Chapter 87: I

That’s all.

Gao Wen could no longer sit still; he pushed open the window and leapt straight into the harbor.

He had originally intended to test here to see just how far his newly awakened Harmony term had taken him.

But he suddenly remembered the devastation he’d left behind when he first tested his Instant Step ability in the harbor.

Gao Wen’s face flushed red; he rubbed his nose and vanished from the harbor in a flash.

…

A few minutes later.

Gao Wen appeared atop his usual training stone platform, behind Parra Island.

Clang!

The Kaisei Shōshō unsheathed.

Gao Wen began practicing his sword techniques, acclimating himself to his body after awakening the Harmony term.

One move, one form.

Accompanied by the silver glow of the Kaisei Shōshō, they flickered through the air.

The sword techniques that had once helped him slay countless opponents passed through his hands once more.

He had once believed these techniques were already mature, nearly perfect.

But now, with the Harmony term awakened and his body perfectly controlled, the hidden flaws within his sword forms began to slowly surface.

Minor imbalances in force application, subtle internal injuries left by the full-body muscle engagement during strikes…

As each hidden flaw in his swordplay was discovered and then optimized by Gao Wen,

his movements grew increasingly harmonious, with not a single hint of resistance or obstruction.

Fluid! Refreshing!

The more he trained, the more his body thrilled—no trace of fatigue.

The night passed.

In terms of technique alone, Gao Wen had almost been reborn.

If he were to face his former self in a pure sword exchange, he was confident he could win within ten strikes.

“The feeling of gradually perfecting one’s own sword art… it’s intoxicating.”

“Keep going!”

With that, Gao Wen continued refining his sword techniques, utterly unaware that a slender figure had been standing quietly nearby for a long time.

A great sun slowly rose above the sea, its golden rays falling upon Gao Wen, blending with his already powerful frame to give him an almost divine aura.

Nami, holding her bamboo sword, paused slightly; she looked at Gao Wen’s drenched body and said:

“Captain, did you train here all day yesterday?”

Gao Wen, mid-swing, halted his motion, turned to see it was Nami, and skipped her question entirely, saying coolly:

“You’re just in time—today’s sword training begins!”

“Yes!”

…

That evening, rumors spread across Parra Island that the captain had been training all night without telling anyone; the Four Rolling Kings immediately cried foul.

“That bastard captain is way too sneaky.”

“Tells us to watch our health, stick to a regular schedule, or we’ll develop hidden injuries—yet he’s running 24/7?”

Sanji gritted his teeth and silently decided to add a few more hours tonight.

He couldn’t afford to slack off—these bastards around him were getting crazier by the minute; how could he ever make it into the Hall of Fame?

Damn it!

Call the chef girls!

“Ohhh—!”

Thinking of being surrounded by beautiful chef girls, Sanji’s body, already at its limit, erupted with unprecedented power.

His legs whipped through the air so fast they left afterimages.

Beside him, Keluo couldn’t help but twitch his lips:

“Hmph, I should’ve known—after all, he’s the kind who’d destroy the harbor floor just to stop us from training.”

“Underhanded! So underhanded!”

Zoro gritted his teeth, added a few more weight plates to himself; his arms bulged with veins, yet he refused to yield an inch.

After all, this was about leaving one’s name behind forever—who wanted to be second best?

Time slipped swiftly into the deep night.

Most of Parra Island had returned to their rooms to rest; only the training room remained brightly lit.

Gao Wen watched the system’s notification of a modest boost in experience gain, grinning broadly.

“Now I just need to wait until the Swordsman reaches LV-10 to unlock a new term.”

Gao Wen stared at the system panel, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.

…

As rumors of Gao Wen secretly training alone on Parra Island spread, the internal competition within the Gao Wen Pirates reached a new peak.

Every day, unlucky fools collapsed from overtraining—besides being mocked by everyone, they lost their share of the profits.

For a time,

Gao Wen looked at the group of pirates lying in the infirmary and wondered if he’d gone too far.

Until he heard those bastards whispering behind his back about how he was pushing them too hard—his last shred of sympathy vanished.

“Where’s the pressure? For months now we’ve trained from nine to five—don’t go spouting nonsense. Being captain is hard enough!”

Gao Wen, momentarily confused, ordered Zang Gao to bring back more medical supplies from Parra Island to prevent anyone from dying from overtraining, then turned and walked away, muttering:

“It’s not my fault—you chose this yourself.”

“Mm.”

“That’s right—I really am too soft-hearted.”

With his last lingering doubt dispelled, Gao Wen threw all his energy into training Armament Haki.

As his mastery of Armament Haki improved, his training efficiency rose noticeably.

His daily experience gain jumped from eight or nine points to fifteen or sixteen.

Though still nowhere near the experience provided by the Rolling Kings, for him personally, it had nearly halved the time needed.

Besides, there was no other way to train Armament Haki right now.

Even Keluo, the strongest among them, had only Bronze-tier power—and specialized in speed.

But awakening Armament Haki required a strong foundational physique.

According to Gao Wen’s estimate, these prime “weeds” needed at least another six months of training and countless grueling battles before they could awaken Armament Haki.

Fortunately, Gao Wen had time to wait; once they entered the Grand Line, battles with evenly matched foes wouldn’t be lacking.

…

Several days later.

Deep night.

Gao Wen had already finished his daily training, changed clothes, sat at his desk, and waited for tonight’s experience settlement.

The familiar system panel unfolded before him:

【Host—Gao Wen】

【Age—24】

【Title—Captain of the Gao Wen Pirates】

【Skills:

Swordsmanship—LV-9: 6940/7000 (Divine Speed)

Physique—LV-10: 2827/12000 (Balance, Harmony)

Death Step—LV-5: 811/5000 (Instant Step)

Observation Haki—LV-3: 1756/3200

Armament Haki—LV-1: 155/1000

Navigation—LV-4: 800/2000

】

【Badges:

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

Rising Fame—View potential abilities

】

【Rating—Silver: You’ve awakened your true heart, forged your will—you’ve taken your first step on the path to supreme strength!】

The experience required for Swordsmanship had already neared its limit.

Just one more harvest from tonight’s training, and Gao Wen would reach LV-10 and unlock a new term.

Soon,

The familiar system chime echoed in Gao Wen’s mind:

“Physique experience +713!”

Sword Technique experience +534!

Shao Si experience +66!

Observation Haki experience +99!

Armament Haki experience +16!

(End of Chapter)