Chapter 65: The Might of a Gold-Tier Leek

Inside the captain's cabin.

Gao Wen opened the 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 the experience bar skyrocket and his strength climb — could anything feel better than this?

But the message that reached his ears left him utterly dumbfounded.

"Physique EXP +233!"

"Swordsmanship EXP +408!"

"Death Blow EXP +40"

"Observation Haki EXP +84!"

……

"How much Swordsmanship?!"

Gao Wen rubbed his eyes, and even after confirming the number, he still couldn't help being shocked.

Nowadays, the pirates in his crew who practiced swordsmanship brought in very little — only scattered points of EXP each day, or even none at all.

In other words, those four hundred points of Swordsmanship EXP were basically all provided by Zoro, and nearly half of the Physique EXP came from him as well.

If Zoro had been under Gao Wen's command from the moment he woke up, one month would have been enough to raise his swordsmanship to its current level.

No — it would have far surpassed Gao Wen's present strength!

A Gold-tier Zoro's EXP yield, converted proportionally, was nearly four times that of Bai Yin-tier Xiang Keluo!

Though the gap wasn't as vast as Black Iron to Bronze, it was roughly on par with the gap between Bronze and Bai Yin.

"So this is what Gold-tier potential means?"

Gao Wen couldn't help letting out a sigh of admiration, and his eyes grew ever hotter for the other Gold-tier potential crew members in the East Blue.

Ace was off the table for now — after all, Gao Wen, who hadn't yet mastered Armament Haki, if he really fought, the final result wouldn't be much different from facing Smoker.

Logia-types with that broken mechanic truly had no answer without a specific counter.

"Sooner or later, I'm going to get a Devil Fruit too!"

"Special Paramecia, Logia — I don't mind either, Mythical Zoan would of course be even better!"

Gao Wen, who knew the original plot well, naturally understood that among the vast sea of Devil Fruits, only Mythical Zoans were the version's answer.

An animal form plus a Mythical Zoan's special ability — eating one Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit was almost equivalent to eating one Paramecia and one Zoan Devil Fruit at the same time.

However.

What kind of Devil Fruit he could actually obtain still depended entirely on luck.

The powerful elemental abilities one could imagine among Logia-types were basically all already claimed.

Mythical Zoans did have many legendary beings that hadn't yet appeared, but they were the rarest abilities to begin with — finding even one was already difficult, with no room to be picky.

"That thing mainly depends on fate, but Swordsmanship and Physique are things I can master right now."

"Pushing these two to their absolute limit also qualifies me to reach the top!"

"After all, even Pirate King Roger and the Yonko Red Hair reached the top not through Devil Fruits."

Thinking of this.

Gao Wen shook off the distracting thoughts in his mind and focused all his attention on the panel before him.

The Swordsmanship, already on the verge of leveling up, broke through directly with the sword-path EXP Zoro provided, reaching LV-6.

In an instant.

Countless sword-path experiences flooded into Gao Wen's mind — he felt his fingers itch, instinctively wanting to swing his blade.

Gao Wen strode out of the cabin and onto the deck.

He drew Guanshi Zhengzong, and move by move, performed every updated sword technique in his mind.

In a flash, the deck was filled with silver-bright blade-light and the figure of Gao Wen dancing with his blade.

Hiss!

Hiss!

Hiss!

……

The countless sounds of blade edges tearing through the air rang out across the deck, and the moonlight refracted off the blades, casting mottled shadows all around.

Techniques already lean enough sprouted numerous variations, then were slowly pared back down, merging into Gao Wen's original sword-path system.

Unlike the once-extremely fierce blade art, this time Gao Wen's moves instead carried a strange kind of beauty.

Yet they were equally swift and lethal.

Nami, who had just returned to her room, looked through the porthole at that continuously dancing figure and froze for a moment.

"Even the captain is training at a time like this?"

"Whoever told me the captain never trains at all — I really want to snap this scene right in their face."

"Sure enough, those beasts who ace everything effortlessly are only working hard when you don't see them."

"Of course, their kind of hard work might mean ten minutes equals your whole day's results."

"Heh…"

The corner of Nami's mouth twitched; she simply shut the porthole, going for an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach.

But at this moment.

She couldn't help but think of Xiang Keluo, who was full of ambition and dead set on defeating Gao Wen to take his place.

Although she could tell Xiang Keluo agreed with Gao Wen immensely, looking at the situation—someone stronger than you is also working harder than you...

"Mr. Xiang Keluo~"

"You should just give up."

Nami shook her head, mourned Xiang Keluo silently for a few seconds in her heart, then lowered her head and shifted her attention to the sea chart in her hand.

The candle flame flickered.

It reflected upon Nami's earnest face.

The sword light on the deck continued until dawn approached, when the distant clouds took on a fiery texture and radiated beams of glow, only then did it cease.

Gao Wen broke out in a sweat, yet felt not the slightest bit of fatigue.

The Guanshi Zhengzong in his hand emitted a series of hums at this moment, as if sensing the master's change, radiating an emotion of excitement.

"You felt it too?"

"I have become stronger; you can drink more of the strong's blood."

"Even... no, I will surely challenge that man standing at the peak!"

Gao Wen stood quietly on the deck facing the morning sun.

The sea breeze blew across his face, lifting the stray hairs on his forehead, revealing a handsome countenance and eyes as dazzling as the sun.

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

Just as he was full of expectation for how much profit tonight would yield, a piece of bad news reached Gao Wen's ears.

Xiang Keluo and the other two suffered muscle strains from excessive training; even Akin had started urinating blood, and for the next few days they would likely have to spend lying in bed.

Experience was naturally gone.

Gao Wen helplessly wore an expression like one constipated:

"Wait, what the hell are you grinding for?!"

Raven Port.

Inside the Lord's Mansion.

Jia Sha gazed at the stunningly beautiful girl in the mirror, and for a moment she was utterly dazed.

"This is... me?"

Her tone conveyed an emotion of disbelief.

Even Molly Heavy, standing beside Jia Sha and holding the mirror, seeing Jia Sha's drastically altered appearance, froze on the spot.

Jia Sha's original looks were nothing outstanding, but now before Molly Heavy stood a girl of peerless beauty with an extremely graceful figure.

Especially the girl's skin; not only was it white, it also radiated a moist luster, and at a glance one could judge that this skin must be extremely smooth.

Combined with Jia Sha's already outstanding temperament, at this very moment Molly Heavy even felt that even the Empress Hancock she had once seen in newspapers was only of this degree.

A few breaths later.

Molly Heavy, having come to her senses, nodded heavily and said:

"Young Lady, this is you!"

"Is this the effect brought by the Devil Fruit?!"

Jia Sha raised her hand and gently stroked her own face, then turned her head to look at the other Devil Fruit on the table and murmured:

"Do you think Mr. Gao Wen would need this thing?!"

(End of this chapter)