Chapter 15: Six Styles
In an employee dormitory of the Galley-La Company, there were over a dozen beds inside, where some shipwrights without permanent residences would stay. This was communal property.
As soon as Su Xiao stepped into the dormitory, a pungent smell hit him—a mix of foot odor, sweat, alcohol, and a faint hint of sea brine.
He slowly backed out of the employee dormitory. The smell reminded him of the familiar scent from his middle school dormitory.
Inside, over a dozen shipwrights were playing cards, their shouts audible from a distance.
Su Xiao furrowed his brow. This place wasn't suitable for rest. It wasn't that he was being picky, but the noisy environment would interfere with his work.
Turning away from the employee dormitory, Su Xiao found an inn nearby and checked in. Though not luxurious, the bed was clean, and the room had no unpleasant odors.
The sound of water came from the bathroom—Bubuteni was bathing. This dog-like creature was very fond of cleanliness.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the training method for the Six Styles technique "Shave" from his storage space. Although this paper had been certified by Reincarnation Paradise, it couldn't be used directly and couldn't be taken out of the One Piece world.
[Six Styles "Shave" Training Method (Complete)]
Quality: Purple
Type: Knowledge/Skill
Requirements to Master: Strength 25 points, Agility 30 points, Stamina 25 points.
Rating: 141 (Note: Purple rating ranges from 71 to 150.)
Description: This method can be used to learn the physical skill "Shave." "Shave" can be further upgraded in the Skill Upgrade Hall.
Note: This item will be retrieved upon leaving this derivative world. It was created by the plot character Kalifa. Hunters cannot replicate it.
...
The paper in Su Xiao's hand was not a skill scroll and couldn't be used directly. To master Shave, he would need to study it himself.
What was the difficulty in learning the Six Styles? After Su Xiao's research, the various techniques of the Six Styles weren't actually that hard. The real challenge was achieving a transcendent physique.
Before learning the Six Styles, Marines or CP agents underwent brutal training to drastically increase their physical strength, reaching a level capable of bearing the Six Styles' physical techniques.
If converted to Reincarnation Paradise attributes, the physical requirements were roughly: Strength 25-30 points, Agility 25-30 points, Stamina 25-30 points.
Su Xiao's Strength and Agility both met the requirements. His Stamina was 25 points, barely enough. Mastering Shave was fine, but mastering Iron Body or Life Return would be more difficult.
As long as physical requirements were met, the Six Styles weren't hard to grasp, since their principles weren't overly complex.
Su Xiao only needed to learn the basics of the Six Styles. After that, he could quickly raise their levels with Reincarnation Paradise's help—though that would require a hefty fee.
Looking over Kalifa's written training method for the Six Styles, Su Xiao noticed the characters were crooked and messy. Whether Kalifa did this intentionally or her handwriting was naturally ugly, even a grade-schooler's writing would be more believable.
Kalifa was currently posing as a secretary—how could her handwriting be that bad? That left only one possibility.
"Petty tricks."
Su Xiao contacted Reincarnation Paradise and spent 10 Paradise Coins to convert the text on the paper into a clean, printed Song typeface, making it very easy to read.
After a brief reading, Su Xiao understood the training method for Shave. It took him about ten seconds.
Yes, it was that simple. It wasn't because Su Xiao had exceptional intelligence, but because Shave's training method was too straightforward.
Shave's main principle was: In an instant (within 0.36 seconds), stomp the ground more than ten times, using the reactive force to generate explosive movement, achieving speeds invisible to the naked eye.
In layman's terms, it meant stomping the ground wildly, continuing to stomp even as the body lunged forward, creating secondary, tertiary, or even dozens of accelerations.
Though Shave was fast, it had drawbacks.
First, one had to control the force of each stomp to regulate the distance and speed of the forward charge. Otherwise, you'd crash into a wall, or worse, directly into an enemy's weapon, losing your life.
During Shave's movement, you couldn't change direction quickly; you could only slightly adjust your forward path.
After half an hour of contemplation, Su Xiao stood up, barefoot on the ground, and rapidly stomped his feet.
But after just two stomps, his steps turned into a jog, completely different from the described technique.
Failure was normal. Su Xiao continued studying Shave, repeating the process over and over without boredom.
Bubuteni lay on the soft blanket, a worried look on his dog face. It seemed his owner had gone mad.
If Bubuteni could speak, he would surely say to Su Xiao: "Master, when I have money, I'll take you to the best mental hospital."
Su Xiao repeated Shave's starting motion again and again. Without trying, he wouldn't have known how difficult it was. Stomping the ground more than ten times within 0.36 seconds was very hard, all while keeping the body from lurching forward.
Thump, thump, thump!
A rough pounding on the door came. Su Xiao opened the door, shirtless. Outside stood a group of burly, muscular men with fierce eyes—clearly not good-natured people.
A broad-shouldered, thick-waisted man glared at Su Xiao and growled through gritted teeth: "It's already midnight. If you make another sound, I'll shove your head into a cesspool and kick your ass raw."
As the man finished, the muscles on his chest twitched, and he cracked his knuckles loudly.
"We're all 'civilized people,' no need for foul language. It was indeed my fault for disturbing you."
Su Xiao's voice was calm, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Huh? Civilized? I'm—"
Five minutes later. Several men with bruised and swollen faces bowed and scraped as they left. Su Xiao shook the blood off his hand.
If they had come for a civilized negotiation, he would have stopped practicing Shave. But if they weren't civilized, then it came down to whose fists were harder.
Su Xiao practiced Shave a bit more and made slight progress. He vaguely found a few tricks.
Around one in the morning, Su Xiao rested. Training couldn't be rushed; being too eager wasn't good.
The next morning, after washing up and changing into fresh clothes, Su Xiao arrived at Dock One.
He lingered at Dock One for a while, then quietly left to find a remote, open area.
After some warm-up exercises, Su Xiao continued practicing Shave. Once he mastered it, he could close in on enemies quickly.
He repeated the motion over and over, failing each time, but Su Xiao wasn't discouraged. Failure was just accumulating experience.
Sweat soaked through Su Xiao's clothes, so he simply took off his shirt.
Taking a deep breath, Su Xiao stomped rapidly in place.
"Shave!"
He shouted softly, his feet pounding the ground.
Whoosh~.
Su Xiao instantly turned into a blur, charging straight toward... the sea.
Plop. Water splashed over two meters high. He shot out across the sea surface for quite a distance before stopping.
Swimming back to shore, Su Xiao was overjoyed. He seemed to have succeeded just now, though he was still far from mastering Shave. But it was a good start.
Su Xiao continued practicing, but the sudden burst of speed didn't happen again.
Sitting on the ground, Su Xiao stared at the sea horizon, pondering why he had succeeded earlier. Was it because he shouted the technique's name?
After thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure it out, and instead grew a bit irritable.
Closing his eyes, he entered meditation. Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes, the irritation fading.
"Continue."
Standing up, Su Xiao stomped the ground rapidly.
Crack~.
Su Xiao stumbled, nearly falling. A sharp pain shot through his ankle. He was puzzled—had he sprained it? No, it was because Shave's training intensity was too high, putting too much strain on his body. After all, this was a physical technique beyond human limits.
The "beyond human limits" of the One Piece world shouldn't be underestimated. The people in this world had very strong physiques.
Sitting on the ground, Su Xiao gently rubbed his ankle. His blood flow gradually smoothed, and his 25-point Stamina kicked in, easing the pain.
His stomach growled. Su Xiao looked up and realized it was already high noon. Unknowingly, he had been practicing all morning.