Chapter 98: Awakening (R-18)
Kizaru returned to the deck, guiding the marine soldiers through their drills, his eyes occasionally drifting toward Lakeman. He was trying to assess Lakeman's abilities, curious yet cautious, as he watched from the Marine warship.
Meanwhile, on Lakeman's cruise ship, Lakeman was deep in his training, experimenting with various applications of the Steal-Steal Fruit. Concentrated on his efforts, he sensed a lingering gaze directed his way. When he glanced over, he noticed Kizaru watching intently from the Marine ship. 'Is he waiting for Hancock and Robin's training? I forgot to inform him they wouldn't be training today.'
Calling over a guard, he instructed, "Go inform Vice Admiral Borsalino that Hancock and Robin won't be training today."
Lakeman then focused, attempting to draw vibrations from his surroundings to create a silent zone. He muttered to himself, "Still not enough to completely steal all vibration. I need to go further if I want to halt molecular vibration and stop time itself."
On the Marine ship, Kizaru's thoughts were interrupted by a guard approaching him from Lakeman's ship. For a moment, Kizaru tensed, wondering if his observing gaze had been detected. When the guard simply conveyed the message about the girls' absence from training, he exhaled in quiet relief, 'Looks like I wasn't caught.'
Lakeman, on the other hand, was making strides with his ability to create a sound-free zone by stealing vibrations. However, despite his efforts, there was still no progress toward stopping time, an ability he'd envisioned based on Easdeath's time-freezing powers.
Frustrated, he thought, 'Let's wait for awakening before trying it again.' Shifting his focus, he began experimenting with stealing various gasses from the air, which yielded promising results after a few minutes.
While absorbed in his training, Lakeman suddenly remembered the promise made by the Five Elders to help alleviate Alabasta's water shortage problem. Inspired by an idea, he moved to the edge of the deck, peering down at the sea. Activating his ability, he began stealing seawater, stopping after several minutes.
'I stole almost a thousand tons of seawater in ten minutes of continuous extraction, but seawater can't be drunk, and it brings marine life and dirt along with it. Let's try again.' He mused, As he examined the murky sea water with fish swimming around in his system space.
He released it all back into the sea instantly. He noted that while extraction took time, releasing the water was immediate. Adjusting his focus, he managed to filter out the marine life and dirt, leaving only seawater. After a few more tries, he refined the process, even managing to pull in water without salt. 'There are still many harmful bacteria that could be unsafe for drinking,' he thought.
On the warship, Kizaru watched in confusion as Lakeman repeatedly sucked in and released seawater.