Childhood Sweethearts

So these are the random items refreshed every week, as mentioned in the regulations?

They are actually more reliable than he expected; it's so serious that it doesn't even feel like a Love Cell Cultivation System, though the points required for most items are a bit frightening...

Apparition skill scroll? Does that refer to the sorcery from the HP world, or is it a modified low-spec version?

Regardless, if it could really be redeemed, wouldn't it be a god-tier skill for traveling across the ocean!

As for Wind Wall, the name sounds a bit familiar; it seems to be an incredibly powerful skill as well.

However, with the prerequisite of Advanced Swordsmanship standing in the way, it is still far too distant for Noah, so no matter how much he covets it, he can only set it aside for now.

"Only fifteen hundred points were gifted."

After finishing his soup, Noah tore into his roasted meat, continuing to silently scan the shop panel. "It seems that for this week's random items, I can only afford to redeem these two at most..."

Kami-e skill scroll (Intermediate) and the Taijutsu Training Acceleration Card (7 days).

Noah happens to need both of these right now, and there would still be a small remainder of points after the purchase, but he didn't rush to redeem them immediately, instead flipping through the permanent shop items.

[Basic Strength Point: 2000 points/point at current stage]

[Basic Agility Point: 2000 points/point at current stage]

[Basic Stamina Point: 2000 points/point at current stage]

[Basic Intelligence Point: 20,000 points/point at current stage]

[Basic Charisma Point: 50,000 points/point at current stage]

[Character Detector: 500 points/use, daily purchase limit 2]

"Most of them only cost two thousand points for now."

Noah began to hesitate.

The boost in strength brought by increasing basic attribute points is certainly considerable. Should he use the points he has on those two items, or save up a bit more to redeem attribute points instead...

Besides, Intelligence and Charisma are ridiculously expensive.

Perhaps it's because the quantification rules are different? Noah thought about his current Charisma value, which was already enough to sweep through the women in the recruit camp, and for a moment, he understood.

The gap between each point of such attributes is simply too large. If he were to spare no cost to specialize in Charisma and add a few more points, he feared that his smile might become as lethal as that of the future Empress Hancock!

Just as he was pondering, a commotion suddenly erupted from the entrance of the cafeteria.

"Hm?"

Noah shifted his gaze away from the system panel, and as he looked toward the source of the noise, he discovered a familiar figure appearing at the entrance.

The naval soldiers at the tables near the door had all left their seats, excitedly crowding around.

"Vice Admiral Garp!"

"Vice Admiral! You've finally returned!"

"You're half a month later than expected. Did the mission go well?"

The one being surrounded was none other than the Hero of the Marines, the current Vice Admiral of the Headquarters, Garp.

The old man looked travel-worn, his hair disheveled, as if he had just stepped off a warship.

But seeing these young, enthusiastic faces, he suppressed his fatigue and couldn't help but grin happily:

"Hahaha, you brats, long time no see!"

"The mission went smoothly, of course. With me personally taking charge, could any pirate possibly escape from my hands?"

As Garp answered, he tried to squeeze into the cafeteria, but the surrounding soldiers were so enthusiastic—it was practically a fan meet-and-greet—that he hadn't moved more than a few steps after a long while, and he began to grumble in dissatisfaction:

"Aiya, why are you all blocking the way? Move aside, move aside! You lot have eaten your fill, but my stomach is about to cave in from hunger, and I'm in a hurry to eat!"

This remark drew a burst of laughter from those around him. The young naval soldiers looked at each other sheepishly and retreated to both sides, clearing a path to the cafeteria window for the poor, starving old man.

"Ha, that's more like it."

Garp laughed heartily and strode through the crowd toward the window.

"Mr. Garp..."

Noah didn't crowd forward to block the way. As he watched Garp's figure, his heart suddenly stirred, and he remembered the Character Detector mentioned by the system earlier.

Judging by the description, this thing seems to be able to detect other people's attributes and display them in front of him in the form of a data panel—but what about its versatility? Can it only be used on the opposite sex, or can it be used on anyone?

Noah had long been curious about just how strong a figure like Garp, who stood at the pinnacle of the ocean, truly was. Plus, it was already evening, and with the day about to end, he might as well use his one free daily detection...

Without hesitation, he cast a detection on Garp.

[Character: Monkey D. Garp]

[Age: 57 years old]

[Strength: ???]

[Agility: ???]

[Stamina: ???]

[Intelligence: 7]

[Charisma: 8]

[Skills: Armament Haki (Master), Observation Haki (Master), Rokushiki (Master), Hand-to-Hand Combat (Master)...]

[Estimated Point Reward for Successful Conquest: Ambiguous Relationship/80,000 points, Romantic Relationship/400,000 points]

[Note: While I don't know just how deranged you must be to scan an empty-nester old man who picks his nose all day, there is no doubt that if you conquer this great Marine hero, you will receive an incredibly staggering point reward.]

"..."

After a long silence, Noah expressionlessly closed the page.

Showing the front part was enough, you jerk!

Does this system have a screw loose? He was clearly just curious and wanted to scan him, so how could it conclude that he wanted to conquer Garp? He was a straight man, for heaven's sake!

But fortunately, he did see the data panel he wanted. There were just a lot of unknown question marks, which Noah guessed was because the gap in strength between him and Garp was too vast, causing the physical base attributes to be incomplete.

It was just like playing an online game in his past life; when you first left the novice village and entered the main city, the NPC big shots you saw always had a string of question marks above their heads.

He truly is a peak powerhouse of this world... Noah clicked his tongue inwardly. He didn't feel the scanner was a waste; he was just wondering what level of strength he would need to reach to see Garp's full attributes.

And as for himself, would he ever be able to reach such a realm of strength in the future?

Come to think of it, although this scanner liked to add smart-alecky notes, its function and scope of application were clearly greater than he had anticipated. Noah was quite satisfied with this.

"Eh?"

Just then, Garp, who was passing through the corridor, suddenly noticed Noah in the corner. As if remembering something, he patted his head, fished a letter out from his bosom, and strode toward him.

"Mr. Garp!"

Rosinante and Shiryu both stopped eating and stood up to offer a military salute. Noah did the same, but when he saw the letter in Garp's hand, he froze for a moment, having a rough guess in his heart.

"Hey, little Noah!"

Garp walked straight to the table and stuffed the letter into Noah's hand. "I picked this up while resting during a layover at the 16th Branch. Your family asked me to bring it to you. Good thing I suddenly remembered; as one gets older, the memory just keeps getting worse."

"That's not true at all."

Noah carefully tucked the letter into his pocket and bowed earnestly to Garp. "Thank you for the trouble, Mr. Garp."

Setting aside his reverence for Garp's deeds and character, this old man had been his benefactor. If it weren't for Garp's recommendation, it wouldn't have been so easy for him to enter the Headquarters Elite Training Camp; he might still be messing around in the East Blue right now.

"Just a small favor."

Garp waved his hand dismissively. "Right, I haven't paid much attention to you new recruits for a while. When I asked Zephyr a few months ago, he said you ranked 59th in the assessment. How have you been lately? Any progress?"

"Uh..."

Noah felt awkward. He scratched his head. "Still about the same as usual..."

Back at the 16th Branch, Noah had performed exceptionally well, earning Garp's favor and high expectations. Unfortunately, after entering the Headquarters, he had become somewhat indistinguishable from the crowd.

"Eh?"

Garp was surprised at first, then clicked his tongue and patted Noah on the shoulder.

"Still not working hard enough, kid! I'll be coming to watch the final assessment when you graduate next year, so you'd better step it up! Strive to get the highest evaluation from Zephyr by then!"

"Yes, Vice Admiral!"

Noah offered a military salute and answered firmly and loudly.

After Garp nodded in satisfaction, Noah watched his back recede before sitting down with a helpless heart.

It seemed Garp hadn't realized he had misjudged him, assuming his current mediocre performance was due to a lack of effort.

But Noah knew better than anyone just how hard he had been training since entering the Headquarters...

If the system hadn't appeared to bring a turning point in his fate, he feared that by the time he graduated, he would only see deep disappointment in Garp's eyes...

He continued eating his dinner, but Rosinante, sitting opposite him, was curious about the letter Garp had brought. He leaned in and said with a wink:

"Hey, brother Noah, hurry up and open it. Let us see what's written in the letter."

Shiryu, sitting to the side, drank his soup in silence. He appeared indifferent, but the corner of his eye kept darting toward Noah's pocket.

"That's private, you brat."

Noah mercilessly tapped the guy's head with the back of his spoon and said irritably:

"Besides, this is a family letter from my father. What's there to see?"

"Forget it."

Rosinante felt the pain but remained persistent. With a look that said he had seen through him, he said triumphantly, "I saw it just now; the letter paper inside is pink. Since when does a father write to his son on pink stationery?"

"Hmm?"

Noah was stunned. His attention had been on Garp earlier, so he really hadn't noticed.

He hurriedly took out the letter and held it up to the overhead light to check. Sure enough, he could faintly see a pale pink hue through the back of the white envelope.

Ah, this is bad...

He realized it instantly and rubbed his temples in a headache. Because his training had been so grueling lately, he hadn't reached out to his childhood sweetheart back home for a long time.

--It seems she must be angry now, right?

He could almost picture it: the chestnut-haired girl, pouting as she sat under a desk lamp to write a letter of reproach, then entrusting it to her father to give to Garp, only for it to cross the vast ocean and be delivered to him at Marineford.

"I'm truly sorry."

Filled with guilt, Noah tore open the envelope and discovered two sheets of paper of different colors folded inside.

The white one was clearly a letter from his parents, while the other, a pink sheet, naturally came from his childhood friend.

[To the idiot Noah]

Right in the center of the folded-up blank side was that single sentence, and in the bottom right corner was a signature written in elegant, delicate handwriting.

--Afya F. Bell-mère