Chapter 57 – [57] : [BONUS] – The Ultimate Combat Potential Ceiling!

~ Thank you, This is the Bonus Chapter For Hitting 1,800 Powerstones~

~ Consistently Long Chapters starting from Chapter 63+

~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

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BANG! BANG! BANG!

With three loud crashes, Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro were once again slammed into the training room wall, stuck and groaning.

“Ow ow ow! Zoro! Help me quick!” Luffy yelled, his head embedded in the wall. Being rubber made him too stretchy; he couldn’t easily pull himself out.

“….” Zoro sighed, panting heavily as he managed to extract Luffy’s head from the wall.

“Owwwww! SUGEEE! Rowen! How’d you get even stronger again?!” Luffy whined, rubbing his sore head while looking at Rowen with amazement.

“Definitely stronger than before,” Zoro agreed, his expression incredibly grim. His injuries were mostly healed, and now they had Curly-Brows fighting alongside them, yet they were still completely powerless against Rowen.

“Getting hit with Haki—is seriously no joke,” Sanji muttered, rubbing his bruised shin, his face pale with pain.

“You three—remember well the feeling of being hit by Haki,” Rowen instructed, looking at the exhausted trio. Ultimately, learning Haki depended on them.

But Rowen’s own training wasn’t over.

He strapped on terrifyingly heavy weights and began his own physical conditioning.

His physique, under the effect of Superhuman Demonic Physique, grew continuously stronger.

Superhuman Demonic Physique, born from the fusion of Luffy’s Superhuman Physique and Zoro’s Demonic Physique—

In terms of raw muscle and bone repair speed, Rowen was now roughly twice as fast as Zoro.

Furthermore, as Rowen’s physique strengthened, this gap continued to widen.

This was because Superhuman Demonic Physique also possessed absorption capabilities exceeding even Luffy’s base Superhuman Physique.

The stronger Rowen’s physique became, the more efficient his absorption, which in turn accelerated his muscle and bone repair, allowing him to handle even greater training intensity—a perfect positive feedback loop!

Superhuman Demonic Physique… the speed at which it enhanced his physique wasn’t slowing down as he got stronger; it was actually accelerating!

And, throughout his physical training, Rowen could simultaneously activate Born of the Sea to continuously strengthen his Haki.

This tangible feeling of constantly getting stronger… was incredibly addictive.

Back on Earth, hard work didn’t always guarantee results.

But here? As long as he trained diligently, he could physically feel himself becoming stronger.

The sensation was captivating.

Rowen became completely immersed in his training.

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Watching Rowen—already so strong, yet still training so relentlessly—Zoro grit his teeth against the pain, picked up a massive barbell, and began practicing sword-slashing motions. As he trained, he recalled the feeling of Rowen’s Haki striking his body, trying desperately to grasp that sensation, to awaken Haki himself.

“How can I get stronger?” Luffy pondered intently. His comrades were working so hard; as captain, he absolutely had to become stronger too!

Regarding Haki, Luffy knew he wouldn’t learn it quickly. Luffy might be simple-minded, but he wasn’t stupid; he understood his own limitations.

Among the three sworn brothers—himself, Ace, and Sabo—he had always been the least talented in combat during their childhood.

Even after eating the Devil Fruit, he often lost fights against Ace, who hadn’t eaten one.

And initially, his use of the Gomu-Gomu Fruit was abysmal; forget hitting others, he often ended up tying himself in knots.

So Luffy knew clearly: he wasn’t a genius. If Zoro and the others couldn’t learn Haki quickly, neither could he.

Therefore, the quickest way for him to get stronger right now was through his Devil Fruit—his unique advantage over Rowen and Zoro.

Luffy stretched his arm, then his leg, experimenting, thinking hard…

“Hm?” Rowen, still training, sensed Luffy’s actions with his Observation Haki.

‘Starting to experiment with Gear Second and Third already?’ Rowen thought.

Rowen deliberately hadn’t given Luffy any hints about those techniques.

Using the rubber body for those Gears placed immense strain on the user’s physique.

In the original story’s timeline around Enies Lobby—well past the halfway point of Paradise, nearing Sabaody—Luffy’s body could barely handle Gear Second and Third.

Right now, before even entering the Grand Line, Luffy’s current physique was nowhere near strong enough to support those techniques safely.

So Rowen offered no guidance regarding Luffy’s Devil Fruit development. Frankly, none was needed.

The notion of ‘developing’ Devil Fruit abilities was largely discarded later in the story by the original author. Devil Fruit

powers were essentially fixed. As the user’s physique strengthened, they naturally unlocked stronger applications of their fruit. The only major bottleneck was ‘Awakening’, after which the fruit’s power reached its peak potential.

Let Luffy experiment on his own. Let him gradually master the power of Gear Second and Third.

This process of exploring his Devil Fruit abilities would also naturally strengthen Luffy’s physique.

Eating a Devil Fruit inherently changed the user’s body. Luffy, even before awakening Nika, was rubber. Constantly utilizing his rubber abilities naturally enhanced his physical strength and resilience.

This was why Devil Fruit users, especially those with combat-oriented fruits, generally possessed far superior physiques and stamina compared to non-users.

It was also why Rowen, despite the Haki-centric power ceiling of the world, was determined to acquire powerful Devil Fruits.

Powerful Devil Fruits, particularly Mythical Zoans, granted users incredibly vast stamina reserves.

Based on the later combat endurance of top-tier Logia users like Aokiji and Akainu, awakened Logias likely also provided immense stamina.

Furthermore, the inherent powers of strong Devil Fruits were formidable. Combined with Haki, their ultimate combat potential ceiling definitely surpassed that of fighters relying solely on Haki!

Consider Garp during the Hachinosu incident. Despite possessing superior offensive power with his Infused Conqueror’s Haki and completely dominating Aokiji in terms of attack power (Aokiji’s Ice Fruit couldn’t fully negate Garp’s infused blows)… Garp was still at a disadvantage in terms of stamina and durability.

Garp landed numerous devastating Infused Conqueror’s attacks on Aokiji. Yet Aokiji, through his superior physique and stamina (likely enhanced by his awakened Logia), kept getting back up, continuing the fight.

Meanwhile, Garp took just one sneak attack from Shiryu, and his combat effectiveness plummeted rapidly.

In the One Piece world, those with superhuman stamina and durability were almost always powerful Devil Fruit users.

And for Rowen, possessing the Born of the Sea Trait, greater physical strength directly translated to stronger Armament Haki.

Even Infused Conqueror’s Haki, while not requiring physique to strengthen, still consumed stamina as fuel.

Therefore, acquiring powerful Devil Fruits was crucial for maximizing Rowen’s ultimate combat potential.

Haki and Devil Fruits weren’t mutually exclusive counters like Seastone against Devil Fruits; they were simply different forms of power.

Haki merely provided the means to hit Devil Fruit users.

Strong Haki could overwhelm weaker Devil Fruit abilities.

But powerful Devil Fruit abilities could likewise overwhelm weaker Haki!

Supreme Haki plus supreme Devil Fruit abilities—that combination yielded the absolute highest combat potential ceiling in the One Piece world!

Even non-Devil Fruit users at the absolute peak, like Shanks and Roger, possessed terrifying swordsmanship to supplement their Haki and elevate their combat ceiling.

A fighter relying solely on Haki would inevitably fall short compared to someone who mastered both Haki and a powerful Devil Fruit.

This gap would widen even further past their prime physical years. Zephyr ‘Black Arm’ was the prime example.

And the Smoke-Smoke Fruit… was merely the first stepping stone for Rowen towards acquiring truly powerful Devil Fruits!

Rowen continued his physical training while simultaneously enhancing his Haki through Born of the Sea, a slight smile playing on his lips.

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Sanji watched Rowen and the others training intensely. He didn’t join them this time. Instead, he quietly closed the training room door, slowly rolled up his sleeves… and headed towards the kitchen, enduring the lingering pain in his own body.

His primary role was cook. While his comrades pushed themselves, his duty was to provide the nutritional support they needed.

However, even while preparing the food, ensuring both taste and nutrition, Sanji constantly replayed the feeling of Rowen’s Haki strikes in his mind. He too… had to get stronger!

Nami, meanwhile, diligently monitored the sea conditions from the upper deck, occasionally glancing towards the training room window to watch Rowen. The rest of the time, her focus was entirely on ensuring the Going Merry sailed smoothly and safely.

Rowen was working so hard to get stronger; as the navigator, she had to ensure their journey was flawless.

Usopp followed Nami’s commands, adjusting the Merry’s rudder and sails as needed, currently acting as both shipwright and helmsman.

The Going Merry sailed smoothly onward.

During these days filled with rigorous training and steady progress…

Under Nami’s near-perfect navigation…

Loguetown—came into view!

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep