Fortunately, the RV had been parked far enough away; otherwise, it would likely have been turned into a sieve by stray bullets.
Matthew gazed into the distance, then raised his hand to catch a drifting snowflake from the sky. Watching it slowly lt into water in his palm, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
He had successfully awakened Observation Haki.
Clap, clap, clap!!
"Yo~ Boss, that was quite the performance."
Applause and a teasing voice ca from not far away. Matthew turned his head and saw Neagley walking toward him. She was dressed in a down jacket and jeans, holding a sniper rifle in her hands, wearing an expression that seed to say you're not human.
"Those people were hired by you?" Matthew asked calmly.
"I think your little display just now must've scared them half to death," Neagley replied with a shrug, raising her hand in a casual gesture.
Matthew's gaze shifted slightly. Through Observation Haki, he could sense it clearly—several hundred ters away in multiple directions, more than twenty auras were rapidly retreating from the area.
"They're all retired snipers," Neagley said with a helpless smile. "They're probably going to need so serious psychological recovery after this."
She truly hadn't expected Matthew to reach this level.
A month ago, Matthew had asked her to recruit a group of snipers and purchase a large stock of sniper rifles and ammunition. At the ti, she had never imagined it would be used like this. In fact, when he first made the request, she had even wondered if he had lost his mind.
Bullets travel at speeds between 760 and 850 ters per second. Within an effective range of six hundred ters, nearly thirty snipers firing from all directions—was that even sothing a normal person could co up with?
And not just a single volley, but continuous fire for three full minutes. Under normal circumstances, a human body would have been reduced to minced at long ago.
Yet her boss had stood in the middle of that storm, eyes closed, calmly dancing what looked like a graceful waltz. Not a single bullet had even touched his clothes.
Neagley felt both shock and curiosity. She couldn't help but wonder exactly how he had done it.
But her intelligence lay in knowing when to stay silent.
Since she didn't ask, Matthew also didn't explain. After a brief pause, he said, "Have that team disband. I won't need them for now."
"Okay. So what's next?" Neagley tilted her head slightly.
"Right now, about 150 million dollars has been cleaned," she continued. "We've injected 30 million into the lab, and I've contacted several scientists—around eight of them are open to collaboration."
"Not urgent," Matthew said, shaking his head. "I'm leaving for a while."
"Alright then. I'll continue preparing the rest of the arrangents."
"Oh, and the 30 million from Kliner's private account has been laundered. The final amount is 21.5 million dollars. I've transferred 4 million of that into a legitimate inco account under your na, so it won't trigger any alerts in the U.S. financial system. You can use it freely. If you need more, I can continue injecting legal funds later."
"That's enough," Matthew said as he took the bank card she handed over. The password was written on the back.
This amount of money was more than sufficient for his personal use in the United States. As for the rest, he had no intention of spending it within the country.
"Your flight leaves in three hours," Neagley added, handing him a ticket to Alberta, Canada. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Also, I think you should consider getting a personal secretary, Boss."
"Finding a suitable one isn't that easy," Matthew replied calmly.
"I might have soone in mind."
"Oh?"
"I can try contacting her," Neagley said. "Though she might be more inclined toward accounting work."
"You really are dependable, Neagley."
"And it's still not enough." Neagley blinked her right eye and tilted her head slightly. "Want to see you off?"
"No. I want to properly enjoy my last good al before leaving."
"So you're not planning to invite ?" she teased with a smile.
"If you want to co."
"Well, I've still got a mountain of things to deal with. See you next ti. Bye~"
With that, Neagley turned and walked away.
Matthew watched her figure disappear from view and let out a soft chuckle before turning his gaze toward the lake.
At that mont, an astonishing aura flickered in his eyes. The air around him seed to freeze for an instant, and even the falling snowflakes in the sky were shattered into dust by that overwhelming presence.
Yes—he had awakened Conqueror's Haki.
Just as he had suspected, after signing in and rging with Charlotte Linlin's—Big Mom's—innate talent, there had been an additional hidden benefit: Haki itself.
He had already sensed this possibility earlier. Over the past two months, the successive awakening of Observation Haki and now Conqueror's Haki had confird it.
Compared to Observation Haki, the awakening of Conqueror's Haki had been surprisingly smooth.
In the world of One Piece, this ability was extrely rare—only one in several million people possessed it.
It was an innate trait: either you had it or you didn't. It was what people called the "qualifications of a king."
A monstrous talent like Big Mom naturally had no doubt possessed the potential for Conqueror's Haki.
Even though Matthew had only been rging with that talent for less than half a year, under conscious guidance he had still successfully awakened it on his own.
Conqueror's Haki, in essence, was a form of spiritual shock.
At its initial stage, the user is completely unaware of it. It is often triggered passively during emotional outbursts such as anger, releasing a wave of pressure that can knock people unconscious—but without any fine control.
Matthew was currently at exactly this stage.
As he continued to grow in both mind and body, the power of his Conqueror's Haki would only continue to strengthen.
In contrast, Observation Haki had taken far longer to develop. It had taken nearly a month of ditation—focusing his mind and sensing his surroundings—for it to barely take shape.
Only after another month did he begin to use Observation Haki in a rudintary way, and the recent sniper ambush from all directions had fully confird that progress.
Now, Matthew was certain—he could already apply Observation Haki in real combat.
Though it was still in its early stage and required further developnt.
The reason he had been able to awaken two types of Haki in less than half a year was not because he was inherently superior to Charlotte Linlin.
Rather, it was because he possessed mories from two lifetis, giving him a far more mature mindset and awareness. Combined with his understanding of Haki, he had consciously guided his training in that direction, allowing both abilities to take form.
However, only Armant Haki had yet to awaken.
He was not in a hurry about that.
After all, without a "three-hit lesson" teacher like Kaido constantly beating it into him, he had still managed to awaken both Observation and Conqueror's Haki. What more could he ask for?
He believed that as long as he continued training, Armant Haki would eventually awaken as well.
With Observation and Conqueror's Haki now active, Matthew already possessed the most basic ans of countering ntal or psychic intruders.
If soone attempted to invade his mind, Observation Haki would allow him to detect the abnormality in advance. Conqueror's Haki itself could serve as a countershock against such spiritual interference.
And in a direct clash of ntal forces, it might even further sharpen and strengthen his Conqueror's Haki.
Beyond that, his thods of retaliation were not limited to Haki alone.
There was also his rapidly developing Glint-Glint Fruit ability, whose power continued to grow stronger, and his enhanced physical capabilities combined with the technique "Soru." In a close-range encounter, he could snap an opponent's neck in an instant—even if that opponent was the likes of Professor X.
Of course, that was rely the worst-case scenario he had envisioned.
In reality, things might never escalate to that point.
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