Sea Circle Calendar 1509.
The Calm Belt, Amazon Lily, Kuja Island.
In the eastern jungle.
Norse was the user of the Sun-Sun Fruit, Sunshine.
The power within his body seemed to constantly set his blood ablaze. Especially when he fought, the Sun Fruit also brought Norse a rather troublesome side effect.
If he didn't carry himself with arrogance and an air of invincibility, he felt uncomfortable and ill at ease all over. When the discomfort became unbearable, he even felt an urge he couldn't control—to let loose completely and go on a rampage!
As time went by,
Norse's personality changed dramatically. Arrogance and invincibility were part of his daily life, though in the eyes of friendly people, perhaps that was just narcissism!
Now living in a veritable kingdom of women, Norse naturally followed his own arrogant, domineering path.
At first, some women had been hostile toward him and wanted to drive this National Treasure off Amazon Lily. But so what?
They were nothing more than women who'd never seen a man before. They couldn't resist Norse's arrogant, invincible charisma and were quickly won over.
Norse had no interest in these shallow women. Even if ten or a hundred of them stood naked right before his eyes, all that pale skin pressed together, he wouldn't be moved.
Such lofty arrogance meant that, as far as he could see, there were few people in this world who could match him.
"Perhaps... the haughty, cold Hancock might be qualified to be my equal?"
When Norse thought of her, he couldn't help sneering.
"Last night, in the middle of the night, she actually showed up in my room. If I hadn't still been awake, I wouldn't have caught her in the act. But this morning, she just looked at me with that cold, haughty face, not the least bit embarrassed or shy about what happened last night. She really is arrogant!"
Norse shook his head.
Actually, if he hadn't made such a terrible first impression three years ago, landing right in the ocean waves and nearly saying goodbye to this world while stark naked, Hancock wouldn't have been the one to get lucky.
Out in the vast ocean, she'd just happened to pass by and save him when he was stark naked. But then she'd flown into a thunderous rage, covered her eyes, and shouted,
"Damn you! You... you dared to defile my heart and eyes! I'll kill you, you shameless pervert!"
"I'm speechless. I'd been soaking in the sea for so long that I was completely weak. Otherwise, I would've put up a proper fight. I wouldn't have had to agree to so many of her demands just to stay alive!"
When Norse thought back to what happened three years ago, when he was fifteen, it all came back as if it had happened yesterday.
Of course, because of that incident, Norse had no choice but to board the Kuja Pirates' ship.
"Sigh!"
Norse really felt helpless about it. "What could I do? Hancock saved my life from the sea, so in name, it already belonged to her.
"And now, if I weren't keeping the promise I'd made back then, I would've hunted her for over a hundred thousand miles after she sneaked into my room last night and tried to get handsy with me. If it had been anyone else, I definitely would've!"
"If Hancock were like one of these True Fragrance Mushrooms I'm roasting in my hands, and let me eat her one bite at a time without resisting at all, I feel like I could reclaim all the dignity I lost to her."
Norse gazed at the skewers of True Fragrance Mushrooms roasting in his hands, then inexplicably smiled. Suddenly, he even laughed out loud, delighted.
"Hahaha..."
He lifted a skewer of roasted mushrooms and popped it into his mouth like a hero.
"Nom, nom, nom..."
He chewed the roasted mushrooms in big mouthfuls. Though these things really were as poisonous as the women claimed, they tasted unbelievably delicious—rich, satisfying, and not bad at all.
But before long,
Norse began to feel his energy waning instead of increasing. Most noticeably, his stamina was draining, and his body was growing fatigued. If he didn't find a way to treat himself, he figured mushrooms would start growing all over his body.
It seems the heat produced by the Sun Fruit can't destroy the poison inside the mushrooms when roasting them. If anything, the heat speeds up the poison's movement. Still, I wonder what it can ultimately do to me! Norse analyzed calmly, feeling rather expectant instead.
As the user of the Sun Fruit,
If his abilities were limited to producing light and heat, that would be far too boring.
So over the past three years,
Norse had devoted himself to developing many powerful abilities.
They included Gravity Flight, Phantom Sun-Chasing, Telekinetic Attraction, Black Hole Devour, Sun-Burst Art, Warm Healing, and Benevolent Domination.
These could be divided into two categories:
The power of the Merciless Sun included Black Hole Devour, Sun-Burst Art, and the like.
The power of the Compassionate Sun included Warm Healing, Benevolent Domination, and the like.
At that moment, Norse unleashed the power of the Compassionate Sun.
A layer of warm golden light immediately appeared all over his body. An endless stream of vitality followed, flowing into every cell in his body, much like the power of Life Return.
This was the warm healing power of compassion.
"As expected, the mushroom poison I just ingested is being forcibly eliminated. It's also clear that my body is powerful enough. I've long since used the unique properties of the Sun's power to temper myself over and over, pushing my body to its limits. And my fruit abilities have probably already been developed to an incredible degree!" Norse thought with a smile.
Perhaps his silent training and hard work over the past three years had finally paid off in incredible ways. Against ordinary poisons, it seemed that even without using any other powers, they couldn't do a thing to him.
"Splash..."
Suddenly, a harsh splashing sound rang in Norse's ears.
Norse looked toward the sound.
As it turned out, while he'd been relaxing and wasn't paying attention, a group of fierce beasts had gathered around the jungle, eyeing him covetously.
A boar with protruding tusks drooled. A black-backed gorilla kneaded a banana leaf, snot and drool running from its nose. There was also a mammoth swinging its trunk, along with a snarling bear. They were clearly trying to intimidate him.
Norse's expression turned murderous as he surveyed the hulking beasts around him. "Damn it! How dare you stare at your lord Norse while he enjoys his skewers? Who gave you the confidence and courage?"
Norse thought the ferocious beasts before him were a bunch of stupid animals who didn't know what was good for them.
"I only took over a small patch of your territory for three months, accidentally burned all your young to death, and ate a few of them while I was at it. Do you really need to come bother me every day, just so I can knock you flying again?"
The beasts around him shivered and shrank back under Norse's gaze.
History always repeated itself.
Even so, not one of the beasts left. Their hatred for him ran too deep.
But some drooling creatures were especially pathetic. They looked like fearsome beasts, yet their eyes had been lured by a few skewers of delicious True Fragrance Mushrooms.
"In that case, let's stick to the usual. All of you, come at me together!" Norse beckoned them over provocatively.
That tactic never failed. Every time he did it, the beasts charged at him furiously, without caring whether they lived or died.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom... smack, smack, smack, smack..."
Norse simply had to hold back. A punch here, a slap there, and he sent them all flying.
They all seemed to have the strength to trample anything beneath their feet, but against Norse they couldn't fight back at all. And these were only simple attacks from Norse, without even activating Demon Back.
Just imagine!
Norse shook his head as he looked at the beasts he'd knocked away, a little disappointed. "Still not the slightest challenge. But if they die, I won't have anyone to play with. What a nuisance."
Then he condensed more than a dozen Sun Balls, each about the size of a bowl, and floated them above his palm. They contained a powerful healing energy.
Under their radiance, the nearby trees underwent rapid photosynthesis, gaining a hint of incredible strength. Their branches and leaves grew instantly denser and greener, as if brimming with even more vitality.
Although Norse's effort brought a few beads of sweat to his forehead, he paid them no mind. With a wave of his hand, the Sun Balls flew toward the beasts he'd knocked away.
Norse sat back down, carefully felt his thick golden hair, and murmured, "Good thing I didn't mess up my hairstyle. Otherwise, you really would've been done for this time."
The next moment,
Norse suddenly sighed.
He felt that carrying on like this wasn't the answer. A man as invincible as him should be standing above the entire ocean, not picking on animals here, only to pick on more animals afterward.
"I wonder when my captain girl will set sail again?"
Norse devoured his True Fragrance Mushroom skewers and began to regret it. I've only been cooped up for three years, and already loneliness has come upon me so soon.
Unbeknownst to him, Boa Marigold, with her orange hair, had already emerged from behind him. A green-haired girl, Boa Sandersonia, was with her.
They were both only seventeen, at the tender age when flowers had just begun to bloom.
She gloated, "Well, well, Norse, you've really learned to have fun with that desperate need to save face of yours!"
Before you continue