Chapter 65

Inside the captain’s cabin.

Gao Wen opened his system panel as usual to tally today’s gains—it had become his nightly ritual before sleep.

After all, lying there doing nothing while watching his experience bar surge and his strength grow—was there anything better than this?

But the news that reached his ears left him utterly stunned.

“Physique experience +233!”

“Swordsmanship experience +408!”

“Scoop Death experience +40!”

“Observation Haki experience +84!”

…

“How much did swordsmanship increase?!”

Gao Wen rubbed his eyes, confirmed the numbers, and still couldn’t suppress his shock.

Nowadays, the pirates in the crew training swordsmanship yielded almost no gains—only a few scattered experience points daily, sometimes none at all.

That meant these four hundred swordsmanship points came almost entirely from Zoro, and nearly half of his physique experience did too.

If Zoro had been under Gao Wen’s command right after his awakening, a month would have been enough to raise his swordsmanship to its current level.

No—it would have far surpassed Gao Wen’s own strength!

Zoro’s Gold-level potential, when converted proportionally, yielded nearly four times the experience of Bai Yin Keluo!

The gap wasn’t as vast as from Iron to Bronze, but it was roughly comparable to the difference between Bronze and Silver.

“This is Gold-level potential?”

Gao Wen couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, his envy for other Gold-level potential crewmembers in the East Blue growing sharper.

Ace was out of consideration for now—without Armament Haki, Gao Wen’s actual combat results against him would be little different from fighting Smoker.

Logia-type users were just too broken; without specific countermeasures, they were truly unbeatable.

“I’ll get a Devil Fruit one day!”

“I don’t care if it’s a special Paramecia or Logia—Mythical Zoan would be even better!”

Gao Wen, familiar with the original plot, knew that among the countless Devil Fruits, only Mythical Zoan was the meta answer.

Combining an animal form with a Mythical ability, consuming a Mythical Zoan fruit was nearly equivalent to consuming both a Paramecia and an Animal-type Devil Fruit at once.

But.

What kind of Devil Fruit one received still depended entirely on luck.

The most powerful elemental abilities among Logias had already been claimed.

Mythical Zoans had many legendary forms still unseen, but they were the rarest of all—finding even one was incredibly difficult, with no room for choice.

“This thing depends on fate, but swordsmanship and physique are within my control right now.”

“Pushing these two to their extremes is enough to earn the right to reach the summit!”

“After all, even Roger the Pirate King and Shanks the Red-Haired reached the top without Devil Fruits.”

Thinking of this,

Gao Wen shook off the distractions in his mind and focused entirely on the panel before him.

His swordsmanship, already on the verge of leveling up, surged past its limit directly to LV-6 thanks to Zoro’s sword-dao experience.

In an instant,

A flood of sword-related knowledge flooded into Gao Wen’s mind—he felt his fingers itch, instinctively reaching to draw his blade.

Gao Wen stepped quickly out of the cabin onto the deck.

He drew Kensei Masamune and executed every new technique that had just entered his mind, one move after another.

Instantly, the deck was filled with shimmering silver blade-light and Gao Wen’s whirling figure.

Hss!

Hss!

Hss!

…

The sound of countless blades slicing through the air echoed across the deck, moonlight glinting off the edges to cast mottled shadows all around.

Moves that had already been streamlined now branched into countless variations, then slowly refined again until they merged seamlessly with Gao Wen’s original sword system.

Unlike his former razor-sharp, brutal style, this time his techniques carried an unusual beauty.

Yet they remained just as swift and lethal.

Nami, having just returned to her room, stared through the window at the figure endlessly practicing swordplay—she froze in place.

“Even the captain is training at a time like this?”

“Who told me the captain doesn’t train at all? I’d love to slap this scene right in their face.”

“Turns out, those people who make it look easy to score perfect marks are just working hard when you’re not looking.”

“Of course, their kind of effort might be ten minutes’ work equaling your whole day’s results.”

“Hmph…”

Nami’s lips twitched; she simply shut the porthole, determined to ignore it all.

Yet at this moment,

She couldn’t help but recall Keluo, who had once been ambitious to overthrow Gao Wen.

Though she could see Keluo deeply respected Gao Wen, the reality was clear—someone stronger than you is even stronger than you…

“Mr. Keluo~”

“You might as well give up.”

Nami shook her head, silently mourning for Keluo for a few seconds, then lowered her gaze back to the sea chart in her hands.

The candle flame flickered.

Casting light upon Nami’s focused face.

…

The blade-light on the deck continued until dawn approached, the distant clouds glowing like fire, radiating streaks of dawn light, before finally ceasing.

Gao Wen was drenched in sweat, yet felt not the slightest fatigue.

The Kensei Masamune in his hand vibrated softly, as if sensing its master’s transformation, radiating excitement.

“You felt it too, didn’t you?”

“I’ve grown stronger—and now you’ll drink more blood from powerful warriors.”

“And… no, I will definitely challenge the man at the very top!”

Gao Wen stood still on the bow, facing the rising sun.

The sea breeze brushed his face, lifting the strands of hair from his forehead, revealing a sharp, noble face and eyes as brilliant as the sun.

Gao Wen stood at the bow for several minutes, then turned and returned to the cabin.

Just as he eagerly anticipated tonight’s gains, bad news reached his ears.

Keluo and his two companions suffered muscle strains from overtraining—Ajin had even urinated blood and would likely be confined to bed for the next few days.

Experience, of course, was gone.

Gao Wen’s face twisted into a constipated expression:

“What the hell are you guys trying to prove?!”

…

…

…

Raven Harbor.

In the lord’s mansion.

Jia Sha stared at the stunningly beautiful girl in the mirror, momentarily spellbound.

“Is this… me?”

Her voice carried an air of disbelief.

Even Mo Li, who stood beside Jia Sha holding the mirror, froze in place at the sight of Jia Sha’s transformed appearance.

Jia Sha’s original looks had been unremarkable, but now before Mo Li stood a girl of exquisite beauty and an impossibly slender figure.

Especially her skin—not just pale, but glowing with a dewy luster, instantly recognizable as impossibly smooth.

Combined with Jia Sha’s naturally outstanding aura, Mo Li at that moment even thought that even the Empress Hancock, whom she’d seen in newspapers, could not surpass this.

A few seconds later,

Mo Li, snapping back to reality, nodded firmly and said:

“Miss, this is you!”

“Is this the effect of the Devil Fruit?!”

Jia Sha raised her hand to gently touch her face, then turned to gaze at the other Devil Fruit on the table, murmuring:

“Do you think Mr. Gao Wen might need this?”

(End of chapter)