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  --xLOVEx--

  Two days ter, after a lot of rest and recovery—mainly for Coby—the crew was ready to leave Thriller Bark. Franky had spent the past day crafting a mo from the remnants of Brook’s old ship, the ohat had carried the Rumbar Pirates on their final journey. It stood tall in the middle of the eerie isnd, a tribute to Brook’s lost crew.

  Brook stood before the mo, bowing deeply. "Thank you, Franky-san. This is more than I could’ve hoped for." His voice was soft, but his gratitude was clear.

  "Hey, it’s the least I could do," Franky replied, adjusting his shades. "The Rumbar Pirates deserve to be remembered in a SUPER way!"

  The rest of the crew stood by the Thousand Sunny, watg as Brook paid his final respects. It was a somber moment, but it also felt like closure. Brook was finally free of the burden he had carried for so many years.

  As the crew gathered he ship, Lo and the other victims of Thriller Bark approached to say their goodbyes. They had decided to head in the opposite dire, their own paths leading away from the Grand Line.

  Lo, always full of energy, waved enthusiastically. "Thanks for everything, Straw Hats! We’ll never fet what you did for us!"

  Nami took some of the golds Pero on their ship before Kuma seo flying and hahem to Lo. Although this time there was no sisterhood between two, Nami still felt they deserved it, and they had lots of it anyway.

  Lo then took out a piece of paper and tore it in half. "This is Mama's Vivre Card," she said, handing one half to Nami. "She's a big shot pirate and if you ever find yourself in trouble, this might e in handy."

  Nami looked at the torn paper in fusion. "What's a Vivre Card?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. Her gaze shifted to Coby, who always seemed to know these kinds of things.

  Coby stretched a bit before answering, still feeling a little sore from his ordeal. "A Vivre Card is a special type of paper made from someone's fingernail. It points toward the person it belongs to, no matter where they are. It’s like a living pass."

  Nami examihe paper in her hand. “So, it’ll always lead us to this ‘Mama’ of yours?”

  Lo nodded, smiling. "Yeah! It ’t be destroyed easily either. Water, fire, nothing touch it. But be careful! Mama's... well, she's powerful."

  Nami raised an eyebrow at that. "And yiving us this because…?"

  Lo grinned, her typical boisterous energy returning. "Because I owe you guys! You saved me and the others." She winked before stepping back with a wave.

  Luffy suddenly remembered something. He reached up to the red band on his hat and pulled out the small piece of paper Ace had given him. His eyes widened in shock—the paper had shrunk. It was a lot smaller than he remembered, and it was still getting smaller.

  “What the hell… what’s happening?” Luffy asked, worry creeping into his voice.

  Lo’s expression darkened when she saw the paper. “That’s also a Vivre Card. It’s also known as the Paper of Lives. Like I said earlier, no fire or water burn it. But if it’s getting smaller, that means the owner’s life is slipping away.” She looked at Luffy with . “I don’t know who that belongs to, but it seems like they’re in trouble.”

  Luffy’s face tightened. “It’s my brother’s!” he shouted, g the shrinking Vivre Card in his hand.

  The crew exged uneasy gnces, but no one said anything. It was clear that whoever Luffy’s brother was, he was in serious danger.

  A tense silence fell over them as they all boarded the Thousand Sunny, getting ready to sail away from Thriller Bark. Nami, standihe helm, gnced over at Luffy, who had returhe Vivre Card ba his hat.

  “Luffy,” Nami said softly, “are you sure you’re not going after him?”

  Luffy looked up, ag his usual carefree demeanor. He nodded slowly. “Ace has his own adventures. I’m worried about him, but… if I go after him now, he will think I was looking down on him.” He looked at the sea with a ugh “So long as he’s fihere’s nothing to worry about.”

  Nami didn’t seem vinced, but she didn’t push it. Coby stood off to the side, watg the iion quietly. For a moment, he sidered telling Luffy what he knew—about Ace’s capture and the impending execution. He had altered the course of events before, ging things when it beed him or the crew. But this was different. Telling Luffy now could ge everything in uable ways. It wasn’t always a good thing to mess with the future.

  ging the course wouldn’t be him or the crew in any way. First off, Coby couldn’t guarahat they would all make it out of Marineford alive. Luffy would insist on charging ahead to rescue Ace, even if it meant leaving the crew behind to sneak into Impel Down alone. But the others wouldn’t agree to that, not in a million years. F their way into Impel Down would be a suicide mission. Besides, Impel Down wasn’t just about Ace. Luffy had saved a lot of people there, made valuable allies—some of them were key to survival in the war. These were crucial points Coby couldn’t ignore.

  Once again, he ched his fist ahe plot take its course. As much as it pained him, this art of the story that couldn’t be messed with. Ace’s capture, Luffy’s eventual rescue mission—it all o happen for things to py out the way they were meant to.

  Instead, Coby g the crew, his expression serious. “Gather around, you bastards,” he called out, sitting up slightly despite the soreness in his muscles.

  “I’ve been easy on you all for too long,” Coby tinued, rubbing the back of his neck. “This st fight taught me the importance of hard work. It’s been weeks since I started teag you Rokushiki. Has any of you actually mastered it yet?”

  Robin, ever calm, raised her hand. “Sensei, I’m close to mastering Shigan as you instructed,” she said, her voice smooth and teasing.

  Coby gave her a nod of approval. “Good.”

  Nami also added, "I am w with Robin and learhe theory, but they are not easy to learn. I get that Geppo and Soru would be me, but I need a lot of leg power for them."

  Coby nodded, "Train ys and try to grasp Soru first. Geppo ter."

  Luffy raised his hand too, his face filled with excitement. “I’m getting good at Rankyaku, but do I really ?” he asked, tilting his head. “I mean, I’ve got my fists!”

  Coby smirked, shaking his head. “You need versatility, Luffy. Your fists and kicks are strong, but you need cutting power as well. Rankyaku will give you that edge, especially when you’re up against tougher oppos.”

  Luffy shrugged but nodded. "Alright, I’ll keep practig."

  Coby’s eyes shifted to Usopp. The sniper was standing a bit further back, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “What about you, Usopp? You were aiming to learn Soru and Geppo to keep your distance, right?”

  Usopp’s face flushed. “I… uh… haven’t made much progress,” he admitted, scratg his head. “Soru’s really hard to trol, and Geppo just makes me feel like I’m gonna break my legs…”

  Coby sighed, crossing his arms. “You o keep w on it. If you master those, you’ll be able to keep yourself safe while providing support from a distaick with it.”

  Chopper was , his little reindeer form standing at attention. “I’ve been fog on Tekkai and Shigan,” he said, his voice filled with determination. “But I haven’t made much progress either.”

  “That’s okay, Chopper,” Coby replied, giving him a reassuring nod. “Tekkai is tough to master, especially when your body has different forms. But keep at it. Once you get it down, you’ll be able to take hits like a tank.”

  Chopper nodded eagerly, determio keep improving.

  Coby turo Franky , who was adjusting his sungsses. “How about you, Franky? You were fog on Tekkai tht?”

  Franky puffed out his chest proudly. “SUPER Tekkai training! I’ve made some progress, but I still o work on strengthening my front. I has pretty well, but I’m not as durable as I want to be yet.”

  “That’s good,” Coby aowledged. “Tekkai will help reinforce your defenses, especially in your back. Keep strengthening it.”

  Sanji, leaning casually against the wall, flicked his cigarette. “I’ve been w on Soru and Geppo, and I would say I’m getting the hang of them,” he said, sounding more fident thahers.

  Coby smirked. “That’s what I expected. Those two teiques suit your style well. Keep pushing, and you’ll get even faster.”

  Finally, Coby’s gaze fell on Zoro, who stood silently with his arms crossed. “Zoro, I know Rokushiki doesly fit yhting style, but have you made any progress with Soru and Tekkai?”

  Zored. “I don’t hem. My swords are all I need in a fight.”

  Coby raised an eyebrow. “Maybe. But if you master Soru, you’ll be able to move faster than your enemies react. And Tekkai will help when you take a hit. Even the best swordsman get caught off guard.”

  Zrunted, clearly not thrilled with the idea, but he didn’t argue. “I’ll keep w on it.”

  Coby stood up. “Alright, listen up. We’ve faced a lot of tough enemies, and it’s only going to get harder from here. Rokushiki isn’t just some fshy teique. It’s a set of tools that give you an edge in battle. But you won’t get better unless you train seriously.”

  Seeing the creumped up, Coby gave a quiod. "Brook, you’re o the crew, so I’ll expin what Rokushiki is. Unfortunately, since you don’t have muscle mass, most of Rokushiki will be impossible for you. But I think we try something with Tekkai tthen your bones."

  Brook pced a hand on his skeletal and houghtfully. "Yohohoho! Strengthening my bones? Sounds iing, Coby-san. I would like to give it a try!"

  Coby crossed his arms, gng over at the rest of the crew. "That brings us to Haki. It’s been a long while since I first mentio to you guys, but I haven’t made any progress either, so I ’t really bme any of you." He paused, then shrugged. "Holy, I’m not sure if it’s because we ck a proper teacher or if we’re just not ready yet. I just ’t grasp it."

  The ship went quiet for a moment as the crew processed Coby’s words. Luffy scratched his head, looking fused. "Haki, huh? You have mentio before, but I still don’t get what the big deal is."

  "Yeah," Usopp chimed in, waving his hands. "You keep talking about it like it’s some kind of secret power, but none of us have actually seen it in a. How do we even know if we’re doing it right?"

  Coby sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "That’s the thing. Haki isn’t something you just do. It’s about willpower, awareness… and being able to sehings in ways we ’t normally expin. There’s Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and queror’s Haki. But none of us are showing any sig."

  Zoro, leaning back against the wall, let out a grunt. "Tch. Sounds like a waste of time if we ’t even figure out how to use it."

  "It’s not a waste of time," Coby shot back. "We’ve just got to keep pushing ourselves in the right dire. Wheime es, we’ll figure it out."

  Sanji took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled slowly. "So, what do we do in the meantime? Keep practig Rokushiki while waiting for Haki to magically show up?"

  "Pretty much," Coby answered, shrugging. "We don’t have a lot of optiht now. We keep training what we know and try to master Rokushiki. Haki will e when it’s ready."

  Luffy, who had been boung on his feet during the versation, suddenly cpped his hands together. "Alright, enough talking! Let’s just fight more! That’s how I get stronger!"

  Nami rolled her eyes but smiled. "Luffy, it’s not always about fighting."

  "Yes, it is!" Luffy shot back with a grin. "If we keep fighting tough guys, we’ll get strohat’s how we learned most of our moves, right?"

  Robin chuckled softly. "He’s n."

  Coby smirked. "Alright, fine. We’ll stick to what we know and keep improving. But don’t sck off! I’m still gonna push all of you to your limits. If I see any of you sg during training, you’ll be doing triple the amount."

  Chopper looked worried. "Triple?!" he squeaked, his eyes wide.

  "Triple," Coby repeated, making sure the little reindeer uood. He turo Brook again, pointing at the skeleton’s thin frame. "And you, Brook, we’ll focus oing your bones as hard as steel. Tekkai could be the game ger for you."

  Brook tapped his skull with his bony fingers. "Yohohoho! I’m ready, Coby-san! Though I must admit, I’ll have to traira hard."

  "That’s why we’re starting with Tekkai," Coby said, crag his knuckles. "And everyone else, you’ll tinue w oeiques you’ve already started."

  With a shout of “HO!” the crew returo their training. Despite his usual pints, Zoro was w the hardest among them. He grumbled under his breath, his frustration evident. It wasn’t just the trainiing under his skin—he and Sanji had retly learhe truth about what Coby did ba Thriller Bark. Two of Lo's creilled everything, tattling to Zoro and Sanji about how Coby had taken Luffy's pain using Kuma’s powers.

  Zrit his teeth, fog on his sword swings. Luffy was still pletely in the dark, clueless about the burden Coby had taken on. If Luffy knew, he would feel like absolute shit, and Zoro wasn’t about to let that happen. Keeping this secret from their captain was easy and for once, Zoro and Sanji were in full agreement—it was for the best.

  Meanwhile, Coby observed the crew from the side, arms crossed, giving pointers here and there when needed. Nami practiced her leg strength, trying to master Soru, while Usopp was struggling with the same move, occasionally tripping over his ow. Chopper worked diligently on improving his Tekkai, and Franky was deep into his own interaining.

  --

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