Sit-Ups? I Know This One!

Time flowed on, and the days flew by.

In the blink of an eye, five months had passed.

Over those five months, Xia Luo had shot up even more, his body growing increasingly robust, and his strength rising steadily.

Standing before a massive boulder, Xia Luo willed it, and his status panel quietly appeared.

[Host: Nico Xia Luo]

[Age: 11]

[Height: 178 cm]

[Skills and Talents: Six Treasury Immortal Thief LV2 (2%), Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon Form LV1 (25%)]

[Main Quest 1: Join Mount Longhu and become a Celestial Master's disciple. Reward: One of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, Qi-Body Origin Stream.]

[Main Quest 2: Participate in the Luotian Grand Ceremony, defeat every contestant, and claim first place. Reward: One of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, Heavenly Seal.]

[Main Quest 3: Become the new Celestial Master of Mount Longhu. Reward: One of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, Both Hands.]

[Main Quest 4: Defeat the old Celestial Master and become the strongest in the world. Reward: One of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, Da Luo Cave.]

[Side quests have not yet been triggered. Please explore on your own.]

Boom!

Xia Luo took a deep breath and threw a fierce punch into the boulder. His fist sank three inches into the stone, and spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across its entire surface.

He slowly withdrew his fist. With several sharp cracks, the boulder shattered into a pile of rubble.

"In just a few months, my physique has gone from ten times stronger to thirty times stronger. That's fast. A Mythical Zoan really lives up to its name!"

Xia Luo beamed. The Azure Dragon Fruit deserved much of the credit for his tremendous increase in strength.

"Right, Six Treasury Immortal Thief reached LV2 around twenty days ago. After leveling up, not only can my body store more energy, but my self-healing ability and enhancement speed have also increased. They're about twice what they were before."

"However, Six Treasury Immortal Thief's leveling speed has also changed from 5 days per 1% to 10 days per 1%."

In other words, reaching LV3 would take at least a thousand days—nearly three years!

That was fine. He would only be fourteen in three years. He could accept that.

There was also...

[Unknown spiritual entity detected. Disassembling: Curse of the Sea (36%)]

"After Six Treasury Immortal Thief leveled up, its disassembly speed doubled as well. It progresses by an average of 4% every ten days. At this rate, it should be fully disassembled in around 160 days."

Xia Luo planned to join the Marines after the Curse of the Sea had been completely disassembled.

That was right. After weighing his options, Xia Luo had ultimately decided that the Marines offered more obvious advantages than the other choices.

As a colossal force that ruled the seas, the Marines had a systematic training program and promotion system, ample funding, and a safer environment for growth.

Setting out to become a pirate carried greater risks. Not only would he have to figure out cultivation on his own, but he would also need to spend time and energy finding companions, making money, cooking, and more.

A mountain of trivial matters awaited him.

In the end, his strength would definitely grow more slowly than if he joined the Marines.

Of course, the most important point was that Xia Luo wanted to learn the Six Powers through the Marines, and then master Life Return.

Life Return was exceptionally well-suited to Xia Luo. In his mind, its importance ranked only slightly below the Azure Dragon Fruit.

Just imagine it: Life Return, Six Treasury Immortal Thief, and the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Fruit, all combined...

Tsk, tsk. The picture was too beautiful to imagine.

By then, who else could claim to be the strongest creature across land, sea, and sky but him?!

Sit-ups?

Like anyone else could do them better than me!

Before my back even touched the ground, I'd do a backflip and revive at full health!

Night fell.

Xia Luo entered the study, where Olvia sat quietly at the desk, reading.

Last year, Olvia had passed her examination and become an archaeologist.

Because of that, the sense of urgency in Xia Luo's heart had grown even stronger.

Meeting Olvia's puzzled gaze, Xia Luo grinned and said,

"Sis, I want to discuss something with you. Don't get mad, okay?"

"What is it? Don't tell me you want to go out to sea again? It's only been a few days."

Olvia closed her book, her delicate brows knitting slightly as she pressed her lips together.

Seeing tears well up in Olvia's eyes, Xia Luo hurriedly explained,

"No. I'm planning to enlist next year. Don't worry, it isn't far away—just the Marine base near us."

As a renowned archaeological holy land in the West Blue, Ohara had a thriving scholarly culture and prosperous economy. Moreover, it secretly provided the Marines with a substantial sum every year, so there was a Marine base nearby.

Yes, although Ohara was not a member nation of the World Government, it still paid protection money to the Marines every year.

Note that it paid the Marines, not the World Government.

This was actually one of the Marines' sources of funding. Otherwise, relying solely on the World Government's allocations would have left them broke.

At the same time, the Marines handed half of that money over to the World Government.

Therefore, the World Government chose to turn a blind eye.

The reason Ohara had remained safe and sound all these years was largely thanks to the nearby Marine base. Because of its presence, pirates rarely came this way.

Even if pirates did show up, Marine reinforcements would arrive quickly.

Or the pirates would be discovered and wiped out by the Marines the moment they entered nearby waters.

Therefore, one could call the Marines the Celestial Dragons' lackeys and accomplices in evil, but their existence had indeed protected some of the common people.

The Marines' "roots" were thoroughly rotten, but some of their "branches and leaves" were still green and full of life.

And that was one of the reasons Xia Luo had chosen to join the Marines.

After a brief silence.

"You want to join the Marines?"

Surprise filled Olvia's face as she asked, "Why?"

"For justice!"

Xia Luo spouted nonsense with a perfectly serious expression.

"Justice? You?"

Olvia froze. Xia Luo's answer had completely exceeded her expectations.

But she quickly shook her head.

"No, no. You're only eleven. Even next year, you'll only be twelve. You're far too young. How could I possibly be at ease? If you want to join the Marines, wait until you're an adult."

As though she had thought of something, Olvia's expression turned serious.

"Being a Marine isn't child's play. Your life could be in danger at any time!"

"Sis, I'm not afraid. I can protect myself." Xia Luo's resolve was unwavering. "My age isn't a problem. I can just forge an identity. Looking at me now, who could tell that I'm only eleven?"

This world had no household registration or identity cards, so forging an identity was not difficult. Besides, Marine branches were not especially strict in their screening, and the Marines' intelligence network was not powerful enough to investigate everyone. Getting through unnoticed would not be hard.

Of course, directly joining Marine Headquarters would be another matter entirely. Its screening was far stricter, and Headquarters did not accept people casually. But if he started at a branch, gradually distinguished himself, and eventually entered Headquarters through military achievements, strength, talent, or all of the above, that would be different.

As it happened, Zephyr had not yet transferred from admiral to instructor, and the Marine Elite Training Camp had not yet been established.

Therefore, Xia Luo planned to infiltrate a Marine branch first, slowly reveal his talent, improve his strength, accumulate military achievements, and then become one of the first trainees once the Marine Elite Training Camp was established in a few years.