Chapter 324 The Children
After Charlotte Linlin's departure, Brett remained at Elbaf for two more days. He sparred with the Giant King one more time before finally taking his leave.
Before departing, he'd received word from Katakuri—Charlotte Linlin had already allied with Kaido and even secretly formed an alliance with the World Government.
All three sides were preparing to come after him together.
Brett felt rather helpless about this.
When reading the manga in his past life, he'd never imagined these three forces could join hands.
Could only mean he was even stronger than expected—he'd already impacted this world so significantly.
Though he wasn't particularly concerned about it.
The World Government, Navy, and Beasts Pirates were already troublesome enough. Adding the Charlotte Family didn't change much. When you're drowning in debt, what's one more loan?
Besides, wasn't there still Katakuri?
Brett returned to Fish-Man Island calmly.
Though naturally, he still called Jinbei and Tesoro to brief them on the current situation.
"So Charlotte Linlin's our enemy now too?"
Tesoro sighed. "Brett, couldn't you have tried harder to delay this?"
"It was inevitable."
Jinbei maintained a calm attitude about this. "The alliance between the Charlotte Family and us was always fragile enough that any small spark could shatter it completely."
"But this means among the New World's monsters, only Whitebeard and Red-Hair remain on good terms with us."
Tesoro said. "Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, the Navy, the World Government."
"We can hide in the deep sea without much worry, but Zephyr and his NEO Navy are probably in for trouble."
Right. Now aside from Whitebeard and Red-Hair, every notable power in the New World was Zephyr-sensei's enemy.
Lying low peacefully in those waters to develop would be extremely difficult for him.
"We can only tell him to be careful."
Brett said. "If headquarters' location gets exposed, that would be extremely troublesome."
With the Navy, government, Beasts Pirates, and Charlotte Family joining forces, Zephyr and his newborn NEO Navy seemed far too fragile—they simply couldn't withstand such a perfect storm.
They could only choose to hide for now.
"So, Brett, when are you planning to move against the Charlotte Family?"
Tesoro understood Brett's schemes regarding the Charlotte Family very well.
After all, during their previous trip to Elbaf seeking alliance, Tesoro had been present throughout Brett and Katakuri's conversation.
"Wait a bit longer."
Brett said. "Katakuri is undergoing a transformation. His strength will grow even greater."
Though conviction sounded abstract, in this world it truly was a crucial source of power.
When someone possessed sufficient conviction, even weakness could become strength. Conversely, losing conviction could cause formidable power to deteriorate.
Just as Zephyr's strength had rapidly recovered after defecting from the Navy to create the NEO Navy, Katakuri's power was also increasing after escaping Charlotte Linlin's shadow and removing his scarf.
Brett had always believed he possessed the qualifications to master Conqueror's Haki infusion.
Moreover, maintaining the current situation wasn't bad—let the government believe things remained under their control.
"Whatever you say."
Tesoro didn't care. These matters never required his concern. Brett always handled everything.
He only needed to focus on cultural and public opinion matters.
After ending this brief meeting, Brett went to the Mermaid Café to find Shyarly.
The moment he pushed open the café door and entered, a little girl eagerly rushed over.
"Brett-niisan!"
It was Nana.
When Brett had first returned to Fish-Man Island, Nana had been just a ten-year-old girl. Now several years had passed, and she'd gradually grown into a beautiful young mermaid.
Though her personality remained as energetic as ever.
She waved her small fists as she approached Brett, saying excitedly, "Look! Brett-niisan! Look!"
She wanted Brett to look at her fists.
Then Brett noticed the invisible ripples coiling around the little girl's fists.
"How's that! My new technique!"
The little girl smiled somewhat proudly.
Brett instantly felt delighted.
Without question, this was Haki.
Though still immature, this child had mastered Haki!
"Amazing, Nana!"
Brett smiled and ruffled the girl's head. "You've accomplished something truly remarkable."
Indeed. Though Haki seemed somewhat commonplace in the New World, it was actually power only a select few strong individuals on the seas could master.
Without exaggeration, ninety percent of people in this world would never even touch Haki in their entire lives, much less master it.
For Nana to master Haki before even reaching adulthood was genuinely remarkable.
"Eh? You know about it, Brett-niisan?"
Nana blinked. Though she'd learned Haki, she didn't actually know what this power was.
"It's very impressive. You'll need to practice hard from now on, Nana." Brett smiled.
Haki learned this way was somewhat more fragile than Haki learned through hardship. She'd need to work harder to compensate for that weakness.
However, right now Brett was more concerned about something else.
"Nana, how many people at school have mastered this power like you?"
Brett asked.
Several years ago, he'd obtained the Amazon Lily's specialized Haki training method from Hancock.
Brett and Neptune had immediately decided to incorporate this training into the daily curriculum for school children—teaching Haki from childhood.
Now it seemed these years had finally begun bearing fruit.
After hearing Brett's question, Nana grinned. She proudly touched her nose. "None! I'm the first!"
"Oh, I see."
Brett nodded.
Right. If there were earlier precedents, if students had already begun awakening Haki on a large scale, he should have known about it already.
Which meant—
"Nana, you know what?"
Brett looked at the grinning little girl before him. "You might actually be a genius."
When Hancock had taught Brett the Haki training method, she'd mentioned not everyone could develop Haki through this approach.
As a child lacking extensive training, for Nana to practice Haki before all other students—her talent was truly extraordinary.
Haki was power produced through both mental and physical effort. For a child to develop Haki truly wasn't easy.
"Hehe, of course I am!"
Nana accepted Brett's praise completely without any modesty.
Brett chuckled softly.
Looked like the children would soon experience a concentrated emergence of Haki users, wouldn't they?
Fish-Man Island's future generation was beginning to show their potential.
Time to pay closer attention to the children.
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