Chapter 16
Under the horrified gaze of Will Werner, Charlotte's large hands covered the pirate captain's head.
Charlotte's confident, commanding presence flared instantly.
"How did you cultivate your Armament Haki?" Charlotte asked, locking eyes with Will.
Will Werner was in no mood to answer—physical pain weighed heavily on him.
But Charlotte didn't really expect a verbal answer. He already knew the truth in his heart.
This Will Werner wasn't simple.
He had made it to the second half of the Grand Line after journeying all the way from the West Sea.
It had only been a year since he reached that stage.
As for his Haki cultivation, he had discovered training notes after killing a Rear Admiral.
Those notes contained not only techniques for Armament Haki but also Observation Haki, as well as the Navy's Six Styles.
Thanks to his talent, Will had managed to learn basic Armament Haki and Observation Haki after a year of practice, though he hadn't yet fully mastered them.
For the Navy's Six Styles, he had only learned the basics.
This surprised Charlotte.
After learning about the cultivation methods of Armament Haki from the notebook, Charlotte channeled a surge of strength.
Will Werner's eyes bulged in terror—then Charlotte crushed him with overwhelming force.
Charlotte glanced over the port.
More than twenty pirates were lying unconscious or dead.
With a wave of his hand, he called out.
One by one, fighters who had been hiding behind came forward.
All of them had been trained by Charlotte.
"Kill them all!" Charlotte ordered quietly.
Faces turned pale, but some dared to pick up long knives and finish off the defeated pirates.
Charlotte strode toward the pirate ship docked nearby.
He was used to hunting for treasure on ships after battle—one of the few pleasures he allowed himself besides women.
Following Will Werner's directions from memory, Charlotte made his way directly to the captain's quarters.
Opening a drawer, he found the notebook left by the Rear Admiral.
After confirming its contents, Charlotte slipped it into his pocket.
He rifled through other cabinets and bedside tables.
"As expected from pirates who came all the way from the West Sea, they're better equipped than those with bounties under [-] million."
Charlotte looked at three suitcases filled with Bailey, estimating the total at least [-] million Baileys—likely sent by the pirates themselves.
Having finished the search, Charlotte left the cabin and returned to the port.
The area had begun to regain life.
Port workers and merchants tentatively approached and saw the sixty or seventy corpses lying around.
Everyone was both grateful and terrified of Charlotte for eliminating so many threats.
Soon, the mayor appeared.
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Mr. Charlotte, for saving the people of Kamei Island. You are the hero of Kamei Island!"
The mayor shook Charlotte's hand enthusiastically.
Charlotte was speechless—if he didn't know better, he might have believed the praise himself.
"Hero! Hero!" countless islanders shouted excitedly.
At that moment, Charlotte felt his Observation Haki stir involuntarily in response to the crowd's emotion.
He found himself infected by the energy, waving his hands and smiling.
Damn, controlled by my emotions again!
Charlotte cursed inwardly as he tried to escape the crowd.
Passing by a fruit stand, something caught his eye—a pear marked with strange patterns.
"Hey! Mr. Charlotte!"
The fruit stand owner brightened instantly, seeing Charlotte approach.
"How much for these pears? I'll take a few," Charlotte asked calmly.
"No, no, just take them—no need to pay!" the owner stammered, looking at Charlotte with admiration.
Charlotte picked out a few, including the patterned pear.
Without any guilt, he pocketed the fruit and headed straight back to his villa.
Back at the villa, he ordered a meal prepared and retreated to his room.
Taking out the patterned Devil Fruit, he said with interest,
"This is the Chill Fruit—the same one Will Werner used earlier."
It was the first Devil Fruit he had seen since arriving in the One Piece world five years ago.
It was still untouched.
Charlotte had no intention of eating it himself—he planned to leave it to one of his subordinates.
He carefully locked the Devil Fruit in a safe.
Then he took out the notebook again and read carefully.
The cultivation methods inside were thorough.
Charlotte skimmed through the Navy's Six Styles training methods.
Before, relying on memories from his past life, he had only practiced the shapes of the Six Styles without truly understanding them.
With this manual, his strength could increase greatly.
After studying the Six Styles, Charlotte examined the Armament and Observation Haki training methods.
A sudden realization struck him.
Armament Haki was the perfect fusion of mind, body, and technique.
With the right physique and proper training, one could unleash the overwhelming power of Armament Haki.
After finishing the notebook, Charlotte closed it, excited and eager to begin training.
But since night was falling, he decided to start the next day.
As he stepped out, Ivan waited for him outside the door.
"Boss, my men have already exchanged the Chill Pirate captain, Will Werner, for his bounty. He should be back tomorrow. Also, we collected about 3,000 million Baileys from the ship—it's all here!"
Ivan was carrying a large bag filled with Bailey.
"Distribute all this Bailey to those who killed pirates today," Charlotte ordered.
"And this," he added, handing Ivan a copy of the Navy's Sixth Style training manual, "make ten copies and have the fighters start practicing the Six Styles tomorrow. We should see results in a few years."
Now that the Sixth Style was recorded in Charlotte's mind, he no longer needed the physical copy.
The fighters he chose to send to sea couldn't be weak—they had to improve.
"Yes, boss! I'll organize everything once I'm back. They'll start training tomorrow—I guarantee results within a year."
Ivan nodded confidently.
Charlotte waved him off.
The Navy's Six Styles could be mastered one per year, which already exceeded his expectations.
He estimated only about ten out of the fifty-plus fighters could realistically master a style within that time.
Charlotte didn't expect much more from them.
******
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