Leaving, Looking Toward the Grand Line

At noon, on the shore of Cocoyasi Village.

Barrels of fresh water, baskets of vegetables and fruit, and large quantities of meat were carried aboard the Windrider.

The villagers were incredibly enthusiastic, practically wishing they could give Luo Wen their homes as well.

"Enough, enough! There's no room for any more!"

Seeing that the storage room was already full, Luo Wen stopped the eager villagers.

The fish-men with bounties from the Arlong Pirates were already lying in the ship's hold.

Quite a bit of treasure and Beli had also been loaded into the Windrider's hold.

Everything was ready. It was time to leave.

"Goodbye, Mr. Luo Wen!"

"Nami, don't cause trouble for Mr. Luo Wen!"

The villagers waved farewell to Luo Wen and Nami.

"Nami, now that you're with Mr. Luo Wen, you can't be so willful anymore."

Nojiko smiled as she reminded her. She and Nami were as close as sisters.

Naturally, she was reluctant to part this time, but she was also happy for Nami.

"I won't be! I'm very useful, you know."

Nami clenched her little fist and promised Nojiko.

"It's just a shame I won't be able to see Bellemere's orange trees anymore."

Nami's mood sank. Those orange trees were the memento left behind by her adoptive mother, Bellemere.

Being with the orange trees had felt like Bellemere was still by her side.

"That may not be true!"

Nojiko winked at Nami with a playful smile, then turned and left.

Now that Nami had such a good captain, Nojiko had nothing to worry about.

"Huh?"

Nami was completely baffled.

"Come on, Nami. It's time to set sail!"

Luo Wen's voice came from behind her. He had already boarded the ship.

Nami did not have time to think it over and hurried aboard the Windrider.

The moment she got on deck, Nami noticed two lush orange trees.

"Thank you, Luo Wen! You're amazing!"

Nami threw her arms around Luo Wen, thrilled beyond measure.

So her captain was such a gentle person. What was she supposed to do if she liked him even more?!

"Alright, hurry up and get us moving."

Nami's soft body pressed against Luo Wen, while her short orange hair brushed teasingly across his face.

Luo Wen pushed Nami away with a helpless expression. Seducing him like this was practically criminal.

If it had been nighttime, someone would definitely have ended up dead.

"Yes, Captain!"

Nami gave Luo Wen a Marine salute. Just as she was about to set sail, she stopped.

"Luo Wen, where are we going?"

"Our destination is Loguetown. Full speed ahead!"

Luo Wen pointed out the direction, and Nami quickly turned the ship around.

With Nami's superb navigational skills, the Windrider sailed toward Loguetown.

Nami focused on steering while Luo Wen entered the treasure room, where the Arlong Pirates' wealth was stored.

Although the Arlong Pirates had squandered most of it.

They had spent it building Arlong Park and preparing for the ridiculous Arlong Empire.

The remaining Beli still amounted to eighty million.

The Arlong Pirates' bounties added up to nearly forty-five million Beli.

There was also the one hundred million Beli Nami had handed over.

Even before collecting the bounties, Luo Wen had one hundred and eighty million Beli on hand.

"System, spend one hundred and eighty million Beli to increase the role-play progress."

As the Beli in the treasure room vanished, Luo Wen's system panel changed once more.

"Spend all Beli to increase the role-play progress."

The system panel blurred for a moment before quickly changing.

[Host: Luo Wen]

[Template: Berserker Class · Heracles]

[Role-play Progress: 50.5%]

[Beli: 3 million]

[Strength: B+]

[Endurance: B+]

[Agility: B+]

[Magic Power: B+]

[Luck: A]

[Noble Phantasm: A+]

[Innate Skills]: Battle Continuation (B), False Clairvoyance (B), Bravery (A+), Divinity (A), Mad Enhancement (B)

[Noble Phantasms]: Twelve Labors (B), Nine Lives (C-A+)

A massive surge of power flooded into his body, instantly strengthening every one of Luo Wen's attributes.

Luo Wen nodded in satisfaction. Every one of his physical attributes had risen from B to B+.

It might have only been a tiny plus sign, but it represented breaking past the limits of B-rank, doubling the attributes.

At that moment, Luo Wen's strength, speed, endurance, and Magic Power had all doubled. The increase in his combat ability was even more absurd.

"With my current strength, no one in the entire first half of the Grand Line can compare to me."

Luo Wen had expected the increase in strength.

But the change in role-play progress made him frown.

Instead of rising to the expected 55%, the role-play progress had stopped at 50.5%.

Could it be that after reaching 50%, one hundred million Beli was needed to raise the role-play progress by 1%?

Luo Wen pondered it. He could accept that.

Once he entered the Grand Line, pirates would be everywhere.

In the East Blue, known as the weakest sea, there were only a handful of pirates with bounties over ten million, while those with million-level bounties were little more than strays.

It took Luo Wen time and effort to catch them, and their bounties were not even worth much.

The Grand Line was different. It was a paradise for pirates, and every pirate with even a little ambition gathered there.

Pirates worth ten or twenty million were as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Taking down any random pirate crew would be enough to scrape together fifty million Beli.

Trash like Arlong and Don Krieg would only rank in the middle to lower tiers on the Grand Line.

There were also the Seven Warlords, who possessed immense strength despite their low bounties and often had huge numbers of subordinates.

Although capturing them would not earn him a bounty from the Marines.

Fighting them could still raise his role-play progress.

Compared to ordinary pirates, the Seven Warlords offered far better value.

"The only problem is that I don't have Haki."

Luo Wen was helpless as well. He was in the East Blue, so where was he supposed to learn Haki?

Being able to break through in swordsmanship to the realm of a Swordmaster was already thanks to the powerful Heracles template.

Even in the first half of the Grand Line, only the strong possessed Haki.

Only in the New World was Haki widespread.

Without Haki, he would be at a severe disadvantage against Logia Devil Fruit users.

Luo Wen's powerful physical attacks would be completely useless.

They could not do anything to Luo Wen, but Luo Wen could not do anything to them either.

But Luo Wen had an idea. Crocodile, who ruled Alabasta, would make an excellent teacher.

Naturally, he was nowhere near as good as the greatest teacher of all, Kaido.

That was a top-tier instructor who could beat Conqueror's Haki Coating into someone with one swing and awaken the Nika Fruit with two.

Luo Wen naturally could not endure Teacher Kaido's instruction yet.

He had not even entered the doorway of Haki, so he could not learn Teacher Kaido's advanced lessons.

Crocodile was just right, basically a giant experience pack.

His weak Armament Haki and Observation Haki would still be more than enough to teach Luo Wen.

Luo Wen could already picture himself awakening both types of Haki through Crocodile's tempering.

"Grand Line, I'm looking forward to you more and more."

Luo Wen's blood boiled.

The East Blue was merely the starting point of the pirate world. The Grand Line was where the real excitement began.

Staying in the East Blue and hunting people worth only a few million in bounty was truly boring.

He wanted to race across the Grand Line and fight true powerhouses.