Chapter 85: Guiding Nami's Training

Deep into the night, the lights on Para Island shone brightly.

A crowd of pirates, bare-chested, gathered around a bonfire, practicing basic sword techniques according to the swordsmanship Gao Wen had taught them earlier.

Even though many were exhausted from a full day of training, not a single one showed any intention of giving up.

After all, there were a full hundred people eligible for dividends, while the entire pirate crew, counting everyone, totaled only a little over two hundred.

In other words, as long as you made an effort, you had better than a one-in-three chance of securing a dividend share; how could this not be tempting?

For a moment, everyone threw their lives into the grind.

In this atmosphere, even those who had originally been slacking off couldn't help but join the main force and start frantically grinding.

"The environment truly affects human will."

Gao Wen sat at his desk, watching the lights in the harbor and the sweating crowd, nodding silently:

"Grinding a bit is good, grinding a bit is good."

Immediately, a familiar system prompt sounded directly in Gao Wen's mind:

"Physique Experience +711!"

"Swordsmanship Experience +443!"

"Sword Death Experience +61"

"Observation Haki Experience +103!"

"How much did Physique increase?"

Gao Wen scratched his ear, directly pulled up the system panel, glanced at the growth in various stats, and couldn't stop smiling.

"When Sanji started grinding too, Physique Experience tripled completely?!"

"Not only that, Sword Death Experience and Observation Experience both surged significantly."

"Even the swordsmanship experience provided by the heavily injured Zoro remained unchanged? Won't it be even more once he recovers?"

"Some of it might come from ordinary pirates, but those contributions are generally small; the main source is the four grinding kings."

Gao Wen calculated briefly, and the smile on his face grew even wider.

At this rate, it would take less than half a month for Physique and Swordsmanship to reach LV-10; by then, he could awaken a brand-new branch ability.

As for the benefits brought by branch abilities, Gao Wen had already experienced them multiple times; each one brought a qualitative transformation.

Physique and Swordsmanship were the core of Gao Wen's combat power, so the impact of branch attributes would only be greater.

"For now, my own efforts will focus mainly on Armament Haki."

"As for having Xiang Keluo and the others awaken Armament Haki, we must wait until they raise their Physique first before making plans."

"No rush for now."

Thinking this,

Gao Wen basically had a clear direction for his future development. Suppressing his anticipation for new attributes, he washed up slightly, then directly extinguished the lights in his room.

The next day.

Gao Wen changed into loose clothing and prepared to head to the back mountain to train in Armament Haki, but upon opening the door, he found Nami standing uneasily at the entrance, holding two bamboo swords.

Seeing Gao Wen come out, Nami's eyes lit up, and she bowed, saying:

"Mr. Gao Wen, please teach me a method to become stronger."

Gao Wen was stunned and reminded her:

"Nami, everyone has their own area of expertise; combat is your weakness, while navigation is the field where you can truly shine."

In fact, even if one scoured the original work, Nami herself was not the type skilled in combat.

Even in the battle against Miss Kalifa, she mostly relied on the Weather Egg created by Usopp and tactical domination to crush her opponent.

Gao Wen had already probed Nami's potential in combat; unfortunately, in this aspect, she was only at the Black Iron level.

With such talent, no matter how much effort was poured into combat, at best she could only reach the level Gao Wen had when he first transmigrated.

To truly become strong, it was far less efficient than eating a Devil Fruit.

Facing Gao Wen's persuasion, Nami remained unmoved:

"I do not wish to become a burden to you all; at the very least, facing increasingly powerful opponents in the future, I must have the ability to protect my life."

Gao Wen had intended to continue persuading her, but upon seeing Nami's determined gaze, he nodded:

"I understand."

"I can teach you my swordsmanship, but this path will be very hard for you; if a suitable Devil Fruit appears in the future, I will keep an eye out for you."

"Yes!"

Nami replied excitedly, then followed Griffin to the back mountain of Para Island.

On the back mountain of Para Island, upon a stone cliff.

The surrounding rocks were covered with dense slash marks, extremely deep and long, some almost cutting the entire mountain in half.

Nami exclaimed in shock:

"Did Captain leave these from your training?"

"That is not the point."

Gao Wen directly skipped this topic, took a bamboo sword from Nami's hand, and immediately began explaining the basics of swordsmanship:

"Swordsmanship has countless forms and varieties; different schools, different sword masters, each with completely different styles, but the ultimate goal pursued is only one."

"That is to strike the opponent before being struck by them!"

"My own style pursues this extremely high efficiency..."

After a round of explanation.

Seeing Nami was still utterly confused, Gao Wen simply gave up.

After teaching her the basic sword grip, he began actual combat practice; after all, muscle memory is often far more profound than the mind.

"Now, slash at me with your sword!"

Nami gripped the bamboo sword tightly, clenched her teeth, stepped forward, and brought the bamboo sword down from above to strike at Gao Wen!

Snap!

Gao Wen flicked Nami's bamboo sword aside, then tapped her head with it:

"Your intent is too obvious!"

"Try to observe your opponent's small movements and judge their next move!"

Snap!

"I told you to observe, not to stand there like a wooden dummy!"

Snap!

"You've got the prediction, but you didn't seize the timing of the attack, and your body movements are too stiff!"

By the time the sun set over Luoshan.

Nami lay on her back on the stone slab, panting heavily.

She was in a wretched state; sweat had long soaked her clothes, outlining her graceful figure.

Even with Gao Wen's badge enhancing her, reducing the crew's stamina consumption and accelerating recovery, her body was already nearing its limit.

"Thank you!"

"Mr. Gao Wen!"

In one day, she hadn't even touched the threshold of swordsmanship, yet this feeling of gradually growing stronger made her feel incredibly grounded.

At least she wouldn't become a burden to her companions in the future.

"Well~"

Gao Wen waved his hand:

"Continue tomorrow!"

Immediately, Gao Wen turned around, found another spot, and began cultivating Armament Haki.

At the same time.

In the training room, Xiang Keluo and Akin stood facing each other; one held claw knives, the other a iron staff, engaging in combat practice.

Whoosh!

Xiang Keluo stepped forward, vanishing from the air in an instant; his five-fingered claw knives extended as he rushed toward Akin.

Cling!

The claw knives and iron staff clashed, sparks flying everywhere, followed by a rapid series of exchanges.

With Observation Haki activated, Xiang Keluo seemed to be everywhere; his dense offensive pressure brought far greater strain to Akin than before, causing Akin's hands gripping the iron staff to tremble continuously.

The stalemate between the two lasted only a few dozen seconds; seizing the opportunity, Xiang Keluo kicked Akin, sending him flying into the wall.

Boom!

Even though Xiang Keluo deliberately held back his strength, the impact force generated by the high speed of Observation Haki was still too powerful; given Akin's constitution, he couldn't handle it for the moment.

After a round of attempts, Akin, still unable to get up, simply gave up struggling, lay on his back on the ground looking at the ceiling, and murmured:

"Is the gap actually getting wider?"

"I really can't accept it!"

(End of this chapter)