One Piece Dragon King - Chapter 48
Hals exchanged for the training methods of the Six Powers and started studying them on his own.
However, he soon realized he wasn’t quite grasping them.
Despite stomping numerous footprints into the ground, he only managed to damage the stone training ground without any other effect.
After a few minutes of futile practice, Hals decided to seek out Teacher Zephyr.
Zephyr patiently taught Hals, but Hals still couldn’t master it.
Hals began to suspect he was simply too stupid, but Zephyr wasn’t worried and encouraged him to take it slow.
Then, Hals discovered the real problem.
It was because he wasn’t strong enough.
Why, you ask?
Because everyone always says, “Money makes you stronger.”
And what Hals needed to “spend” was his physical attributes.
Hals thought, “…”
This is a scam.
It turned out that without boosting his stats, he couldn’t properly train the Six Powers.
Just learning them required a significant investment of 50 points in his physical attributes.
That’s equivalent to 500 Doriki.
In his dragon-human form, this could translate to 1500 Doriki, and in full dragon form, it could even reach 2500 Doriki.
Hals couldn’t understand why the Doriki would triple in his three-meter dragon-human form but increase fivefold in his full dragon form.
It was frustrating.
The real kicker was that using the Six Powers required maintaining 500 Doriki.
Hals was truly vexed.
This was Hals’ current attribute panel:
Body: 1230
Soul: 1340
Skills:
– Physical: [Shave] 340+
– Magic:
– Level 3: Plant
– Level 2: Water/Wind/Ice/Fire
– Level 1: Earth/Thunder/Light/Dark
Negative Emotion Value: 9,764,170
He was on the brink of breaking ten million.
Hals could spend his physical attribute points on his body skills, but each investment required a minimum of 10 points, which equated to 100 Doriki.
He recalled a meme featuring the character Ma Hua Teng.
“Calm down, the root of your problem is not spending enough money.”
If only he had enough physical points.
He could easily crush the Four Emperors with enough points.
Ah, the faint sorrow.
The number next to the body skills indicated proficiency. Although he could get stronger through spending points, doing so would reduce his overall physical attributes.
Frustrating.
However, it must be said that Hals was already quite powerful.
A Doriki score of over ten thousand was rare, but even so, Hals still couldn’t match Grandpa Garp or Admiral Aokiji in raw strength.
Hals never intended to challenge Garp, but he did test his strength against Aokiji before focusing on training his body skills.
Initially, Hals planned to challenge Vice Admiral Gion, known as “Momousagi,” but he ran into Aokiji instead.
After chatting with Aokiji for a while, they decided to arm-wrestle.
Aokiji let Hals go first. Hals didn’t think much of it and gave it his all.
Then he realized something.
He couldn’t budge Aokiji’s hand.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move it. After a while, Aokiji allowed Hals to use both hands, but it only resulted in a slight wobble.
Hals thought, “…”
So frustrating.
Should he challenge Kizaru next?
After all, Kizaru’s physical strength should be lower than that of elite vice admirals.
Kizaru was always being scolded by Zephyr, mostly because he spent so much time reading questionable magazines.
If Kizaru had the physical strength of Vice Admiral Gion, he wouldn’t get scolded so much, given his focus on speed as a Devil Fruit user.
However, Aokiji was genuinely impressed.
“Wow, you’ve grown strong, Hals.”
Aokiji patted Hals on the shoulder and didn’t press his hand down, sparing Hals’ pride. Hals appreciated it.
Aokiji had a good relationship with Teacher Zephyr, visiting him even after leaving the Marines, indicating a strong bond.
Aokiji headed off to visit Zephyr, praising Hals along the way.
Aokiji was curious why Hals only focused on training his body, neglecting his Devil Fruit powers.
Hals felt awkward, and Zephyr didn’t know what to say. Aokiji’s physical skills were impressive, but he wasn’t as volatile as Akainu.
While Devil Fruit’s powers were formidable, Hals hadn’t focused much on them.
Level 1 magic was equivalent to basic attack magic.
Level 2 magic allowed for simple combat against moderate foes.
Level 3 magic marked the beginning of true strength, capable of easily destroying a city.
Level 4 magic could annihilate an entire country.
Level 5 magic was on par with ancient weapons.
This referred to the Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus.
Uranus was speculated to be the egg from Roger’s ship during his battle with Shiki.
After all, Shiki claimed Roger possessed the world’s most powerful weapon.
An ancient weapon, no doubt.
Pluton was a ship, and Poseidon was a mermaid, so Uranus was the only possibility.
Of course, Oda often surprised fans by disproving their theories.
So, it’s best to keep an open mind.
Hals didn’t want to unleash such power yet; it wasn’t necessary.
He preferred to lie low, bide his time, and only make his move once he reached the level of the Four Emperors. Then, he would leave the Marines and become a Warlord of the Sea, following his plan.
Hals didn’t want to stay in the Marines forever, as there were too many restrictions. Being a pirate was more liberating, though he didn’t want to be evil. As a Marine, becoming a pirate wasn’t fitting; becoming a Warlord was just a step.
After sufficient training, Hals planned to return to the East Blue and find Nami, as a good navigator was essential.
Hals would handle combat; he needed a navigator, a shipwright, and a cook.
His cooking skills were decent but not outstanding so that he would need a cook, but not Sanji. Although Sanji was reliable and chivalrous, Hals didn’t want him around.
He was still considering a shipwright but had no interest in Pluton. He valued personal strength over weapons.
As for a doctor, Hals already fulfilled that role. His potions could solve any problem, and his plant magic offered strong healing capabilities.
From here on, he’d follow the story.
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