"Back when I drew them, the notes said the power of these blades hadn't been fully developed yet?"
Noah sat cross-legged at the stern. Suddenly remembering this, he opened the system panel, found the newly appeared weapon section, and checked the attribute descriptions for his two swords.
[Wind Sword / Yone's Sword] [Current Grade: Ryo Wazamono (grade descriptions have automatically been adjusted to match the player's current worldview)] [Upgradeable (next grade: Great Grade Blade)] [Requirements for Upgrade: Blood of the Wicked ×1000, 50,000 points] [Description: When they return from the spirit realm to the mortal world, the demonic aura wandering among humanity becomes the finest nourishment for the blades. So-called sinful souls can attain true redemption only beneath these swords.]
"So they really can be upgraded."
Noah studied the information thoughtfully. "The cost is a little steep, but being able to grow is still a good thing. There doesn't seem to be a limit for now. Maybe after Great Grade Blade, they might even have a chance to upgrade into Saijo O Wazamono?"
In the pirate world, the finest swords and blades were ranked, from highest to lowest, as the twelve Saijo O Wazamono, the Wazamono 21, and the fifty Ryo Wazamono.
Saijo O Wazamono were treasures truly rare in this world.
As far as Noah knew, only Dracule Mihawk, the world's greatest Swordmaster, had "Black Blade Yoru," while Whitebeard's great blade, Murakumogiri, belonged to that class.
"Saijo O Wazamono..." Noah gazed at the fiery clouds on the horizon, his eyes filled with longing.
To upgrade them, he would have to set aside some points for this in the future. But how exactly was "the blood of the wicked" judged?
To upgrade to a Great Grade Blade required a thousand portions of the wicked's blood. Noah was not sure whether he had to personally kill a thousand people, or whether merely defeating them and letting the blades be stained with their blood would suffice.
The former was far too bloody and extreme, more like the trait of some blood-sacrifice demonic artifact. Noah looked at the red-and-white blades in his hands and felt that the latter was probably more likely.
"Heh, that makes me look forward to the combat assessment even more."
As long as he could make it in time, he could test his current strength, improve his perpetually unchanged ranking, and stockpile some sinful blood to prepare for future weapon upgrades.
That was killing three birds with one stone—and they were some pretty big birds.
At dinner time, Noah did not want to keep eating canned food. After rummaging through the kitchen in the cabin for quite a while, he discovered that the seasoning supplies were actually quite complete.
So he eagerly caught several sea fish, figuring that grilling fish on a lone boat beneath the brilliant stars ought to be a rather poetic experience.
Unfortunately, reality and fantasy were always two different things.
His cooking skills were terrible. The final product was a ghastly mess that no longer even looked like fish, and as for the taste... it was hard to put into words.
After barely managing to split half a fish with T Bone, Noah did not want to touch it again. He shoved the grill away in disgust and darted into the cabin to open some canned food.
Pengen was an honest kid. He could not bear to waste the unfinished grilled fish, so he forced himself to finish every last bit. Less than twenty minutes later, his expression changed drastically, and he charged into the cabin's bathroom in a single stride, transforming into a human fountain.
When he came out, his legs were shaking.
"This isn't my fault!"
Noah tossed him a can while righteously insisting that, having been born into a Marine family and trained diligently from childhood, he simply had no time to practice cooking.
If he had started in some beginner village—say, the Baratie—then he, Romanov Noah, would surely have become an incredible chef!
The voyage afterward remained fairly smooth. They encountered neither extreme weather nor ocean storms.
Compared with the Grand Line, the Four Blues were ultimately much calmer and safer.
Noah continued his high-intensity hellish training. He also tried staying awake through the night, only to find himself just as energetic the next day, proving that with his current monstrous physique, resting once every three days was entirely feasible.
Before long, night fell again. After studying the nautical chart and Log Pose, T Bone happily told Noah that they were traveling even faster than originally expected.
Only the final short stretch remained before Citrus Island. At most, they would arrive in four or five hours.
This was an unexpected delight. Noah finally stopped his grueling training and decided to get some proper rest, conserve his strength, and face the pirate officers on the island in peak condition.
—Assuming Shiryu and the others had not already wiped them all out.
However, he had barely dozed off and had not slept for long before Pengen shook him awake.
"What is it?" Noah groggily opened his eyes. "Have we arrived?"
"No, Mr. Noah." Pengen looked nervous as he pointed into the distance. "At five o'clock, there seems to be a pirate ship heading our way."
Hm?
Noah instantly snapped awake. He flipped over and leaped to his feet, arriving at the railing as he looked in the direction Pengen indicated.
Through the hazy sea mist, he could indeed vaguely make out a medium-sized ship flying a black pirate flag, slowly drifting toward them with the current.
"Head over!"
Noah's eyes lit up as he immediately issued the command, though he had only one subordinate under him.
"Those pirates are awfully arrogant! They see our Marine warship and, instead of fleeing, they actually dare to come right at us? We have to teach them a lesson!"
Uh, Lord Noah, weren't we sailing something other than a warship?
This was clearly just a small speedboat that could carry five or six people at most...
T Bone felt an ache in his balls and nearly failed to suppress the urge to complain, but in the end, he simply nodded and carried out the order without another word.
He naturally had a deep trust in Noah, such an important figure from Marine Headquarters. Besides, after spending the past two days together, merely watching Noah's hellish training had shown the young man just how terrifying Noah's strength truly was.
—At the very least, the entire 329th Branch could not find anyone stronger than him.
The two ships steadily drew closer, and soon they were near enough to clearly see the situation on each other's decks with the naked eye.
"Something's not right..."
Noah examined the pirate ship, gradually furrowing his brow.
At this distance, the pirate ship still showed no intention of opening fire. The deck was silent, and even from afar, not a single figure could be seen. It felt eerily sinister.
Its speed was also unbearably slow. It seemed to be merely drifting with the sea breeze, not like there was anyone steering it at all.
"Do you recognize that pirate flag?" he asked, pointing at the top of the mast.
The black flag fluttered in the wind. Other than a black hat, the skull drawn upon it had no distinguishing features whatsoever.
T Bone scrutinized it for a long time before finally shaking his head in shame.
"I don't recognize it, sir. I've been enlisted for two years, but I spent most of my time training in martial arts. I rarely memorized pirate crew flags..."
"I see."
Though Noah was slightly disappointed, he could understand. After thinking it over, he ordered, "Come on. Pull alongside it, and we'll board together to take a look."
I couldn't finish writing last night. I'm getting old and can't stay up late anymore; my head hurt. I'll count it as one chapter owed.
PS: Thanks to Ancestor of the Wolf King for the 10,000 reward, and to Ink Jade Condenses, Taking Things Seriously Yet Being Timid Is Fine Alone for the 5,000-coin rewards;
To Little Nine-Tailed Fox Who Loves Reading, A Bookworm in a Reading Slump, and Book Friend 20200519185655503 for the 1,500-coin rewards;
And to Hold a Blade of Grass, The Sow in Your Backyard, Your Sunshine na, Book Friend 20200222142843323, Book Friend 150827222652299, Wait, Why Are My Pants Missing, and the other readers for their support and rewards~
As usual, a 10,000 reward earns an extra chapter. I currently owe four extra chapters; including last night's, that makes five. Once the story goes premium, I'll definitely release a huge batch to repay everyone.
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