Chapter 152: The Grand Line

Half a month later.

Red Line.

Reverse Mountain.

A pirate ship over a hundred meters long, its hull bearing the air of a warship, leaped from the summit and crashed heavily into the water.

Boom!

Amidst the sky-high white spray.

Gao Wen stood at the bow of the Raven, gazing at the boundless sea, his mouth stretching almost to his ears.

"We have finally arrived, at the world's most dangerous sea, the place that hides everything."

"The Grand Line!"

Beside him.

Xiang Keluo also wore an expression of eager anticipation.

From the day they first met Gao Wen, they had vowed to create an ideal land here; now half a year had passed, and they had finally reached this dream sea.

Even Fan Fan Aoka, usually the laziest of them all, had long since perked up by this moment.

He raised his eyes to look into the distance, his gaze showing not a shred of fear, for men are born to challenge this vast ocean.

"The world's greatest stage."

Zoro's lips curled upward; at his waist now hung the two famous blades from the Itomomori Weapon Shop in Loguetown: Yubashiri and the Third Generation Shusui.

Counting the Wado Ichimonji given by Kuina, Zoro now held three famous blades, his desire to challenge the strong reaching its absolute peak.

Moments later.

The ship gradually stabilized; Gao Wen scanned the surroundings but found no trace of Laboon.

He had intended to greet this persistent island whale, but his wish went unfulfilled.

"Captain Gao Wen!"

Nami let out a cry of surprise, rushing over from the cabin, in her hand were several compasses.

In the East Blue, these compasses had still been able to point steadily in the same direction, but now they were spinning irregularly, completely unable to stabilize.

"These compasses are useless."

Gao Wen nodded, finding this unsurprising:

"The Grand Line's magnetic field is unpredictable, and the climate is even more so; the only thing one can trust is the Log Pose."

Immediately, Gao Wen took out a Log Pose he had prepared long ago from his pocket and tossed it to Nami, saying:

"First stop."

"This is a Log Pose pointing to Red Rose Port that I snatched... bought at the auction house in Loguetown earlier."

"It is only a few hundred nautical miles from here; with the ship's supplies, it is more than enough."

"Once we arrive there, we will restock again and purchase enough Log Poses to head to our true destination."

"Drum Island."

"Good."

Nami immediately breathed a sigh of relief, though her mind was already on the Log Pose before her, beginning to ponder its construction techniques.

After entering the Grand Line, the navigation methods originally used in the East Blue had lost all meaning; after all, neither the weather nor navigation problems here could be judged by common sense.

Now serving as the chief navigator of Gao Wen's pirate crew, she must take responsibility for the entire team's voyage; while ensuring stable navigation, she also needs to avoid any potential extreme weather as much as possible.

It can be said that after entering the Grand Line, Nami is the one bearing the heaviest burden.

Very quickly.

Under Nami's command, the Raven turned around and, following the direction indicated by the compass, disappeared into the distant horizon.

The island whale Laboon finally emerged from the water at this moment.

Watching the pirate ship gradually move away, a hint of confusion appeared in its eyes.

Crocus also stepped out from the lighthouse at this moment; watching the Raven disappear into the distant horizon, he let out a long breath, and his entire body relaxed.

Seeing the look of full confusion in Laboon's eyes.

Crocus explained:

"That is a group of pirates more dangerous than the Hana Faza; if they had any designs on you, my old bones could not protect you."

Saying this.

Crocus turned his head, looking at the distant horizon; what floated in his eyes was only a young face.

He sighed and said:

"But after so many years, has the East Blue finally produced someone extraordinary?"

"Knight Gao Wen, the most righteous pirate of the East Blue... will you be the one Roger was waiting for?"

What answered him.

Was only Laboon's repeated cries.

Just a few minutes later.

Laboon's massive body leaped out of the water, crashed against the Red Line, and then slowly fell back into the sea; deep red blood quickly surged up from beneath the surface.

Seeing this scene, Crocus sighed inwardly, but in the end said nothing, simply turning silently to prepare medicine to heal the island whale's wounds.

On the other side.

The Raven advanced along the set course, but everyone on board was far from idle.

The experience feedback from the Experience Storage Tank allowed them, from the very start of their cultivation, to feel two or even three times the feedback of ordinary people.

This feeling of the body gradually growing stronger made everyone except Nami almost crazily addicted to cultivation.

On the deck.

Not only were the several executives led by Xiang Keluo shirtless, constantly undergoing physical training.

Even the subordinates who had accompanied Gao Wen and the others on the voyage were carrying fitness tools, walking onto the deck, baring their chests, and starting to frantically lift iron.

"Hah!"

"Heh!"

"Hah!"

In an instant, the deck was bustling with activity; a glance revealed nothing but muscular men drenched in sweat.

It was truly a bit hard on the eyes.

This scene almost made Gao Wen think he had walked into some gym.

If only the name didn't sound so bad.

He even wanted to change the pirate crew's title to Gao Wen Gym.

It was damn weird!

Gao Wen simply decided that out of sight, out of mind, and returned directly to the captain's cabin, where the familiar system panel appeared in his vision.

【Host - Gao Wen】

【Age - 24】

【Identity - Captain of the Gao Wen Pirate Crew】

【Skills:

Swordsmanship - LV-13: 12831/50000 (Divine Speed, Extreme Weapon)

Physique - LV-14: 6158/75000 (Balance, Harmony) (Human-Beast Form: LV-16 / Beast Form: LV-17)

Shunpo - LV-7: 4733/7000 (Flash Step)

Red Dragon Fruit - LV-3: 3925/8000

Observation Haki - LV-5: 5271/10000 (Precognition)

Armament Haki - LV-3: 133/5000

Conqueror's Haki - LV-1: 3543/5000

Navigation - LV-5: MAX

Sniping - LV-5: MAX (Precision)

】

【Badges:

Captain's Wrath - Subordinate stamina recovery speed +20%

Rising Fame - View latent potential

Bounty Over 100 Million - Favor of the Great Sea (Used: Red Dragon Fruit)

Warlord of the Sea - Experience Storage Jar (Decomposed: Navigation, Sniping, Paramecia-type Devil Fruit)

】

【Rating - Gold:

A powerful force in one region, possessing the quality of a king.

】

More than a month had passed, and Gao Wen's own combat power had increased once again.

Swordsmanship and Physique had each increased by one level; among them, Physique had even reached level fourteen, and one step further would unlock a new attribute.

Currently, in terms of Physique, the experience Gao Wen could obtain daily, adding up all sources, was roughly around eleven hundred.

Calculating by this speed, in two months, Gao Wen's Physique would reach the standard.

Shunpo, with experience provided only by Xiang Keluo, was growing at a slightly slower pace.

The Red Dragon Fruit was the same; after all, the only ones providing Zoan-type Devil Fruit experience were currently the Cat Brothers.

What surprised Gao Wen was that after he left Raven Port, the experience provided by these two had not decreased; in fact, it had even increased.

Clearly, these two fat cats had put in the effort regarding their cultivation.

However, the best choice was still to find a Zoan-type leek with sufficiently high potential.

Additionally, the changes brought about by Xiang Keluo's awakening of Armament Haki were almost immediate.

In half a month, Gao Wen's Armament Haki had increased by another level, with both its intensity and total quantity showing significant improvement.

This was also what Gao Wen was most looking forward to currently.

Once Armament Haki reached level 5, the first related attribute would be unlocked; reaching that stage would be a true qualitative change.

Previously, Conqueror's Haki had Fujitora as an experience pack; now that Fujitora had left, it had once again fallen into stagnation.

Regarding this, Gao Wen was not discouraged; there were many strong figures in the Grand Line capable of fighting him, or even completely suppressing him, not to mention leeks proficient in Conqueror's Haki among them.

Thinking of this,

Gao Wen roughly gained a grasp of his current combat power.

Among the current Warlords of the Sea, the only ones who could suppress Gao Wen were probably the gap-level Hawk Eyes and the Bear, whose depth was unknown.

The former was the recognized number one in the world; the latter possessed abilities that could be called a cheat.

Gao Wen's gaze passed through the window, landing on the group of leeks.

After more than a month of cultivation, with the support of the Experience Storage Jar, everyone's strength had seen significant growth.

Xiang Keluo, who was already approaching the Bronze limit, truly possessed Bai Yin-level combat power after awakening Armament Haki.

Jin's rate of improvement after obtaining his ability was even more exaggerated; he was only a step behind Xiang Keluo and had now also touched the Bai Yin level.

Zoro and Sanji's strength steadily improved, stepping toward the upper limit of the Bronze tier; Van Augur, the cat brothers stationed at Raven Port, and Jazza had all reached the Bronze tier as well.

According to Gao Wen's expectations, before long, all of his key subordinates should come into contact with Haki.

For a moment, Gao Wen found himself at a loss; after all, what he knew was merely based on experience, capable of helping Xiang Keluo awaken but not necessarily applicable to everyone.

Gao Wen's mind inevitably turned to the Marines and the World Government.

"Whether it is Soru or Haki, the World Government has generations of experts within the Marines and CP organizations summarizing their knowledge; after eight hundred years, their internal accumulation has reached a level that can be called exaggerated."

"There must be methods to assist in mastering Haki."

"And the vast majority of pirates are like me, self-taught."

Gao Wen gradually understood that this foundation was precisely the gap between the World Government and the vast majority of pirates.

He couldn't help but sigh, and his mind began to calculate how to obtain the cultivation methods for Haki from within the Marines.

After some thought.

Gao Wen still had not found a corresponding solution and could only temporarily turn his gaze to himself.

"For now, I can only rely on myself."

Having said that.

Gao Wen fetched paper and a brush, beginning to write down the experience regarding Armament and Observation Haki from his mind onto the paper.

Time passed, gradually deepening into the night.

Gao Wen instinctively stretched, looked up toward the window, and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

It was because Xiang Keluo and the others were still grinding on the deck, the sweat flowing on the ground having already solidified into a layer of pure white salt crust.

Damn it!

These leeks really don't care about their lives!

He did not know.

At this very moment.

Everyone had been captured by the pleasure of constantly growing stronger, completely addicted and unable to extricate themselves.

This thing is even more absurd than taking drugs.

The key is that it does not harm the body; instead, it makes your constitution stronger and stronger.

The sea wind howled.

Everyone's cultivation continued until late at night before ceasing, yet they appeared on the deck again just as the sky began to brighten.

Gao Wen once worried that this group would die from overwork.

Grinding.

It's too damn grinding!

If anyone else saw this, they would surely think that everyone on this ship had problems with their brains.

At the same time.

Red Rose Port.

Inside a warehouse, Roubo Luqi's face was deathly pale, with several obvious gunshot wounds on his chest, looking extremely wretched.

Miss Kalifa was bending over to treat his wounds.

She personally used tweezers to extract bullet by bullet the bullets driven into Roubo Luqi's body, then immediately used gunpowder to stop the bleeding.

Recalling the experiences of the past few days.

An emotion of disbelief shone in Miss Kalifa's eyes:

"It was just an undercover mission; did the higher-ups really need to go to such lengths?!"

(End of this chapter)