Chapter 90 – [90] : Getting Stronger by Getting Beaten! Full Crew Power-Up!

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The power emanating from Luffy… everyone recognized it instantly.

It was the same power Rowen had displayed when he first made his debut on the seas, the power that announced his arrival to the world!

Conqueror’s Haki!

Nami and the others stared, completely dumbfounded.

Luffy—knocked out by a single punch from Rowen—And then, he awakened Conqueror’s Haki?!

Thanks to Rowen, they knew a fair bit about this power.

They knew Conqueror’s Haki was possessed by only one in several million, and even then, awakening it was uncertain.

But now, Luffy gets knocked out by Rowen, and just like that, awakens it?!

“Th-This is…!” Zoro, however, stared intently at the energy still crackling around Rowen’s right fist.

This power—was overwhelmingly violent and tyrannical…

Compared to the Armament Haki Rowen had been training them with, this was on an entirely different level!

Back in the East Blue, Rowen had shown him, through his Haki clash with Mihawk, that Conqueror’s Haki could be used as a direct force!

“Rowen! Th-This is Conqueror’s Haki?!” Zoro stammered, looking at Rowen’s right fist, which pulsed with horrifying power, his eyes wide with shock.

“That’s right. Conqueror’s Haki Infusion—the true supreme power on these seas! Anyone who fully masters this power is a genuine Ruler-class figure—Those Four Emperors who reign like kings over the New World—they rely on this very power,”

Rowen declared, his voice filled with a confident energy.

Although Emperors and Admirals were both considered Apex Gold tier in terms of Trait level, the actual power gap between individuals within that tier could be immense!

Among the current three Marine Admirals, aside from Akainu with his Magma-Magma Fruit (possessing the highest offensive power)—

—Aokiji and Kizaru, despite their own formidable strength, would definitely be at a disadvantage in terms of raw offensive power if they faced an Emperor wielding fully mastered Infused Conqueror’s Haki.

“Four Emperors?!” Hearing this term, Usopp and Chopper’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

“Conqueror’s Haki… Infusion… Four Emperors…” Robin murmured, watching the residual power around Rowen, her beautiful eyes wide with shock.

Even without possessing Observation Haki herself yet, she could feel the utterly tyrannical and violent nature of that power.

It was frightening—just sensing it sent shivers down her spine. Rowen’s words further stunned her.

‘Mastering this power meant possessing strength comparable to the Four Emperors?! Didn’t that mean Rowen—!’ Robin’s eyes widened further in disbelief.

“Of course, I’ve only just achieved initial mastery. I’m still far from full mastery,” Rowen admitted.

“Currently, I can only use it for infusing attacks. Abilities like using it for defense or enhancing speed—I haven’t mastered those yet. And wielding this power consumes an enormous amount of stamina; I can only use it for a limited time. However… before my Conqueror’s Haki is depleted, I can fight head-on even against a Marine Admiral.”

Rowen looked pointedly at Robin.

MARINE ADMIRAL!!

Hearing that, Robin felt her world shake.

The Ohara Incident—among the Vice Admirals who carried out the Buster Call—was the man who was now Marine Admiral Aokiji!

She had witnessed Aokiji’s power firsthand.

Her dear friend, Saul, also a Vice Admiral at the time, had been utterly powerless before him.

And Aokiji, now an Admiral, was hailed as one of the World Government’s strongest fighting forces—his power was unimaginable.

Yet Rowen—claimed he could fight Aokiji head-on?

Even if Rowen meant he could fight an Admiral only until his Haki ran out, it was still unbelievable to Robin.

Rowen… how old was he again?

And he possessed that horrifying ability to plunder everything!

At this moment, a flicker of genuine hope ignited deep within Robin. ‘Rowen… will definitely surpass the Admirals!’

This thought, for Robin, who had always viewed Aokiji as one of her deepest, darkest shadows, felt incredible.

But looking at Rowen’s supremely confident smile, feeling the raw, untamed power still radiating from his fist…

Robin pressed her lips together. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She knew—Rowen’s words were meant for her.

Rowen’s mysterious ability to know things… Robin had witnessed it too many times. It wouldn’t be surprising if Rowen knew about Admiral Aokiji participation in that Buster Call.

Though she didn’t know ‘how’ Rowen knew, her greatest psychological shadow was indeed an Admiral—that didn’t matter now.

What mattered was that Rowen’s words—their meaning was clear: ‘Even if your enemy is an Admiral, you don’t need to be afraid!!’

‘A place to belong… had she finally found it?’ Looking at Rowen’s confident smile, Robin’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.

The sense of security she hadn’t felt since the Ohara Incident slowly began to warm her heart, like a ray of sunshine piercing through the darkness that had enveloped her for so long.

Rowen’s Observation Haki, of course, detected Robin’s emotional shift.

Though the darkness in her heart had only just been pierced by a tiny ray of light, Rowen was confident he would soon tear it completely apart.

Hearing about it would never be as impactful as witnessing it.

After Skypiea, Aokiji would be there, waiting for Robin…

Rowen’s eyes flashed with a fierce crimson-black light. ‘The power of Infused Conqueror’s Haki… I really want to test it out properly.’

Of course, first he needed to get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—After obtaining that, his envisioned ultimate Devil Fruit ability combination could be realized.

At that point, even against Aokiji at full power, Rowen was confident he could escape unscathed.

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“By the way, Rowen—even though it’s the power of Conqueror’s Haki, why did Luffy awaken it after you hit him?” Zoro asked urgently, looking at Rowen.

He wanted to awaken that power too!

This violent energy—if infused into his swords—the power would be unimaginable!

No wonder Rowen said that without this power, he could never truly defeat Mihawk.

Mihawk possessed this power!

Zoro stared intensely at Rowen. He never doubted his own ability to awaken Conqueror’s Haki. Rowen said he could possess it, so he definitely would!

“My first ability—you all know I can plunder the total power of others,” Rowen began.

The crew nodded.

When they first learned the truth of Rowen’s power, they had been horrified for a long time. It truly was the most vicious, most dangerous ability in the world.

“But—I have another ability. I can equip the abilities/skills of my comrades. You can think of it as—a form of replication,” Rowen continued. Everyone blinked, then, except for Nami, their eyes widened in shock.

“The bonds between comrades allow me to replicate your abilities/skills. ‘BONDS’ are essentially spiritual power, and Haki is the manifestation of that power. Through these spiritual bonds, I can establish a connection to the powers you possess and then replicate them. I didn’t tell you before because this replication ability couldn’t immediately translate into usable power for you—the ‘Equipping’ process took time.”

Rowen explained, looking at his comrades.

“So—that’s how it is!” Everyone finally understood.

This was the truth behind all of Rowen’s powers!

Seeing Rowen’s complete openness, they all felt deeply moved.

Such a massive secret—Rowen had never hidden anything from them.

“Well, I knew about it for a while,” Nami declared, tilting her chin up proudly. “Rowen can use navigation skills and sense the weather with his body, right? That’s him replicating my powers,” Nami smiled.

Rowen never kept secrets from her. He told her the day after he replicated her abilities.

“Wait… Rowen! You said you didn’t tell us before because it couldn’t immediately translate into power for us—Does that mean now…” Zoro and Sanji suddenly stared wide-eyed at Luffy, still lying on the ground.

“Exactly! After mastering Infused Conqueror’s Haki—when I strike you with it, I can directly transmit spiritual power into your bodies through the spiritual bonds we’ve already established! In other words—to awaken your Haki, you just need to be hit by my Infused Conqueror’s Haki! After that, strengthening your Haki—for Armament, you just need to improve your physique; for Observation, you just need to sharpen your five senses. That part—is up to you,” Rowen finished, smiling at Zoro and Sanji.

The reason this wasn’t possible before, but now was possible with Infused Conqueror’s Haki, was because Infused Haki, unlike Armament Haki (which was a manifestation of spiritual power and physique)—was a manifestation of pure spiritual power.

Furthermore, Armament Haki, before mastering Ryūō (Flowing Haki)—only inflicted surface-level damage.

But Infused Conqueror’s Haki directly permeated deep into the target’s body—one could even say it reached the soul—

Through Infused Haki, leveraging the spiritual bonds with his comrades, Rowen could directly transmit spiritual power—And spiritual power directly determined Haki strength!

This training method was, quite literally: GET BEATEN, GET STRONGER!

A full crew cheat code!

“Unfortunately, Sanji, you don’t have the aptitude for Conqueror’s Haki,” Rowen added, looking at Sanji.

“D-Damn it!” Sanji looked crestfallen.

“Hey! Curly-Brows! Don’t worry too much about it,” Sanji stared wide-eyed at Zoro, surprised by the uncharacteristic comment.

“Didn’t you hear Rowen? Armament Haki alone can make you Admiral-level. You can definitely do it,” Zoro said, surprisingly, without any mockery, offering an encouraging smile.

“YOU… BASTARD,” Sanji mumbled, genuinely touched.

“But don’t worry,” Rowen interjected. “Before, I couldn’t directly establish a spiritual link strong enough to transfer spiritual power. But now that the link IS established—don’t forget, I possess the ability to plunder others’ powers.”

Rowen’s words made the momentarily friendly Zoro and Sanji instantly freeze.

“R-Rowen… you mean?” Zoro’s eye twitched.

Sanji’s eye twitched too.

They already guessed Rowen’s meaning…

That brief moment of camaraderie between them now felt incredibly awkward!

Zoro and Sanji looked at each other, then quickly looked away, feeling slightly nauseous.

“Exactly. I can plunder someone else’s Conqueror’s Haki aptitude and directly transfer it to you through our spiritual link, giving you the aptitude as well. As long as it’s spiritual power, it can be transferred through this link,” Rowen confirmed with a grin.

“TCH! So you still don’t have Conqueror’s aptitude right now, huh? Rowen awakened first, Luffy second, I’m third. Curly-Brows—you’ll be fourth, or even later. Got it? FOURTH PLACE, AT BEST,” Zoro immediately started taunting.

“YOU DAMN IDIOT MOSS-HEAD!” Sanji instantly flared up, enraged.

His earlier touched feelings—completely wasted on this jerk!

“As for Nami, Usopp, Chopper—you guys…” Rowen looked towards the three, who were watching with hopeful anticipation, then sighed.

“You’re… too timid. Even if I gave you the aptitude, you probably couldn’t awaken it.”

Rowen’s words were a blow.

Nami took it relatively well, but Usopp and Chopper looked like they’d been struck by lightning.

This was what Rowen meant about the One Piece power system: physical flaws were acceptable, but spiritual weakness was fatal.

Without the necessary willpower, even with the aptitude for Conqueror’s Haki, one couldn’t awaken it—like Buggy, whose potential was crippled by the backlash of his discarded Born of the Sea Trait.

Giving them spiritual power wouldn’t help if their inherent timidity prevented them from ‘Digesting’ it.

This also likely explained why Usopp, despite awakening impressive Observation Haki, struggled so much with Armament Haki.

There was nothing Rowen could do about that.

“Robin and Vivi can try later. But I need to find a way to enhance your Haki without beating you up first. Until then, relying on your Devil Fruit abilities for combat is sufficient,” Rowen added, looking towards Robin and Vivi.

Beating up Nami, Robin, and Vivi? Rowen wasn’t too keen on that. Besides, the three weren’t primarily combatants.

Rowen’s main training focus was on Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji.

And for Vivi, Robin, and Nami’s fighting styles, Haki wasn’t the absolute deciding factor. Vivi needed to master her Sand-Sand Fruit—Robin’s Flower-Flower Fruit Awakening was also incredibly powerful.

As for Nami—her timid nature meant she likely wouldn’t awaken Haki even by the Wano arc, but with her Clima-Tact and continuously upgraded Climate Sense Trait, Nami could still become a formidable fighter.

“Alright, Rowen! I’m ready!” Zoro, having finished bickering with Sanji, spread his arms wide, ready to take the hit, his eyes filled with intense anticipation.

WHAM!

Rowen certainly didn’t disappoint. A single punch infused with Haōshoku Coating sent Zoro flying, knocking him out instantly, just like Luffy.

FWOOM!

A powerful aura exploded from Zoro’s unconscious body!

Conqueror’s Haki!

Sensing Zoro’s Conqueror’s Haki, Sanji looked slightly envious.

But he quickly suppressed the feeling.

Anyway, with Rowen around, he too would possess such power eventually!

“Your turn, Sanji. Though you can’t awaken Conqueror’s Haki right now, Observation and Armament Haki should be possible. If you can’t awaken them… I’ll just have to knock you out a few more times,” Rowen said, smiling at Sanji.

“Bring it on!” Sanji declared boldly.

WHAM!

Sanji was unceremoniously dumped next to Luffy and Zoro.

The three of them—all neatly knocked unconscious by Rowen.

“DOCTOR!!!”

Chopper wailed, then remembered ‘he’ was the doctor, and immediately rushed over to treat Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji.

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A long time later, the three slowly regained consciousness.

After Zoro roughly explained the nature of the “training,” Luffy instantly understood. Realizing he had awakened Conqueror’s Haki, Luffy was ecstatic.

Then—

VMM!

Jet-black energy coated Luffy’s fist, Zoro’s sword, and Sanji’s leg!

Armament Haki—Awakened!

Rowen smiled.

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