After Level Ten

The facts proved that people really shouldn't think too highly of themselves.

Kael's training lasted barely over forty minutes before exhaustion left him sprawled on the floor.

"Phew! Phew!"

He gasped violently, groaning in misery.

"Forget it, I'm done. This is fucking exhausting."

"A one-hour plank—this is really just part of the preparatory training!?"

"How is this preparation for Haki training? This is trying to take my life!"

Even though he now possessed extraordinary physical abilities that his past self could only have dreamed of, Kael still inevitably felt physically and mentally drained after a period of high-intensity training.

Especially since, back on Earth, he had been the kind of guy who considered buying a gym membership the same as working out.

And the original owner of this body had no memories of grueling training for him to relate to.

Being suddenly forced into forty minutes of high-intensity exercise was simply too much.

"With my current physical condition, who knows how long it'll take before I learn Haki."

"Training? Screw that!"

Having recognized his limits, Kael rested for a moment before slowly getting to his feet and dragging his exhausted body over to the desk.

Manual labor definitely wasn't his strong suit.

He might as well make use of the time before his mind went foggy to think over what path they should take next.

He reached into the drawer beneath the desk and took out a nautical chart.

Next, they would be heading to a town called Will to replenish their supplies.

It would also let Smoker, who was pursuing them, know their route.

Kael's current plan was simple...

First, they would drift around the sea for a while and see if they could run into any unlucky pirates, then rob them of some money and treasure...

Once Tashigi's level and combat strength reached a certain standard, they would immediately set off for Shells Town...

The town where Zoro and Luffy first met in the anime.

It was also where the Marine 153rd Branch was stationed.

Although much of what Kael had said during his earlier call with Sengoku had been fabricated to obtain more support...

The Marines in the East Blue truly could not be considered particularly upright or incorruptible.

Just Morgan, the colonel of the 153rd Branch, and Nezumi, the colonel of the 16th Branch, as shown in the story, were enough for Kael to report back to Sengoku.

One oppressed the people and ruled through tyranny, while the other accepted bribes and colluded with pirates.

Neither of them had anything to do with the word "justice."

Kael was in desperate need of money right now, so he could only reluctantly target the two Marine colonels.

Morgan was hard to say. There might not be much to gain from him.

After all, the man was an extreme narcissist with little interest in gold, silver, or treasure.

Though violent, he enjoyed being respected and feared more.

Under his rule, the people of Shells Town lived in constant fear, but at least they could still get by.

Colonel Nezumi, on the other hand...

With Arlong regularly paying him tribute, Kael guessed he could squeeze at least several hundred million Beli in dirty money out of him.

Unfortunately...

With the current strength of their pirate crew, they were not yet capable of confronting the Arlong Pirates.

Everything would need to be considered carefully over the long term.

Leaning over the desk, Kael wrote down his plans, upcoming actions, and possible unforeseen circumstances in his notebook one by one.

It was a personal habit of his.

Before doing anything, he always thought through the logic, pros, and cons before taking action.

Especially after arriving in the pirate world, despite having his second uncle Kizaru as a powerful backer and a cheat-like system...

On the sea,

No one could predict what they might encounter the next second.

Having finally transmigrated once, he had no intention of being inexplicably eliminated before he had even gotten started because of a momentary mistake.

Just as Kael was deep in thought...

A mysterious warm current suddenly emerged from within his body and spread throughout him.

"Huh!?"

Kael froze and stopped writing.

After checking the time, he immediately realized...

"Has an hour already passed?"

With a thought,

the system interface appeared in his mind once more.

Kael skillfully opened the companion panel and discovered that Tashigi's attributes had updated again.

[Companion: Tashigi (Rukia Kuchiki)]

[Aptitude: A]

[Level: 2]

[Experience: 0/120]

[Combat Power: 120]

After an hour of training, Tashigi had successfully gained the 100 experience points awarded by the training room.

Her level had risen from Level 1 to Level 2.

As Kael looked at Tashigi's status panel, delight immediately flashed through his eyes.

"She only leveled up once, but her combat power increased by eighty points—twice her Level 1 combat power!"

"Looks like the combat power increase is even more generous than I expected."

"No wonder that warm current felt so good just now!"

The crew trained hard while the captain leveled up sitting down.

Now that was more like it!

That was what life was supposed to be!

Kael stood up and stretched.

The combat power he had just gained was not much, but it greatly relieved the fatigue left behind by his workout.

Because he had no aptitude rating, Kael's combat power increase was evenly distributed across all aspects.

That might make him less outstanding in any particular area, but it also meant he had no fatal weaknesses.

After receiving Tashigi's combat power feedback, Kael's mood immediately brightened.

His mind became more active as well.

After moving around a little, he sat back down and continued writing out his plans for the future.

To prevent his memories from becoming inaccurate over time, he needed to write down every plot point and piece of information he could remember while his memory was still clear.

That way, even if his memories became vague in the future, all he would need was a glance at the notes in his notebook to recall many things.

In the training room below deck, Tashigi was still tirelessly studying those profound techniques.

At the lookout post, Little Tiga had transformed into Celestial Master Zhang Jiao. With a wave of his hand, fierce winds swept out in every direction.

Inside the captain's cabin, Kael was planning the future development of the Dusk Pirates.

Everyone had their own duties, and everyone had a bright future!

And so, the Dusk Pirates spent two quiet and peaceful days.

Though only two days had passed in terms of time.

To Tashigi, who had only just boarded this pirate ship, it felt as though two centuries had gone by!

Inside the captain's cabin.

Tashigi woke up beside Kael and comfortably stretched.

Her flashy shirt rose with her arms, inadvertently revealing her fair, playful little belly.

Seemingly realizing that the gesture was not very ladylike, Tashigi's little face instantly reddened. She lowered her hands and secretly glanced toward Kael on the bed...

Seeing that he was still sleeping soundly, she carefully got up at once.

After tidying the bedding on the floor, she quietly left the captain's cabin.

To help Tashigi recover her energy better and devote herself fully to training...

Kael had let her rest with him in the captain's cabin for the past two days.

After experiencing the captain's cabin's miraculous restorative effects, Tashigi had shyly entered the room despite her flushed face.

This time, however, Kael had not given her the bed as he had before. Instead, he had her sleep on the floor.

After all, as long as she slept in the captain's cabin, the recovery effect was the same.

"A wonderful day starts with training~"

After washing up, Tashigi hummed a little tune and carried her Zanpakuto toward the lower deck.

As for Shigure, the beloved sword she once carried...

Though she felt sorry for it, the bond between her and her Zanpakuto truly surpassed that of any other blade.

In Tashigi's eyes, even if a Supreme Grade Blade were placed before her now, she would choose her Zanpakuto without hesitation.

Arriving at the training room,

Tashigi headed straight toward a piece of equipment made of strings with small balls attached to them.

It was a device for training reaction speed.

After thoroughly reading the notes Kael had given her, she had ultimately decided to first train the Observation Haki that suited her better.

However...

Two days had passed.

She had yet to even get started on Haki training, yet her strength had doubled outright!

And all of it came from the new power she had obtained...

Shinigami!

During those two days, every time she trained for a while, a burst of spiritual power would suddenly appear inside her body, and she would inexplicably learn a Kido technique.

When she told Kael about this supernatural phenomenon, his only answer had been, "This is normal."

Though she still did not understand what exactly was going on, she had been having an unbelievably great time these past two days!

Her enthusiasm for training had soared even higher!

Every morning, she did not even want breakfast before running straight to the training room.

If there had not been an eight-hour daily limit, she truly would have wanted to stay here every day and never leave!

Time slowly passed.

Just as Tashigi was seriously dodging the erratically moving balls...

A mysterious energy suddenly appeared within her body.

Tashigi's eyes widened in delight as she felt power continuously surge through her body.

Although she had already prepared herself mentally, the sudden energy was simply too abundant. It was like a small wriggling snake, coursing back and forth through every part of her body.

Unable to hold it back, she let out a comfortable moan.

"Mm~"

Tashigi bit her lip.

Luckily, she was the only one in the training room. Otherwise, she would have been mortified.

Still, the sudden increase in power had truly startled her.

If Tashigi could see her own status panel, she would discover...

That her level had now risen to Level 10!

And her combat power had skyrocketed by a huge margin!