Chapter 335: Collecting Martial Arts (Part 2)
They arrived at a small courtyard in the rear section of the monastery.
Charlotte saw a tall pavilion. Three bold characters on its front answered his questions—
Scripture Vault.
"Honored guest, all of Shaolin's martial arts are stored here within the Scripture Vault,"
Abbot Xuanci said solemnly, his face filled with benevolent sorrow.
"In exchange, please spare the lives of our monks."
Hearing this, many of the monks nearby shouted the abbot's name with tears in their eyes, their faces twisted in grief.
Charlotte's lips twitched slightly.
This whole display was a bit much.
He thought he could be pretty shameless himself—but he hadn't expected someone who could outdo him in hypocrisy.
Still, he cupped his hands politely toward the abbot.
"Such magnanimity, Abbot. I am in awe."
Then, without further delay, he entered the Scripture Vault.
And now he understood why the abbot had agreed so easily.
Damn. No one could memorize all this.
The rows upon rows of martial arts manuals left Charlotte speechless.
He randomly opened one and frowned.
Too simple.
Almost all the manuals were focused on body conditioning.
Not the inner-energy, true qi-type training Charlotte had imagined, but purely physical training and force-generation.
It wasn't bad, per se—just not what he was hoping for.
The techniques boiled down to using different parts of the body to deliver impact forces.
At best, they were a variation on what he'd already developed himself.
Then again, this was the One Piece world, not a traditional wuxia setting.
So even though these martial arts looked impressive, they ultimately boiled down to moves.
When mastered, they might be comparable to Navy's Six Styles (Rokushiki).
Charlotte sighed.
He returned to the Poseidon and called in ten or so men to begin copying all the manuals.
When the abbot learned this, his eye twitched.
He simply muttered "Amitabha" and walked away.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Over the next few days, Charlotte copied and studied the various physical training techniques.
His goal was to combine the strengths of all schools into one system—a unified martial art.
But this was obviously easier said than done.
And Charlotte's rampage through Shaolin had become the talk of the kingdom.
---
"What? Someone invaded Shaolin and killed all 108 monks? That's impossible!"
"What's so impossible? The whole underworld is buzzing with it.
It was that mustached middle-aged guy who challenged Zhang Sanfeng!"
"Exactly! First Wudang, then Shaolin. He's crushed every major sect's headmaster!
He's obviously planning to unify the martial world!"
The taverns were abuzz with loud speculation.
---
Meanwhile, in the palace—
"Your Majesty, we've received the latest report!"
The chief eunuch announced nervously, voice still loud and clear despite his pale complexion.
"Rockefeller Charlotte, captain of the pirate crew, has challenged the major sects.
He has already defeated Wudang and wiped out Shaolin.
There are now rumors spreading across the martial world that he intends to become Wulin Alliance Leader!"
The emperor put down the report scroll, frowning deeply.
"Have we determined his true objective?"
"He appears to be collecting martial arts manuals, Your Majesty.
But so far, we've only confirmed that he acquired Shaolin's teachings."
The emperor looked puzzled.
"A man of such strength… and he's interested in those martial arts?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," the eunuch confirmed.
"…Let him be, then. As long as he doesn't cause any major incidents, I won't intervene."
The emperor clearly didn't want to get involved in such trivial matters.
The eunuch bowed and withdrew.
---
Over the following ten days, Charlotte scoured Flower Country, challenging every known sect and collecting every significant martial art he could find.
He compiled them all into thick tomes.
---
"Dad, what is all this?"
Robert asked, holding a large stack of books.
Charlotte glanced at him.
"Those are what you'll all be training from."
That one sentence caused the kids nearby to go pale.
"Wha—what!? Dad, you're joking, right?! All of that?"
Robert pointed at the towering bookshelf.
"No joke. But you won't learn all of them. Pick a few that suit you."
Charlotte returned to his work, unfazed.
Even Caesar, who normally kept his distance, furrowed his brow at the mass of books.
He spotted one titled Dragon Claw Hand, flipped through it, and raised an eyebrow.
It was a grappling art, focusing entirely on grip strength and finger conditioning.
"Dad, this one looks perfect for me. Can I learn it?"
Charlotte turned to Caesar, a little surprised at his initiative.
Maybe that beating had really worked.
He glanced at the manual.
Dragon Claw Hand.
It actually was a great fit for Caesar's style.
"Go ahead. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me."
Though he had only skimmed the book, Charlotte already grasped its core principles.
To him, these arts were just different methods of power generation and targeting.
Simple enough.
Caesar nodded and took the manual to a quiet corner to study.
The others saw him and followed suit, searching the shelves for arts that might suit them.
Estes went straight to the sword techniques section.
She casually opened one and was immediately impressed.
They were exactly what she needed—refinements in sword-drawing and footwork.
Seeing all the children absorbed in the books, Charlotte simply let them be.
This was why he collected them.
He had realized recently that his own training methods—most of which were derived from mercenary regimens—were too harsh.
Things like punching mountains or surviving underwater were doable for him,
but they weren't sustainable or age-appropriate for the kids.
Especially since they were all Devil Fruit users now—aside from Tesla,
none of them could even float, let alone train in the sea.
These Flower Country manuals were the perfect foundational system for his growing crew.
---
After organizing the manuals, Charlotte commissioned a grand bookshelf.
He planned to place it in the main hall of the ship so any crew member could study them.
There would be no point system, no gatekeeping—just free access.
He knew full well that just reading a manual wouldn't make someone strong.
They still had to train. And some techniques required a natural affinity to master.
Take Taiji Fist, for example—it required a tranquil mind and a deep understanding of force redirection.
---
"Barrett," Charlotte called.
"Tell the crew they can study these manuals as they like—but no one is to copy or leak them outside the ship."
Barrett nodded and picked a book off the shelf at random.
It was titled Great Vajra Palm—a powerful palm strike technique that could shatter boulders when mastered.
He flipped through it with interest.
Charlotte's collection of martial arts had officially begun bearing fruit.
---
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