The fragrance of oranges mixed with the smell of sweat and surged through Xia Nuo's nostrils as he raised his right hand and stared at the old calluses covering his knuckles.
According to the description in the Secret Manual, the essence of this Breathing Fist lay in "nourishing the blood with qi."
Through breathing at a special frequency, the alveoli exchanged several times more oxygen per unit of time, allowing the boiling blood to carry nutrients as it continuously washed over every bundle of muscle fibers.
This made physical training twice as effective, and the results in turn nourished the flesh, tendons, and bones.
Day after day, over the long term.
His physical strength would gradually increase to a level far beyond that of ordinary people. Once he mastered the technique, he would break through the body's inherent limits, as if unlocking his genes and transforming into an entirely new species.
"An entirely new species..."
A flicker passed through Xia Nuo's eyes, and he was filled with anticipation.
There were too many monstrously talented freaks in this world.
Although this body of his possessed some talent for physical techniques, it ultimately remained within the category of ordinary humanity.
Out on the sea, that was nowhere near enough.
It was just like...
No matter how diligently Usopp trained, he would still only be Usopp.
Only by shedding the layer of Usopp that limited his potential and revealing the fierce, brand-new form beneath it would he have any chance of competing with monsters like Luffy and Zoro for a position among the main combatants.
If the Breathing Fist could really help him achieve that, then he had truly struck it rich back then, proving that it was worth far more than the eight hundred points it had cost.
He had saved only a little over a thousand points in three years. Those eight hundred had emptied most of his fortune.
Moreover.
The benefits of practicing the Breathing Fist did not end there.
At that moment, he could clearly feel the rhythm of his heart pumping, like a sail filled with fierce wind amid a storm.
The lactic acid buildup that inevitably followed strenuous exercise in ordinary people was actually transformed into heat energy that made his muscles tremble under this breathing rhythm.
The bruises left by striking the citrus trees earlier were rapidly fading as they were metabolized by the unique rhythm of the breathing technique.
Otherwise.
With hardly any medical support, he would never have been able to spend several hours each morning and night in hellish, self-abusive training while still working in the Orange Grove during the day.
"Deep Sea."
With a thought, Xia Nuo once again awakened the System Panel.
None of his attributes had changed yet.
That did not surprise him. Training required accumulation over time; it had never been something that could be achieved in a single day.
He stared at the rows of data and roughly estimated his current strength.
As he was now, he could already defeat more than a dozen adult men with ease.
If he mastered the fist technique and truly transformed his body to a new level...
Dealing with several ordinary fish-men should not be a problem.
However...
He would have to face far more than several fish-men.
Thinking of the news he had seen in the newspaper after dinner, as well as the photograph of Jinbe appearing publicly, a few shadows gathered deep in the black-haired boy's eyes.
The newspaper had not gone into detail, but he remembered it very clearly.
One of the conditions Jinbe had agreed to upon becoming a Shichibukai was that the Arlong Pirates, who had once been his comrades in the Sun Pirates, would be released from Impel Down.
Arlong. Arlong. Arlong!
Ever since the day he recovered his memories, that name had hung above his head like the Sword of Damocles, constantly putting him on edge and keeping him awake at night!
Originally, he did not need to train so desperately—not this early, at least.
He could have continued enjoying his childhood, spending every day of his time in this East Blue village in warmth, ease, and sunshine.
But he simply could not.
Arlong was coming! He would soon break with Jinbe, split from the Sun Pirates, and bring all the brothers who supported him to the East Blue to live like a local tyrant!
If he remembered correctly...
On the original timeline, in the year 1512 of the Marineford Era—eight years before Luffy set out to sea—the Arlong Pirates would set foot on the land of Cocoyasi Village and insanely demand the exorbitant protection fee of one hundred thousand Berries per person every month from every villager.
That peaceful rural paradise would become a hell under brutal rule. Bellemere would also be shot dead by Arlong without a trace of mercy that day for the sake of her daughters.
And now...
It was already late autumn, approaching winter, in the year 1511 of the Marineford Era.
He had one year left... no, at most one year!
Boom!
A sense of urgency surged into his heart. Xia Nuo darkened his face and slammed a fist into the tree trunk.
After enduring several days of blows, the tree finally began to react.
Crack, crack! Countless fine cracks spread rapidly across the trunk like a spiderweb. The next second, the entire seven- or eight-meter-tall tree exploded with a boom into countless fragments that scattered all over the ground.
Through the gaps in the moonlight where fine wood shavings drifted, the boy's gaze gradually turned cold as iron.
He was getting angry, too.
It was only an Arlong, a mere twenty-million-Berry bounty. Forget the New World—even in the Grand Line, he was trash who could not even count as cannon fodder.
What gave him the right to lay hands on his hometown? What gave him the right to burden Xia Nuo with all these years of pressure?
When he had first awakened his memories, Xia Nuo had still tried to persuade Bellemere to move. Now, that was absolutely impossible!
Cocoyasi Village was his hometown too, a place that had given him countless moments of warmth and healing.
The orange groves and grasslands, the streams and coastline—memories of him and his family were everywhere. Even the big white dog at the village entrance, which he had almost sacrificed back then, had grown close to him.
Why should they be the ones to leave?
To hell with that!
Arlong was the one who should get lost!
After throwing several more sets of punches at the wooden post, Xia Nuo's already nearly depleted strength was finally exhausted, and his frenzied, violent state of mind gradually calmed.
He went to sit at a high point, with the distant pier faintly visible.
The salty sea wind brushed across the boy's shoulders. Xia Nuo lifted his face and gazed at the winding Milky Way in the heavens. The waves shattered into silver dust among the reefs, their reflected starlight flickering in his eyes.
"I have to go out to sea."
He muttered softly to himself.
Cocoyasi Village was ultimately too small.
To the East Blue, it was like an inconspicuous little star at the edge of this brilliant galaxy.
The world outside was vast. If he wanted to obtain more points and become stronger, he absolutely could not remain confined to this corner.
In fact, ever since he discovered that he could not repeatedly milk the same sheep, he had already planned to go out to sea and find other fat sheep.
He had only been ten at the time, a tiny bean sprout barely one meter forty tall who could not even beat the village geese. Going out to sea then would have been nothing short of a death wish.
Now, he had some ability to protect himself. But formally going out to sea and adventuring everywhere was still too dangerous, and he was not qualified yet. That was something he should do after becoming an adult.
However.
If he had a clear target, traveling with a passing merchant ship along a safe route and making a quick round trip would be a good choice.
That would keep his family from worrying while also keeping the odds of encountering an accident low.
As for whom he should choose as his target...
—He barely needed to think. Xia Nuo locked onto the answer in his heart at once.
Monkey D. Luffy!
The Straw Hat that had once belonged to the Pirate King Roger should have been handed to Luffy by Shanks by now. And the one Xia Nuo had set his sights on was that very hat.
It was something the Child of Destiny regarded as dearly as his own life, and it also carried historical significance stretching from Joy Boy to Roger.
Looking across the entire East Blue, there was practically nothing more "valuable" than that Straw Hat.
As for what reaction Luffy would have if he lost the hat, or what changes might occur in the world's future timeline...
He did not care.
Not in the slightest.
Compared with increasing his strength and protecting his family, those matters were not worth a damn.
Having made up his mind, Xia Nuo put on the coarse-knit sweater Bellemere had woven by hand, took a deep breath, and strode out of the orange grove.
When he passed the last wooden post, he casually picked up the Wood Sword resting to one side.
He had claimed he was coming out to practice swordsmanship, but he had spent the entire time punching. He had not swung the sword even once.
There was nothing he could do about that.
Actually, he had begun practicing swordsmanship before the fist technique.
When he was ten, he had spent one hundred points to exchange for a basic swordsmanship Secret Manual. Unfortunately, he truly lacked talent in that area. Even after investing more time, he had only barely reached the level of an entry-level practitioner.
A person's energy was limited. In the end, one had to play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses.
Therefore, after Xia Nuo realized that he had greater talent in physical techniques, he devoted all his energy to the Breathing Fist, while his swordsmanship was essentially left in a half-abandoned state.
Every gain came with a loss.
He still carried the Wood Sword whenever he trained now, but that was merely a habit.
Before entering the village, Xia Nuo looked back one last time at the distant pier.
According to the usual schedule, the first cargo ships coming to purchase oranges would dock there within the next few days.
There were usually three or four cargo ships, each belonging to a different merchant association and following different trade routes.
But they all had to pass through some large towns with developed ports. From there, after transferring ships, he would certainly be able to find one headed toward the area around Foosha Village.
Everything was better done sooner rather than later. He did not want to wait any longer.
Go out to sea!
As soon as the first batch of cargo ships arrived, he would leave for the sea immediately!
Luffy, I'm coming!