Girly?

Strength is very high.

Agility is very high.

Even the stamina he prided himself on was still surpassed by the other party.

Looking down the list, she was a perfect hexagonal warrior with no blind spots.

The point reward for a successful conquest was shockingly high, nearly dozens of times more than any other female Noah had detected.

But then again, this was Momousagi; once you considered the difficulty involved... it didn't feel so surprising.

"Wait a minute..."

Seeing the note at the very end, Noah finally noticed something wrong and was completely dumbfounded. "--Prefers young, cute girls over men?"

What was that supposed to mean? Was Momousagi actually a closeted lesbian?

Was the point reward so high because it took this factor into account?

He silently watched Momousagi's retreating figure in the distance, his expression hesitant. He felt perhaps he shouldn't be so rash; after all, the system prompt was ambiguous and even phrased as a question.

"Hey, Noah, let's go join the crowd and see if Vice Admiral Gion will give us some pointers?" Rosinante's voice suddenly rang out from the side.

"Hm?"

Noah snapped back to reality, closed the system panel, and shook his head. "It's not our turn. Haven't you noticed that everyone being chosen is a girl?"

"It's one-on-one close-quarters instruction, too much physical contact," Shiryu added from the left, then lit a cigarette with a snap. This guy was a chain-smoker, going through at least three or four packs a day.

"Oh."

Rosinante finally realized. He didn't seem too disappointed, and after watching for a while longer, he excitedly dragged Noah and Shiryu to a corner to spar with swords.

In terms of swordsmanship alone, Shiryu was undoubtedly the strongest of the three.

Like Noah, he had practiced swordsmanship since childhood and had already stepped into the realm of Zantetsu. Recently, he had been trying to figure out how to consistently release sword energy, also known as a Flying Slash.

A so-called Flying Slash is an attack method realized by condensing one's spirit through the process of physical training.

Broadly speaking, it isn't something only a sword can produce; other weapons can do it too. Even the Rankyaku of the Rokushiki follows the same principle.

And whether or not one can use a sword to unleash a Flying Slash is precisely the key to whether a swordsman can be crowned with the title of master swordsman.

For example.

In the manga, Zoro had been training diligently and growing stronger ever since he set sail, but the true sign that the moss-head had entered the realm of a master swordsman was after the Alabasta arc, when he could frequently and stably use "Pound Ho."

Shiryu was very close to that step now. As long as he crossed this threshold, he could truly be called a master swordsman in the future.

Noah was still quite a distance away from the realm of Zantetsu in his swordsmanship and had never beaten Shiryu in their spars. However, he excelled in having a very solid foundation and had a firm grasp of the theoretical knowledge taught by Zephyr, basically achieving a thorough mastery of it.

Therefore, every time the two sparred, both sides were able to learn a lot from the exchange, pointing out each other's flaws and promoting rapid progress in their swordsmanship.

As for Rosinante...

This guy's physical skills weren't weak, but his talent for the way of the sword was pitifully low.

Every time they sparred, he was always beaten black and blue by Noah and Shiryu. Yet, despite being unskilled, he was addicted to it, always styling himself as a future great swordsman and clamoring that one day he would become the Navy's number one sword expert.

Then he would be beaten into a daze by Noah and Shiryu with bamboo swords, howling in pain...

Today was no different. After a morning of sword training, Rosinante was bruised and battered, but his expression was quite satisfied, as if he believed he had made significant progress in the way of the sword while being abused.

Noah couldn't bear to burst his bubble, so he could only offer perfunctory comfort while applying medicine to Rosinante, saying things like, "If you keep this up, you'll definitely realize your dream and become a famous master swordsman in the Navy."

The afternoon was purely for physical training. The energy consumption was immense, and since Noah didn't leave, Rosinante and Shiryu were too embarrassed to leave first, so they kept at it until seven or eight in the evening.

Both of them were exhausted, their faces weary. After getting their meals, they just lowered their heads to eat in silence, having no energy left to speak.

In contrast, Noah looked like nothing had happened. He was still full of energy and glowing, his appetite so good that a tall stack of trays piled up beside him in the blink of an eye.

The two brothers opposite him stared in disbelief.

"You really are something..."

Shiryu looked at Noah, his expression full of things left unsaid. "Although your stamina has always been monstrous, it seems to have become even more abnormal lately..."

"Is that so? Maybe it's because there's less training time since we boarded the warship, so I have more energy."

Noah looked up, blinked innocently, and continued eating—though he had a huge appetite, his table manners were actually quite refined and careful, lacking that ravenous, wolf-like intensity.

"..."

Shiryu choked. He and Rosinante exchanged a look, both seeing the speechlessness in each other's eyes.

To spend more time with Noah, they had followed him and trained until seven or eight in the evening, two hours later than they usually did at headquarters. And he called this "less training time"?

He really was an unreasonable training maniac!

Noah didn't notice their strange expressions. As he quickly filled his stomach, he silently pondered the day's training content in his heart, making a systematic summary and analysis.

This had been his habit for many years.

"Without the acceleration effect of the Taijutsu Training Card, the speed of progress is much slower than last week."

"But compared to when I was stuck in a bottleneck before, it's still much better. It seems that the increase in attribute points has broadened the path for me to tap into my physical potential, as if the deeper parts of the human treasure vault have been opened, preventing me from falling into the awkward situation of stagnation again."

He was fairly certain of a few things and felt quite content. Just as he finished dinner and was preparing to go to the training room for extra practice, he was stopped by Shiryu and Rosinante.

"That's enough, Noah, give it a rest!"

Shiryu draped an arm over his shoulder and said helplessly, "It's one thing to work yourself to the bone at the base, but now that we've finally managed to get out, you should at least give yourself some room to relax."

"Yeah, save some energy for the practical assessment, Brother Noah." Rosinante also chimed in with a playful grin, "The moonlight is beautiful tonight, let's go for a stroll outside, walk off our dinner and clear our heads."

"Strolling under the moonlight with two grown men?" Noah pulled a face of utter disgust. "How boring! Do you think I'm like you two, unable to find a girl to keep me company?"

As he spoke, he lifted his foot, preparing to head toward the training room.

Then, the very next second, he was forcibly hoisted up by the two exasperated guys and carried out of the cabin and onto the deck.

First update, there will be another before midnight. Thanks to Shi Luonian a for the 10,000-point reward, and to Yelou Buke, Shenjie Jiutu, and Xiongmao Panda for their support. This newbie is tearing up, thank you so much~