’s Haki might not yet have reached the level of internal destruction, but by striking a critical point, the damage was significant.
Sag withdrew his hand and said, "You're not strong enough to face the obstacles of fate!"
Letting the subordinates handle the robbery had crossed his mind, but considering the dangers of this desert and the strength of his men, he decided against it.
Rinetia might be capable, but how much could she carry on her own?
Robbery required the manpower of the subordinates.
The crocodile stopped, and a few eager subordinates wanted to jump down and carve up the giant crab.
"Why eat something dead? If you want to eat, eat live crabs. Let's go!"
Sag commanded the crocodile to continue moving.
The crab was large enough to be a feast, but it was killed with a single blow, so it wasn’t worth it.
By midday, the crocodiles reached the Sandora River. Sag had intended to bring them aboard the ship. These crocodiles were quite large, measuring thirty meters long and reportedly feeding on small Sea Kings.
But after dropping everyone off, the crocodiles dove into the river and began to reside there.
"Not coming with me? Fine..."
Sag shook his head, not giving it much thought. After boarding the ship, he said to Lily, who was waiting on the deck, "Set sail, Lily. I'm going to take a nap."
From Rainbase to Alabasta and back again, Sag hadn’t rested much over the past two days. Though he could endure, he still needed sleep.
The subordinates boarded the ship and began tidying up. Lily ordered others to raise the sails and steer the ship. After checking the Log Pose on her wrist, she announced, "Set sail!"
The massive black ship raised its black sails and sailed downstream along the Sandora River toward the sea.
Of course, accompanying them was the menacing storm that swelled the river and churned up waves.
Dark clouds filled the sky, thunder rolled, and heavy rain poured down, casting the surroundings into chaotic darkness. The black ship gradually sank into this darkness, merging with the storm.
...
The next day.
The storm continued to rage, churning up waves big enough to capsize a normal ship. Yet, the "Star of Death" sailed smoothly, with only a few people occasionally stepping out onto the deck to take a look.
Most were in the control room on the third floor, watching for any potential threats.
"Keep a close eye on the direction, and adjust immediately if there's a problem," Lily instructed the subordinates after checking the Log Pose.
Several Log Poses were in the control room, all given by Crocodile and fully charged with magnetic force, pointing toward the next magnetic island.
These devices were quite fascinating, at least to Lily.
Every island in the Grand Line had a unique magnetic field that connected with the next island. After the Log Pose was fully charged with the magnetic force of one island, it would point to the next.
But depending on the magnetic field, the charging time varied—sometimes it took days, sometimes months, and occasionally even years.
Even if the ship was fast, landing on an island still took some time.
Without a Log Pose, a ship in the Grand Line would be like a headless chicken, unaware of when it had strayed off course.
Normal ships here, even if lucky enough to avoid the Sea Kings lurking beneath the waves, wouldn’t survive entering the Calm Belt, the lair of the Sea Kings. Sailing would be impossible, leaving them to await their fate.
Lily naturally didn't rely on just one Log Pose on her wrist; several were placed in the control room. Some were even set in a custom-made compass by Renetia, who removed the straps and embedded the Log Pose within the compass.
Now, there was a table-sized compass in the control room specifically designed to stabilize the Log Pose.
Lily didn’t like wearing the strap, so she had Renetia make a small, portable compass for her to carry.
As a swordswoman who needed to fight, wearing something on her wrist could be dangerous.
The Log Pose wasn't very sturdy.
While the subordinates weren’t knowledgeable about navigation, they could certainly watch the direction of the Log Pose.
After giving her instructions, Lily walked through the internal passage toward the captain's cabin on the second floor.
In the spacious room, Renetia was sitting on a sofa, diligently sketching blueprints. Lily glanced at them and saw what looked like a motorcycle.
At the main desk, Sag appeared to have just woken up. His muscular upper body was bare as he retrieved a bottle of liquor from the wine cabinet, pouring it into a gem-studded goblet.
"You're awake, Sag."
When she had started giving orders earlier, the bedroom door on the second floor had still been closed.
"Yeah, what time is it now?"
Sag downed the liquor in his goblet in one go and asked.
"Eight in the morning. You slept through the afternoon and the entire night. Did you really need that much rest?"
"More rest means more energy. Where's Marika?"
"Oh my, were you calling for me?"
As soon as Sag finished speaking, Marika appeared from downstairs, carrying a large tray. She smiled and said, "I figured you'd wake up around this time, but I wasn't sure if this breakfast would be enough."
She walked over to the table and set down part of the breakfast from the tray.
Eggs, bacon, bread, milk, dried fruits, sandwiches, oatmeal... A wide variety of foods filled half the desk.
This breakfast was enough to feed at least ten people. After glancing at it, Sag shook his head and said:
"It's enough, but I have a different plan. From now on, we'll eat on the first floor. Marika, starting with our next supply run, I'll need meals for a hundred people at each sitting. The food should be of good quality and plentiful. For now, let’s eat this, and we’ll have a banquet at noon to divide the loot."
"Understood." Marika smiled gently.
Sag eating so much was a delight for her.
Cooking brought Marika great joy, and she didn’t find it bothersome or exhausting.
"But why do you need to eat so much?" she asked curiously.
With Life Return, he could consume an endless amount, but that alone was energy-consuming. Even when Sag focused on using Life Return to improve his physique, he didn’t eat this much.
"Yeah, Sag, are you planning to become a sumo wrestler? I think you’re just the right size," Renetia quipped as she accepted some food from Marika's tray.
"It's for training, of course."
Sag looked over at the massive Poneglyph placed against the wall in the large hall and said, "With this thing, I can do some serious training. Life Return is great, but without specific training to accompany it, the results are a bit slow."
You can grow stronger by eating, and by training, you can also grow stronger. So combining eating with training naturally leads to even greater strength.
"This thing..."
Lily, after thanking Marika and sitting on the sofa with her breakfast, looked at the massive stone block, which was as tall as three people, and asked, "Does it contain some secret technique to enhance strength?"
"What are you thinking? There's no such strange thing. This is a Poneglyph, and it contains the location of 'Pluton,' the ancient weapon Crocodile was always after. It's a weapon of mass destruction capable of obliterating islands in one shot," Sag explained.
"Oh? Is that what it is!"
Renetia's eyes lit up. "Sag, is it in Alabasta? With such powerful technology, why not take it?"
"Of course, it’s not here. The information on this stone only points to its location. Specifically, it should be in Wano Country in the New World. But no one knows exactly where, otherwise, Kaido would have revealed it by now."
"I see."
Renetia nodded, but then suddenly froze.
And she wasn’t the only one—Lily also looked at Sag in surprise.
"Sag..."
Lily blinked. "Weren’t you illiterate? How do you know these ancient characters?"
She had studied extensively and read many books, but these peculiar words on the massive stone were unfamiliar to her.
"You can understand them?"
Marika was also curious, as she didn’t recognize these words either.
"Uh..."
Sag froze, realizing he had made a slip of the tongue. He touched his chin and replied with a serious expression:
"Of course I can't understand them. I just overheard the old man at the casino mention it, and I thought it sounded interesting. He must have said it, right? I think that's what he said."
He said this as though he were convincing himself.
The three women exchanged glances, speechless.
They had no reason to doubt Sag's words.
Sag had never studied these characters. When they had been on Skypiea, she had tested him with several random characters, and he hadn't recognized any of them.
But what Sag said now was too bizarre.
Even if Crocodile knew, would he have casually shared it?
And more importantly, what made Sag decide to take this massive stone slab?
The three women kept wondering, but Sag didn't want to delve too deeply. He changed the subject and began to explain his "training."
Although his explanation was flimsy, and Marika and the others could tell he was concealing something, they didn’t probe further.
Lily, Renetia, and Marika quickly accepted his explanation.
A massive piece of stone like this, without much meaning to them, could be used as Sag’s training tool.
...
After breakfast, Sag, with the help of his subordinates, relocated the massive stone into the bottom storage room and spent several hours making modifications there.
What he had said earlier wasn’t entirely a lie. The "Pluton" in Wano Country might indeed be a ship of some kind, though Sag couldn’t confirm this.
He also couldn't read the ancient text on the Poneglyph.
But it wasn't that Sag had a strange affection for this stone slab. Rather, it was something he had wanted to do for a long time.
He installed this Poneglyph, weighing tens of thousands of tons, into a specially constructed steel cage at the bottom of the ship. He wrapped a rope around it, then connected the rope to a pulley system made of steel gears.
Sag stood beneath the stone, his arm veins bulging as he pulled the rope in his hand.
Slowly, the steel gears began to turn, and the gigantic stone slab was gradually lifted into the air by the pulley system.
Sag felt the increasing pressure in his arms and legs as if he were carrying an entire island.
This kind of heavy lifting required incredible strength, and Sag's muscles were already straining to the limit.
Yet, it wasn’t enough.
His body was tense, sweat dripping down like rain as his muscles bulged and veins popped. The sweat evaporated as soon as it hit the hot metal floor.
"Huff... Huff... Huff!"
With each exhale, the air in the storage room trembled, as if a wild beast was about to burst out.
But this was only the beginning.
This wasn't just ordinary lifting; it was a training method that combined immense weight with his Life Return ability.
Life Return was a technique that allowed Sag to control every muscle in his body with precision. The more intense the pressure, the more it demanded his muscles' full potential.
By using Life Return, he could direct every bit of energy and strength in his body toward a single point, allowing him to withstand this overwhelming weight.
The sweat rolling down his body wasn’t just from physical exertion; it was a sign of his muscles breaking down and rebuilding themselves under this extreme pressure.
But Sag didn’t stop. With gritted teeth, he pushed himself further, his body growing hotter and hotter as his muscles continued to bulge and swell.
Life Return allowed him to continue training without rest, his body adjusting and adapting to the pressure.
After what felt like hours, Sag finally released the rope, the stone slab settling back into place.
He stood there, panting, his body trembling from the exertion.
But a smile formed on his face as he felt the results of his training. His muscles felt denser, stronger, more powerful than ever before.
This was just the beginning of his new training regimen.
With the Poneglyph as his training tool, Sag would continue to push his body to the limit, growing stronger with each passing day.
He had a long way to go, but with this method, he was confident that he would achieve his goals.
(End of Chapter)
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