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Chapter 312: Island of Mist
Chapter 312: Island of Mist
Ajin's 'Fist of Bone' was something he learned from Sag.
After mastering the Six Styles, comprehending Haki, and consuming the fruit, his strength had increased significantly. However, having perfected the six styles, he needed to diversify his skills, so Ajin began learning fist-bone techniques from Sag.
It wasn't that Sag was unwilling to teach him the North Star Fist; it was simply that it was an external ability unique to him, like the secret acupoint strikes. It was less about human anatomy and more about his own individual esoteric acupoints.
Even the most adept Observation Haki users couldn't perceive it.
What Sag could teach were the standard techniques of the sea.
Ajin specialized in physical techniques, and this method of using one's bare fists to strike hard objects, thereby strengthening one's physique, appealed to him.
In Sag's opinion, Ajin didn't have the benefit of a 200-times Time-Space Isolation Chamber, but his innate talent wasn't too shabby, and with diligent practice, he would get there.
As a high-ranking officer, Ajin met Sag's standards.
At the very least, he was extremely diligent, practicing day and night to master these techniques, and he was starting to get a feel for them.
In terms of combat prowess, he could now hold his own against external forces.
The same was true for this expedition to conquer Whitebeard's territory. The lower-ranking officers would take turns gaining experience, while the high-ranking officers went purely by their own volition, as long as they didn't fall behind.
Ajin was definitely going to lead the team. Every day, aside from cultivating, he maintained order at the port. In the past, he would occasionally encounter troublemaking pirates, but as Sag's influence grew, those incidents lessened.
It wasn't that he was restless; it was mainly because aside from fighting, he was useless. He couldn't even figure out how to collect taxes, and he really didn't know what else to do. When Sag decided to raid Whitebeard's territory, Ajin was the first to respond.
He would rather fight external pirates than deal with merchants on the island and haggle over commercial taxes and goods.
With Whitebeard's death, the islands were easier to deal with. The Whitebeard Pirates lacked the cohesion they once had, and the wounds of the Summit War were profound. Aside from their scattered forces, ambitious pirates were also encroaching on Whitebeard's territory, ravaging numerous islands and occupying them.
But Ajin didn't mind; whether it was Whitebeard's territory or not didn't matter. What mattered was fulfilling Sag's plan.
One island, two islands, three islands... As long as they were within the trade route and part of the plan, Ajin didn't let a single one go. After invading, he would plant their flag.
As for whether they could firmly control them, they didn't have enough people to station on every island. Sag's instruction was to find the islands, defeat the local rulers, and then figure out the next steps later.
A month later...
The twin-masted pirate ship that Ajin was on entered an area of misty seas.
"Where are we?" Ajin furrowed his brows and turned to the navigator beside him.
"Ajin-sama, if we continue forward, we should be approaching the Grand Line island of Ohara, Cerent, which is on the same route," the navigator replied, his brow also creased as he gazed at the surrounding mist. "Strange, I don't recall there being mist here. Could it be a change in the weather?"
The navigator was a new addition to the crew and had been active in this area, so he was relatively familiar with the region.
However, no matter how familiar he was, he couldn't possibly know the exact number of islands between the Grand Line islands, and there were always undiscovered islands, even in the Grand Line.
Sag was aware of this, so in addition to occupying Whitebeard's leftover territory, he also wanted to expand their influence outward and have their designated territory recognized by those on the sea. That would be enough.
But for those islands, they didn't have enough Eternal Positional Marks; they could only rely on the record marks pointing to the next island and the information provided by other pirates to occupy the territories.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter," Ajin said in a low voice. "This island is also one of Sag's targets. Let's go."
Within the mist, the twin-masted pirate ship surged forward toward the silhouette of an island that loomed through the haze.
In a cave by the sea on the main island of Ohara, Sag, wearing his golden fishing rod and hat, sat motionless at the cave's entrance, his eyes fixed on the fish marker below.
This was the fifteenth time he had changed locations.
After hearing that there were fish in the lakes on the secondary islands, he had confidently set out, only to fall short of expectations by failing to catch even a single fish.
After snapping two golden rods, he decided to try his luck elsewhere.
The secondary islands were flatter and more suitable for agriculture than the mountainous main island, and there were also coastal villages that frequently fished and harvested seafood.
But Sag was not one to give up easily; he refused to believe that others could scoop up fish with nets while he couldn't catch a single one with his rod. If he truly couldn't, then it was a matter of compatibility with the location, and he would simply move on to the next spot.
And so he discovered that perhaps the entire secondary island was somewhat incompatible with his fishing endeavors.
However, Sag possessed unwavering determination and was never afraid of failure, earning him the title of the most stubborn among the Straw Hats.
If one place didn't work out, he would simply try another. The Fishing King would find a way to fish wherever there was water.
For example, he could use the Moon Step to access this sea-facing cave!
"Blurp, blurp, blurp."
The small Den Den Mushi he carried with him suddenly rang, and Sag picked up the receiver. "Who is it?"
The Den Den Mushi projected an image of a face with a hint of firmness and seriousness. "Sag, there's trouble!"
It was Lily.
"Hmm?" Sag glanced at the fish marker. "What's wrong? Did Kaido come?"
"No, it's Ajin," Lily replied, pausing briefly. "A subordinate called, and Ajin is currently trapped on Cerent. He won't come out."
"What happened?" Sag furrowed his brows.
"I don't know," Lily said. "The person on the phone was also extremely afraid, and I couldn't get a clear answer no matter how much I asked. Plus, the connection was poor, and even the Den Den Mushi didn't have a signal. I'll go there with some men."
"Never mind, I'll come too," Sag said. "Since Ajin is trapped, I'll go just in case. Lily, prepare the ship."
Sag hung up the phone, tossed his fishing rod aside, glared at the reflection of the fish in the seawater below, and said viciously, "Just you wait, I'll catch every last one of you!"
With that, he strode forward, bursting into a series of smoke rings in the air as he rushed toward Storm City.
By the time Sag arrived, the Death Prophecy had already been prepared, and he boarded the ship and went straight to the captain's room.
"Yo ho, is everyone here?"
Soon after entering the captain's room, Sag saw the three major female officers, followed by the other major officers, except for Moriah, filing into the room.
Moriah was too lazy to move and rarely left his quarters unless it was absolutely necessary. In addition to his room in the palace, he had also built a castle on the secondary island, where he spent most of his time.
Hawkins was drawing Tarot cards. "Since Ajin has run into trouble, we should go and take a look. Hmm, his chances of survival are 70%, so he shouldn't have any problems. But from the cards, it looks like he's being restrained by something, and he's feeling fearful."
He turned over the cards and explained, "The reversed Strength card suggests he's afraid of something. However, there are other cards as well. Combined, they indicate that he's struggling with fear while trying to find a way to escape."
"Never mind all that," said Sag. "Let's just go and see for ourselves, Lily. Which island was it again?"
"Cerent," Lily replied. "It's the second magnetic island ahead of us. If we go straight there, it will take about half a month. We don't have a permanent pointer yet, but we have spare record pointers that can take us directly there."
Many people on this island possessed record pointers, and they had also stored quite a few, so they could go directly to that location.
"This island used to be part of Whitebeard's territory as well," Lily continued. "As a large magnetic island, it has a country on it—a duchy under Whitebeard's protection. But from the intelligence I've seen, this country doesn't have any formidable individuals, and I don't know what Ajin's situation is."
Even if there were remnants of Whitebeard's crew, they shouldn't be unable to make a phone call.
(End of Chapter)
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