Setting Sail Again

After Luo Ya finally fully digested the sword intent brought by Scorching Cloud, his Dragon Claw Fist also began to take proper shape. By this point, he had been training on Oswaldo Island for three months.

On this day, Luo Ya made a rare appearance outside the training grounds, leaving Vitt looking quite surprised.

"Vitt, I plan to set sail for the next island tomorrow, so I'm taking a break from training today. Let's throw a banquet to liven things up before I leave."

"No problem, Lord Luo Ya." Vitt flashed a smile that any man would understand.

"Cough, cough—don't just invite girls; let's just have some drinks and keep it lively," Luo Ya said hurriedly, coughing twice for fear that Vitt might misunderstand.

Night fell.

The lobby of the largest restaurant on Oswaldo Island was packed with people. They were all Vitt's trusted subordinates and underlings.

Luo Ya sat in the center, flanked by the pink-haired, wavy-haired twins from last time, both wearing tight-fitting white dresses that left little to the imagination regarding the mountains on their chests.

Vitt sat to the right of the table, his arm around an unfamiliar blonde girl.

"Listen up, boys! Let the banquet begin!" As Vitt's words fell, a large group of men immediately began to howl and cheer.

"A toast to Lord Luo Ya!" Following that, everyone in the room raised their glasses in unison.

Luo Ya picked up the wooden cup in front of him. "Cheers!" Bang! The sound of clinking glasses rang out one after another.

After losing count of how many beers Vitt had poured for him, everyone in the room except for Luo Ya had been wiped out.

"My tolerance has improved way too fast, hahahaha." Luo Ya laughed, pulling the twins toward his room.

He left behind a group of men sprawled across the floor in every direction.

It must be said that Luo Ya's tolerance wasn't actually bad; it was just that compared to an old hand like Maynard, who had been roaming the seas for years, he still had a long way to go.

After another twenty thousand words of "aerobic exercise"—why an extra ten thousand? One person for each ten thousand!—Luo Ya stumbled out from the pincer attack of the four great mountains, took a shower, and headed toward the harbor.

Boarding the Black Pearl, Luo Ya found that the lowest deck was already packed to the brim with food and alcohol.

The training equipment on the third deck had also been replaced with heavier, higher-quality gear.

He couldn't help but sigh at how good Vitt was at playing the social game; no wonder he could serve as the person in charge of an island despite being so weak.

PS: Vitt: I'm only weak compared to monsters like you all!

Taking out the Log Pose that had finished recording, Luo Ya adjusted his course and powered up the Black Pearl, setting off toward the next island.

According to Vitt, the voyage to the next island would take at least a month.

Luo Ya didn't spend this time idling. It was no wonder Dragon had become an Admiral candidate at such a young age.

After defecting from the Navy, it hadn't taken him long to pull together a formidable team.

This Dragon Claw Fist training manual was meticulous and detailed, containing a wealth of knowledge regarding other forms of martial arts as well.

Every day, in addition to practicing his martial arts and Dragon Claw Fist according to the manual, Luo Ya spent his time meditating while holding Ryujin Jakka.

According to Maynard, it was only when a swordsman entered the third stage that they truly began to display their real strength.

Otherwise, why would there be so many Great Swordsmen among the top-tier powerhouses, despite their defensive durability being inferior to those who trained in martial arts, and their flexibility and attack range being less versatile than Devil Fruit users? It was all because of sword intent.

Although a swordsman possessing sword intent might be inferior to others in various aspects, their overwhelming offensive power was something others simply couldn't compare to.

Battles between swordsmen at this level usually ended very quickly, because they would either land a few strikes and kill their opponent, or miss and be killed themselves. The attack power of a swordsman of the same level could even surpass the damage output of Logia-type Devil Fruits.

Of course, they fell far short in terms of AOE. The stronger the sword intent, the stronger the swordsman.

The way to enhance sword intent was through meditation. Luo Ya wasn't sure how others meditated.

The method Maynard taught Luo Ya leaned more toward clearing the mind and focusing entirely on sensing the blade in his hand. It was similar to "listening to the breath of all things," only he was listening solely to the sword in his hand.

According to Maynard, this was how orthodox swordsmen meditated. Having the prior experience of sensing the "breath of steel," his meditation naturally yielded twice the result with half the effort.

The meditation method Luo Ya chose, however, was to burn the Kikuichimonji and Daitenta Mitsuyo he currently possessed within his soul space. As the two black blades dissolved, the sword intent and Armament Haki stored within them continuously strengthened him.

Time passed slowly. It was said that the weather in the Grand Line was unpredictable, but Luo Ya hadn't encountered much extreme weather; at most, there was some rain, which had no effect on him at all.

As for the Sea Kings, none had been blind enough to cross his path, making Luo Ya wonder if he had awakened some sort of "King's Haki."

In reality, the seven routes of the Grand Line had been explored for many years; any Sea King with a brain wouldn't attack people traveling these paths.

What? You ask about the ones without brains? The ones without brains had long since gone extinct.

After a peaceful journey, he finally saw the silhouette of the island ahead. Excited, Luo Ya activated the Black Pearl's jet thrusters, rushing toward the island's dock at top speed.

The jet thrusters, used for the first time, did not disappoint, propelling the ship toward the island at an incredible velocity.

If Luo Ya had been any slower in cutting the power, the Black Pearl would have essentially been smashed to pieces upon impact.

After docking and locking the Black Pearl, Luo Ya grabbed a case of Beli and stepped onto the port.