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The golden sea of rapeseed flowers swayed in the wind.
The first ray of morning sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, casting its glow and landing gently on Jason's body. The hazy light slowly pulled him from the darkness of sleep, and he gradually opened his eyes.
"Morning already?!" Rubbing his eyes, Jason rolled over, still feeling a bit sleepy, and shut his eyes to go back to sleep.
But when he heard the birds chirping again, Jason finally woke up completely.
"Ahhh!"
He stretched his body with a yawn and felt incredibly refreshed. Back when he was on the ship, he never had such deep, peaceful sleep. This kind of life… was amazing.
"I really hope Captain takes a long break, hahaha!"
Getting to his feet, Jason opened the curtains and then he saw three figures quietly talking in the open space outside the wooden cabin.
"That's Crocodile, and Trens… Captain is there too. What are they doing?"
Curious, Jason opened the window. Carried on the breeze, he caught faint snatches of their conversation.
"Trens, your aim with the gun is good, but your mental strength is too weak. That shows your willpower is lacking, and weak willpower also indicates your physical body is underdeveloped. If you want to survive on the sea, your current strength is far from enough."
It was Rojen's voice.
"Then what should I do, Rojen Nii San?"
Although they were about the same age, Trens instinctively referred to Rojen as "big brother."
"Your focus right now should be on building your physical strength, your endurance, stamina, and power. That's your top priority. From now on, you'll train with Jason."
"Crocodile, same goes for you. Your physical strength is also far too low. You two will both follow Jason for strength training from now on." Rojen spoke gently.
Jason, after all, had a natural instinct for strength. Even without undergoing any systematic training, he still had overwhelming physical power. That raw potential was something few others could match.
"Also, Trens, your gun needs to be replaced. You need to find your own 'life's gun', a weapon that, the moment you see it, you feel like it's yours, like it belongs with you. That's your true partner."
Although Trens didn't fully understand what "life's gun" meant, he still nodded. Based on his understanding, it probably meant a weapon that resonated with him.
The gun he was using now worked, but he felt it only matched him maybe 4 or 5 percent.
"As for Crocodile…" Rojen's eyes twinkled with amusement.
Compared to Jason and Trens, Crocodile's abilities made Rojen think of far more possibilities. Catching Jason in the corner of his eye, Rojen suddenly raised his voice:
"Had enough sleep? If you're awake, get down here and train Trens!"
Jason scratched his head, quickly got dressed, and came downstairs.
After that, Rojen motioned for Crocodile to come with him to a vacant piece of land.
"As for your powers, there's still a lot of room to grow."
"Hmm?" Crocodile looked at Rojen, puzzled.
To be honest, he felt that his strength had hit a bottleneck, that he'd reached the limit of what he could do, with nowhere left to go.
"Devil Fruit development actually follows a pattern. Since you're a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, your main focus should be on expanding the capabilities of your own powers. Your Suna Suna no Mi (Sand-Sand Fruit) already has several abilities, weathering, drying, and cracking objects, turning into sand, controlling sand… That means there's plenty of untapped potential."
"First, let's talk about developing your skills."
At this point, Rojen paused, and a strange, mischievous smile appeared in his eyes.
"Have you ever thought about carrying a gourd on your back?"
"A gourd?" Crocodile looked utterly confused.
"Yes. A gourd filled with sand, containing high-density compressed sand particles. That way, even if you're fighting at sea, you'd still have countless grains of sand at your disposal the moment you make a move. And this sand could also act as a protective shield around you, like an invisible barrier. So even if your opponent is a powerhouse who has mastered Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), it would be very difficult for them to break through your defense."
"Imagine this: the moment they attack, the sand in your gourd reacts on its own and automatically protects you."
Hearing this, Crocodile's eyes sparkled, but he still hesitated about the idea of a gourd.
He was 1.85 meters tall, with a domineering and rugged face, if he walked around with a gourd on his back, wouldn't that just look ridiculous? He'd become a laughingstock among his peers.
"Anything else?" Though Crocodile wasn't sold on the gourd idea, he couldn't deny that Rojen's suggestion was pretty solid, so he pressed on.
"Next is the development of your abilities," Rojen continued. "For example, you could fuse your 'weathering' and 'drying' powers into the sand itself, that alone would greatly boost your offensive strength."
"When you turn into sand, any objects the sand touches could be instantly reduced to grains. The more you expand your control, the more terrifying your range becomes. And if an enemy is surrounded or engulfed by your sand…" Rojen trailed off with a knowing smile. "You could also design a move where you instantly bury your opponent in a massive volume of sand, layer after layer stacking on top of each other, completely overwhelming them. Then, in the final moment, activate your weathering and dry and split powers through the sand itself!"
Rojen smiled as he explained, eyes filled with intent.
"That sounds incredible! Got a good name for it?" Crocodile's gaze flickered. He had to admit, this kind of move sounded terrifying. If he could actually develop it, both his offensive and defensive power would reach a new level.
"Sabaku Taisō (Sandstorm Funeral)!" Rojen said.
That's right, Rojen fully intended to cultivate Crocodile into someone like Gaara of the Sandstorm. Compared to Gaara, Crocodile's use of the Suna Suna no Mi (Sand-Sand Fruit) was frankly pitiful.
"In short, when it comes to developing your Devil Fruit, you need to let your imagination go wild, focus on how sand particles can change form and how their characteristics can be altered."
As he spoke, Rojen even drew on principles from chakra development (from Naruto) to explain further.
"Form? Characteristic?" Crocodile asked, puzzled.
"'Form' means shaping the sand into different things, like a giant, a fearsome beast, a sandstorm, a longsword, a gun… These are all form transformations."
"'Characteristic' refers to the Sand-Sand Fruit's inherent powers, like weathering, drying and cracking, turning things into sand, etc."
"If you can combine the two, the form and the characteristics, then the power of your Devil Fruit will be unimaginable!"
As Rojen spoke, even Crocodile found himself sucking in a cold breath.
If he could really reach that level… Then even against an Admiral, his strength might not fall short.
And if that happened, his long-held dream… might truly come within reach.
"Thank you, Captain." Crocodile said solemnly, seriously, respectfully, and with heartfelt gratitude.
(End Of The Chapter)
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