One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 508: Hands-on Learner



Checking over the ships took longer than Cherry had expected it would. She could now appreciate the art of shipbuilding much better than before, she thought.

The reason was because these things were complicated. They weren't just long bowls that let you float in water. The more time she spent on them, the more that fact became apparent.

She didn't disparage herself, though. She was a crafter of arms and armor, not of vehicles.

However, that complexity, while interesting, did mean that Cherry was stuck with the ships for a couple of hours.

"Phew," Cherry wiped her completely dry brow. "I hope Franky is thankful... even if he probably could have done this in a fraction of the time."

She stuffed the pages and pages of observations into her pockets and glanced around. Kin'emon and the others were gathered a bit further inland, so Cherry made her way over.

"What?! Three and a half thousand men for our numbers and Luffy-dono is free?!" Kin'emon shouted in shock at a den den mushi.

"Indeed! We have even located Kawamatsu!" Raizo proclaimed.

"This is unbelievable! Just yesterday, everything was so dire, but now we suddenly have far more men than we could have hoped for!" Kin'emon paused to catch his breath. "We don't even have the weapons to arm this many men!"

"That is a problem that we must remedy quickly! The final battle grows ever closer and we cannot send men to die without a sword or spear in hand!" Raizo agreed.

"There was a fellow in Ringo near that big graveyard who was apparently gathering

weapons," Cherry chimed in. "If you want, I could either convince him to part with what he has, or take them anyway if he refuses."

"I... I suppose these are desperate times. If this fellow isn't willing to part with those weapons for the sake of Wano, then he shouldn't have them regardless," Kin'emon said, not seeming happy with that potential outcome.

"Luffy finally got himself free, though, huh? It's about time," Cherry said. "I wonder if he's come up with any new tricks. He'll need them against Kaido."

"Luffy-dono is currently training with Hyougoro-sama. Some kind of advanced haki," Raizo confirmed.

Cherry frowned. "I'm not sure that'll be enough, but it's better than nothing I guess."

Cherry was familiar with the advanced forms of both armament and observation haki. Internal destruction was probably what Luffy was learning now.

It would be helpful in bypassing Kaido's external defenses, no doubt; but as she learned herself, Emperors were made of sterner stuff, and bigger bodies made internal destruction less effective. Both Big Mom and Kaido possessed enormous forms, so unless you hit them in just the right spot, they'll just get back up for more.

Even Whitebeard is a pretty big guy. Shanks and Roger should be applauded for keeping up with those three monsters.

Of course, Cherry was built different, so she wasn't worried about internal destruction at all. "I'll go see Luffy after I dump my notes on Franky," Cherry told them.

And after a little alone time with Robin, naturally.

...

"WOW! SUPER WORK!" Franky exclaimed far too loudly. "This'll save me so much time!"

Franky hardly even glanced at her again before he was running off in the direction that she had told him to go to find the ships.

She wasn't surprised. The man hadn't been able to ply his trade in a while now, so she

understood why he was eager to get right back into it.

With that done, she moseyed on over to a nearby house.@@novelbin@@

"Honey, I'm home!" Cherry threw open the door.

"Oh, it's you," Robin didn't sound the least bit excited to see her.

Cherry stopped and looked around. "Perona's here?"

That got her to crack a smile. "I'm happy to see you. Today has just been a bit of a rollercoaster."

"You're telling me," Cherry said as she walked over and sat right down in Robin's lap. "Is the tea any good?"

"It's quite nice, actually," Robin lifted her tea cup and let her lover have a taste.

Cherry was pleasantly surprised to find that she was right.

It was definitely cheap stuff, but whoever brewed it really knew what they were doing. It didn't even offend her supernaturally strong palate.

"Did Sanji make this?" Cherry asked.

"No, actually. It's from one of the locals," Robin answered.

"Huh," Cherry had another sip. "It's missing something, though."

"Oh?" Robin asked.

"Mm, it needs a snack to go along with it. I've got something that'll pair well with it," Cherry said.

Robin craned her neck to try to see what Cherry would pull from her pocket, only for Cherry to spin around in her lap and plant a kiss on her lips.

"Delicious~" Cherry whispered as heat rose to Robin's cheeks.

...

"This is the place," Cherry said, looking up at the mountain on top of the prison mine.

There were a couple of guards hanging around outside the primary tunnel leading into the interior. They were dressed like Beast pirates, but Cherry got the sense that they weren't from the way they held themselves.

"Evening, gentlemen," Cherry saluted them as she walked inside.

"Hold it! You can't go in there!" One tried to stand in her way.

"You're so cute~ Boop!" Cherry poked the tip of his nose and muscled past him.

By the time the tunnel opened back up to open air, she had several hangers on trying to stop her to no avail. She was a tad surprised that they hadn't drawn their weapons on her, so she must have flustered them enough that they didn't think of it.

"Cherry!" Despite being focused on beating the hell out of a big iron block, Luffy noticed her immediately and jogged over.

"How goes your training?" Cherry asked, catching the young man's hands before they could

wrap around her.

"Mm," Luffy tilted his head with a frown. "I can't seem to get it."

"Internal destruction, right?" Cherry asked.

"What? I'm learning Ryuo," Luffy answered.

"That's just what we call haki here in Wano, my young friend," a diminutive old man with cloud tattoos spoke as he walked over. "Internal destruction sounds as apt a description for the skill I am teaching you as any, if a bit unimaginative."

"I see!" Luffy didn't look like he saw.

"Well, hit me with your best shot. Maybe I can give you a tip or two," Cherry said.

"Are you sure that's wise- Eh?!" the old man was shocked to see Luffy slam his fist into her stomach and fold her in half without a second of hesitation. "Are you alright?!" "Hmmm," Cherry stood up straight. "You're not doing it right, but that was a good blow, at

least."

"Eh?" the old man didn't comprehend what was happening, nor did any of the others who

were watching.

"Maybe you'll learn better if you feel it?" Cherry asked, rubbing her chin.

"Oh! Good idea!" Luffy nodded.

"Wait-!" the old man raised his hand in futile attempt to stop her.

*BAM*

Cherry slammed her fist into Luffy's stomach and sent him skidding backwards several

meters.

"Bleh..." Luffy opened his mouth and released a waterfall of blood onto the ground.

Hyougoro was so stunned he could neither move nor speak.

"I think i get it..." Luffy shakily stood himself as upright as he could.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Chopper drop kicked Cherry with an angry grimace adorning

his face.

"Hehehehe!" Cherry could only laugh.