Ellie's Progress

Over a stretch of sea.

Amid the raging wind and rain, a grand ship sailed through the waves. Whenever massive swells rose from the sea, they were cleaved apart by huge flaming slashes. The flames continuously evaporated the seawater, while the grand ship continued onward as though nothing had happened.

No one knew how long passed before the dark sky suddenly brightened. A glimmer of light appeared overhead, and the violent storm vanished without a trace.

That grand ship was naturally Luo Ze's Ghost Sword.

More than a month had passed. Luo Ze and Ellie had continued sailing across the sea toward Loguetown—the final stop before the Grand Line.

After a month of sailing, the Ghost Sword had completed ninety-nine percent of its journey. Now, from aboard the ship, both Luo Ze and Ellie could already see the island ahead.

"Brother, is that Loguetown? It's so big!"

Seeing the enormous island ahead, Ellie jumped with delight. A whole month at sea had left her somewhat tired. Once they reached Loguetown, she had to have some proper fun.

"Yes, that's Loguetown. Legend has it that the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was born and died there."

Luo Ze looked at Loguetown ahead and smiled.

"Oh! The Pirate King's hometown! Then there must be delicious food there! Ellie wants to eat something tasty."

Ellie replied, waving her tiny fist as she laughed happily.

"..."

Luo Ze was speechless. He simply could not understand Ellie's train of thought. The Pirate King and delicious food did not seem to have any real connection, did they?

Rumble!

Just as Luo Ze was left speechless by Ellie's words, the sea suddenly began to churn. Waves surged continuously, and the entire Ghost Sword started rocking violently. At the same time, a massive blue sea beast emerged before them.

"So, it's a Sea King."

Luo Ze casually glanced at the huge blue sea beast and spoke calmly.

"Ellie, leave it to you. This time, you have to succeed."

Ellie nodded heavily. After Luo Ze's careful training over the past month, her strength had improved greatly. The current Ellie could already handle some smaller Sea Kings. However, her attack power was still somewhat lacking, so killing them remained difficult.

"Hmph, big sea beast, hurry up and die! Ellie still has to go to Loguetown with Brother to eat delicious food, so don't get in our way."

Ellie drew her cursed blade, Snow Joy, and spoke in an adorably childish voice. Yet her words were anything but adorable. Clearly, Luo Ze had influenced her personality quite a bit.

Roar!

The sea beast seemed deeply displeased by Ellie's words. It let out a furious roar, its enormous body thrashing violently in the ocean and quickly stirring up towering waves. Then, following the swell, it viciously swiped a massive claw at her.

Moonwalk!

Faced with the enormous wave, Ellie grew serious. She took her stance, kicked off the deck, and suddenly leaped into the air, her body hanging in midair.

Then, she aimed at the sea beast's head and swung her hand. A black slash shot fiercely toward it.

Misfortune Slash!

Ellie let out a sweet cry, but the slash she unleashed was immensely powerful. It split apart the huge wave and struck the sea beast's body.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

The sea beast roared furiously. Its body was covered in scales, and its defense was astonishing. Although Ellie's slash had hit it, it did not leave any wounds—only some pain.

"Brother, this sea beast is so tough. Ellie can't beat it."

Ellie soon descended from midair. She could deal with Sea Kings that had weaker defenses, but against those covered in scales, she had no way to hurt them.

So she no longer wanted to fight. She jumped down and looked at Luo Ze with a slightly aggrieved expression.

"Haha, it's fine. I'll do it."

Luo Ze rubbed Ellie's head and chuckled softly.

Over the past month, Ellie's strength had advanced greatly once again. Luo Ze had even started to think she was a genius, because not only had she learned to unleash slashes in that month, she had also thoroughly developed the power of her Misfortune Fruit into an ability she could control at will.

Now, Ellie could activate the Misfortune Fruit's power whenever she wanted. She would no longer bring misfortune to others at any time like she had in the past.

Moreover, she had infused the power of misfortune into Snow Joy. Once someone was struck by Snow Joy, even if they did not die, they would still suffer misfortune.

Clang!

Luo Ze drew his steel sword in a single motion and casually swung it at the massive sea beast.

He could not even be bothered to look at it. After swinging his sword, before anything happened, he had already sheathed it.

Roar! Roar!

The sea beast was also utterly confused. What was this human doing? He had casually swung his sword and put it away. Was he trying to scare it off?

But it soon lost the ability to think.

Because while it was still baffled, its body had unknowingly split into two halves. Its thoughts had ceased, and Luo Ze had even cooked its organs.

"Wow! Brother is amazing!" Ellie danced excitedly at the side and shouted at Luo Ze.

"Haha, Ellie is amazing too." Luo Ze smiled as well.

Over this past month, it was not only Ellie—his own strength had also undergone earth-shaking changes.

Because Luo Ze had wiped out Kid and eight other pirate crews that day, he had looted a great deal of money from their ships.

Kid's pirate crew was the wealthiest, with deposits reaching as high as 320 million Beli. After that, every other pirate crew had deposits of one or two hundred million Beli each.

Thus, in that one haul, Luo Ze collected a full 1.8 billion Beli in deposits.

In the end, he kept only 100 million Beli for everyday emergencies, converting the remaining 1.7 billion Beli entirely into Swordmaster Points.

A total of 1,700 Swordmaster Upgrade Points!

Moreover, over the course of that month, Luo Ze began challenging the ship's gravity system at four times gravity, gaining an additional 600 Strength and 500 Agility.

Besides that, Luo Ze had also gained an understanding of Haki.

With the help of that booklet, Luo Ze had mastered the basics of Observation Haki and Armament Haki.

So now, Luo Ze's attribute panel was:

Host: Luo Ze

Sword: Fine Steel Sword

Sword Enchantment: Flame Core {1000°C}

Swordsmanship: 000 {Swordmaster}

Strength: 1500

Agility: 1500

Haki {Observation Haki}: 500

Haki {Armament Haki}: 500

Haki {Conqueror's Haki}: Not Awakened