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Chapter 17 Parting is for a better reunion!

One hour later.

Thump thump thump.

A series of splashes echoed as two marines, along with several unfortunate men from the slave-trafficking ship, threw the bodies of the human traffickers from the deck into the sea.

The smell of blood

Before long, it attracted a lot of carnivorous fish.

"Méther, do you think we'll ever see each other again?"

The railing of the rooftop at the very top of the slave ship.

The four leaned against the shore, and Hancock gazed at the dorsal fins that were faintly visible amidst the violent splashing of water not far from the ship.

"What?" Mercer glanced at her. "You can't bear to part with me."

Hancock rolled her eyes at Messer.

He then confidently said, "If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be the captain of the Kuja Pirates in the future. Your grandfather is a Marine, so will you also become a Marine?"

Mercer understood her underlying meaning and was speechless for a moment, then said, "Does becoming a Marine mean you can't be friends with pirates anymore?"

"Who said that? Besides, my future is not and cannot be that of a member of the Navy. It's not a place for me."

"Want to be a pirate?"

"Maybe we'll do it, maybe we won't. We'll see when the time comes. We'll only know what the future holds then."

"Anything said now is just empty talk."

Hancock seemed thoughtful, then chuckled and said, "You've gone off-topic."

"I'm asking if we'll ever be able to see each other again."

Looking at the distant sea, so blue it seemed to have been washed clean, Moses said, "I think we will. If fate allows, we will meet again."

Hancock looked at Moses's profile, a question lingering in her mind, but since she already had one, she might as well say it directly:

"Why are you so powerful? You're even stronger than our Nine Serpents' adult warriors. How did you do that?"

Mercer laughed. "Who knows? Maybe it's just breathing."

"Breathe?" Hancock didn't quite understand and puffed out her cheeks.

"If you don't want to talk, then don't. Why try to fob me off with your breathing? It's like I can't breathe."

Are you really sure you can?

"Can't I?"

"you sure?"

"Do you really understand what I mean by breathing, or is it just your idea of ​​breathing?"

"Your words are so convoluted, they make my head spin."

"Breathing is not just a simple action of inhaling and exhaling, but a way to perceive oneself and understand nature."

"The meaning is unclear, I don't understand."

Hancock pouted. "Breathing is just breathing. You inhale air and take in oxygen, that's all. Is this not breathing?"

"It's breathing."

Moses said.

"But that's the kind of breathing you can do. What I can do is sense oxygen traveling through my throat and lungs, into my bloodstream, reaching every corner of my body, until it's expelled from my body."

"Breathe consciously, and with refined breathing, you will gradually improve your control over your body."

Seeing Hancock looking at him as if he were listening to gibberish, Moses smiled smugly. "That's good, you don't understand. If you could understand, you wouldn't be asking me this."

Do you mean I'm an idiot?

“I didn’t say that.”

"But that's what you mean?"

Hancock was getting a little frustrated. Although she thought that Mercer was teasing her again, she had a gut feeling that Mercer wasn't lying to her.

The clash and collision of these two different ideas left Hancock feeling extremely frustrated.

"If you want me to believe you, then let me experience the kind of breathing you're talking about."

"Ha, you're dreaming. This is clearly a cultivation method. You think you can get me to teach you for free just by talking?"

Moses looked at Hancock as if she were an idiot. "Do you think I'm like you?"

Boom!

She clenched her teeth.

Hancock felt a rush of heat to her head, and the next moment, a sentence slipped out.

"As long as you can prove it to me, I'll agree to do whatever you ask."

Mercer chuckled and rolled her eyes at Hancock, then looked her up and down: "So, do you have anything of value?"

Hancock was immediately speechless.

He stammered and couldn't bring himself to say it.

"How about this? I'll teach you how to breathe, and when we meet again in the future, you give me three Devil Fruits, okay?"

"If you can't give it to me on the first meeting, I'll add one more. If you can't give it to me on the second meeting, I'll add another one, and so on, how about that?"

Hancock froze, staring at Moses in disbelief: "You're a loan shark? Aren't you afraid that once I learn this skill, I'll avoid you and never see you again?"

"Oh?" Mercer looked at her in surprise. "You're quite clever. You actually found the loophole in the conditions I gave you."

"How about it? Dare to give it a try?"

"Aren't you worried that I'll avoid you from now on?"

"Learn it first." Mercer pouted. "Who knows, you might be an idiot and never learn it."

Even if you learn it, if you break your promise, wouldn't it be interesting if the future famous Captain Kuja avoided me like the plague?

"Who do you think you are?" Hancock tilted her head back slightly, chin pointing at the person. "I accept this challenge. It's just three Devil Fruits, right? Once I become the captain of the Kuja tribe, I'll definitely be able to find them."

"You can begin."

With his right knee raised, Mercer's right hand brushed across the side of his boot, revealing a scalpel in his hand.

"Then let me explain the principles of breathing to you first."

Over the next ten minutes, Mercer began to explain breathing techniques, starting from the basics and gradually delving deeper.

To make it easier for Hancock to understand, Moses' scalpel handle would occasionally tap the internal nodes through which breathing passed.

Mercer's breathing is not complicated in a conventional sense, but it does require a special rhythm and frequency, and also involves some aspects of human medicine.

"Did you understand? Breathing isn't actually that complicated. If you have Observation Haki to help you, it will be even easier to get started. By the way, do you know about Observation Haki?"

After listening, Hancock's eyes glazed over, and she slurred, "I know, but couldn't you have explained it more simply? Some of those medical 'terms' you mentioned, I can't even understand them. Are you doing this on purpose?"

Mercer glanced at her with amusement; as expected, she was being unreasonable.

"Since you can't understand it, then use your body to memorize it."

"Now you can start breathing," Mercer said.

Hancock's eyes were strange; although she didn't understand some of the things, she still knew the general idea.

Close your eyes.

breathe.

As the chest and abdomen slowly swell and collapse, an unusual breathing pattern begins, accompanied by a feeling of rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and eye strain.

Just as he was about to speak, Mercer's voice came, "Don't stop, it's normal. When your breathing pattern is disrupted, there is insufficient oxygen in your body, which is a normal physiological phenomenon."

continue. "

As he spoke, his Observation Haki enveloped Hancock, sensing the rhythm of her breathing. He opened his shoulder bag, took out his needle pouch, and unfolded it to reveal several silver needles inside.

Mercer dictated the locations of the breathing points, and with precise technique, inserted silver needles one by one into Hancock's body.

Like a lighthouse, it guides the way, directing our breaths deeper.

Time passed,

This new breathing method, modeled after Mercer and personally created by Kureha, is under Mercer's careful guidance.

Hancock's breathing gradually changed, and she seemed to sense something vaguely, though she couldn't quite make out what it was.

After half an hour,

Seeing the sweat beading on her forehead, Mercer removed several silver needles from her heart, lower abdomen, lungs, and intestines.

As soon as the needle was removed, Hancock immediately began to breathe heavily, her breathing becoming erratic.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

He started coughing violently.

Moses put away the silver needles and watched Hancock's physical reaction with great interest. The experiment was a success; the breathing technique could be mastered quickly.

No, it's not a quick fix; it's just a method to artificially deepen the body's memory of this breathing pattern.

If you don't continue to reinforce this breathing method, you'll forget part of it in a few days.

After all, transitioning from one instinct to another requires time and perseverance.

I coughed for a while.

Seeing that Hancock had recovered, Moses told her about this situation regarding 'body memory'.

With her lips pursed, Hancock looked at Moses with a mixture of surprise and complexity in her eyes. "What you said is actually true."

"In that case, I will keep our promise."