Ship Slash

Tashigi's bright eyes were exceptionally resolute.

Noki casually tossed the wooden sword back into the barrel. "Your swordsmanship is still in its beginning stages. Building a solid foundation is extremely important, so starting today, in addition to your daily drills, you'll swing your sword three thousand times every day. Any questions?"

"No!"

"Good. No time to waste. Start now."

Tashigi picked up Shigure from the ground, gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, raised it above her head, then brought it down swiftly, repeating the motion over and over.

"Too weak. Do you think you can cut anyone with that?"

"Sorry."

Tashigi took a deep breath, adjusted herself, and gradually put more force into her swings.

"Don't let your form fall apart!"

"Your height dropped. Are you slacking off?"

"Sorry, sorry!"

It was Tashigi's first time receiving such strict instruction. Her previous teacher had never held her to the same standards as men because she was a woman.

Noki's actions made her feel strangely warm inside.

So even though Tashigi was exhausted, she still did everything she could to meet Noki's demands, keeping every nerve taut and making each movement of her arms more in line with what a swordsman should achieve.

After a long while.

Seeing that her movements had become standard, Noki stopped correcting her and left her to train slowly on her own.

He still had not unpacked the luggage he had brought from Headquarters. Earlier, he had merely asked someone to carry it into his room.

The base commander's quarters differed from the ordinary Marine dormitories. It was an independent area.

The furniture inside was simple and old, carrying a strong sense of age.

Noki took item after item from his luggage. He made the bed first, then neatly stored everything away in the cabinets.

It took him a little over an hour, but he finally finished organizing everything.

Through the window, Noki saw Tashigi drenched in sweat, gritting her teeth as she continued swinging her sword, and he could not help feeling pleased.

Three thousand swings truly were no small workload for her at this point.

He had gone through the same thing back then. No matter how talented someone was, their foundation still had to be built step by step.

The matters of the base had mostly been arranged.

Noki took out a Den Den Mushi and called Ain at Headquarters.

Ain seemed to have been waiting all along and answered immediately.

"Noki, is that you?"

"Yeah, I've arrived in Loguetown. The environment here is pretty nice, and I even took on an apprentice."

"Don't tell me it's a female apprentice?"

Ain's gentle, sunny smile gradually froze.

Sometimes, a woman's intuition was frighteningly accurate.

"Uh... yes."

Noki had always been honest. "I only see her as an apprentice. She's young, only fourteen or fifteen, and she has considerable talent for swordsmanship. I'm short on manpower here, so I want to train her properly."

Ain relaxed slightly and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not that easily jealous. Taking on an apprentice is pretty nice. Noki is going to become an excellent teacher too."

"How have you been lately, Ain?"

"A new batch of Marine recruits has arrived. Teacher Zephyr and I are preparing a teaching plan, so we're a little busy.

And since Noki isn't here, I miss you every day. I basically go to your house every two or three days to clean up, then sleep in your bed while smelling your familiar scent. It helps me sleep more peacefully."

"Don't go developing some weird fetish."

"Hehe, my fetish has always been you. I like everything that belongs to you."

"..."

The two exchanged sweet words for quite some time.

Ain suddenly made a suggestion. "Noki, can you sleep with me from now on?"

"How?"

"We can stay connected through the Den Den Mushi all night every day. Then we can hear each other sleeping, like Noki is right beside me."

This kind of long-distance sleeping arrangement had been common in Noki's previous life. He had not expected Ain to come up with it now.

But a Den Den Mushi was not entirely a telephone.

It was alive too, and it could get tired. If it had to communicate all night long, it would probably die...

Noki could already see obvious terror in the Den Den Mushi's round eyes.

"I don't mind, but the Den Den Mushi can't handle it. If we use it like that, our Den Den Mushi will probably both die before long."

"Then we won't stay connected all night. Just talk with me at a fixed time every evening, okay~?"

"That works, but I have something to deal with right now. I'll call you again later."

Noki saw that Tashigi had finished practicing her swings and was lying limply on the flat ground, as if she had collapsed. As her master, he could not simply ignore her.

"Mhm, go get busy. I'll wait for you."

Noki hung up, draped on his Marine coat, and headed to the training ground.

Tashigi panted heavily, her limbs aching terribly. Sweat had completely soaked her glasses and clothes. "Rear Admiral, I've completed your requirements."

"Well done."

Noki gave her his approval.

Tashigi probably would not be able to get up for a while. He could not just leave her lying on the ground, or she would catch a cold.

So Noki had no choice but to scoop her up in a princess carry. "Where is your dormitory? I'll take you back."

Tashigi barely raised an arm and pointed upward. "I'm sorry, Rear Admiral. I've troubled you."

"It's nothing. It's what I should do as your master."

After confirming the location, Noki carried her toward the stairs in long strides, encountering several Marines along the way.

The Marines did not think much of it. After all, they had clearly seen Tashigi's sword training.

As the base commander, it was perfectly normal for Noki to take care of his subordinates.

There were only two women in the entire Marine base.

Therefore, there was only one women's dormitory. For privacy reasons, it had been arranged alone in a corner of the second floor.

Noki raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Tashigi, you came back so late today."

The one who opened the door was a petite and delicate girl with shoulder-length black hair, a youthful and adorable face, and a small, dainty figure.

"Huh, you're... Rear Admiral!!"

As the base's cook, the girl had never seen Noki before, but she recognized the rank on his coat.

Noki nodded, stepped into the room, and carefully laid Tashigi flat on the bed. "She trained too hard today. Please take good care of her."

"Okay..."

The girl stared fixedly at Noki's face.

His peerlessly beautiful appearance did nothing to diminish the powerful masculinity radiating from him.

And those gentle, considerate movements...

At that moment.

The girl's heart thudded wildly like a startled deer.

She was in love. For the first time in her life, she liked a man!

Before this, she had been completely uninterested in the opposite sex. She preferred women's faces, preferred everything about women.

But after seeing Noki, a single glance had completely turned her straight!

How could there be such a beautiful, adorable man!

Since it was the women's dormitory, it was inconvenient for Noki to stay long. After giving his instructions, he pushed the door open and left.

I have to... I absolutely have to win him over!

The girl raised her little fist and made up her mind.

Love should not be bottled up inside. It should be expressed boldly.

As the saying went, if you wanted to win a man's heart, you first had to conquer his stomach.

The girl was confident in her cooking. She would definitely conquer the Rear Admiral!

"Starting tomorrow, Rear Admiral's three daily meals will be personally prepared by me, Andreia Tereina!"

Night had fallen.

Noki returned to his room and contacted Ain with the Den Den Mushi. They chatted for a while before he went to sleep.

Since the matters at the base had mostly been arranged.

He had nothing urgent to do and wanted to sleep in.

But in the early morning, a round of knocking woke him up.

Noki opened the door irritably and found a Marine outside carrying a tray. Exquisite breakfast sat on the plate, looking appetizing at a glance.

"Rear Admiral, I've brought you breakfast." The Marine seemed a little nervous.

"Oh, thank you."

Noki accepted it in surprise.

So being a base commander came with this kind of treatment?

Strangely enough, when Noki picked up one of the sandwiches, he found a heart drawn on the bread with ketchup.

However, Noki did not think much of it. He opened his mouth and finished it, then returned to bed for more sleep.

When he woke again.

The Marines were drilling on the training ground.

Noki paid a little attention and saw that Tashigi was training seriously. She had not given up today's training just because yesterday's three thousand sword swings had exhausted her to the point of collapse.

He had been right about her.

Noki got dressed, fastened his sword at his side, and planned to take a walk through town.

Perhaps because the pirates had heard that a Marine rear admiral was stationed in Loguetown.

Noki did not see any pirates along the way.

As he walked, he arrived at the entrance of a weapons shop.

"Isn't this the weapons shop Zoro visited in the original story?"

The shop was not large, but though small, it had everything. All kinds of weapons were packed tightly inside.

Armor, sharp blades, spears, and all sorts of other weapons filled the shelves, barrels, and spaces along the walls.

"Welcome to my shop. You must be the new Rear Admiral, right? I've heard so much about you! If there's anything you want, just tell me. I can give you a ten percent discount."

Weapons shops had close ties with the Marines.

Therefore, Ipponmatsu had always maintained good relations with the Marines of Loguetown, and now even more so.

Noki looked around and smiled. "A lot of pirates and criminal organizations probably come here to buy things, don't they?"

Ipponmatsu froze at once.

As the owner of a weapons shop, how could he possibly have completely severed ties with criminal organizations?

What was more, he had indeed sold to them before. He had even taken pride in the fame others earned using his weapons.

Naturally, he did not dare admit it. He hurriedly hid his inner panic behind a smile. "You must be joking, sir. We're a century-old shop that has always conducted business openly and honestly. How could we possibly have any connection with pirates?"

"Is that so?"

Noki casually took down a sword and ran his fingers along its blade. "As far as I know, the Marines in Loguetown have had no records of purchasing weapons for a long time. Excluding pirates, only bounty hunters would patronize this shop. Judging by how thriving your business is, are there really that many bounty hunters in Loguetown? Or do bounty hunters need to replace their weapons so frequently?"

Ipponmatsu said, "Pirates appear frequently around Loguetown. It's common for ordinary people to buy weapons for self-defense too."

"Since your conscience is clear, can you show me the account books?"

"Sir, account books are among a shop's most important possessions. How can they be shown so casually? Even if you're a Marine, you can't be so overbearing!"

"Oh?"

Noki's gaze sharpened. His fierce presence frightened Ipponmatsu into breaking out in a cold sweat as he fell onto the floor.

Just as Ipponmatsu thought his end had come, Noki suddenly shifted his gaze elsewhere. "Forget it. You're right. Marines cannot force others, or how would we be any different from pirates?"

Noki searched through a barrel filled with inferior swords. As a swordsman, even without having read a catalog of famous blades, he could judge a sword's quality by instinct alone.

"Found it."

Noki drew Sandai Kitetsu from among the inferior blades. Its flame-patterned blade was especially beautiful.

"Sir, that sword..."

Ipponmatsu hesitated. He had long noticed Golden Scale hanging at Noki's waist. As a weapons expert, he could identify the blade from the hilt alone.

A Headquarters rear admiral carrying one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades had to be a top-tier swordsman. Even without being told, he would recognize Sandai Kitetsu.

"I'll take this sword."

Although Noki was a one-sword-style swordsman and had no need for two or more blades, he enjoyed collecting famous swords. He had lacked the opportunity before, but now that he had one, how could he let it pass?

Besides, learning two-sword style, or even three-sword style, would be effortless for him.

"Sir, do you really intend to use a cursed blade? Since ancient times, not a single swordsman who used a cursed blade has met a good end!"

As the owner of a weapons shop, Ipponmatsu had professional ethics. Swindling customers out of money was one thing, but he would never deliberately take someone's life!

In his view, selling a cursed blade to a customer was no different from causing that customer's death.

Noki played with Sandai Kitetsu and smiled. "So-called cursed blades only scare amateurs. The reason cursed blades harm their owners is mainly because their owners cannot earn the blades' recognition, not because the blades themselves are cursed.

As long as a swordsman is strong enough, there will be no such thing as a blade harming its owner."

"So that's how it is."

Ipponmatsu suddenly understood and believed Noki's words.

The other man had lived long in the Grand Line and frequently fought powerful figures beyond Ipponmatsu's imagination. Naturally, his knowledge was far broader.

"By the way, do you have any other famous blades here?"

Noki remembered that Ipponmatsu's prized treasure was Yubashiri, one of the Fifty Skillful Grade Blades.

"I do, but I can see that you already have a blade you favor. I want to entrust that sword to a warrior who needs it more."

"Fair enough. Then how much will Sandai Kitetsu cost me?"

"I'm afraid you're the only person I'll ever meet who can wield this blade. Consider it a gift to mark our meeting." Ipponmatsu had been thoroughly intimidated by him and did not dare ask for money.

"Hahaha, then I'll gladly accept."

Noki accepted Sandai Kitetsu and happily left the weapon shop.

He had just acquired a new sword.

Although Noki knew it was inferior to Golden Scale, he still wanted to test its sharpness.

Noki had come out for a stroll today with two main purposes: one was to familiarize himself with Loguetown's terrain, and the other was to kill a few more pirates, establish his reputation, and make an example of them for everyone in the East Blue.

The Marines always liked arresting people; it was rare for them to execute pirates on the spot.

Noki believed that arrests alone were not enough to serve as a warning. Only by eradicating them completely could people truly understand the risks of becoming pirates.

Since they had chosen to become pirates, they had to be prepared to go to hell!

In this regard, he had been somewhat influenced by Admiral Sakazuki.

But he was nowhere near as ruthless as Sakazuki.

He only killed evil people. To wipe out the roots and prevent future trouble, Akainu sometimes even killed civilians along with them.

Noki made his way to the harbor, where a pirate ship was docked as pirates continuously carried supplies aboard.

"Hehehe, boys, let's head for the Grand Line and seize the greatest treasure in the world! Whoever dares stand in our way, we'll kill them! Hahahaha..."

"I hear there are plenty of beauties on the Grand Line too. When we get there, we have to snatch a few to sleep with me."

"Women taste better when they're someone else's wives."

"You've already picked out several from the villages we raided before. Still not satisfied? Time to try something new."

Amid their laughter and merriment.

A golden sword aura several yards high came hurtling toward them.

The massive pirate ship was instantly cut in two.

"What happened?"

"That smooth cut... don't tell me the ship was cut apart by a sword!!"

"You're joking, right? How could that possibly happen?!"

Noki slowly sheathed his sword. "Sandai Kitetsu... it still doesn't feel as handy as Golden Scale."

Ship Slash, the signature entrance skill of a Great Swordsman.