Beltz didn't pay much attention to the affairs of the Soul Reapers.
He was busy spending a thrilling and exciting time in One Piece.
Ever since Golden Lion introduced him to the crew, Beltz had encountered three assassination attempts, two poisonings, and over a dozen traps—all on the very first day.
Fortunately, Beltz was now effectively "indestructible," and combined with his Schrift, he managed to escape every situation unharmed.
With Shiki's ability, they didn't need to pass through the underwater Ryugu Palace to reach the New World; they simply flew right over.
After leaving the Sabaody Archipelago, they arrived in the New World.
Although Shiki seemed enthusiastic about the Ancient Weapons, he didn't rush forward. Instead, he kept the ship drifting slowly through the sky.
According to Shiki, he was helping Vegapunk purchase equipment.
Moreover, they had to stop at Hachinosu first.
"Imagination! You must have imagination!"
Shiki barked his reprimand: "Don't just let the power fire out in a simple, direct way. You have to think about driving that power into the interior of the other person's body!"
There are three stages of Armament Haki: Hardening, Emission, and Internal Destruction.
Hardening is something anyone can use once they know Haki.
Emission is slightly more advanced and requires practice.
However, this wasn't difficult for Beltz; back in the Soul Society world, emitting Reishi was second nature. After practicing for a while in One Piece, he mastered it completely.
The only thing worth Beltz's effort to learn was Internal Destruction.
It wasn't about simply releasing Haki as an energy wave to strike an enemy, but letting one's own Haki enter the inside of an object to destroy the enemy from within.
This was considered an extremely high level of Armament Haki.
Beltz followed Shiki to learn Haki primarily to master this Internal Destruction and Observation Haki.
While Reiatsu sensing was strong, its utility in direct combat was limited. Observation Haki, on the other hand, allowed one to predict an enemy's next move. At its highest level, it could even glimpse the future, which was vital.
"Phew..."
Beltz tried once again to imagine his Haki flowing into the center of a rock and making it explode.
But the Haki that flowed out simply sent the rock flying once more.
Seeing this, Shiki was fuming: "What is wrong with you? If I say you lack talent, you've already trained your Haki to such a strong level at your age and learned Emission with ease—yet you still haven't grasped the gist of Internal Destruction after all this time!"
Beltz shrugged, appearing largely unbothered: "Don't be so angry. Everyone has things they aren't good at."
It wasn't actually that he lacked talent; rather, his natural aptitude was quite average.
He was average in the Soul Society world, and he wasn't going to suddenly become a genius in One Piece.
His rapid growth in strength relied first on the Azure Dragon Fruit obtained at God Valley, and second on the spiritual power and Schrift bestowed by Yhwach.
What he needed to do was slowly master this immense power now that he possessed it.
Knowing his own limitations, he wasn't particularly disappointed with his current progress.
He would take it slow.
"Fine, think about it yourself," Shiki said impatiently. "We're almost at Hachinosu. Get some rest."
Beltz had been training all morning, so he didn't push further.
He turned and returned to his room. After a shower, he headed to Vegapunk's room next door.
During his time on Golden Lion's ship, Vegapunk had been obsessing over Kurotsuchi Mayuri's research, nearly to the point of forgetting to eat.
It had to be said that Mayuri's research provided him with immense inspiration.
"Still researching, I see."
Beltz walked in, wanting to ask Vegapunk about the progress of the Lineage Factor research.
Vegapunk only turned around after hearing Beltz speak, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "I finally figured it out! Heavens, I can't wait to start the Lineage Factor research. I believe I will succeed this time!"
"You figured it out?"
Beltz felt a surge of excitement. Vegapunk's progress was his progress. Since Vegapunk understood, it meant his plan could officially begin!
"When do we reach Wano?" Vegapunk asked. "I'm dying to start immediately."
"Soon. After we settle this next matter, we're going straight to Wano."
Beltz patted Vegapunk on the shoulder and suddenly said: "Vegapunk, you're so busy. Have you ever thought about creating avatars to relieve your stress?"
"Avatars?" Vegapunk asked, puzzled. "What do you mean? Though I am indeed very busy."
"So busy I want to call a cat over to help."
"Exactly. Why not create more versions of yourself? With mature Lineage Factor technology and your intellect, it shouldn't be hard to clone a few others, right?"
"!"
Vegapunk was stunned: "Beltz, you're a genius! I hadn't even thought of that before!"
"Yes, if only there were a few more of me!"
"But as you said, the prerequisite is mature Lineage Factor technology. Right now, I don't even know if I can master it yet."
"How long do you think it will take?" Beltz asked.
Vegapunk thought for a moment and said: "Hard to say. Even with this data you gave me, it might take a while. Maybe a year if we're fast, or three to five years if we're slow."
"That's already very fast."
Beltz let out a sigh of relief.
A year or even three to five years was nothing to him.
In the original timeline of One Piece, it would have taken Vegapunk twelve years to research the Lineage Factor. Beltz couldn't afford to wait that long.
The only issue was that originally, Vegapunk developed the Lineage Factor technology with the MADS group.
Even if the others were mostly riding on Vegapunk's coattails, it couldn't be said they contributed nothing.
Among them, Vinsmoke Judge used that technology for his human cloning research, creating an army of elite soldiers and modifying his own children into cyborgs.
That included Sanji.
Now that Vegapunk wasn't with Judge and the others, and they couldn't figure out the Lineage Factor research, would Sanji simply not exist in the future?
Well, it was hard to say. Maybe Judge's children simply wouldn't be cyborgs, and Sanji wouldn't run away to become a pirate because he was looked down upon?
The thought crossed Beltz's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
What did changing the plot matter? Even if Sanji vanished, or even if Luffy vanished, he didn't care.
He didn't have much confidence in taking down Yhwach in the Soul Society, but against the Celestial Dragons in One Piece, his confidence was quite high.
Furthermore, One Piece had its own historical inertia—or "destiny," in fatalistic terms.
The Child of Destiny would be born, and Joy Boy would surely emerge decades later.
This wasn't determined by Garp or Dragon, but by the destiny of the entire world.
"Alright, I won't disturb you further. There might be a battle coming up; you don't need to join, just stay in the cabin."
Beltz gave one last instruction and left.
He then knocked on Rukia's door and entered after hearing her voice.
"How have these past two weeks been?"
Beltz saw Rukia reading a storybook from One Piece. It really felt like seeing a child; she was over a hundred years old, yet she was reading children's stories.
Of course, age didn't matter much; Beltz himself enjoyed reading manga.
Rukia put the book down, her voice laced with worry: "I wonder how the Captain and my Brother are doing..."
Beltz laughed: "Don't worry. I visited the Soul Society a while ago and heard the Gotei 13 is preparing a Hueco Mundo Exploration Force to head into Hueco Mundo."
"Heading to Hueco Mundo?" Rukia was shocked. "Isn't that too dangerous? For... me..."
She lowered her head and said self-consciously: "Is it worth it?"
"What are you thinking?"
Beltz gave Rukia a sharp flick to the forehead, clicking his tongue: "They're searching for traces of those five monsters. You're just a byproduct!"
Rukia clutched her head in pain, tears pricking her eyes: "Beltz, you violent man!"
"I just can't stand you acting like you're not important at all."
Beltz pulled his hand back and crossed his arms: "Don't forget your status!"
"My status?" Rukia blinked, then gave a self-deprecating smile: "What status could I have? The adopted child of the Kuchiki family?"
"Not just the adopted child of the Kuchiki family, but the sister of Byakuya, a member of Jushiro Ukitake's division, and finally—mine."
"Yours?"
"Yes, Beltz's partner!" Beltz said proudly. "If you think the first two statuses aren't much, then you should at least be proud of this last one!"
"You're a woman I've acknowledged. What's with all this moping?"
Hearing Beltz's words, Rukia finally let out a laugh: "How can you have the nerve to compare yourself to my Brother and my Captain?"
"I am far greater than them."
Beltz said with a serious face: "Because I am your partner."
"And who am I?" Rukia was a bit dazed.
"You are my partner."
"Good grief, you're just using circular logic there."
However, her mood significantly improved, and she stopped dwelling on the Soul Society. She looked at Beltz and suddenly said:
"Thank you, Beltz."
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