At the Marine Headquarters base.
Roya took off his coat with its major's insignia and strolled to the rack by the window to hang it up.
A group of recruits ran past outside, chanting as sweat poured off them.
A cool sea breeze drifted into the room, carrying away the summer heat.
Roya stretched, then lay back with his head resting comfortably on his arms, already growing drowsy.
"It's been almost three years since I came to this world, hasn't it?"
As he drifted off, memories of those three years rose in his mind.
When he had inexplicably arrived in the world of One Piece, he had been scared out of his wits.
After all, this world was no place for ordinary people. Pirates were everywhere!
And most of them were vicious enough to cut someone down at the slightest provocation!
Kind-hearted pirates like Straw Hat Luffy were the rare exceptions.
To protect himself, Roya had joined the Marines and then entered the Marine academy.
After three years of training, he had finally gained some ability to defend himself.
He had also unexpectedly awakened a special power.
Conqueror's Haki!
A power that might appear in only one person out of a million had caused a sensation at Marine Headquarters.
Because of it, Roya had been promoted straight from ensign to major.
But...
What thrilled him most was not the promotion, or even his Awakening of Conqueror's Haki.
It was the activation of the system!
[Ding! Automatic Cultivation System successfully bound to host!] [Host: Roya] [Six Powers—Soru (ability strength): Beginner level] [Conqueror's Haki (ability strength): Beginner level]
On the day he unexpectedly awakened Conqueror's Haki, the system's mechanical voice had suddenly sounded in his mind.
As someone who had come from another world, Roya naturally knew what that meant.
He suppressed his excitement and returned to his quarters without giving anything away. Only then did he carefully examine the system's functions.
"Automatic Cultivation System."
"As long as I've mastered an ability or met the prerequisites for training one, I can set up a corresponding training project and turn on automatic cultivation?"
"And unexpected events can create training projects too?"
"Once an ability reaches its maximum level, I'll even receive... a mysterious reward?!"
Roya's eyes lit up as he read.
Not only could his abilities train themselves, but mysterious rewards awaited him when they reached the maximum level!
Where else could he find a deal like that?
"System, tell me—have any training projects been set up already?" Roya asked eagerly.
The system responded at once.
[Host's current training projects: Six Powers—Soru training project; Conqueror's Haki training project!]
"Both are abilities I've already mastered." Roya nodded.
His talent was average. After three full years of hard training, he had barely managed to master Soru and Finger Pistol out of the Six Powers.
"Looks like I'll have to train even harder from now on!"
"I need to master the other five as soon as possible!"
Roya clenched his fist and silently resolved to do just that.
From that day on,
he trained twice as hard. At last, more than three months later, he mastered all of the Six Powers and brought each of them to Intermediate level.
Conqueror's Haki, the first ability he had set to train automatically, had also reached Intermediate level a few days ago. He could now control it freely.
"According to the system, apart from a few special abilities, most abilities have five strength levels: Beginner level, Intermediate level, Advanced level, Top level, and maximum level!"
"An ability's automatic training speed depends on how powerful it is."
"The Six Powers only needed about a month and a half to reach Intermediate level, but Conqueror's Haki took over three months."
"As for the other two of the Three Haki Colors, Armament Haki and Observation Haki, I don't even know their exact training methods..."
Roya got up, restless. All trace of sleepiness had vanished.
He knew the basic principles behind training Armament Haki and Observation Haki, but not the specific, systematic methods.
For both abilities, he needed someone to show him the ropes.
Besides, with his average talent, figuring them out on his own would be extremely difficult.
I have to find a chance to learn those two forms of Haki! Roya thought as he looked out at the blue sky and white clouds.
Outside, on the training grounds,
recruits who had enlisted less than a year ago were still running drills beneath the blazing sun.
Three years earlier, Roya had been one of them.
"Whoa!"
Suddenly, one recruit shot more than a hundred meters across the training ground, as if he had teleported.
"That's... he mastered Six Powers—Soru!" Roya stared at the recruit, who was beside himself with joy, and couldn't help feeling stunned.
"Talent really isn't fair!"
He had trained hard for three whole years just to barely master two of the Six Powers.
Someone else had trained for less than a year and already mastered Soru. That was what it meant to be a genius, wasn't it?
"No matter. So what if he's a genius? Once I set up a training project, I'll surpass even a genius!"
Far from discouraged, Roya felt more fired up than ever.
Just then, the system's mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
[Host's fighting spirit has surged after witnessing a genius!] [The Six Powers have been inspired by the host's fighting spirit and are determined to train even harder!] [Ding! Automatic training speed for all Six Powers has increased tenfold!]
Roya froze for a moment.
Then he felt the strength of his Six Powers steadily growing!
Before, he had never been able to sense such subtle changes.
Clearly, this was the effect of their training speed increasing tenfold.
"What? My fighting spirit inspired my abilities? Do they have thoughts and feelings too?"
Delighted, Roya hurriedly questioned the system. Only then did he discover that his abilities had basic emotions and could sense changes in the outside world.
When outside stimuli grew strong enough, their emotions would fluctuate and trigger all sorts of unexpected events.
An increase in training speed was one of them!
"Even the heavens would grow old if they had feelings! This is incredible," Roya exclaimed happily.
If his abilities had feelings, he would have plenty of chances to boost their training speed again!
"I could try giving Conqueror's Haki a push too!"
Having had a taste of success, Roya immediately turned his attention to Conqueror's Haki.
It was the strongest ability he currently possessed.
If he trained Conqueror's Haki to a high enough level, he could use Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
Its power far surpassed Armament Haki Infusion!
Unfortunately,
no matter how he tried to stir it, Conqueror's Haki gave no response.
"Maybe Conqueror's Haki is at too high a level for its emotions to shift so easily?" Roya guessed with a frown.
And just as he racked his brain for a way to stir it,
a voice called from outside his door.
"Major Roya, Vice Admiral Garp wants to see you!"
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