HST: Chapter 91: Caelan Wants a Crash Course

Rayleigh used his sword as a crutch and leaned on the ground, panting heavily.

As we all know, the action of forces is mutual.

He had just used all his strength to evade the enemy and collided with Caelan, leaving a scar on Caelan's chest. Rayleigh himself wasn’t in great shape either.

The weakness after going all out was one thing. What really hurt was the backlash—it had shaken his internal organs, and he couldn't recover for a while.

After all, there was a massive gap between him and the Pirate King Roger.

"What a monster..."

Looking at Caelan, who looked nearly unscathed, Rayleigh was shocked.

He had taken that attack head-on and only ended up with a minor injury, which was already healing visibly.

At this rate, even the wound would disappear completely in no time.

And to think, Rayleigh had poured all his strength into that sword—it was even stronger than the one Roger casually used to send Kozuki Oden flying.

At first, he doubted Caelan had the strength of a Yonko. But after this exchange, he knew Caelan lived up to the reputation.

"I admit defeat. You're incredible."

Rayleigh raised his hands, smiled bitterly.

After such a full-powered strike, Caelan remained unaffected. Continuing the fight would only lead to embarrassment.

"You say you don’t want to fight? So what does that make me?"

Caelan shook his head and laughed in contempt.

Why should he just let him go because he ran out of stamina?

If surrendering worked, he wouldn’t have cashed in so many pirate bounties.

"Here’s 200 million Berries. If you stop the fight, it’s yours."

Rayleigh opened the case in his hand and showed it to Caelan.

Inside were the 200 million Berries that Shakky had prepared.

He had initially planned to teach Caelan a lesson and then give him the money as compensation for medical expenses.

But clearly, he had overestimated himself.

These Berries had now become his life-saving money. He had to admit, Shakky’s instincts were spot on—worthy of her reputation as the former intelligence officer of the Rocks Pirates.

Looking at the suitcase filled with neatly stacked cash, Caelan raised an eyebrow.

This old man even brought some side dishes.

Still, he wanted both the 200 million and Rayleigh’s bounty!

"If I don’t let you go, that money’s mine anyway."

"Why are you trying to bribe me with my own money?"

Caelan glared at Rayleigh and snapped.

"What?!"

Rayleigh froze at the sight of Caelan’s righteous indignation.

If Shakky hadn’t handed the suitcase to him personally, he would’ve thought this really was Caelan’s money.

"Your money? Is my logo still on the box or something?"

Rayleigh pointed at the emblem on the suitcase with a dark expression.

It was the logo from Shakky’s bar, and now it had become solid evidence.

"Who do you think you are, engraving your bar’s logo on my cash box?"

Caelan glanced at the emblem and sneered.

Rayleigh stared at Caelan, completely stunned by the man’s growing arrogance.

It took him a while to pull himself together.

"Caelan, do you really think you can beat me?"

Rayleigh’s face darkened. He looked like he was ready for another round.

"Yeah? So what?"

Caelan didn’t care in the slightest, his expression as calm as ever.

Rayleigh's face twisted slightly as he tightened his grip on the sword.

But after taking a deep breath, he finally held himself back.

He had no choice. The situation was beyond his control.

Even if he were reduced to ashes, his old bones couldn’t handle someone like Caelan.

"Whatever your conditions are, as long as I can do it, just name them."

Rayleigh looked at Caelan and said helplessly.

Hearing that, Caelan immediately thought about Rayleigh’s value.

Besides the massive bounty, there were those advanced Haki techniques—Conqueror’s Haki Infusion and Armament Haki Flow—that he wanted to learn.

"Teach me Conqueror’s Haki Infusion and Armament Haki Flow. If you do, I’ll let you be traded in for the bounty while you’re still alive."

Caelan looked at Rayleigh seriously.

Letting him go was out of the question. That bounty was just too tempting.

But if he handed Rayleigh over for the bounty, what guarantee did he have that the old man wouldn’t escape later?

"Can’t you just let me go?"

Rayleigh frowned and said with a sigh.

"No. What? You don’t want to teach?"

Caelan gave him a dangerous look.

This old guy had piqued his interest. If he couldn’t give him what he wanted, Caelan wouldn’t go easy on him.

"I’ll teach you."

Rayleigh sighed and agreed.

If he were exchanged alive, he still had hope of getting out.

But if it were his head being turned in, then it was all over.

"Very good!"

Caelan nodded, satisfied.

He turned around and called Nami and the others over, motioning for them to stand in front of Rayleigh so they could enjoy the same kind of training Luffy once had.

"Sigh..."

Rayleigh let out a long sigh and didn’t say another word.

Teaching one person was still teaching. Teaching a group didn’t make much of a difference.

"I never imagined the legendary Dark King Rayleigh would become our teacher."

Kalifa looked at Rayleigh and couldn’t help but sigh.

As a former CP9 agent, she never thought she’d be taught by the Dark King himself.

"Caelan, you’re amazing!"

The others were just as excited, looking at Caelan with admiration.

Even the vice-captain of the Pirate King had been defeated. Was there anything he couldn’t do?

Soon, under everyone's expectant gaze, Rayleigh began teaching the two advanced techniques.

"Armament Haki: Flow is an advanced application of Armament Haki. It allows Haki to flow throughout your body. No matter where you’re attacked, it will be protected by the strongest defense, and your attack power will be greatly enhanced. The method to practice it is..."

"Conqueror’s Haki Infusion can only be learned by those with extremely strong willpower. Only the strongest on the sea can use it. More precisely, they stand at the top because they can use it. The method to practice it is..."

In just half an hour, Rayleigh thoroughly explained the theories behind both techniques.

The girls were still unsatisfied. Even though they couldn’t fully understand it yet, they felt like something had suddenly clicked just from hearing it.

So they quickly wrote everything down so they could study it in depth later.

"Alright, I’m done."

"With your potential, you should be able to master these two techniques in about a year or so."

Rayleigh looked at Caelan with pride.

He was clearly satisfied with how he’d explained everything.

"A year or so? That’s way too long."

Caelan frowned, clearly not happy.

"That’s still too slow?!"

"It took me more than ten years to master both of these!"

When he first learned these two techniques, he took countless detours and spent over a decade perfecting them.

He had condensed everything into a crash course that would shorten Caelan’s training to a year and a half. But this brat still wasn’t satisfied. He was way too greedy.

"Alright, alright, you did your best."

Caelan replied perfunctorily.

Rayleigh’s instruction had been solid, but a year was still too slow.

Compared to Kaido’s “three-strike crash course,” the difference was staggering.

(To be continued.)