History has seen many cases where people could use haki from birth. Rarely Armament haki, usually Observation haki, and in incredibly rare cases, both types of haki at once. It was telling that those who could wield haki from birth developed it significantly by the age of fifteen. However, almost anyone who learned haki around forty, in the ability to use the haki as long as possible, could surpass these unique individuals in just a couple of months. This is because, in most cases, the haki of someone who has passed their fourth decade of life is incomparable to that of a fifteen-year-old. Although, it must be acknowledged that such youngsters would almost always surpass others in haki control. They were born with it, and it had been a part of their lives since birth. When such people reached forty, especially if they had dedicated their lives to piracy or the marines, they became true monsters.
Nevertheless, the ability to use haki for extended periods, a kind of "reserve" of haki, and the ability to control haki — none of these parameters could be trained in the conventional sense. You could exhaust yourself with superhuman training for months, trying to increase your haki reserve and achieve practically nothing. Adding a single grain of rice to a full plate. Or you could face a superior opponent, defeat them, and be rewarded with three new plates of fine rice. You could spend years meticulously manipulating haki, seeking new ways to use it and its limits, and achieve nothing. Or you could see a butterfly's flight and understand something that others couldn't grasp in their entire lives, advancing in haki control by several orders of magnitude.
Haki was too abstract a concept to be confined to ordinary frameworks.
However, it was precisely due to its abstract nature that Zoro experienced such a breakthrough. At first glance, buying a couple of excellent swords had nothing to do with the ability to control haki, but the acquisition of these two katanas was the push that allowed Zoro to reach a new level in haki control. Perhaps the new swords gave Zoro more confidence or symbolized his development and future changes, causing a shift in his perception that allowed him to reach a new height. It's hard to say for sure; haki was indeed too abstract a concept.
Luffy's beloved Ork greeted them in his usual manner:
"My Lord, My Master, Luffy-senpai!!! And Zoro-senpai, Zoro-senpai is here too!!!" As soon as the boys entered the spacious office, the tall, demonic-looking man jumped up from behind the desk. "It is an honor for our entire base to host you!!!" Tears of joy streaming down his face, he fell to his knees and, with his fists on the floor, bowed his head deeply.
Bartholomew was once, at the time of his meeting with Luffy, just a regular leader of a large gang, but now he is the head boss of the only remaining criminal organization in the East Blue — because all the others were either absorbed or destroyed by this very organization — and the main supplier of information for Luffy. Over two meters tall, well-built, with light green mohawk-like hair, a gold ring in his nose, and a gold ring in each ear, he has two tattoos under his right eye leading to his right ear, and an overtly malicious expression. Moreover, due to his sharp teeth with two excessively long upper fangs protruding from his upper lip, Bartholomew's already naturally sinister expression looked downright demonic. And yes, he resembled a demon much more than an orc, but as always with Luffy, trivial facts didn't interfere. If Luffy called him an orc, then he was an orc!
Bartholomew was dressed in a long black cloak with a standing collar, but what was even more notable was that the cloak had a skull with crossbones and a straw hat painted across its entire back. He wore black-and-white checked pants and heavy black army boots. When Bartholomew stood up, the guys saw the hilt of a short sword sticking out from his belt. However, even more notable was the fact that Bartholomew had another skull with crossbones and a straw hat emblazoned on his chest — this symbol was tattooed directly onto his chest.
"Long time no see in person!" Luffy said joyfully, clapping his favorite orc on the shoulder. "Always just through the Den-Den Mushi."
"Hey, Mohawk," Zoro smirked, slightly nodding his head in a sign of respect.
Zoro had a special relationship with Bartholomew. In fact, Bartholomew was the very first member of their family to pledge allegiance to Luffy several years before Zoro met his current captain. If you think about it, Zoro should be calling Bartholomew his senpai, not the other way around, but the position of first mate and Luffy's right hand carried certain responsibilities. Anyway, after getting to know Bart well, Zoro understood why Luffy liked him so much, even aside from his blatant admiration and ocean of respect.
Firstly, Bartholomew had a very sharp mind; otherwise, Luffy would never have trusted him to run his organization. One must also remember that Bartholomew met Luffy about six years ago. Six years. Luffy, in just a mere six months, turned a cowardly cat burglar into a person capable of effortlessly dealing with an entire pirate crew. Bartholomew? Suffice it to say that he mastered Observation Haki three years ago and Armament Haki about a year and a half ago. And that was with minimal help from Luffy. His talent was on par with Johnny and Yosaku, and he was even stronger than them now because, in addition to Haki, he possessed a very effective Devil Fruit—the Bari-Bari no Mi (Barrier-Barrier Fruit). After eating the fruit, Bartholomew became a barrier-man, and his barriers, especially reinforced by Haki, had incredible durability. For example, even if Bartholomew couldn't defeat Sanji, Sanji wasn't able to defeat Bartholomew either due to his incredibly strong barriers.
Intelligence, two types of Haki, a useful fruit — this was enough to earn Luffy's approval. However, at the time of their first meeting, Luffy's favorite orc had not yet mastered Haki. Instead, he managed to earn the nickname 'Cannibal' from his enemies. And he didn't get this nickname because he indulged in eating people. Not at all. The thing was that Bartholomew loved to 'eat brains.' And he particularly enjoyed 'eating the brains' of his enemies. As a hobby, he loved setting up his enemies, infuriating them, and killing them. Additionally, he was quite cruel and tough by nature, extremely vulgar, had a nasty disposition, and reveled in his boundless egotism. Meeting him was like looking in a mirror for Luffy. Do we need to explain why this orc was so liked by Luffy?
"How are things?" Luffy asked when Bartholomew's joy had settled a bit, and he had stopped flooding the floor with tears, drool, and snot.
By this time, Bartholomew's subordinates, who admired Luffy and Zoro no less than their boss — at least, their flood of tears, drool, and snot of joy was on par with Bartholomew's — had managed to bring in two large, luxurious armchairs into the office. Before this, aside from the same luxurious chair behind the desk, where the orc was sitting when the guys arrived, the office had only a hard wooden stool opposite the desk. Among Bartholomew's subordinates, the stool was more famously known as the 'Stool of Terror' because every subordinate of the orc dreaded sitting on it, as it meant someone had done something wrong and would face a thorough 'discussion' with Bartholomew. It should be noted that Bartholomew's nickname 'Cannibal' and his love for 'eating brains.' The most common nightmare among the orc's people was ending up sitting on the stool, hence the 'Stool of Terror.'
"Things are going great, no changes there," Bartholomew replied happily, sitting down at the table, opposite the already relaxed Zoro and Luffy. "Money is flowing like a river, and there are no competitors in sight."
"What about overly curious individuals? Any changes?"
"As I mentioned through the Den-Den Mushi, interest has noticeably increased, but nothing remarkable so far. Mostly marine agents and journalists, and we caught a couple of revolutionaries and a few overly curious loners. Overall, everything is unchanged."
At this moment, two girls entered the office with trays, one of which had a couple of bottles of wine and glasses, and the other had tea with cookies and a deep dish of ice cream.