Leiyin naturally refused the suggestion that he get married, but to keep Jenny from feeling hurt, he merely put it off by saying he would think about it.
Leiyin was determined to conquer the world. How could he possibly lose himself in this gentle nest?
Since the hero had put it that way, everyone naturally stopped urging him.
Thus, Leiyin and Farmer returned home. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they heard heartbroken sobbing.
Farmer secretly led Leiyin to peek into Verdan's room. Verdan was sprawled across the bed, crying as though she were made of tears.
She sobbed while muttering to herself. Her voice was not loud, but Leiyin and Farmer outside the door heard every word clearly.
"Now you've become the village hero. Are you satisfied? Feeling proud of yourself, are you? And you're going to marry Jenny. Good, marry Jenny, and I wish you both a hundred years of happiness. You arrogant, smug, perverted idiot—I'd never marry you! Even if you begged me, I still wouldn't! Never! Sob..."
The fifteen-year-old girl was crying even more miserably than a three-year-old child.
It turned out that Verdan had assumed that, under everyone's urging, Leiyin and Jenny's marriage had already been arranged.
By now, even an idiot could tell what Verdan was thinking.
Leiyin could only shake his head helplessly. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Farmer stepped forward. "Mr. Leiyin, seeing this, you should understand Verdan's feelings, right? This girl has already fallen for you. Besides, I think highly of you too. I hope you'll become part of my family."
Farmer had made his meaning perfectly clear: he hoped Leiyin would marry Verdan and become his son-in-law.
Leiyin scratched his head like a block of wood. "Well, Mr. Farmer, please give me some time to think about it."
Farmer smiled at him. "All right. I'll await your decision."
For a moment, Leiyin felt as though he was about to collapse. On one side was Verdan, and on the other was Jenny. No matter which one he chose, he would hurt the other.
But Leiyin's true thought was—
He didn't want to choose either of them.
As he had said before, he was determined to become the strongest and freest man in the world. How could he settle down here, content to rule a tiny corner of the world?
He understood that if he stayed here, he would naturally be treated with great respect. Verdan and Jenny—especially Verdan—were both beauties rarely seen in a thousand miles. If he remained here, he could be worshiped like a god, enjoy a lifetime of fame, and have a sweet, gentle companion by his side for the rest of his life.
For how many men was that an unreachable dream?
But it was not Leiyin's dream.
How could sparrows know the ambitions of swans?
A hidden dragon could hardly remain in a pond. Once it encountered wind and clouds, it would transform into a dragon!
That night.
Unwilling to think about such troublesome matters between men and women, Leiyin opened the system's personal information. It was already completely different from before.
Leiyin Gender: Male Age: 16 Ninja Level: Genin (High Rank) Bloodline Limit or Jinchuriki: None Ninjutsu: Lightning Release—Chidoryū (A-Rank), White Blade (D-Rank, system evaluation: self-created technique), Rasengan (A-Rank), Great Ball Rasengan (A-Rank) Item Inventory (Ninja Tools, Weapons): Sealing Scroll ×2, Kunai ×10 Summoning Beast: None Sage Mode: Not Activated Chakra: 1200/1200
While marveling at how quickly his strength had grown, he secretly praised the system's convenience as well. The system's item inventory could freely store ninja tools and weapons, so he did not need to carry them in his hands. It was just like a spatial ring, and he could take out anything stored inside whenever he needed it.
His level had already reached "Genin (High Rank)." In other words, he was only one step away from Chunin level.
Moreover, once he reached Chunin (Mid Rank), he would be able to unlock the system for drawing Bloodline Limits or Jinchuriki.
At the thought, Leiyin was already somewhat impatient to see what kind of Bloodline Limit he would obtain.
That was not the only thing that secretly delighted him. He had killed the brothers Andrin and Anderson of the "Evil Wolf Pirates" one after another and sealed their corpses inside scrolls. In other words, he now had 15 million Beli in hand.
If he used 15 million Beli to draw ninjutsu, he could obtain one B-Rank ninjutsu and five C-Rank ninjutsu. By then, his chakra and combat power could rise by another great deal.
But the key problem now was that if he did not exchange the corpses for Beli, they would remain two useless corpses.
Therefore, Leiyin had no choice but to find the Marines first and exchange them for the bounty.
Although Leiyin was now very popular in the village, with a strong presence and sense of acceptance, his true ideal was to roam freely across the boundless sea—not to retire peacefully in this comfortable little haven.
So the next day, he went to bid farewell to Farmer and the others.
Farmer and the others were naturally reluctant to let him leave, but they could not stop his determination. Seeing how resolute Leiyin was, they stopped trying to persuade him to stay.
Farmer gave Leiyin a chart of the East Blue and another chart of the Grand Line. He also gave him a Log Pose and taught him how to use it.
In addition, since the juvenile Sea King had bitten through Leiyin's ship earlier, everyone gave him another ship.
When he departed, the island's harbor was packed with people, all there to see Leiyin off. Two girls were crying as though they were made of tears.
Needless to say, those two girls were Jenny and Verdan.
When Leiyin raised the sails, Verdan could no longer control her emotions. Facing the ship, she shouted, "Leiyin, you enormous idiot! I won't let you off!"
"Huh?"
"I understand your feelings to some extent, but all I can say is that I'm sorry, Verdan." Leiyin muttered to himself.
He had no idea what Verdan meant by "I won't let you off." He would only understand it much later.
At last, he sailed out onto the sea. The gentle sea breeze blew against his face, and Leiyin's heart surged with excitement.
Suddenly, Leiyin saw a bird flying over the nearby sea. He immediately whistled, and when the bird heard it, it flew straight toward him.
It was a seagull. It was rather large, wore a Marine cap on its head, and had a satchel hanging around its neck.
It turned out that this was a seagull that sold newspapers.
A large "80" was written on the seagull's satchel, meaning that each newspaper cost 80 Beli.
"I remember they used to cost 50 Beli. Did the price go up?"
Leiyin, who was familiar with the anime, said.
The seagull nodded adorably.
"All right, 80 it is. Here you go. Give me one."
After taking the money, the seagull pulled a newspaper from its satchel with its beak and flapped away.
Leiyin opened the newspaper. The headline read: Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Garp to Visit the East Blue Soon to Inspect Marine Branches.
Before you continue