"As for the more specific matters!" Zhou Qi thought for a moment and looked at Smoker. "You're with the Marines, so your intelligence should be the most accessible among us. You'll provide information on Devil Fruit Users. How about it?"
"No problem!" Smoker nodded. "New Bounty Posters are sent to me every week, but I can't track down specific pirates or investigate their routes!"
"On that front, Teacher Koshiro, how long would it take for your people to get organized?" Zhou Qi asked.
"Hmm..." Koshiro thought for a moment. "Five days."
"Five days?" Smoker was stunned. "That fast??"
Koshiro smiled shyly. "I do have a few friends!"
Smoker nodded doubtfully. A Great Swordsman's friends should all be powerful people.
Only Zhou Qi knew that Koshiro's forces would probably just be the Revolutionary Army under a different name.
"Looks like I need to speed things up too!" Zhou Qi stroked his chin. One partner was with the Marines, the other with the Revolutionary Army, while he alone was a commander without an army. That wouldn't do.
He couldn't just keep being a tool for opening doors, could he?
The three discussed a few more details, finally stopping when it had gotten quite late.
Zhou Qi carried Tashigi to her bedroom. Kuina had once lived in that room, but Koshiro had cleaned it up for Tashigi to use.
As for himself, of course, he continued meditating.
The familiar process, the familiar routine—he woke up feeling refreshed again.
Zhou Qi habitually reached for the glasses beside him and put them on, only to realize something was wrong.
"Why is it a little blurry?"
He took off his glasses with a bewildered expression and discovered that the world before him was incredibly clear!
"Wait!" Zhou Qi quickly closed his right eye. The scenery before him immediately became much blurrier, but when he switched to his right eye, the whole world became clear again.
"My right eye isn't nearsighted anymore? And the vision in my left eye has improved a lot too!"
Zhou Qi's two eyes had different degrees of nearsightedness. His left eye was minus 8.50, while his right was minus 2.00.
The reason was that after discovering he was becoming nearsighted in middle school, he had consciously reduced the use of his right eye. Whether reading textbooks or novels, he only used his left eye. Over time, the nearsightedness in his left eye grew worse and worse, while his right eye remained at around minus 2.00.
But now, he found that his right eye seemed to no longer be nearsighted, while his left eye had improved greatly as well. It was probably only around minus 4.00 or 5.00 now?
"Meditation has this kind of effect too?" Zhou Qi was shocked. Yesterday, he had only noticed that his mind had become a little sharper. He had never expected to feel his eyesight improving today as well!
"But thinking about it, that makes sense. Those powerful swordsmen can even slash bullets apart and see their trajectories clearly. How could their eyesight be poor?"
But there was another question: why was Tashigi nearsighted? Didn't she practice swordsmanship too?
Then he thought of how he could easily replace sleep with meditation, while Koshiro could not.
"There really are differences between the physiques of Earthlings and people from the One Piece World. At least when it comes to meditation, it works better on Earthlings!"
He just did not know whether this peculiarity existed only in him or in all Earthlings.
It would be easy to verify. He only needed to bring another Earthling here and have them meditate.
But there was no rush.
Zhou Qi recorded the matter first, then got up and headed into the woods to train.
"My accuracy seems to have improved a lot too!" Zhou Qi looked at his steady hands. He had never held a sword so steadily before. His hands used to tremble, and his strikes were inaccurate.
But now, he could keep the sword at a fixed point as he swung it!
This was mainly thanks to the evolution of his brain. With a better mind came better control over his body.
But combat required muscle memory. Besides, he could still only use the muscles in his upper arms, so he had to keep practicing Suburi.
Two hours later, it was only eight in the morning.
After going home to shower, eat breakfast, and change clothes, Zhou Qi returned to Shimotsuki Village.
In the quiet room, the Mera Mera no Mi was still sitting on that table. Smoker, Koshiro, and Tashigi sat beside it.
"You were waiting for me?" Zhou Qi was a little confused.
"After all, you were the one who obtained this fruit. Even if we're giving it to Tashigi, she should eat it in front of you!" Smoker said.
"Huh?" Tashigi froze. "Wait, this fruit is for me?"
She had not known yet. The other two had been telling her about the Four Spirits Society.
"What, do you think eating a Devil Fruit will affect your ability to become a swordsman?" Zhou Qi asked.
"Huh, not at all!" Tashigi hurriedly waved her hands. After all, her dream was not to become a Great Swordsman, but to reclaim every famous sword.
"It's just that this is a Logia Type Devil Fruit, and it's even the Mera Mera no Mi. How could I possibly be worthy..."
Zhou Qi smiled. "Ask those two whether they have any dissatisfaction with you."
"Uh..." Tashigi paused, then looked at the two of them.
"I have no objections!" Smoker nodded as if it were only natural. It was not merely because she was his subordinate.
Over the past year, he had come to see that Tashigi was kind-hearted and righteous. She possessed every quality needed to become an upright Marine; the only thing she lacked was strength.
So naturally, he had no objections to giving this fruit to Tashigi.
Koshiro had even less reason to object. After all, the girl looked exactly like his daughter.
He had even begun gradually transferring the love he had for his daughter onto Tashigi. Otherwise, why would he normally teach her with such seriousness?
Tashigi was simply too slow-witted to notice.
Of course, that could not be the reason he gave.
So Koshiro said, "Actually, Miss Tashigi, you may not have noticed this, but you are both a Marine and Mr. Zhou Qi's protector, and now you have become my disciple as well. You are the link connecting the three of us, and an absolutely indispensable member of the Four Spirits Society. So this fruit is indeed very suitable for you!"
"Besides, you're only seventeen this year. Don't you still have limitless potential for growth?"
"..." Tashigi's eyes instantly filled with tears. She had never expected everyone to trust her so much!
"I-I'll definitely work hard!" Tashigi actually dropped to her knees and gave the three of them a heavy kowtow!
"Uh..." Zhou Qi had never seen such etiquette before. It was already too late to stop her, but fortunately, he could stop Tashigi's hand from reaching for the Mera Mera no Mi.
"Wait!"
"Huh?" Tashigi froze. "Qi-kun, do you have another plan?"
"Not really!" Zhou Qi shook his head. "I'm just curious about Devil Fruits and want to study one a little. For example, do Devil Fruits only grant people superpowers? Do they improve a person's basic physical abilities too?"
"They definitely do!" Smoker, who had eaten a Devil Fruit, had the most authority on the matter. "Before I ate one, I wasn't particularly strong. But after eating it, I could become one of the top three strongest people in the training camp based on physical ability alone!"
Top three? So he was third, then!
"Then how much did you improve?" Zhou Qi asked.
"Uh..." Smoker blinked. "How would I know that?"
"Didn't anyone in your training camp measure that sort of thing?" Zhou Qi asked.
"Measure? Measure what, Doriki?" Smoker asked...
Zhou Qi waved his hand helplessly. "Forget it. You're no help. I'll do it myself!"
"Bring the fruit. We'll first test Tashigi's physical abilities, then test her again after she eats it. Tashigi, is that okay?"
"Huh? Oh, that's fine with me!" Tashigi hurriedly nodded.
"Then let's go! I remember there's an open space behind the dojo. It's fairly large."
Before you continue