Loneliness Arrived So Quickly

Year 1509 of the Sea Circle Calendar.

The Calm Belt, Amazon Lily, Kuja Island.

In the dense forest to the east.

Norse was the wielder of the Sun-Sun Fruit.

The power residing within his body felt as if it were burning his blood at every moment, especially during combat. The Sun-Sun Fruit also burdened Norse with a rather troublesome side effect.

If he didn't maintain an arrogant and invincible posture, he would feel physically uncomfortable and restless. When the discomfort became unbearable, there was an urge to completely release his power and go on a rampage!

As time passed.

Norse's personality underwent a drastic change. Arrogance and invincibility became his daily routine, though perhaps in the eyes of friendly people, it was merely narcissism.

Now living in the aptly named Island of Women, Norse naturally followed a path of arrogance, dominance, and self-centeredness.

At first, some women were hostile toward him, wanting to drive the "national treasure" out of Amazon Lily, but so what?

In the end, they were just a group of women who had never seen a man. They couldn't withstand Norse's arrogant and invincible charisma at all and were quickly conquered.

Norse had no interest in these superficial women. Even if ten or a hundred of them stood naked before him, he wouldn't be moved.

With such lofty arrogance, there were few in this world who could rival him.

Perhaps... the arrogant and cold Hancock is somewhat qualified to be my match?

Norse couldn't help but sneer when he thought of her.

"Late last night, she actually appeared in my room. If I hadn't been awake, I wouldn't have caught her on the spot. Yet, this morning, she looked at me with cold pride, not even the slightest bit embarrassed or shy about last night's events. She really is arrogant!"

Norse shook his head.

In truth, if his arrival three years ago hadn't gone wrong—dropping directly into the ocean waves and nearly saying goodbye to the world while stark naked—Hancock would never have had the stroke of luck to find him.

In the vast expanse of the sea, she just happened to pass by and save his bare skin, only to fly into a thunderous rage on the spot, covering her eyes and shouting:

"Scoundrel! You... you actually dared to defile my body and eyes! I must kill you, you shameless rogue!"

It's utterly speechless. If I hadn't been soaking in the sea for so long and lost all my strength, I would have resisted. I wouldn't have been forced to agree to so many of her conditions just to stay alive!

When Norse thought back to that incident three years ago, when he was fifteen, it felt as if it were yesterday.

Of course, it was also because of that incident that Norse was forced onto the ship of the Kuja Pirates.

"Sigh!"

Norse felt truly helpless about it. "What else could I do? My life was saved from the sea by Hancock; in name, it already belongs to her.

As for now, if it weren't for keeping my word like a gentleman, I would have hunted her down for ten thousand miles for sneaking into my room last night to try and do those things to me!"

"If Hancock were like the True Fragrance Mushroom I'm roasting now, letting me eat her bite by bite without any resistance, I feel I could take back all the dignity I've lost."

Norse looked at the skewers of True Fragrance Mushrooms in his hand, eventually letting out a strange, inexplicable smile, and suddenly laughed out loud.

"Hahaha..."

He picked up the roasted mushroom skewers and shoved them into his mouth with heroic flair.

"Chomp, chomp, chomp..."

He chewed the roasted mushrooms in large mouthfuls. Although, as they said, this stuff was highly toxic, it tasted incredibly fragrant and refreshing—not bad at all.

However, soon after.

Norse began to feel his vitality decreasing instead of increasing. The most obvious reaction was his stamina draining away, and his body showing signs of fatigue. If he didn't find a way to treat it, he would probably be covered in mushrooms.

It seems that using the heat generated by the Sun-Sun Fruit to roast them cannot kill the toxicity within the object; instead, it accelerates the movement of the toxins under the thermal effect. But I wonder what it can truly do to me! Norse analyzed calmly in his heart, actually feeling a bit expectant.

As the wielder of the Sun-Sun Fruit.

If his abilities were as simple as emitting light and heat, it would be too dull.

So, over these three years.

Norse had devoted himself to developing many powerful abilities.

Capabilities like Gravity Flight, Phantom Sun-Chasing, Telekinetic Attraction, Black Hole Devour, Sun-Burst Art, Warm Healing, and Benevolent Domination.

These could be categorized into two major types:

The Ruthless Solar Power, such as Black Hole Devour and Sun-Burst Art.

The Benevolent Solar Power, such as Warm Healing and Benevolent Domination.

Right now, Norse activated the Benevolent Solar Power.

A layer of warm, golden radiance immediately surfaced over his entire body, generating a source of endless vitality. Like a power similar to Life Return, it gathered into every single cell in his body.

This was the power of Warm Healing under the banner of benevolence.

Sure enough, the mushroom toxins I just ingested are being forcibly eliminated. It's also clear that because my body is strong enough—having tempered it to the human limit repeatedly through the characteristics of the Sun-Sun Fruit—and my fruit ability has likely been developed to an incredible degree, I'm fine! Norse thought with a smile.

Perhaps the three years of silent, bitter training had finally yielded incredible results. Facing ordinary toxins, he figured he wouldn't even need to use other powers to neutralize them.

"Splash, splash..."

Suddenly, the sound of rough, flowing water echoed in Norse's ears.

Norse followed the sound and looked over.

It turned out that while he was relaxing, letting his guard down, a group of fierce, predatory beasts had begun to surround the forest area.

A buck-toothed wild boar was drooling, a black-backed gorilla was kneading a banana leaf while snot and drool ran down its face, and there were also mammoths swinging their long trunks and large bears baring their fangs; they were clearly putting on a show of intimidation.

Norse grew murderous, scanning the towering behemoths around him, and barked, "You bastards, who gave you the confidence and courage to glare at your Lord Norse while he's trying to enjoy his skewers?"

Norse felt that the fierce beasts before him were simply a pack of stupid animals, completely unable to tell good from bad.

"I've only occupied a small patch of your territory for three months, accidentally burned all your cubs to death, and eaten a few of them while I was at it—is it really necessary to come and bother me every day just to get yourselves beaten up?"

The surrounding beasts were so frightened by Norse's gaze that they collectively cowered and shivered.

History always had a way of repeating itself in shocking ways.

But even so, not a single beast left; they had already built up an irreconcilable blood feud.

However, some of the drooling ones were spineless; despite their fierce appearance, their eyes were completely seduced by the delicious True Fragrance Mushrooms.

"Since that's the case, let's stick to the old rules: all of you, come at me at once!" Norse beckoned them in provocation.

Don't underestimate it; this trick worked every single time. Whenever he did this, these guys would charge at him aggressively, disregarding their own lives.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom... slap, slap, slap, slap..."

Norse only needed to control his strength, sending them all flying with a punch to the left and a slap to the right.

It seemed they all possessed the power to trample, but in Norse's hands, they were completely incapable of resistance, and this was only Norse using simple attacks without even activating his Demon Back.

Can you imagine?

Norse shook his head, looking at the beasts he had sent flying, and said with some disappointment, "Still not a bit of a challenge, but if you die, I won't have anything left to play with. What a hassle."

With that, he gathered over a dozen sun-orbs in one breath, hovering them above his palms. They were only the size of a bowl, but they contained a powerful healing energy within.

The nearby trees, bathed in this radiance, underwent rapid photosynthesis and gained a bit of incredible power; their branches and leaves instantly grew denser and greener, as if filled with newfound vitality.

Although Norse's actions caused a few beads of sweat to form on his forehead, he didn't care. With a wave of his large hand, the sun-orbs flew toward the scattered beasts.

Norse then sat back down in his original spot, carefully touching his thick, golden, tousled hair, and muttered indifferently, "Good thing my hairstyle didn't get messed up, otherwise, you guys would really be dead this time."

The next moment.

Norse suddenly sighed.

He felt that continuing like this wasn't a solution. A man as invincible as him should be stepping on the entire ocean, not staying here bullying animals over and over again.

"I wonder when the captain girl will set sail again?"

Norse took large bites of the True Fragrance roasted mushrooms and began to regret it in his heart, thinking, "I've only been quiet for three years, and already the loneliness has arrived so quickly."

Little did he know, the orange-haired Boa Marigold had already stepped out from behind Norse, accompanied by a green-haired girl, Boa Sandersonia.

Both were only seventeen, currently at the level of a fresh, blooming flower.

She said with schadenfreude, "Yo, Norse, your way of saving face is certainly something else!"