Chapter 69: Silver

“Flash Step?”

“Only one branch option?”

“Different skills have different advancement ranges?”

Gao Wen had a faint suspicion, but immediately turned his attention to the newly added branch ability—just from the name alone, it was clear that Flash Step was a sudden acceleration skill similar to Shave.

“Let’s test its power.”

Gao Wen stood up and leapt out the window, landing on the central open ground.

The moment his feet touched down.

The Kensei at his waist was already drawn, its silver blade blindingly bright under the moonlight.

He took one step—and instantly activated Shave. Before he could even react, his body appeared dozens of meters away.

Boom!

In the sudden stop, Gao Wen shattered the harbor’s stone slabs; cracks radiated outward from his position like spiderwebs.

But Gao Wen paid no attention to this now—he faced the exact same problem Kuro had once encountered.

His neural reflex speed could no longer keep up with Shave’s enhanced burst velocity!

“Damn it!”

“The instantaneous burst speed must be at least twice Shave’s normal speed to surpass my neural reflexes.”

“This skill… is it really this overpowered?”

Gao Wen glanced at the cracks beneath his feet, then at the spot where he had just stood.

If not for the slight pain in his soles from the recoil, he’d have doubted whether he was dreaming!

Gao Wen forcibly suppressed his thoughts, activated Observation Haki, and strained to sense everything around him.

The next instant, his figure vanished from the air—only the shattering floor and booming echoes remained in the harbor.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

…

When Gao Wen finally stopped, not a single intact stone slab remained where Kuro and the others had trained during the day.

He stood frozen in place, unable to move further—his legs trembled uncontrollably.

This was a sign of extreme muscular overexertion; Gao Wen now felt as if his legs weren’t even his own.

Yet his eyes burned with pure excitement:

“Flash Step’s burst speed is far more extreme than I expected—nearly three times Shave’s normal speed!”

“But as I originally suspected, this is a high-speed, short-range dash technique. Bursting at over three times Shave’s speed comes at a heavy cost to the body.”

“Under these conditions, combined with the Kensei’s sharpness and my swordsmanship, if the opponent lacks Observation Haki or other survival techniques, I can land a guaranteed first-strike kill!”

“This ability represents a qualitative leap for me!”

“None of my previous upgrades in swordsmanship, physique, or Observation Haki pushed my rating to Silver—but now, it’s certain.”

As he spoke,

Gao Wen directly opened his system panel—a familiar screen reappeared before him:

【Host—Gao Wen】

【Age—24】

【Title—Captain of the Gao Wen Pirates】

【Skills:

Swordsmanship—LV-9: 148/7000 (Divine Speed)

Physique—LV-9: 1613/7000 (Balanced)

Shave—LV-5: 11/5000 (Flash Step)

Observation Haki—LV-3: 376/3200

Navigation—LV-3: 301/800

】

【Badges:

Captain’s Fury—Subordinates’ stamina recovery speed +20%

Rising Fame—View potential abilities

】

【Rating—Silver:

Even on the Grand Line, you are a regional powerhouse. The Marines must deploy at least a Rear Admiral to act against you!

】

…

Gao Wen stared at the unassuming words “Silver” on his rating—and slowly grinned.

Shave’s breakthrough had shattered the final barrier between Bronze and Silver, truly elevating him into the ranks of the strong.

According to the Cross Guild’s classification, Gao Wen’s current combat power matched that of pirates with bounties between one hundred million and one billion Berries.

In the first half of the Grand Line—the Paradise—unless he was catastrophically unlucky and encountered some out-of-spec entity, he’d face almost no serious rivals.

The position of Warlord of the Sea, once merely a fantasy in Gao Wen’s mind, was now within reach.

But.

Only barely.

After all, even the weakest Warlord, by system rating, stood at the peak of Silver—most were Gold.

As for titans like Mihawk, they had unquestionably entered the legendary tier, symbolizing absolute supremacy.

“But in the East Blue, I can walk with my head held high.”

“Has my immediate combat power already approached my potential limit?”

Gao Wen frowned slightly.

He would not forget the state his pirates reached after hitting their potential ceiling—no matter how hard they trained, they could never advance further.

He refused to accept such a fate for himself.

“I need to consider breaking through my own potential limit. Body modification is out—so that leaves either a Devil Fruit… or…”

Gao Wen recalled the battle between Kuro and Akin in Crow Harbor, when Kuro, after awakening to his true self, had enhanced his own potential.

But now, in the East Blue, no one could push him to that kind of pressure.

“Do I have to go to the Grand Line?”

Gao Wen murmured.

At that moment,

A distant sound of a window closing echoed.

He looked up and saw an orange tree on the windowsill, its leaves rustling in the sea breeze.

“Uh…”

Gao Wen rubbed his nose, glanced at the shattered floor around him, then guiltily vanished into the shadows.

…

…

…

The next day.

Kuro and the others arrived at the harbor as usual to train.

All they saw were countless shattered slabs—the central ground was now utterly unusable.

“What happened here?”

Akin frowned:

“I trained too hard yesterday, hit my limit, and passed out the moment I got back to my room—I had no idea what went on outside.”

Zoro nodded:

“Same here. But to cause this, besides the three of us, only the captain could’ve done it.”

“He trained secretly while we were gone?”

As he said this,

Zoro sucked in a sharp breath:

“That’s underhanded!”

“No.”

Kuro shook his head, adjusted his glasses with his palm, and said calmly:

“He’s trying to stop us from training—using this childish tactic of destroying the training ground to delay being surpassed?”

“Gao Wen, you’ve fallen. To protect your position, you’ve resorted to such petty tricks?”

“Uh…”

Zoro froze, instinctively ready to defend Gao Wen—but Akin grabbed his arm and subtly shook his head, whispering:

“It’s useless.”

“Once Kuro decides something, he won’t change his mind.”

"Is that so?"

Zoro also chose to stay silent, watching Keluo perform in silence.

The training ground had been damaged, but it could not dampen their enthusiasm; they hurried to a flat beach, warmed up slightly, and began their individual training.

And it grew even more intense.

After all, it was well known that when the first person in your dorm started pushing themselves, others would inexplicably feel anxiety: "He’s working so hard, and I’m still a waste."

Only by pushing themselves just as hard could they relieve it.

Moreover, over the past month, each of them had made their own progress.

After mastering Observation Haki, Ajin had already reached a Bronze-level rating.

Zoro’s transformation was even more dramatic: as a newcomer, he had continuously defeated the Cat Brothers and Zanho, becoming the ship’s undisputed fourth-ranking member.

His strength had nearly doubled compared to just over a month ago.

……

……

……

At the same time.

The Cat Brothers, having completed their patrol mission at Crow Harbor, sat in a cake shop by the harbor, enjoying a rare morning tea.

"Ahh~"

Buzhi shoved an entire cake into his mouth before he could chew, when a frantic ringing came from the phone-worm in his arms.

Glug~!

Buzhi’s face flushed red as he swallowed the cake, then pulled out the phone-worm and answered it.

"Boss Buzhi!"

"We’ve located the Haishangcantingbaladi . But there’s a man there, not mentioned in any intel—he’s terrifying."

"Who is he?"

"We don’t know, but his eyes—they’re like an eagle’s!"

(End of Chapter)