Chapter 80 80: Sharing Gene Lock with Chat Group Members

— — — — — — One Piece World — Rusukaina Island A crackling black-and-red streak of lightning lit the sky as Veyron's hand, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, came down in a brutal chop — knocking Hancock out cold. "That's just savage." Sipping red wine with practiced elegance, the silver-haired Succubi lounging on a beach chair nearby gave a pointed critique. "Veyron, you really ought to be a little gentler with girls, you know." "Coming from you, that sounds really off," Veyron replied with a dry look. He used psychokinesis to gently float Hancock's unconscious body over and laid her down on the empty lounge chair next to Merlin's left. He was teaching Hancock how to control Conqueror's Haki Infusion — something he'd promised her back during the whole Red Room incident in the Marvel world (Earth-∞). The original plan was to start her training once that mission wrapped up, but just as he returned, the group system threw another curveball — a quest commissioned by the Will of the Kuroinu World. And after that, things spiraled. He went back to the Treeborn World using his [Friend of the World (Gold)] trait and discovered the place couldn't naturally produce new life. That set off a domino effect of increasingly chaotic events, and well... let's just say his moral compass is now buried somewhere deep in negative numbers. Long story short, the lesson got delayed... until now. Unlike regular Haki, you can't "train" Conqueror's Haki. You either have it or you don't — and even if you do, mastering it means leveling up your spirit and presence to match. Infusing Conqueror's Haki is the same: you need overwhelming willpower and the guts to let that power wrap around your body or weapons like Armament Haki. In other words, it's not a technique you learn — it's a force you command. As a member of the Dimensional Chat Group, Hancock had been exposed to countless other worlds, seen the kinds of power people could achieve, and realized that with the group's help, even surpassing her own world's limits wasn't just possible — it was inevitable. She still needed to train her body and Devil Fruit powers, sure. But when it came to will, Hancock was already on par — even beyond — many of the New World's old sea dogs who'd been around for decades. So yeah, she was ready. Every day on this island, Veyron would start by clashing his Conqueror's Haki against Hancock's, gradually helping her raise her aura to its peak... and when the time was right, he'd strike — letting her feel what true Haki infusion was like firsthand. It had become something of a ritual here on Rusukaina. Once Hancock was KO'd, the rest of Veyron's routine began — focusing on telekinetic training, with body training in the gravity chamber as a side dish. His psychic energy stretched out into the sea, thousands of meters deep, and yanked up a massive Sea King, nearly 200 meters long, tossing it unceremoniously onto the beach like a sack of fish. "You keep this up and Fubuki's definitely gonna cry," Merlin muttered while grilling the Sea King meat with a flicker of magical flame. "...Did someone say my name?" Fubuki asked, walking over with a confused look — she'd just arrived from her world. "I was just saying how out-of-control Veyron's getting." Merlin nodded toward the Sea King, now lying on the beach like a literal mountain. "Take a guess how that thing got pulled out of the ocean." "I'm not guessing." Fubuki's gaze fell on Veyron, casually slicing meat off the beast with his mind. She'd already witnessed it a few days ago — how he hunted Sea Kings these days — but it still made her twitch. It was one thing to see him improve his body or Haki, but now he was even dominating her in what used to be her sole bragging right — psychic powers. Even with an overachieving big sister who'd overshadowed her all her life, Fubuki couldn't help but feel a little broken inside. Yeah, voting to boot this "ordinary guy" into a special category along with Merlin was definitely the right move back then. "...I've actually been thinking about something lately," Veyron said, waving her over and motioning for her to sit. A drink and a steaming meat steak floated over to her via psychokinesis. "What if there was a way to boost your current strength by at least a hundred times?" "Wait... how much?" Even Fubuki was frozen in shock. Merlin choked on her wine, crimson liquid dribbling down her chin. "At least a hundredfold," Veyron repeated calmly, flicking his fingers twice toward the sea. The first snap — a heavy splash erupted, like something huge had slammed into the ocean surface. The second snap — boom! — blasted a massive crater into the sea, hundreds of meters wide. "These two strikes? I used the same amount of force in both. The only difference..." he paused, "was that in the second one, I added a little something from the Fourth-Level Gene Lock." The micro-control realm. Microscopic Precision. At first, Veyron had thought this "precision level" was just about gaining ultra-fine control over one's power—breaking down every ounce of strength and using it perfectly. And sure, he used to wonder—If someone doesn't have the Gene Lock, can't they still train themselves to master that kind of control? After all, the Gene Lock represents the hidden potential of humans. But there are plenty of powerful non-human races out there who've achieved that level of mastery without it. But after days of experimentation and theoretical discussions with Eirin and Kaguya, Veyron discovered something shocking: No matter what your base power is—whether it's a 1 or a hundred million—once you unlock Stage Two, you get over 12 times your base strength and more than double your speed. The stronger your foundation, the more ridiculous the boost becomes. "Of course, reaching the micro-control state gives you a huge power jump," Veyron explained. "But whether you achieve that state through Stage Three or in Stage Four—it's not something anyone can just do. There's a real barrier there." He gave a quick rundown of the stages: "Stage One's easy enough—you just inject a refined version of the T-Virus I created. It guarantees a 100% unlock rate. "For Stage Two, with all the meat from the island's powerful beasts and Sea Kings, plus the gravity chamber Hancock provided, you guys shouldn't have too much trouble getting there either. "But from Stage Three onward... that's when things get real. That's when talent and potential start to matter." He glanced around at the group. "Even if you get stuck at Stage Two, you'll still benefit a ton—reawakened combat instincts, heightened senses, over 12 times your base strength, twice the speed, better immunity and recovery..." "Yeah... that's OP," Hancock muttered, rubbing her temples. She'd just woken up from the earlier mental smackdown and was still digesting what she heard. "I'm not done yet." Veyron smiled and shook his head. "Since I joined the chat group, I've gotten a lot of help—especially from you, Hancock, and you, Miss Merlin. "If it wasn't for the 100 points you gave me at the start, Merlin, I wouldn't have been able to pull that guaranteed draw. By the time I saved enough points on my own, I might've gotten something totally useless instead of the Gene Lock. "And Hancock—without your Haki training, this training area you opened to all of us, and that gravity room... even if I had pulled the Gene Lock, I wouldn't be anywhere near this strong right now." He looked around again, more serious now. "So, I've decided—I'll share the potential of the Gene Lock with the group. Just like you guys shared your resources with me. If you're interested, just hit me up. "But let me make one thing very clear..." Veyron's tone dropped a notch. "What I'm sharing isn't a permanent Gene Lock like mine. The potential I give you will feel exactly the same in terms of strength and effect—but technically, I'm still the one holding the 'keys' to the system. So, no matter which world you're in... I can take it back whenever I want." "Got it," Merlin said with a sly grin. She stood up from her beach chair, and with a snap of her fingers, her swimsuit shifted into an elaborate mage's robe. "The sky has no two suns. The earth, no two kings. A house, no two masters. Veyron has no—" "Okay, pause right there." Veyron instantly raised his hand, using psychokinesis to literally cover her mouth before she could finish whatever weird chant she was doing. He turned to Hancock and Fubuki. "I'm just being upfront so there's no drama later on. No wild rumors, no misunderstandings." "..." "..." The two women exchanged a quick glance. Yeah, they could tell Merlin was just messing around—she was always joking like that with Veyron, especially since the two got along pretty well. . . .