Evening, the horizon was a stretch of red clouds.
York, his entire body wrapped in bandages, struggled to climb up to the right eye socket of the skull mountain on Hachinosu.
He exhaled lightly, sat cross-legged at the edge of the eye socket facing the town below, clasped his hands in front of him, and emitted Holy Light from his entire body.
"That kid... instead of staying quiet and healing, what is he doing?"
Rocks noticed York's movements and expressed that he couldn't understand York's behavior.
**Universal Holy Light!!**
The town of Hachinosu was fully covered by the Holy Light released by York. A large number of pirates wandering the streets fell to the ground one after another, all showing expressions of enjoyment and happiness on their faces.
Immediately afterward, under Rocks' gaze, several Holy Light Tentacles extended from York's body.
From the right eye socket of the skull mountain, they extended all the way down to the nearest pirates, gently wrapping around their bodies. A trace of pink light seemed to be extracted from these pirates, flowing along the tentacles and injecting into York's body.
Receiving the supply of these pink lights, York's pale complexion instantly gained a hint of rosiness.
Then, York, whose condition had recovered, released even more tentacles.
And this number increased geometrically with the increase in extraction targets.
It wasn't until nightfall that the tentacles covering the entire island dissipated like foam, and the Holy Light from York's body ceased.
He slowly stood up from the right eye socket of the skull mountain and tore off the bandages on his body. His previous severe injuries were completely healed as if they had never happened.
Rocks was right beside him, looking at York with astonishment.
"Your Devil Fruit ability has this kind of usage?!"
After sitting for over an hour, York stretched his body to loosen his muscles and bones.
"Otherwise, how do you think I managed to come to Hachinosu alone?!"
"Wahahaha! It really is a powerful ability! But I seem to have never heard of an ability like yours before."
York smiled mysteriously upon hearing this.
"The number of Devil Fruits is not eternally constant. They can increase or decrease at any time. It's not strange at all if a completely unexpected fruit ability appears one day!"
"Wahahaha! You know a lot about Devil Fruits!"
A strange light flickered in Rocks' eyes, and York met his gaze without backing down.
"Likewise."
*Crackle!*
The sound of crimson lightning rubbing against the air rang out. The long sword at Rocks' waist was unsheathed by an inch.
"How about it? Now that you've fully recovered, do you want to continue the Haki training from before?!"
"Not for now. I'll come find you actively after I digest the gains from last time."
...
The night passed without incident.
Most of the pirates on the island had a good dream under the influence of York's ability.
Except for the daily feeling that their kidneys were a bit fatigued, there were no abnormalities.
Similarly, Rocks showed no intention of initiating any action.
Perhaps it was to rest after just pulling off a big job, or perhaps he was still pondering how to revive the frozen giants behind the mountain.
Hachinosu Tavern.
Stussy had another day of fruitless effort.
Whitebeard remained indifferent to her complaints, almost as if he truly had no feelings for her at all.
Did he know that the line of people pursuing her could stretch from Hachinosu all the way to the Red Line?!
"That blockhead, he really doesn't know how lucky he is!"
After complaining about Whitebeard, Stussy suddenly stopped at the door of her room.
A box had been placed at her door with a note attached—Scientific Research Data.
Stussy stepped forward slowly and opened the box directly.
She wasn't worried about any traps. Just yesterday, Rocks had established a new rule forbidding making a move on crewmates on Hachinosu and the pirate ship.
As long as York didn't want to be killed by Rocks, he wouldn't pull any messy stunts while on the island.
The box opened, and unsurprisingly, it contained the research data from Punk Hazard that she hadn't had time to collect.
"Sigh~~"
Stussy sighed lightly.
"Why is it that the one I like doesn't like me, while the one who likes me is a perverted brat~~"
Back to York.
At this moment, he was behind the skull mountain practicing the technique of external emission of Armament Haki, also known as Ryuo in Wano Country.
*Bang! Bang bang!*
York stood in front of a rock, continuously striking it with his fists.
"The point isn't how much force is used, but concentration and release..."
That sword strike from Rocks earlier didn't just use Conqueror's Infusion; it also used external emission of Armament Haki and many other techniques.
York couldn't sense exactly what they all were for now, so he focused his energy mainly on external emission.
Half a month of peaceful life passed just like that.
For this half-month, York had been immersed in training. regarding his so-called hunt for Stussy, aside from delivering the research data once, there was nothing else, as if he had forgotten about her.
"Done!!"
*Bang!*
As his fist punched out, without touching the rock, it successfully caused the rock to explode from the inside out. This signified that York had successfully mastered the techniques of external emission and internal destruction of Armament Haki.
External emission and internal destruction were different applications of the projection technique. Basically, anyone who mastered external emission would logically master internal destruction as well.
"Nine-year compulsory education didn't deceive me!"
Relying on the learning and comprehension abilities accumulated from his previous life, York only spent half a month mastering the technique that Luffy spent two years learning with Rayleigh without success.
Although Luffy had a highlight moment later where he awakened after getting bonked by Kaido three times, that was the will of the world turning on hacks for him, not normal training.
Calculating it this way, York's talent was pretty good.
And accompanying York's mastery of external emission, Rocks finally issued a new order for action.
"Set sail! Boys!"
"The target for this operation is the International Charity Alliance Monastery!!"
The Rocks Pirates set sail once again.
Seeing Stussy again after half a month, this woman was as beautiful as ever.
However, the look in her eyes when she looked at York now clearly carried a thick sense of vigilance and apprehension.
York smiled calmly.
"Make sure to stay vigilant during the operation! I might launch an attack on you at any time!"
Stussy twitched the corner of her mouth slightly in embarrassment.
She stood next to Whitebeard and said haughtily, "You don't know yet, right! I am Newgate's woman! If you dare make a move on me, be careful that Newgate doesn't kill you!"
Whitebeard turned his head to glance at Stussy but said nothing.
York, on the other hand, watched Whitebeard's reaction with a smile.
Whitebeard's attitude didn't look like he cared much about Stussy.
As a man, if his woman became someone else's hunting target and he didn't get angry about it, either he didn't care about the woman at all, or he liked being a cuckold.
York wasn't sure which one Whitebeard was for now.
But regardless of which one it was, the relationship between him and Stussy didn't seem as intimate as what he had understood in his previous life.