Level 3 Training Room

Mysterious seven-colored radiance shimmered around the Tiga.

Perhaps because this transformation was especially significant, the light of evolution lasted for several minutes before slowly fading away.

When everything finally settled, Kael and the other two, waiting on the deck, suddenly had amazement flash through their eyes.

"Is it over?!"

Looking at the Tiga, which had grown to more than twice its previous size, Kael immediately revealed an excited expression.

After the Tiga's last evolution, it had more than doubled in size, changing from a small sailing ship into a medium-sized one.

Now, after evolving again, the Tiga had received another increase in size.

From bow to stern, it stretched for at least a hundred meters!

Kael could not help laughing inwardly.

If I remember right, aircraft carriers are only three or four hundred meters long. Looks like it won't be long before I have an aircraft carrier of my own.

"Coby," Kael suddenly called.

"Ah?... Here!"

Coby, standing beside Kael, froze for a moment before immediately straightening his posture and answering seriously.

After enduring a long period of grueling special training, Coby's physique had finally changed somewhat.

Although he had not completely shaken off his frail appearance, at least no one would mistake him for a child anymore.

Kael turned around and suddenly gave Coby's shoulder two hard pats.

"You'll have to work hard from now on."

With such a huge ship, cleaning was definitely going to be a major problem in the future.

He wondered whether Coby could handle it.

"Ah?" Coby blinked dumbly, completely at a loss.

On the other side, the quiet girl Tashigi stroked the Tiga's railing, her eyes flickering.

The next moment, her fingers abruptly tensed as she gripped the railing hard, and shock immediately appeared on her face.

When she released her hand, she saw that the spot she had just gripped was still smooth and spotless, without the slightest mark.

"What's wrong, Tashigi?" Kael's voice suddenly sounded by her ear.

Tashigi froze, then her little face reddened. Like a student caught making a small move, she said awkwardly,

"S-Sorry, Captain Kael."

"I just suddenly wanted to test the Tiga's hull defense, so I used a little force..."

"Hm? And what was the result?" Kael did not blame Tashigi. Instead, he revealed a curious expression as well.

"It's astonishing!" Tashigi's tone suddenly sharpened. She gave the railing a serious look before saying,

"I feel that even if I used my strongest Hado to strike the Tiga with all my strength, I might not be able to damage it in the slightest!"

"Oh?! It's that impressive?!"

Kael's eyes lit up. Tashigi's words had genuinely startled him.

There was no doubting Tashigi's strength. Even in the first half of the Grand Line, she would be enough to intimidate plenty of petty pirates!

If even she could not harm the Tiga...

Wouldn't that mean ordinary cannon fire could not damage the Tiga either?

That way, they would never have to worry about being besieged by a fleet of warships again.

Just then.

Little Tiga suddenly appeared on the deck.

Having received an upgrade, he was extremely happy. He ran all the way to Kael, stretched out his two short arms, and shouted excitedly,

"Captain! Captain! I got stronger again!"

Before Kael could answer, Little Tiga excitedly spread his arms.

In an instant!

A violent current of air suddenly surged around the Tiga, spiraling wildly around its hull.

The calm sea abruptly began to churn, forming an upward tornado that defied the heavens along the flow of the air.

It shot straight into the clouds.

Within five hundred meters of the Tiga, the area instantly became a world of storms!

"Oh my god~"

"This is way more spectacular than when Nami took down the Arlong Empire!"

Looking at the storm barrier that pierced the clouds, Kael burst into delighted laughter.

However, the storm came quickly and left just as quickly.

Almost as soon as the vortex reached a certain height, it instantly lost control and turned into falling water, crashing down with a splatter against the barrier Little Tiga had temporarily created.

"Awesome!"

Kael praised Little Tiga without holding anything back.

The Tiga's latest upgrade had given him a huge surprise.

However, Kael had not forgotten the main reason he had upgraded the Tiga.

As Tashigi and Coby followed Little Tiga to tour the inside of the ship, Kael took the opportunity to open the training room interface.

Upgrading a ship facility from Level 1 to Level 2 required 5 million Beli.

But upgrading it from Level 2 to Level 3 required 25 million Beli, a fivefold increase!

If not for cash machines like Arlong and Colonel Nezumi, Kael truly did not know how hard he would have to work to save up that much money.

There really is love in this world~

After joking to himself, Kael immediately willed the training room up to Level 3.

Not only did the Level 3 training room increase the rate of gaining experience to 200 points per hour, but the daily training time also increased from eight hours to twelve!

I can finally exploit my tools even harder!

Kael was overjoyed.

This meant the training room could provide Tashigi and the others with 2,400 experience points every day, directly doubling the amount from Level 2!

Their previously sluggish leveling speed could finally increase a little.

With another thought,

Kael spent another 5 million Beli to upgrade his captain's quarters to Level 2.

The recovery speed immediately became twenty percent per hour.

But that was not important to Kael.

Sleeping was his attitude toward life, not something he did for any particular purpose.

Even if he could fully recover his energy in five hours, he would still sleep in whenever he wanted. Nobody could stop him.

The upgraded Tiga's sailing speed increased once again.

In just two hours, they traveled from the waters of the Arlong Empire to the entrance of the Marine 16th Branch base.

At that moment, at the bow of the Tiga.

Tashigi stood alone at the bow, watching the Marine base draw closer and closer, her bright eyes constantly flickering.

The sea breeze brushed across her face, and at that moment, she felt strangely dazed.

"Has it already been almost two months without me realizing it?" Tashigi murmured softly.

Just two months ago, she had merely been a lowly Marine sergeant major, firmly believing in the justice of the Marines.

But ever since joining the Dusk Pirates and meeting Captain Kael, a direct agent of the Marine Fleet Admiral...

Her trust in the Marines had wavered more times than she could count.

The tyrannical Morgan, and Nezumi, who had colluded with pirates...

In two nearby stretches of sea, there had actually been two Marines who had betrayed the very name of justice.

Tashigi could not imagine how many Marines across the entire sea were committing such vile acts.

And during their usual conversations, Tashigi had also learned...

That on the Grand Line, there were Seven Warlords who oppressed civilians with the Marines' support, as well as Celestial Dragons who toyed with civilians under Marine protection...

All the signs showed that the Marines were not a flawless force of justice.

What were the Marines? What was justice?

By now, Tashigi could no longer tell clearly.

But at least she knew one thing...

Although Captain Kael could hardly be considered a good person—he loved food and hated work, was extremely greedy for money, possessed powerful abilities yet refused to shoulder more responsibility, and was always taking out strange clothes and asking her to wear them for him...

But!

Following Kael, Tashigi had indeed seen the townspeople of Ville Town use the weapons they bought from them to defeat the invading pirates...

She had seen Shells Town, which had suffered under Morgan's tyranny, gain its freedom...

She had seen the smiling faces of the people of Cocoyasi Village after the Arlong Pirates were wiped out...

Justice?

Perhaps those two words had never held much meaning from the very beginning.

At that moment, Tashigi only wanted to follow her captain and witness even more smiling faces!

The girl's gaze suddenly sharpened!

She extended both hands, her palms aimed at the gates of the Marine base.

"Ruler of the heavens! Mask of flesh and bone, myriad things, fluttering wings, bearer of the name of man! Let the wall of blue fire be inscribed with twin lotuses, and let the distant sky await the abyss of raging flames."

"Hadō No. 73—Twin Lotus Blue Fire Crash!!!"