After a brief farewell with the residents of Star Cape Town, the small boat carrying four people slowly left the coast.
Gratified farewell cheers from the townspeople drifted from behind.
Nami pulled her gaze back from the sea surface and turned to Ronan, her tone carrying a trace of incomprehension and a greedy miser's regret:
"Hey, Ronan, the Tattered Sails Pirates captain was a great pirate with a bounty of three million belly, and you just gave the bounty reward to the townspeople?"
Ronan looked at the town gradually receding along the coast, his gaze calm:
"Their town was destroyed so severely by pirates; let this money be used to rebuild their homes."
Nami curled her lips, muttering with a trace of dissatisfaction:
* "You sure are generous..."
Subsequently, she sighed deeply, revealing her yearning for wealth:
"I originally thought that seeing a pirate ship would net a huge windfall, but I didn't expect to reap anything at all, and even their pirate ship was broken!
When on earth will I be able to save enough money like this?"
With very sharp ears, Zoro turned his head to look at Nami, half-lying on the boat as he asked, "What, are you that short on money?"
Nami snorted softly, folding her arms as she said, "None of your business!"
Ronan did not participate in their dispute. He turned his head to look at Luffy, who was sitting at the bow of the boat and full of energy: "Hey, Luffy, where are we going now?"
Hearing Ronan's words, Luffy instantly beamed with spirit, his right hand clenched tightly into a fist as he loudly announced: "Of course it's the Grand Line!"
Just as Luffy finished speaking, Nami placed her hands on her hips and shouted loudly: "Going into the Grand Line just like this is way too reckless!"
Nami wore a serious and earnest expression, yet Luffy seemed to have only heard the keyword, swallowing the eaten apple core in his hand in one bite as he asked in confusion:
"That's right, we still need to eat meat!"
"We can't just eat apples!" Zoro used his hand to pillow his head. Although he was in a lazy slouch posture, his gaze was very clear: "I really want to drink alcohol!"
Ronan also sighed, weighing the broken stick in his hand that was less than a third remaining:
"I also need a handy iron spear. Wooden sticks and the like are simply too pathetic."
Zoro was attracted by Ronan's words, turning his head to look at him once more and revealing curiosity toward Ronan:
"Speaking of which, you used a wooden stick before yet exerted a move of such great power. That's spear technique, right?
It's quite rare, actually. This is my first time seeing someone use a spear."
Ronan nodded: "Right, it's my ancestral Xing Yi Thirteen Spears."
"What are you guys talking about!"
Nami watched these three men talking to themselves and not listening to her opinion at all, maddened with anger.
She casually picked up an apple and fiercely smashed it against Zoro's neck.
"Thud!"
The apple rebounded, but Luffy's arm stretched out, instantly catching it and shoving it into his mouth.
"Not only are we lacking people," Nami angrily pointed at the navigation chart, pointing out their current predicament: "We're also lacking a ship!"
She calmed her emotions slightly, pointed to a location on the chart, and suggested to the few of them:
"A bit further south, there's an inhabited island. If we can get a decent ship over there, that would be great!"
"Alright! Off to eat meat!" Luffy immediately grasped the main point, shouting happily.
"And my booze!" Zoro also roused himself, sitting up straight.
Ronan's gaze was resolute, finally adding: "Let's go procure an iron spear!"
"I said you guys...!" Nami was completely speechless and helpless, only able to watch this group of goal-driven crew members, covering her forehead and sighing.
The East Blue, a certain sea area.
The wind was calm and the waves were still. The sea surface shimmered with sparkling light like scattered gold, and the small boat sailed slowly across the water.
Aboard the ship, Ronan had long since entered cultivation mode.
In the cramped space, he held a standard horse stance, his waist and spine straight, knees not buckling outward, hips relaxed and sinking, qi sinking to his Dantian, coordinating with rhythmic breathing.
[Perseverance]
Although the system did not grant a Cultivation Multiplier in a non-combat state, Ronan could clearly feel his body continuously growing stronger in a slow and solid manner.
Meanwhile, Zoro and Luffy were also beside Ronan, striking horse stances that looked quite decent.
Despite having studied for only a day, under Ronan's careful guidance, the two men's postures were already quite standard.
Coordinating with the National Arts breathing method imparted by Ronan, steam billowed from the entire bodies of the two. They had persisted for a full half-hour, yet still gritted their teeth and persevered.
Sitting aside by the boat's edge and enjoying a sunbath, Nami had her hands pillowed behind her head, watching the three people in horse stances while failing to forget to mock them in her speech:
"Such three fools. With such great weather, instead of sunbathing and enjoying yourselves, you're sweating on the boat!"
The three of Ronan turned a deaf ear to her taunts.
When he felt his cultivation session come to an end, he slowly stopped practicing, exhaling a long, steady breath of turbid air.
Zoro and Luffy also spat out a breath of heat-laden turbid air almost simultaneously, stopped practicing, and stood up.
Zoro wiped the sweat beads from his forehead, looking at Ronan with eager eyes:
"Ronan, this horse stance of yours is really not bad! I can clearly feel my body's strength slowly improving, especially my lower stance—it's much more stable than before!"
Luffy also grinned and yelled: "Yeah, yeah! Training this lets you not move, but it feels like my strength has gotten a bit bigger!"
Ronan revealed a confident smile: "Of course. This is basic training for strengthening the body, the foundation of National Arts martial arts."
He looked at Zoro, a trace of earnestness for imparting teachings in his eyes:
"In a few days, I'll teach you a few more fist techniques for strengthening the body."
Hearing this, Zoro's eyes erupted with an excited radiance:
"Alright!"
He knew very well how precious these special cultivation methods capable of systematically improving physical fitness were; they could not be measured by money.
Hearing that Ronan was also going to teach fist techniques, he was naturally happy and grateful.
However, Luffy curled his lip and immediately clamored: "Ronan, I want to learn right now!"
Ronan looked helplessly at the narrow deck around them: "On a boat this small, even extending an arm is difficult, so there's no way to execute them." Hearing this, Luffy had no choice but to drop it.
Before long, Nami suddenly bounced up from her reclining posture, pointing at the sea surface ahead and letting out an excited cry: "Hey! I see an island!"
Ronan, Zoro, and Luffy all successively followed the sound and looked over.
Sure enough, on the horizon not far away, the outline of a lush little island was slowly emerging.
"We've finally arrived," Ronan thought inwardly.
With land, not only would he be able to stretch his muscles, but more importantly: he could go procure a handy iron spear!
Before you continue