Thud, thud.
Amid the continuous trembling of the ground, Shano arrived before a giant tree over ten meters tall.
Raising his eyes toward the treetop, he suddenly stretched out both hands, ten fingers digging into the trunk. His latissimus dorsi muscles bulged fiercely, and from underground came the muffled sounds of roots breaking one after another.
It wasn't just pulling—the entire layer of soil was flipped over with a loud rumble!
The giant tree, weighing at least three to four tons, along with a waterfall-like cascade of dirt, was lifted from the ground and firmly gripped in his hands.
Then he turned his head, looking toward the peak of the mountain across from him.
The distance from his current location was roughly three to four hundred meters.
After slightly aiming, Shano said nothing. Concentrating all his strength, he fiercely hurled the giant tree from his shoulder.
Whoosh—!
The giant tree shot toward the opposite mountaintop like a javelin, and Shano lifted his heel, gathering strength for a moment, then stomped down.
"Shave!"
His figure blurred and flickered. In the next instant, he appeared atop the flying giant tree, causing the trunk to sink down heavily, and its speed slowed slightly.
But it still maintained its original momentum, flying toward the mountaintop.
Facing the howling headwind, with trees and streams quickly sweeping past beneath him, Shano narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the approaching mountaintop.
Just like the previous mountain, both peaks had already been leased entirely, becoming his exclusive training grounds.
However, compared to the devastated sight of the earlier mountain, this one was in much better condition. Only the mountaintop had been completely leveled, opening up a huge outdoor platform.
At the edge of the platform, Barbaric Scar, Skinny Monkey, and the other two were already waiting. Seeing the giant tree flying toward them, they hurriedly retreated even farther back.
Rumble—!
The giant tree crashed down in the center of the platform. Shano jumped down, landing steadily on the ground. With one foot, he hooked the tree trunk and casually kicked it backward, causing it to roll and tumble down the mountainside.
Thud—
Even though they'd long grown used to all kinds of shocking sights brought by Shano over these past few months, upon witnessing this scene, Barbaric Scar and the others still instinctively swallowed hard.
"Did you bring the guns?"
Shano asked casually.
"All brought, boss," Barbaric Scar immediately pulled out a flintlock pistol from behind his back, and the other three quickly did the same.
"Just like I said yesterday, everyone aim at my head and fire quickly."
Just as he finished speaking, Shano remembered something and glanced at Skinny Monkey. "You don't need to. You aim at my foot."
"Uh." Skinny Monkey's face turned red. "Boss, my shooting has improved a lot too. I think aiming at your knee would be just right."
"...Suit yourself."
Shano shook his head, standing with hands behind his back in the center of the platform, facing the wind.
Meanwhile, the four of them took positions at the four corners — east, south, west, and north — then closed the distance, raising their guns and aiming at Shano's head.
"Fire!"
Barbaric Scar waved his big hand, giving the order.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The not-so-dense sound of gunfire broke the mountain's silence. Four orange-red gunflashes burst forth one after another. After finishing a round, they quickly reloaded and fired another volley.
Clang! Clang!
Shano didn't move an inch, letting the bullets hit his head.
No matter which angle they came from, the bullets were instantly bounced off, making sounds like metal clashing.
Even the softest parts of his face, like the cheeks, when struck by bullets, only showed ripples like a stone falling into a lake, quickly returning to normal.
This was the effect brought by mastering the "Bronze Head"—even without deliberately using iron blocks to accelerate blood flow, he could completely ignore the impact of bullets.
Whoosh—!
A bullet shot from directly in front, hitting him right in the eye.
"Not good!"
Barbaric Scar noticed this and panicked, hastily signaling everyone to stop. "Hey, stop shooting first! Boss, are you okay?"
The gunfire stopped abruptly. Everyone then clearly saw that the bullet hadn't bounced off immediately—it was strangely stuck at the surface of his eyeball, like it was embedded in asphalt.
"No worries, don't worry."
Shano said calmly. Then he rolled his eyeball upward, pinching the bullet under his upper eyelid.
Everyone heard a tooth-aching crunching sound. In the next moment, the bullet caught under his eyelid was crushed into countless fine lead powders, slowly sliding down along the bridge of his nose.
"..."
All around was dead silent for a while.
"Looks like the effect is quite good."
Shano nodded in satisfaction and smiled at the stunned Barbaric Scar and the others. "Alright, that's enough for today. You guys can go mind your own business."
"Yes, boss!"
It took Barbaric Scar and the others a while to come back to their senses. They hurriedly took their leave, but as they walked off the platform, they couldn't help but glance back again and again, clearly still overwhelmed with shock.
Shano wasn't surprised at all.
The description of "Bronze Head" clearly said it enhanced everything above the neck—naturally, including seemingly fragile organs like eyeballs and nasal passages.
Even his tongue could stay soft as usual, or become as hard as steel. Once stretched out, it would be like a dagger, able to easily pierce a person's chest.
Coming to the southern edge of the platform—
Shano looked into the distance. From here, he could clearly see the only harbor dock in Cocoa Village.
The dock was deserted, with only a few unimpressive fishing boats moored.
"Arlong..."
Shano muttered lowly, "Spring has already come... When exactly are you coming?"
Over these five months, he had slept only four hours a day, pouring almost all his time into hellish training.
Shave had reached small mastery four months ago, and great mastery two months ago. After that came great mastery of Iron Block, and then Bronze Head right after!
His tempering of his body made him stronger and stronger, far beyond before. His overall strength soared, surged, exploded!
When facing the Arlong Pirates, he was already full of confidence. His muscles, his pounding heart, all craved battle, craved ripping apart strong enemies!
Unfortunately, a year had twelve months.
It was only early March now. Expecting Arlong to arrive in the first two months was really too unlikely.
"Hopefully you won't come too late."
Shano licked his slightly dry lips and muttered to himself, "If your strength doesn't match up with the version I'm expecting... I'll be really disappointed..."
A strong gust of wind suddenly blew past, swallowing his voice.
Just like emotions—whether excitement, anticipation, or repeated disappointment—could never withstand the ruthless passage of time.
Time quickly passed, and April arrived.
The trading market refreshed again with Six Powers secret manuals. Shano bought them, and from the blind box drew "Moonwalk" and "Finger Pistol," beginning his training.
May.
The Arlong Pirates still hadn't shown up, while the hardest mountain on the island finally completely collapsed.
Shano spent a few more days, leveling it entirely with punches and kicks. From then on, it became the perfect spot for villagers to gather for celebrations and festivals.
June.
"Moonwalk" and "Finger Pistol" both reached great mastery.
Shano leased another mountain. While practicing Finger Pistol, he pierced the entire mountainside full of holes, creating a beautiful sight where morning sunlight poured through dotted shadows.
However, whenever his figure stood silently at the mountain's edge, staring at the dock like an empty-nest elder—
From afar, he looked a little lonely.
July.
It was Nami and Nojiko's birthdays. Shano prepared a huge cake and invited Barbaric Scar and the whole gang to celebrate together.
But when pushing the cake cart, he accidentally used too much strength, twisting the steel frame like a pretzel. The cake tipped over onto the ground, making Nami cry loudly.
August.
The trading market finally refreshed with another "Flesh Furnace Technique" manual—the third volume, called "Iron Bone."
Its training method was surprisingly similar to Iron Block.
Thus, Barbaric Scar and the others got a new job—each day, carrying giant spiked clubs over a meter tall, hammering hard at all Shano's joints.
Except this time, instead of two people taking turns, it was six people working at the same time.
September.
Shano's height shot up to 1.93 meters, and his weight reached 140 kilograms.
The black training suit he wore, with added weight, kept breaking the limits, reaching a terrifying 2.1 tons.
One night—
Nami, half-asleep, woke up to pee. Passing by Shano's room, she vaguely heard him talking in his sleep:
"Come, Arlong, come, Arlong..."
"Why, why haven't you come yet..."
Arlong?
Was that a girl's name?
Nami became suspicious, planning to ask the villagers about it the next morning.
Unfortunately, kids' memory after getting up at night was basically zero. By the next morning, brushing her teeth, she had completely forgotten about it.
October.
By mid-month, Shano had achieved great mastery of "Iron Bone."
The orange orchard entered the harvest season. The workshop had long been completed, and orange preserves and jam began rolling off production. Bellemere was overjoyed, working from dawn till night.
...
Meanwhile—
In a nearby sea area, in a certain village.
Under the terrified gazes of the people, a group of tall fishmen laughed wildly, carrying bulging bags of money as they left.
"Looks like everyone on this island are cowards, chumi!"
The kissing fishman twisted his neck, still unsatisfied. "Not a single one resisted. Compared to the last island, this was boring. I wanted to smash this one too."
"Humans are weak, ignorant, skinny, and cowardly. A naturally inferior and despicable race,"
the leading purple fishman sneered coldly.
"Next island, what's it called?"
"Um, let me see. Seems like it's called Cocoa Village."
The six-sword-style swordsman, drunk, lowered his wine gourd and glanced at the sea map. "Not a big village. Should be an easy conquest."
"Is that so?"
The purple fishman turned his head, his shark-saw nose shadowing over his face. Beneath it, he grinned fiercely, revealing sharp fangs.
"Sha-ha-ha-ha-ha—!
How boring. I just wonder if the humans there have enough money to squeeze out some profit..."