"These thorny vines are ridiculously tough."
After fighting with the vines for half the day, Bellamy's Armament Haki had long since run out. He switched to using Iron Body to continue the fight, and his fists were now swollen. He was beginning to understand why the Sea Kings couldn't break free from these vines. If he could somehow cut off a few sections and fashion them into a suit of vine armor, he imagined the defensive capabilities would be incredible.
However, aside from Seastone and the Poneglyphs, Bellamy couldn't think of anything harder than these vines. And unfortunately, neither of those materials could be easily reshaped.
"Let's go back."
It was getting late. Muret had done nothing all day but stay by his side.
"Try to improve the poison pill. You don't need to come with me tomorrow." Her Slow-Slow Fruit had immense potential; she couldn't keep wasting her time here with him.
"I know what I'm doing. Let me check your body when we get back," Muret shot the captain a fierce glare, not wanting to listen to him at all. "Stay out of the doctor's business, you amateur."
Bellamy wanted to retort that he knew a thing or two about medicine himself. But seeing the indignant look in Muret's eyes, he could only manage a sheepish laugh. "Alright, alright. I'll listen to you." The ship's doctor was clearly very displeased with his actions; he might as well humor her this once.
After they returned, the doctor and the chef conducted a very detailed examination of his body. The final result was that the damage Bellamy had sustained this time was not severe, but they had found a single white hair on his head.
Bellamy was not even twenty years old yet. With his monstrous physique, he shouldn't have any white hair.
Mia held the white hair, speechless for a long moment. "When I was making the potion, I added a bit of a toxin that stimulates the body's excitement. I didn't expect the effect to be so pronounced."
This single white hair represented a clear depletion of Bellamy's life force.
"It's the effect of that resin."
They had a general idea of the properties of the medicine they had created. They had already removed the toxins that caused the most severe damage. But the supplementary effect of the resin had still exceeded their expectations. The potency of this poison pill was far higher than what they would have normally produced. It was no wonder Bellamy was satisfied after just the first trial.
"I feel pretty good. It would be even better if the effect could be strengthened a bit." If they could create a drug like the Energy Steroids from Fish-Man Island, Bellamy would be even happier.
The two women completely ignored him, engrossed in their own discussion about how to improve the new medicine. The toxin that forcibly stimulated the body's excitement definitely couldn't be used in such a large dose again.
Finding himself snubbed, Bellamy had no choice but to return to the clearing to train with the other shirtless men.
Heracles had been part of their training team for many days now, and he was slowly getting used to the Bellamy Pirates' training schedule. With his physique, if Heracles was determined enough, he could absolutely keep up with this level of intensity. Seeing Ross and Drake training silently without a single complaint, Heracles was too proud to quit. Unexpectedly, he had managed to persevere for many days.
Seeing the wild man's excellent attitude, Bellamy's appreciation for him grew.
What Heracles didn't know was that Drake and Ross were Zoan-type Devil Fruit users, and their stamina far surpassed that of ordinary people. No matter how high the intensity of the training, a single night's sleep was enough for them to fully recover—something an ordinary person could not compare to. Sometimes, even Bellamy envied their recovery ability; it was a unique advantage of Zoan users.
"Lord Bellamy, I feel like I've made great progress these past few days of training."
The moment he saw Bellamy approach, Heracles immediately came over to greet him. Their training often included sparring sessions. Although Heracles had a strong physique, he lacked experience fighting against humans and hadn't won a single match in the past few days. Ross could run circles around him using just Shave, which was something Bellamy hadn't expected.
"May I ask you to teach me some techniques?" Clearly, Heracles couldn't stand losing anymore.
"Techniques, huh? You want to learn the Six Powers, right?" The Six Powers were truly a rare and valuable set of skills. Knowing them versus not knowing them could make a world of difference in a battle.
Bellamy poked Heracles in the chest. "Tense your muscles."
"Imagine the blood in your body flowing rapidly to your chest."
Heracles's muscles were even more robust than a bear's. He puffed out his chest, holding his breath and flexing.
"Don't use too much force. Just hold it like that."
Before he had even finished speaking, Bellamy suddenly jabbed a finger forward, leaving an imprint on Heracles's chest.
"Did you feel that?" Bellamy asked. "The moment you were attacked, your vital energy completely came alive."
It was the body's instinctive stress response. This was the feeling Heracles needed.
"Remember this feeling. Once you've mastered the flow of your vital energy, you will have learned the first of the Six Powers: Iron Body."
After learning Iron Body, it meant he could start trying to awaken his Armament Haki. For Heracles, having a martial arts master like Bellamy personally guide him was undoubtedly a stroke of great fortune. Heracles understood this as well and was very grateful.
"I will practice hard!"
"Go on."
This guy was really quite good. He was honest and didn't have any ulterior motives. After observing him for this period, Bellamy had already decided to recruit him onto the ship. When the time was right, he would extend a formal invitation. His position would temporarily be combatant.
"You two, come over here and let's train together."
Drake and Ross were sweating profusely, kicking up clouds of dust around them. Bellamy called out to them and began to spar.
The moment they started, they held nothing back, trading blows with full force. The rhino-man and the allosaurus-man attacked from the left and right, flanking Bellamy. Bellamy didn't dodge or evade, letting their fists land on his body. Occasionally, he would launch a counterattack, sending them flying.
The purpose of this chaotic brawl wasn't to gain combat experience. It was a rather crude form of physical training. Only by constantly damaging the body could the muscle tissues slowly grow stronger through repeated tearing and healing. Ordinary weightlifting was no longer enough to meet their needs. Now, it was a difficult task for Bellamy to even get himself out of breath.
Of course, this brutal training method could only be undertaken by those with a sufficiently strong physique. Ordinary people were better off sticking to the slow and steady method of honing their bodies.