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Chapter 181: There's Really Treasure?!
🕑 Added 2025-09-10 14:37:08 +0000 UTCChapter 181: There's Really Treasure?!
BOOM!
With a loud crash, the ground within a radius of several hundred meters was instantly turned into mochi, churning and surging violently.
Countless thick tentacles, their surfaces coated in a dense, black Haki, shot toward Shane like a torrential storm.
This move was called "Flowing Rain Mochi."
It was one of Katakuri's ultimate killing moves, which he could only use in his awakened state. Each tentacle possessed a terrifying penetrating power.
And Shane's figure flickered back and forth between the mochi tentacles and the thunderstorm. In this extreme environment, although he had completely focused his attention, he would still be hit from time to time.
That's right.
After considering that Shane's physical strength was far beyond his expectations, Katakuri had directly changed the rules and greatly increased the difficulty.
He required Shane to, in this environment where his five senses were impaired, purely rely on his Observation Haki to predict and dodge both his attacks and the lightning that was constantly striking down from the sky.
Even a single mistake would throw off his dodging rhythm, and his body would be instantly subjected to dozens, hundreds of attacks.
Each round of training lasted for an hour, and after it was over, there would be a two-minute pause for Shane to reflect, and then the next round would immediately begin.
Under these harsh requirements, Shane even felt a little like he was in a soulslike game, just out of the tutorial, still naked, and immediately facing a mad-dog-level boss.
After a whole night, he had taken at least a thousand blows and a hundred lightning strikes. Under the restriction of not being able to use any Haki, even he had a few bruises and bloody gashes on his body.
But…
His improvement was also rapid.
As time passed, the number of times he failed to dodge in each round was constantly decreasing.
In the first few rounds, the number of failures had reached three digits, but then it slowly became dozens, and then a dozen…
By the time night turned to day, in the latest round, he had only failed nine times.
The positive feedback was timely and frequent. The more Shane trained, the more energetic he became, and the more motivated he was. And Katakuri was gradually beginning to realize that something was not right…
…
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.
In the morning, on the black rock peak in the center of Raijin Island, Shane stood in the thunderstorm with his eyes closed, his expression calm and leisurely.
"This is the last round," Katakuri said, standing not far away, his face pale, his dark circles heavy. He looked as if he had been completely drained, his voice a little weak. "Are you ready, my lord?"
Shane didn't answer. He just nodded slightly.
SPLAT!
Katakuri instantly activated his ability, and the entire black rock ground turned into a sea of mochi, and countless Haki-coated tentacles shot up from the ground.
At the same time, the thunderclouds in the sky churned wildly, and several bolts of lightning struck down at the same time!
This assault was much more violent than it had been seven days ago, a completely upgraded version. But Shane's figure, like a phantom, weaved through the gaps in the attacks.
His movements seemed slow, but he was always able to, with the smallest of movements, avoid the attacks from all directions. He looked completely at ease, as if he were taking a leisurely stroll.
When the time was finally up, Katakuri stumbled, nearly falling to the ground, but he managed to brace himself with his hands, half-kneeling, half-sitting, and he gasped for breath.
This is torture!
For the past seven days, aside from eating and drinking, he had barely rested.
Not only did he have to maintain his awakened state for a long time, but he also had to constantly adjust his attack rhythm to ensure that each round of training would accurately challenge Shane's limits.
And now, he was completely exhausted… it was even more tiring than fighting a peer-level opponent ten times.
I'm the instructor! I'm supposed to be the one who's taking it easy! How can this be so painful!
And what about Shane?
He was still full of energy, his face glowing. For the past seven days, he had been in this state. Even if he occasionally showed a hint of fatigue, after a full meal, he would be back to his peak condition.
Katakuri finally understood why the Curtain Call crew had looked at him that way. He even began to wonder…
With his physique and regenerative abilities, if he were to ever fight Mama in the future, how long would it take her to take him down?
Five days and five nights?
Probably not even enough…
Before a winner could be decided, Mama… would probably have starved to death, right?
"Compared to the first day, I've gone all out, and my attack speed has doubled. And I've constantly been changing the rhythm and adding a lot of distracting movements,"
Katakuri said, looking at Shane, who was walking toward him, and he shook his head with a bitter smile. "In this situation, to have five consecutive perfect runs, such a rate of progress is truly terrifying… my lord, in terms of Observation Haki, I'm afraid I no longer have the right to guide you."
"Don't be so modest, Katakuri!"
Shane laughed heartily and helped him to his feet. "Thank you for your hard work."
He was being completely sincere.
Whether Katakuri had stayed behind purely to maintain the interests of the Charlotte family and to befriend him, or if he had ulterior motives and was secretly trying to gauge the strength of his crew, the seven days of training, from planning to execution, had undoubtedly been his best effort.
And the results were outstanding, far surpassing a certain quack teacher and on par with Kaido-sensei's three blows.
Now, Shane's Observation Haki had greatly improved. It was certainly not comparable to Katakuri's, but compared to most of his peers, he was no longer at a disadvantage. He had finally completely shored up his previous weakness.
"You're welcome,"
Katakuri said, barely steadying himself. Although his face was still pale, a glint appeared in his eyes when he heard his words, and he smiled slightly. "It is my honor to have been of assistance to you, my lord. If you can just remember this friendship in the future and come to the tea party on time, that will be more than enough."
After spending these past few days together, his assessment of Shane had been steadily rising.
This young man, who was much younger than him, was not only incredibly strong, but his potential was clearly not yet exhausted. He still had room to improve.
A monster like this, entering the New World, the seemingly stable balance of the Four Emperors was destined to be thrown into chaos. It wouldn't be peaceful for long.
Of course, if he had been alone, roaming the seas, he wouldn't have had to be so humble.
But the Charlotte family was a large and powerful one, and he had a lot of younger siblings to protect.
For the sake of Whole Cake Island, which he and his siblings had worked so hard to build for so many years, for it to continue to exist…
A person like this could only be befriended. He absolutely could not be provoked…
…
That evening, the special training for Observation Haki was officially over.
Katakuri was also preparing to leave and head back to Whole Cake Island.
At a time like this, a feast was a must.
To show his gratitude, Shane had specially asked Zeff to go all out and make a large table of delicious dishes. There were dozens of different desserts, and over a dozen different flavors of donuts alone.
Chocolate hazelnut, strawberry cream, salted caramel… a dazzling array of them, covering more than half the table.
How could he possibly know my tastes so well?
Katakuri had tried and tried to resist.
But in the end, he couldn't hold back any longer. He broke into a wide grin, grabbed a handful of donuts with each hand, and began to stuff his face.
In the blink of an eye, he had eaten all the donuts, and he had turned into a fat, round ball.
The crew, who had previously seen him as a cool, powerful figure, were now all staring at him, their jaws agape.
By the time the twilight had faded, they were watching the round ball stumble off the ship and, after waving to them with a smile, he turned and left.
That's right, he just left…
Without a ship.
His method of travel was a bit like Aokiji's. He used his awakened ability to turn the sea beneath his feet into mochi, and then he just waddled away, like a jello, into the distance—
"Devil Fruits are truly magical things,"
Shane said, once again expressing his sincere admiration.
Even the most useless-looking fruit, in the hands of a talented person, could be used to create amazing things.
Of course, there were also those who wasted a powerful fruit…
"Master! Master~!"
Just then, a cry came from behind.
"Hmm?" he said, distracted.
"Come with me! I think I've found what Katakuri was talking about, that Rocks's treasure!"
"Huh?"
Shane turned, stunned. "There's really treasure?"
In the next second, he suddenly realized that something was not right. "Who's talking? Who called me 'master'?"
The voice was unfamiliar. Although it sounded like a young, pretty girl, it didn't match Nami's or Nojiko's voice at all…
"Here! Look here~"
the girlish voice came again. Shane followed the sound to an empty table.
A white, cat-like creature with pointed ears was kneeling on one knee, its right paw on its chest, and it looked up and winked with a smile. "It's me, Master~"
