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OPI Chapter 287: Pushing Limits
🕑 Added 2025-02-03 23:05:01 +0000 UTC"Then I'll go in first to take a look." Garp, seeing that Sengoku was serious, became curious about the inside of the gym.
He wanted to see firsthand what kind of place could make doing two thousand push-ups and running two hundred laps a challenge.
Garp crossed the threshold of the area illuminated by the violet light.
A second later, his body stopped for a moment but then continued moving forward.
When he reached the center of the room, he looked up and took in the surroundings. In each of the four corners of the ceiling there were spotlights that projected an intense purple light.
"So this is what it was about..." Garp narrowed his eyes and glanced outside where Issho was hiding in the crowd.
Shiki, a smoking cigar in his mouth, frowned impatiently. "Hey, Garp! How's it going in there?"
"Bwahaha, it's not bad at all. It's like getting a full-body massage. Come in and see for yourself!" Garp laughed out loud and waved them inside.
Those outside exchanged glances. Finally, Kaido shrugged and was the next to enter.
As soon as he crossed the purple light barrier, he felt his body become heavier.
"Worororo... So this is it! It really feels good!"
Kaido spread his arms and laughed, enjoying the feeling. Seeing that the two of them seemed to be doing well, Sakazuki and the others began to enter as well.
"Hmm?"
"Uh--"
"This is Issho's doing...!"
Kuzan, Borsalino, Crocodile and others immediately felt an increase in pressure on their bodies.
From the entrance, Raymond began to explain, "This is a facility created by the Science Academy in combination with Issho's Devil Fruit powers: the Adjustable Gravity Training Ground."
"Studies indicate that exposure to a hypergravity environment not only improves the efficiency of nerve signal transmission in the cerebellum, but also strengthens internal organs, blood circulation and bone density."
"You are now experiencing twice the gravity, but soon you will have to complete the test under ten times the normal gravity."
Borsalino was shocked when he heard this. "You have to be kidding! Ten times the gravity is a terrible environment!"
Raymond didn't answer and just watched them in silence. Beside him, Sengoku and Zephyr were also silent.
"Attention. As this is a test of physical endurance, it is forbidden to use Devil Fruit abilities, Haki, or racial advantages. However, you are allowed to remove your clothes if you wish."
"First you'll do push-ups, and then you'll go straight to running. You have five minutes to get ready."
Crocodile's face was grim, he took off his Cloak of Justice and then his suit jacket, folding them carefully before setting them aside. He decided to keep his shirt for the moment.
Others chose to strip from the waist up, anticipating what awaited them under the intense gravity.
Quickly, the sixteen participants lined up in four rows, leaving a space of at least ten meters between them.
“Wait a minute!” Shiki raised his voice. “Where is Newgate? He is also a general! What about that woman Charlotte Linlin?”
"They are honorary generals. In times of peace, they are not active members of the military," Zephyr replied as he looked at his watch. "Time served."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sengoku took out a remote control and adjusted the gravity to ten times normal.
[Buzz!]
A humming sound echoed through the air as the violet light intensified. An invisible force descended upon them with brutality.
"Hmph!"
Borsalino turned pale. He felt the air become thick, as if he were submerged in the sea, unable to move. No... it was even worse than water.
When he tried to breathe, the air felt thick and heavy, like he was swallowing mud.
His heartbeat quickened and he could hear the blood flowing through his veins, even the creaking of his bones under the pressure.
Instinctively he wanted to transform into light, but his common sense reminded him that this was a test.
He wasn't the only one suffering, everyone else felt the overwhelming weight.
Ten times gravity was no game!
"1, 2, 3.."
Everyone began their push-ups at a uniform pace.
More than an hour later.
The first drops of sweat appeared on the foreheads of Borsalino, Crocodile and the others. By this time, they had barely completed a little over four hundred push-ups.
Finally, they had understood firsthand what training under increased gravity meant.
Thirty minutes later
Garp was the first to complete two thousand push-ups. His naked torso was drenched in sweat. However, his face reflected an expression of pure satisfaction.
"Bwahaha! This is amazing!" he exclaimed excitedly.
He seemed to have found his new favorite workout, and he considered it much better than punching mountains on desert islands with his fists.
Thirty-five minutes later
Finally, after a titanic effort, they managed to finish all the push-ups. But just when they thought they could rest, they were faced with the next challenge: running two hundred laps on a ten-kilometer track!
Borsalino felt his vision momentarily darken and let out a sigh of resignation. "I definitely should have been more insistent on retiring earlier... Doing this every three years... It's just too terrible!"
...
After completing the endurance evaluation, Garp and the others woke up after a well-deserved night's rest in their rooms.
Stepping into the showers and feeling the hot water running over their bodies, many noticed something surprising: a feeling of relief and comfort, despite their exhaustion.
For those with a high mastery of physical skills, the changes in their body were more obvious.
Especially for Garp. Thanks to his mastery of the Seimei Kikan, he could clearly sense that his physical condition had improved, albeit subtly.
It wasn't a drastic change but considering they had only spent less than five hours in the gravity training room, the efficiency was astonishing.
Before, it would have taken him several days and demolishing several mountains to achieve the same result.
Excited by this discovery, Garp hurriedly dried himself, put on his clothes in a hurry, and immediately ran out towards the gravity training room.
One after another, the others also came out of their rooms with the same purpose.
However, some were unable to leave their rooms. They had not yet recovered from the grueling training.
High-intensity training for nearly five hours in an environment with ten times gravity is no joke.
Others, however, were not willing to submit to such torture.
Too bitter.
Especially Kuzan, in his opinion, it is more to his liking to practice natural energy.
Furthermore, absorbing natural energy also had the secondary benefit of gradually strengthening the body.
...
Meanwhile, at the entrance of a majestic building, Stussy bowed respectfully to Imu. "Lord Imu, as you ordered, the scientists have converted the top three floors of this building into gravity training rooms."
Imu nodded before moving further into the building.
"Lord Imu," Stussy continued, "according to the information provided by Dr. Vegapunk, a standard gravity training system can only generate up to ten times the gravity."
"However, this special system has the ability to reach up to forty times the gravity. However, Dr. Vegapunk warned that, starting from the tenth magnitude, it is recommended to increase the gravity progressively. Otherwise, there could be a lethal risk."
Listening to the explanation, Imu calmly walked forward until he stood on the red line marked on the ground, designed as a test zone.
"Activate gravity by ten times first," he ordered calmly.
He was curious to experience the level of pressure that had exhausted Garp and the others.
"Yes."
Stussy took out the remote control that had been prepared in advance.
[Buzz!]
Four searchlights then projected a purple glow that covered the entire area within the red lines.
At the same time, Imu felt a pressure enveloping him. However, the sensation was not as unbearable as he imagined.
"I see... The most annoying thing is the internal pressure it exerts on the body."
Overall, the tenfold increase in gravity was not a big problem for him. After thinking about it for a moment, he ordered Stussy: "Increase it to fifteen times."
"Understood!"
Although Stussy was somewhat worried, she followed the order without hesitation and adjusted the controls.
Two more spotlights immediately came on, intensifying the purple glow in the area. The pressure in the air became suffocating.
Instinctively, Esdeath took a step back.
Her keen instinct, developed thanks to the Zoan Fruit, warned her that the place was extremely dangerous.
Meanwhile, Imu frowned slightly.
Although the gravity had only increased five times more, the difference was overwhelming. His body became noticeably heavier, his breathing became labored.
"That's enough."
Stussy immediately turned off the spotlights. White light filled the room again, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Mikasa, Akame and the others had felt an unbearable tightness in their chests just by seeing the purple glow.
Imu turned to Esdeath and Historia. "From now on, you will train under five times the normal gravity. Try not to rely too much on Haki."
Imu paused briefly before continuing, "The ground floor will be used for the training of the Giant God Warriors, the Kuja Warriors, and Doflamingo. You will train on the second floor. The third floor will be exclusively mine. No one is allowed to enter except Stussy."
Imu turned to Stussy. "Inform the research team. I want them to use Borsalino's skills to make devices capable of emitting light beams and install them in the gravity training room on the third floor."
“Eh…?” Esdeath, Historia, and Stussy’s expressions instantly turned pale.
Training by dodging Borsalino’s light beams in an extreme gravity environment…?
"Let me know when it's ready." With that, Imu disappeared in an instant, reappearing in his study.
He slumped into his chair and slowly closed his eyes.
There were several things he needed to think about.
Imu felt an intense sense of crisis.
The source of that feeling, of course, was the so-called Truth, or rather, what Truth had said was terrifying to him when he thought about it carefully.
He said that the reason he had not entered directly through the Dimensional Gate was because he had to abide by the principle of equivalent exchange, which meant that he needed the consent of its owner and to pay a price that both parties considered fair.
But the problem was that Imu did not believe that entities similar to Truth in the future had to follow the same principle.
What if, when the time comes, they just storm in?
"My decision to not be the first to enter the Dimensional Gate was definitely the right one," he said to himself.
Now, thinking about exploring new worlds, perhaps it would be best to not even stay in the Titan World. Ideally, he would stay in the Starfish World and make sure there were no entities he couldn't defend himself against before continuing on.
As he pondered, he muttered, "Isn't there a better solution?"
Suddenly, he opened his eyes with determination. As a transmigrant, since he didn't know what to do, he decided to check if his golden finger could help him.
[Do you want to see the settings page?]
That was the Star Map's response. Without hesitation, Imu replied, "Yes!"
Instantly, a virtual interface appeared before him with a moving galaxy as the background. On it, there were multiple configuration options for the Star Map.
Quickly, among the many options available, he found the one he needed at that moment.
[High dimensional, high law, or high energy entities passing through the Dimensional Gate will require approval and consent from the host. (On/Off)]
Currently, the option was disabled. After reading the description in detail, Imu did not hesitate to activate it.
In this way…
No matter what kind of entities wanted to break in, they wouldn’t be able to pass through the Dimensional Gate without his permission. In the worst case, the world government would just have to sacrifice the explorers who had already entered.
However, the text made it clear that this restriction only applied to high-dimensional, high-law, or high-energy entities. Any entity that did not meet those requirements could still sneak through without a problem.
For that, combat forces would have to take charge of defense.
Still, this change gave Imu a much greater sense of security. More calmly, he began to review the configuration option descriptions one by one.
"Huh?"
Among them, he found two related to [Planetary Dominance].
[Do you want to merge a planet affected by Planetary Dominance with another planet also affected by Planetary Dominance? (Yes/No)]
[Do you wish to designate a planet affected by Planetary Dominance as a satellite of another planet affected by Planetary Dominance? (Yes/No)]
When he finished reading the detailed explanations of these options, his face filled with astonishment. "So is this also possible?"
The first option…
Basically, it allowed one planet to merge with another, naturally increasing the size of the second.
The continents of the first planet would appear in a specific oceanic region of the second, while the oceans of both would mix. Thus, in the midst of a fierce confrontation between the marine species of both worlds, a new ecological chain would be established.
The second option was no less incredible.
It said that a planet could move from its current stellar location to that of another planet and become its satellite, orbiting it while maintaining its own rotation.
What left Imu completely baffled was: what about gravity? What about orbit? How were those variables managed?
But the Star Map offered no explanation. It simply seemed to assume that if it said it could be done, then it was a fact.
"So… when I've spent three years in this Titan World, should I merge it with the Starfish World or turn it into the ninth satellite?"
He couldn't believe it. His golden finger actually had such a terrifyingly powerful ability!
"I've been in this Titan World for almost two years… How should I decide when the time comes?"
To be honest…
He was excited at the thought of witnessing the power of the Star Map in action.
After all, it was about determining the fate of two entire planets.
Comments
Jetson Yee
Still my favorite read
