"Portgas"

A brand-new, deep-blue interface appeared. As Noah's gaze moved downward, the words flowed like a stream through the quiet summer night.

Ryuma's insight notes did not disappoint Noah. The vast majority of their contents concerned the sword.

They not only contained Ryuma's many insights into swordsmanship, but also detailed the various challenges he had encountered on his path to becoming a Great Swordmaster, along with the journey of thought through which he had broken through and attained enlightenment.

Noah treated it like a priceless treasure. After reading only a page or two, he was completely absorbed.

The only regret was perhaps that the writing carried the archaic style of Wano Country from several centuries ago, mixed with many obscure waka poems and haiku of unclear meaning.

It was difficult and exhausting to read.

"Although the later contents are incomplete, even fully understanding what comes before will take quite some time. I'll have to take it slowly..."

Noah lay on his bed, gazing at the document with deep eyes.

He knew well that one could not grow fat in a single bite. However, his foundation in swordsmanship was solid enough. With this True Explanation of Sword Dao, as long as he continued training diligently, it would not be difficult for his swordsmanship to improve by leaps and bounds.

The realm of a Swordmaster was already within reach.

The next day.

Before dawn had fully broken, Noah had risen early and finished washing up. He first went out for a run around the outskirts of the village.

Then, in a secluded spot, he used Momousagi's Great Grade Blade, Kompira, to train in swordsmanship for over an hour. Only after putting some of the sword techniques he had newly comprehended the previous night into practice did he return to Shizi's home.

Noah did not dare train in the small courtyard.

For one thing, the space was too cramped, and he was afraid of damaging the carefully pruned flowers and plants. For another, he worried that his crude swordsmanship would expose flaws to Rear Admiral Shizi.

This was his second day on Gulu Island.

Throughout the day, Noah perfectly played the role of Momousagi, as if he had truly come specifically to visit Rear Admiral Shizi. He accompanied the old woman in trimming flowers and plants, basking in the sun;

He also chatted and joked with little Hina, who kept clinging to him, and played little games with her such as hide-and-seek and catching pirates.

The courtyard was filled with warm cheer, with laughter ringing out from time to time.

Noah was very patient regarding the mission.

To keep the atmosphere from becoming awkward again, he even abandoned his plan of probing Rear Admiral Shizi indirectly. Instead, he shifted his target to Hina, hoping to learn some clues about what had happened back then from the child who had lived with Rear Admiral Shizi for three years.

Unfortunately, little Hina knew nothing. The old woman apparently seldom told this beloved grandniece about her time at Marine Headquarters.

Even regarding Garp, Hina was no different from the other ordinary children of this world. She only knew that he was a great Marine hero who had once personally defeated Pirate King Gol D. Roger, and knew nothing else.

This disappointed Noah somewhat.

But he was not impatient. Whenever he had nothing to do, he silently opened Swordmaster Ryuma's Insight Notes and continued working through it slowly from where he had left off the night before.

Over the course of the day, he read for a full five or six hours. He gained quite a few insights and advanced considerably further through the book.

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

Noah could not help, and had originally planned to find somewhere in the garden to sit and continue reading. However, he could not refuse Hina's enthusiastic invitation, so he followed her to the little girl's room for the first time, as a guest on a tour.

Stuffed dolls, toy dolls...

Naturally, this cozy little nest dominated by pink was full of such things. Like a museum guide, Hina enthusiastically introduced every item in her collection to Noah.

Unfortunately, Noah was not truly Momousagi. No matter how youthful he might be at heart, he still had no interest in such things.

While halfheartedly responding to Hina, he surveyed the room's cabinet. At last, his gaze landed on a stack of picture frames stored in a corner.

The stack of frames had been placed on the very top shelf of the cabinet. With the little girl's height of only five feet, she could not reach them even standing on tiptoe. They were also covered in dust and seemed to have been there for years, clearly not belonging to Hina.

Noah's heart stirred. He quickly walked over to the cabinet, took out the stack of frames, brushed off the dust, and began carefully flipping through them from the first photograph onward.

Just as he had expected, the frames contained old photographs from many years ago, mostly group photos.

Rear Admiral Shizi looked quite young in them, with no wrinkles on her face. In most of the photographs, she nestled against the chest of a tall, stubbly man, holding a bouquet of roses and wearing a sweet, blissful smile.

This was... Rear Admiral Shizi's husband?

Noah remembered that while still aboard the warship, Momousagi had mentioned that Rear Admiral Shizi had once enjoyed a very happy marriage. Her beloved had been a rose plantation owner from the South Blue.

However...

More than twenty years ago, that plantation owner, who had only been an ordinary man, had died at the hands of pirates. Their social circles had been different, so even Momousagi had never met him and did not know his name.

She only knew that Rear Admiral Shizi had loved him deeply. Even though they had failed to have children after their marriage, she had remained a widow for the plantation owner and never remarried.

"If they had no children..."

Noah flipped to the later photographs, unable to stop himself from frowning. "Then who is this little girl?"

In the last few group photos, aside from Rear Admiral Shizi and her husband embracing passionately, there was also a little girl with long flaxen hair.

Standing between them, she made a V-sign at the camera, her smile bright as sunshine.

She appeared in several consecutive group photos, each with a different background location. She was clearly no random passerby who had joined in for the fun.

"Big Sister Gion, what are you looking at?"

Hina noticed his movements at this point and curiously leaned over. Unfortunately, the difference in their heights was too great. No matter how hard she tried, she could only reach Noah's navel.

Noah looked at her, found a chair, and sat down. Pointing at the little girl in the photograph, he asked softly, "Little Hina, do you know this girl in the photo?"

"...No."

Hina studied it carefully for a long while. At first, she shook her head blankly, but soon her eyes lit up as though she had remembered something. Planting her hands on her hips, she said proudly:

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

"Who?"

"Mr. Portgas was Granny Shizi's husband! I think I should call him... um, what was it again? Great-uncle by marriage?"

Hina tilted her little head and thought about it in distress for a moment before giving up on figuring out the proper form of address.

"Anyway, Hina never got to meet him, but Granny Shizi mentioned that before they got married, Mr. Portgas had a niece whose parents had both died. He adopted her and cared for her as his own daughter for several years."

"So this little girl was the niece he adopted for several years..."

Noah drew a deep breath, realizing that he seemed to have stumbled upon something extraordinary by accident. "Little Hina, do you know this girl's name?"

"I can't remember very clearly. Granny Shizi only mentioned it once."

Hina made a miserable face and racked her brains for a long time before finally digging up that bit of information forgotten in the depths of her memory.

"Let Hina think... Um... I think her name was Luna, or maybe Rouge?"

She scratched her head, looking confused.

First update. The second will be posted tonight. Humbly asking for some votes, and the fan ranking is only a little over thirty away from reaching one hundred! Thanks to all the big shots for your support these past two days~!