Wind Sword Knight / A Major Upgrade [Bonus Chapter for the 100th Floor] ...

Smack!

Nami's head took a heavy blow. Seeing her clutching it with a pained expression, Arthur said irritably, "Be careful, or you'll get yourself burned. When that happens, no one will be able to save you."

"That just means I trust you! If even the famous Wind Sword Knight were to violate his code of chivalry and force himself on a defenseless young girl, could I possibly resist?" Nami stuck out her tongue and spoke playfully.

"All right... all right, I was wrong..."

Seeing Arthur raise his hand for another chop, Nami hurriedly apologized, no longer daring to tease him.

This witch!

Arthur sighed helplessly to himself. He was no match for her at all.

Chapter 15: Wind Sword Knight

A few days later, Arthur and Nami landed once again in Loguetown, the "town of the beginning and the end."

"Wait here for me. I'll be right back." Arthur stepped ashore with a cloth sack in hand and turned to Nami on the boat.

"Mm, please be careful..." Nami was very obedient this time. She looked at Arthur worriedly and said, "I'll wait for you here. Promise me you won't let anything happen to you."

"Don't worry. The world may be vast, but the East Blue alone can't hold me." Arthur smiled confidently and walked toward the Marine branch as Nami watched him go.

Thud, thud!

In the same smoke-filled room, the sound of heavy objects hitting the floor rang out.

"You... actually killed him?" Looking at the two bloody heads with their hideously twisted expressions, Smoker took a long drag on his cigar. His gaze turned slightly cold as he looked at Arthur and said in a low voice, "You should know that the people I sent out haven't returned yet. By doing this, you've not only put me in a difficult position, you could even end up with a bounty on your head..."

"Aren't you afraid I'll keep you here right now?"

"I saw him in Cocoyasi Village. The whole village can testify for me. And as for his wrongdoing, as long as you don't cover for him, it'll be easy to uncover." Arthur sat on the sofa with his legs crossed and spoke calmly. "If you attack me for the sake of a parasite like him, it doesn't matter. At worst, I'll just change professions. Losing an honorable profession in exchange for the truth that 'justice is nothing more than a pass for evildoers' isn't a bad deal either."

"Hmph, sharp-tongued brat." Smoker snorted, though the chill in his eyes faded considerably.

In fact, the people he had sent out had already reported to him by Den Den Mushi. Thanks to soldiers from the 16th Marine Branch secretly leaking information, they had indeed found evidence that Captain Nezumi had colluded with the Arlong Pirates.

Even if Arthur hadn't acted, Smoker would have dealt with that disgrace to the Marines himself.

However, a bounty hunter killing a Marine officer was still a crime, even if that officer was a parasite.

If Smoker had been one of the hawks, he likely would have already attacked Arthur.

Smoker wasn't one of the hawks. Although he was displeased that Arthur had killed a Marine officer, he ultimately chose not to force him into opposing the Marines.

Even if this man couldn't join the Marines, he couldn't be allowed to become a pirate.

At the very least, Smoker couldn't push him into the ranks of the pirates through his own foolish actions.

With that thought, Smoker took another long drag, closed his eyes, and said, "Captain Nezumi of the 16th Marine Branch colluded with the Arlong Pirates. When confronted with conclusive evidence and placed under arrest, he joined forces with the Arlong Pirates to resist and was killed by the bounty hunter 'Wind Sword Knight,' whom the Marines had hired to fight the Arlong Pirates."

With that, Smoker looked at Arthur and said calmly, "Go to the finance department and collect your bounty."

"Thanks." Arthur stood up and thanked him with a smile.

It was a favor of no small or great significance, but regardless, Arthur would remember it.

"Sigh... I hope you won't be my enemy, or the Marines' enemy, in the future." Watching Arthur's departing back, Smoker sighed to himself, then picked up the Den Den Mushi on his desk and notified his subordinates in the finance department.

Because of Arthur's upright, knightly bearing, Smoker had chosen to show him favoritism.

When Arthur came out of the Marine branch again, he had two black cases in his hands.

This time, Arthur didn't linger in Loguetown, but headed straight for the docks.

For one thing, Nami was surely worried sick. Before they left, the villagers of Cocoyasi Village had given them plenty of parting gifts, so there was no need to worry about food supplies.

And Arthur was a carefree person who wouldn't burden himself with too much.

His requirements were simple: food, drink, and a place to sleep.

Back at the docks, Arthur found that Nami hadn't stayed on the boat. She had gone ashore and was standing with her arms folded, looking around worriedly for something.

Only when she saw Arthur did Nami's gloom give way to sunshine. She ran over excitedly and, relieved, threw herself into his arms, breaking the hearts of many nearby young men who had long since noticed the youthful, beautiful girl.

Quite a few adults, however, greeted the sight with warm smiles.

The man was handsome and the woman beautiful. They were a perfectly matched couple, made for each other.

"You were gone for so long. You scared me to death..." Nami rubbed her pretty face hard against Arthur's chest, her voice trembling slightly.

"Didn't I tell you? The world is vast, but the East Blue can't hold me... You could at least have a little faith in your captain." Arthur had wanted to hug her back, but with a case in each hand, he could only speak helplessly.

She was this afraid of a mere Marine branch. What would she do when they faced stronger enemies in the future?

This attitude wouldn't do. It had to be strengthened!

In fact, Nami's attitude wasn't as fragile as Arthur thought. Perhaps she really was timid, but when facing an enemy alongside someone, Nami would absolutely never run away alone.

Apart from the nature of Arlong's case, the greater reason she was so worried was that a bounty hunter had killed a Marine and was even taking the heads of a pirate and a Marine to collect the bounties. Although Arthur had explained it to Nami many times on their way to Loguetown, she still couldn't put her mind at ease.

This was a crime! If things went wrong, he would face the pursuit of the entire Marine force.

Only now that Arthur had returned could Nami truly relax.

"Mm..."

The two separated, and Nami looked at the two black cases in Arthur's hands. Her eyes instantly turned into dollar signs as she exclaimed, "Beli! How much Beli?"

"Hehe..." Seeing Nami change expressions like a magic trick, as though everything that had just happened had been an illusion, Arthur couldn't help laughing. He handed both cases to Nami and said, "Twenty million Beli."

"Wonderful! That's our..." Nami hugged the two cases tightly, batting her eyes at Arthur before sticking out her tongue cutely.

"Lord Wind Sword Knight—"

(This chapter marks the end of the volume! The next volume is a long one—the Grand Line: King of Knights arc!)

Chapter 16: A Major Upgrade [Bonus Chapter for the 100th Floor]

In the early morning, a faint chill lingered in the air. A gentle breeze blew down from the sky, brushing through golden and orange hair.

"1,782... 1,783... 1,784..."

A pleasant voice counted patiently. On the hard deck, Nami wore only a thin nightgown. Her arms were folded beneath her two ample breasts, unintentionally squeezing them together to form a deep cleavage. Her lovely eyes gazed at Arthur in front of her, doing push-ups with one hand on the deck, supporting his body on a single index finger.

"2,000!"

With that round number, Arthur, already drenched in sweat, finally stood up and exhaled heavily.

"Thanks for the effort. Here, wipe your sweat." Nami thoughtfully handed him a towel.

Arthur accepted it without ceremony and wiped the sweat from his face.

"It's rare to see you work out, but you're called the Wind Sword Knight. How come I've never seen you practice swordsmanship?" Nami voiced the question on her mind. The two had been together for more than half a month since Orange Town, yet she had never seen Arthur train. On the rare occasion he did today, he was training his physique.

"There's no need for me to deliberately practice swordsmanship anymore." Arthur grinned at Nami as he wiped his hair with the towel.

Yes, when it came to swordsmanship, he no longer needed to strengthen his fundamentals.

Name: Arthur Pendragon

Sex: male

Age: 17

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Strength: D

Endurance: D

Agility: D

Mana: D+

Luck: A~~EX

Noble Phantasm: EX

Innate skills: Instinct (A), Mana Burst (A), Giant Beast Hunting (A), leadership (D)

Skills: Observation Haki (D), Armament Haki (D), swordsmanship (B+)

Noble Phantasms: Excalibur (EX), Invisible Air (C), Avalon (unawakened), Rhongomyniad (unawakened)

Achievement quest—First Victory: obtain one victory. Reward: Excalibur. (Completed)

Achievement quest—Ten Consecutive Victories: obtain ten victories. Reward: Invisible Air. (Completed)

Achievement quest—A Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories: fight enemies and obtain one hundred victories. The opponents must possess a certain degree of renown. Reward: Rhongomyniad. (30/100)

Achievement quest—Ever Victorious: a person who holds every victory must make the world acknowledge that you are unbeatable. Reward: Avalon. (Incomplete)

Important reminder: for every victory obtained, the host receives one all-around sublimation from the system. At the same time, once faced with defeat, the game system will automatically enter dormancy. Everything except skills will start again from zero, and the "Ever Victorious" achievement quest will automatically be removed.

During this time, Arthur had always believed his luck stat was through the roof and must have been EX every day.

Ever since he had met Nami in Orange Town ahead of Luffy, the two had established a partnership. In a brief half-month or so, their relationship had rapidly developed from that of partners into an ambiguous one in which either could confess at any time.

During that time, he had successively obtained victory points recognized by the game system from Buggy the Clown, Don Krieg, the sea cow Momoo, Arlong, and Captain Nezumi.

After five consecutive all-around sublimations, Arthur's physical attributes had jumped from rank E to rank D.

Because the sublimations enhanced all aspects of his body, Arthur's mental strength was included. As a result, even both types of Haki had reached rank D.

Not only that, just as Arthur had told Nami, he no longer needed to deliberately practice swordsmanship except when the urge struck him.

That was because Arthur's swordsmanship fundamentals were far too solid.

From the moment he took hold of Excalibur, he had inherited King Arthur's swordsmanship experience, which had quickly integrated into this world and evolved into the swordsmanship system of the Marine world.

He had left ordinary swordsmen behind and become a powerful swordmaster.

The focus of Arthur's improvement was no longer sword techniques, but sword pressure—that is, Flying Slashes.

Arthur had never expected that the pseudo-True Name Release of Excalibur last time would send his swordsmanship skill soaring from C+ to B+ in an instant, a full rank higher.

However, Arthur also knew that the skill template was different from the others. It was a template through which the game system quantified the power system of the Marine world. Even if Arthur faced defeat in the future and all his Noble Phantasms and mana values returned to zero, his skills would not disappear.

The game system must have treated Excalibur's True Name Release as a slash.

Arthur had never imagined that Excalibur, with only two seals released, would possess power at rank B+.

It should be understood that the letter rankings were not based on the Nasuverse's system, but on the Marine world.

If a Great Swordsman was EX, then A++ was the pinnacle of a swordsman.

Ranks F and E, and rank D, corresponded to beginners and third-rate swordsmen, and first-rate swordsmen, respectively. Rank C was the realm of a swordmaster. Arthur divided ranks C, B, and A into three stages of sword mastery. These three stages were not divided into low, middle, and high tiers as in fantasy novels, but represented their respective understandings of slashes.

As for some rule that a lower tier couldn't defeat a middle tier—in this hot-blooded Marine world, don't make him laugh.

Besides, this was only Arthur's own classification. The people of this world had no precise ranking system. A powerful swordsman was called a swordsman, and one who was powerful enough to inspire despair and whose strength was recognized by the world was a Great Swordsman.

Across the seas, swordmasters were countless, but great swordmasters were few and far between.

Chapter 17: Picturesque

The Grand Line, a sea that the people of the East Blue both feared and longed for, was known as the graveyard of pirates and a paradise in the eyes of newcomers.

For pirates who dreamed of finding OP and becoming the Pirate King, the Grand Line was their true starting point.

There were only two ways for people from the four seas to enter the Grand Line.

One was to cross Reverse Mountain, using its unusual currents to enter the Grand Line.

The other was to cross the Calm Belt, but apart from the Marines, who possessed the technology to embed Seastone in the bottoms of their warships, that route was reserved for the strong.