After the Cat Girl returned to training, Brian headed directly toward a small room inside the training ground.
Along the way, Tiger Girl and Leopard Girl clearly noticed him.
But seeing that neither of their opponents stopped fighting, they hesitated and, for once, treated Brian, their master, as if he were air.
The fight continued, and Brian didn't mind.
After entering the room, he went to the center, sat down cross-legged, and adjusted his breathing.
Once his breathing had calmed, he plucked a small rice ball from his face.
Placing the rice ball in his right hand, he extended his arm and held it in front of him.
"Conqueror's Haki~"
Streaks of red lightning appeared out of thin air, causing the space to tremble.
Under his deliberate control, these phenomena remained confined within a one-meter radius around his body.
Then, at a visible speed, the lightning rapidly converged and surged into the rice ball in Brian's hand.
Crack~
An unexpected event occurred—the moment the red lightning of Conqueror's Haki touched the rice ball, it shattered into powder and vanished.
"Too fragile to withstand it?"
Staring at the shattered rice ball, Brian fell into thought.
He then plucked another new rice ball from his face.
This one was noticeably larger and even emitted a faint white glow.
The same scene repeated.
Red lightning gathered once more, advancing toward the new rice ball.
Zzzzt~
This time, the red lightning successfully entered, but after just one streak had penetrated, it crackled intensely.
Crack~
After holding on for three seconds, this rice ball, like the previous one, turned to powder and disappeared.
With this second failure, Brian decided not to continue.
"It seems Conqueror's Haki and the rice ball can be compatible after all."
"But the Haki's intensity is too high—the rice ball needs greater hardness to endure it."
"Let's put Conqueror's Haki on hold for now and start testing with Armament Haki first."
These two attempts at infusing Conqueror's Haki were mainly to confirm whether the approach was feasible.
The results proved that infusing Haki into a rice ball was possible.
Even though many issues remained, they were no longer insurmountable problems.
Pluck~
He plucked another new rice ball—smooth and with a faint luster.
Holding it in his right hand, Brian's palm quickly changed color.
A thick layer of black Armament Haki covered his entire hand, shimmering with a faint, cold gleam.
"Hah~"
Armament Haki flowed like water, swiftly gathering and pouring into the rice ball.
Zzzzt~
After crackling intensely, the rice ball smoothly withstood the infusion of Armament Haki.
Then, the Haki continued to pour in steadily and rapidly.
Two minutes later, the entire rice ball had completely turned black and could no longer absorb any more Haki.
Only then did Brian stop and examine this eye-catching black rice ball.
"Finally succeeded."
He let out a long sigh of relief.
The past two minutes had taken a considerable toll on Brian.
A large amount of Armament Haki had rapidly drained away, infused into the rice ball.
Once the rice ball had fully solidified, he was surprised to find that nearly twenty percent of his Armament Haki was gone.
In other words, this small rice ball contained twenty percent of Brian's Armament Haki.
And he was at Admiral Level.
If a Vice Admiral were to be struck by this dumpling carelessly...
They'd be lucky to escape with their life, let alone avoid severe injury!
"This looks practically like a divine tool for ambushing people in battle. Have I gone off track?"
Thinking this, Brian felt rather troubled.
How had his experiment veered in this direction so quickly?
Shaking his head, he temporarily set aside these thoughts.
He continued producing Armament Haki dumplings.
One after another.
As his technique became more proficient, the consumption of Armament Haki decreased slightly.
Only after a full hour did Brian completely stop.
Looking at the five Armament Haki dumplings in the box before him, he nodded with satisfaction.
"A one-month expiration period? That should be sufficient."
While ensuring his own condition wasn't affected, these five dumplings had consumed most of his Armament Haki.
After creation, their corresponding expiration period appeared.
If unused within a month, these dumplings would automatically dissipate into the air.
Storing the five dumplings away, Brian left the room and returned to the training ground.
"Yin, Xuan, come here for a moment."
"What is it, Master?"
"Master, I'm coming."
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Tiger Girl and Leopard Girl instantly appeared beside him.
Their movements also caught the attention of Mi and Fu on the field.
Fu had just returned from hunting Sea Kings.
"Test the effects of these dumplings."
"Use your ultimate techniques. Crush the dumplings before releasing your attacks - the Armament Haki inside will automatically cover your strikes."
"See if there are any issues with this process."
He tossed one dumpling to each of them and waited to observe the practical effects.
True knowledge comes from practice, after all.
"Alright, watch me, Master!"
"Mhmm, no problem."
Tiger Girl took action first, flashing to the center of the field.
"Roar~"
A tiger's roar echoed as domineering tiger aura enveloped most of the training ground.
The muscles on Tiger Girl's body rapidly expanded, with massive power channeling into her right claw.
"Tiger Fist: Roar of the Tiger in the Mountains!"
The form of a fierce tiger appeared behind Tiger Girl, vanishing in a flash.
Then she crushed the Armament Haki dumpling and threw a punch.
Boom~
A powerful explosion sounded, shaking the training ground violently with tremendous force.
Brian sensed the intensity of this punch and nodded approvingly.
"Approaching Vice Admiral level. Though just a single strike, it's enough to change the course of a battle."
With Brian's Armament Haki assistance, Tiger Girl had delivered a blow surpassing her normal capabilities.
Whoosh!
Leaping out of the crater she had created, Tiger Girl was equally pleased.
This clearly superior power beyond her normal capacity somewhat intoxicated her.
"My turn, my turn!"
Ignoring the somewhat intoxicated Tiger Girl, Leopard Girl Xuan could hardly contain herself.
As her rival, how could she let Tiger Girl steal all the spotlight?
In a flash, she occupied the center of the training ground.
Xuan raised her Spiked Club and similarly let out a loud roar.
The leopard's roar also spread across the training ground, her leopard aura enveloping the area, though slightly less imposing than the tiger's aura.
"Leopard Kill: Leopard Cleaving Hammer!"
Crack~
The Armament Haki dumpling in her hand shattered, the Armament Haki inside flowing out like water.
It quickly covered the black Spiked Club in Leopard Girl's hand.
Clang~
A cold gleam flashed as the entire Spiked Club shone with a chilling light, radiating powerful intimidation.
"Ha~"
Boom~
The crater originally created by Tiger Girl was deepened further by Leopard Girl's strike.
The same location now featured a pit dozens of meters deep.
Thick smoke billowed, enveloping the entire training ground, taking quite a while to slowly dissipate.
"Attaching to objects is also achievable. The Armament Haki dumplings are now complete."
"Next, I just need to increase the intensity of Armament Haki the dumplings can withstand and improve the production speed."
"After a few more days of practice with making Armament Haki dumplings, I can start researching Conqueror's Haki dumplings again."
The successive results left Brian quite satisfied.
He then had the still-excited Tiger Girl and Leopard Girl guide Mi's training once more.
He himself left the training ground.