One Piece : Rise of Thunder King

You can read the advance chapters here : patreon.com/Vigilante04

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During his relentless training at Hammer Mountain, Arthur felt his body becoming stronger and tougher.

If he continued at this rate, he believed that even without using his Devil Fruit power, he could stand against top fighters without being quickly defeated.

This wasn't just his imagination. It was a real, physical improvement. So far, Arthur had only managed to level the third stone mountain.

He was confident that once he completed all ten stone mountains, his mastery of Conqueror's Haki, combined with his physical strength, would make him a world-class powerhouse—even without relying on the power of the Thunder Fruit.

At this point, it had been almost three months since Arthur brought back the Dark Fruit. The third mountain was nearly flattened, with less than 100 meters of roots remaining.

After finishing the third mountain, Arthur reflected on his progress. It had taken him three months to level one mountain, carefully balancing work and rest as part of his self-discipline. He understood that overexerting himself would only lead to setbacks.

From what he had learned so far, acquiring the Dark Fruit early was crucial, while other important fruits would take more time.

While thinking, Arthur activated his Armament Haki, which he had been honing during battles with Shandia. However, he was still not fully adept with it.

Armament Haki has three distinct levels, as described in the original story.

For example, when Rayleigh removed the explosive collar from Luffy, he used a high-level form of Armament Haki, allowing Haki to flow and destroy from the inside.

The first level involves wrapping a large amount of Haki around the body, creating a hardened, metal-like effect useful for both offense and defense.

The second level, which Rayleigh taught Luffy on the uninhabited island and was later seen in Wano Country, involves a more refined control over Haki, allowing it to flow out of the body and create shock waves. This is the Sakura Armament Haki Arthur was currently practicing. It is invisible, colorless, and capable of producing shockwave attacks.

To reach Rayleigh's level of mastery, where Haki can be used to destroy from within, Arthur knew he still had much practice ahead. This stage requires extremely refined control of Sakura Armament Haki.

The third level, demonstrated by Rayleigh at the auction site, involves wrapping Haki around a target's body and destroying it internally. Arthur had reached a point where he understood this concept, but he wasn't sure if even stronger forms of Haki existed.

As a modern thinker, Arthur had a unique perspective. He viewed Armament Haki as a type of internal strength. Initially, it strengthens oneself, but with greater mastery, it can be projected outward to attack enemies. At its peak, it could potentially destroy from within, like certain martial arts techniques.

Arthur speculated that higher-level Armament Haki might involve combining elements of both the first and second levels—creating armor and hardening Haki in the air itself, allowing others to be defended or hardened with Haki.

If achieved, this ability would allow him to capture Logia users directly.

Beyond this, Arthur's imagination struggled to go further. It was, after all, a world of pirates and not martial arts masters.

**Thud! Thud! Thud!**

The last of the mountain's roots would be dealt with in a day or two.

"Huh?" Arthur suddenly stopped, floating midair with a puzzled expression.

"What is this..." As he struck the rock, his mind was suddenly filled with black-and-white images, making his head buzz.

"This is..." Feeling the image in his mind, Arthur's eyes widened in surprise. "Have I awakened Observation Haki?"

The vision that appeared in Arthur's mind was a clear image of his surroundings.

Previously, with the Thunder Fruit enhancing his Observation Haki, Arthur's range of perception was extremely vast. He could even use electromagnetic waves to monitor conversations.

As his mastery progressed, he could directly hear thoughts emerging from people's minds.

Now, it seemed that his Observation Haki had truly awakened, in a manner similar to Usopp's in the original story.

Visualization!

Before, Arthur relied on electromagnetic fields to sense the outside environment in detail. But now, he could directly see the environment without using electromagnetic fields, although the images appeared in black and white.

"This is... a great surprise!" Arthur was thrilled with this new direction of awakening.

With the Thunder Fruit, he could penetrate people's thought waves and perceive their inner thoughts.

Now, he also had the ability to visualize the environment. The combination of these abilities provided Arthur with a skill that was even more powerful than some ninja abilities.

This essentially gave him a 360-degree, unobstructed awareness of everything in his surroundings. All movements and disturbances in his field of perception were instantly recognizable.

"Who would've thought that after training so hard with Armament Haki, my Observation Haki would awaken first. This is amazing!" Arthur exclaimed as he hovered in the air, expanding his Observation Haki to cover the entire Rusukaina Island.

In his mind, he could clearly see the island's entire layout—every creature, plant, and movement of the wind and trees was perceived in perfect detail. "This is like having the eyes of a god!"

While marveling at his newfound abilities, Arthur added electromagnetic waves to enhance his experience further.

Hum~

As he closed his eyes and concentrated, Arthur's awareness sharpened. "This... this is truly godlike!"

By combining his Observation Haki with the electromagnetic field, the black-and-white image became even clearer. Arthur could even see the internal structures of living things and plants.

He could observe the insides of boulders, mountains, and the earth itself.

"If I could awaken the ability to briefly predict the future or hear the voice of all things, this Observation Haki would truly reach divine levels!" The determination in Arthur's eyes blazed brightly.

Setting aside the ability to hear all things for now, Arthur focused on achieving short-term future vision with his Observation Haki.

For example, Luffy could hear the voices of all creatures, as evidenced by his conversations with the Sea Kings and Zunesha. When he fought against the Big Mom Pirates, he also managed to briefly foresee the future during his battle with Katakuri. Though his mastery was inconsistent, it still proved the possibility.

In addition to these special talents possessed by individuals like Shirahoshi, Roger, Luffy, Otohime, and Momonosuke, it seemed that they could also experience enhanced awakening.

"Next, I'll focus on short-term prediction! As for the voice of all things... that's too distant a goal." Arthur, energized by his awakened abilities, felt a surge of excitement.

His Observation Haki now covered a 500-kilometer radius. With this awakening, it formed a spherical zone of control over a thousand kilometers in diameter.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The entire island of Rusukaina reverberated with loud sounds once more.

Having awakened his Observation Haki, Arthur turned his attention back to mastering Sakura Armament Haki and progressing to a higher level of control.

"I need to see if I can achieve the third level of Armament Haki—hardening it directly in the air!"