Portgas

A brand-new, deep blue interface appeared. As Noah's gaze drifted downward, the text flowed like a stream, rippling through the silence of the summer night.

Swordmaster Ryuma's Insight Notes did not disappoint Noah; the vast majority of the content was related to the way of the sword.

It not only contained a massive amount of Ryuma's personal insights into swordsmanship but also detailed the various obstacles he encountered on his path to becoming a Great Swordmaster, as well as the mental journey he underwent to achieve enlightenment.

Noah felt as if he had discovered a priceless treasure; after reading only a page or two, he was completely enthralled.

The only regret was that the writing style carried the archaic flavor of Wano Country from hundreds of years ago, interspersed with many obscure waka and haiku poems.

It was cryptic and difficult to read, proving quite mentally taxing.

Although the later content is incomplete, even the earlier parts will take a considerable amount of time to fully digest and understand. I'll need to take it slow...

Noah lay on the bed, staring at the document, his eyes deep and contemplative.

He knew well that one cannot become fat in a single bite, but his foundation in swordsmanship was solid enough. With this True Explanation of Sword Dao in his possession, as long as he continued his diligent training, rapid progress in his swordsmanship realm would not be difficult.

The realm of a Swordmaster was already within reach.

The next day.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, Noah rose early to wash up and went out for a run around the perimeter of the village.

Then, in a secluded spot, he used Momousagi's great blade, Kotpira, to conduct over an hour of sword training. After practicing some of the techniques he had newly grasped the previous night, he returned to Shizi's home.

Noah did not dare to practice in the small courtyard.

For one, the space was cramped, and he feared damaging the meticulously pruned flowers and plants; for another, he was worried that his crude swordsmanship might reveal flaws to Rear Admiral Shizi.

This was his second day on Gulu Island.

Throughout the entire day, Noah played the role of Momousagi perfectly, acting as if he had truly come specifically to visit Rear Admiral Shizi, accompanying the old lady to prune flowers, bask in the sun, and chat.

He also spent time chatting and joking with little Hina, who was clinging to him, and even played a few small games with her, such as hide-and-seek and catching pirates.

The small courtyard was filled with a harmonious atmosphere, with laughter ringing out from time to time.

Regarding the mission, Noah was very patient.

To prevent the atmosphere from becoming awkward again, he even abandoned his plan to probe Rear Admiral Shizi with side remarks, shifting his target to Hina instead. He hoped to find clues about the events of those years from the child who had lived with the Rear Admiral for three years.

Regrettably, little Hina knew nothing. Regarding this beloved grand-niece, the old lady seemed to rarely mention stories from her time at the Headquarters.

Even regarding Garp, Hina only knew what any other ordinary child in this world knew: that he was a great Marine hero who had personally defeated the Pirate King Gol D. Roger. She knew nothing else.

This left Noah somewhat disappointed.

However, he was not impatient. During his spare time, he would silently open Swordmaster Ryuma's Insight Notes and continue to slowly chew through the content from the previous night.

By the end of the day, he had read for a full five or six hours, gaining many insights and pushing his progress through the book quite a bit further.

After dinner, the old lady went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Noah couldn't help, and originally intended to find a spot in the garden to sit and continue reading, but he couldn't resist Hina's enthusiastic invitation. He followed her into the little one's room for the first time to visit and look around.

Plush toys, dolls...

In this cozy little nest dominated by the color pink, these things were naturally in abundance. Hina acted like a museum guide, excitedly introducing her collection to Noah one by one.

Unfortunately, Noah was not the real Momousagi; no matter how much of a childlike heart he might have, he still lacked any interest in these items.

While perfunctorily dealing with Hina, he scanned the room's closet, and his gaze finally landed on a stack of photo frames stored in the corner.

This stack of frames was placed on the top shelf of the closet. At the little girl's height of 1.5 meters, she couldn't reach them even on tiptoes, and they were covered in dust, looking quite old—they clearly didn't belong to Hina.

Noah's heart stirred. He walked quickly to the closet, took out the stack of frames, wiped away the dust, and began to carefully flip through them starting from the first one.

As he expected, the photos inside were clearly from many years ago, and most were group photos.

Rear Admiral Shizi looked very young in them, with no wrinkles on her face. In most of the photos, she was nestled in the arms of a tall, stubbly man, holding a bouquet of roses with a sweet, happy smile on her face.

Is this... Rear Admiral Shizi's husband?

Noah remembered that while they were still on the warship, Momousagi had mentioned to him that Rear Admiral Shizi once had a very fulfilling marriage; her lover was a rose plantation owner from the South Blue.

However...

More than twenty years ago, this plantation owner, who was just an ordinary person, had died at the hands of pirates. Because their social circles were different, even Momousagi had never met him and didn't know his name.

She only knew that Rear Admiral Shizi had deep feelings for him, and even though they had no children after marriage, she had remained a widow ever since, never remarrying.

If there were no children...

Noah flipped to the later photos and couldn't help but frown. Then who is this little girl?

In the last few photos at the bottom, besides the passionately embracing couple, there was an additional little girl with long flaxen hair.

She was sandwiched between the two, making a "V" sign at the camera with a bright, sunny smile.

She appeared in several consecutive photos, and the backgrounds were all different, so she was clearly not just a passerby joining in the fun.

"Sister Gion, what are you looking at?"

Hina noticed his movements at this moment and curiously leaned over. Unfortunately, the height difference was too great; no matter how hard she tried, she could only reach Noah's navel.

Noah glanced at her, found a chair to sit on, pointed at the little girl in the photo, and asked softly, "Little Hina, do you know this little girl in the photo?"

"...I don't recognize her."

Hina stared carefully for a long time, first shaking her head in confusion, but soon her eyes lit up as if she had remembered something. She put her hands on her hips and said triumphantly:

"This is the first time Hina has seen these photos too, but it's easy to guess. This little girl must be Mr. Portgas's niece!"

"Who?"

"Mr. Portgas, he's Grandma Shizi's husband. I think I should call him... hmm, what was it, great-uncle-in-law?"

Hina tilted her little head, thinking about it with a troubled expression, before shaking her head and giving up on the idea of figuring out the exact title.

"Anyway, Hina never got to meet her, but I heard Grandma Shizi mention that before they got married, Mr. Portgas had a niece whose parents had passed away, so they adopted her and raised her like their own daughter for several years."

"So this little girl is that niece who was adopted for those few years, is she..."

Noah took a deep breath, realizing that he had seemingly stumbled upon something incredible by accident. "Little Hina, do you know this little girl's name?"

"I don't remember it very clearly; Grandma Shizi only mentioned it once."

Hina made a pained face, racking her brains for a long time, until she finally dug that bit of forgotten information out from the depths of her memory.

"Let Hina think, uh... it seems like it was Luna, or was it Rouge?"

She scratched her hair, looking a bit muddled.

First update, the second update will be in the evening. Weakly asking for votes. Also, the fan ranking is only thirty away from reaching one hundred. Thanks to all the big bosses for your support over the last two days~!