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Dawn continued "chopping trees" with his hand blade. With inhuman strength and a powerful physique, each swing of his palm sent trees crashing down as if they had been severed by a sharp blade, while every sound was perfectly confined within this prison.

Before long, he had gathered enough lumber to build a simple wooden cabin.

"Stella, process these."

The little white fox understood. She leaped backward, and a dreamlike cloud of pink smoke burst around her. When the smoke cleared, a Nine-Tailed White Fox over five meters long, pure white from head to tail, elegant and sacred in bearing, stood in her place!

Moonlight spilled over her glossy, silky fur, seeming to coat it in silver. Whether intentionally or not, she had maintained the white color Dawn preferred rather than her original fur color.

Stella extended her incredibly hard forepaws and skillfully began stripping away bark, dividing the logs into the planks and support beams they needed.

Thanks to the deft knife work she had developed from frequently handling their meals, she processed the lumber with equal ease, at an astonishing speed.

Watching her busy yet graceful figure, Dawn seemed to think of something, and a glimmer flashed through his eyes.

"Stella, keep processing these for now. I'll go check out the Tree of Knowledge tonight and see whether I can directly get the portion of the sea charts we need."

The moment he finished giving the instruction, he felt an icy killing intent lock onto him. Stella's enormous fox head turned toward him, and one huge paw rose, its sharp claws gleaming coldly. She looked ready to scratch up his handsome face over a single disagreement.

Her golden vertical pupils narrowed dangerously, making her meaning obvious—so I did all this for nothing?

"Don't worry, we're definitely still building the cabin! I'm just scouting the place out. Even if I get the sea charts, we won't leave immediately. We need to rest up here. I'm about at my limit from drifting around at sea all the time."

Ever since setting sail, Dawn had spent most of his time aboard a constantly rocking ship. As a landlubber with no previous sailing experience, he had long since become utterly exhausted.

He considered himself highly adaptable, but if this continued, neither his mind nor body would be able to take it. Ohara's relatively isolated environment was the perfect place to recuperate.

The first half of his explanation had nearly earned him a swipe from Stella's claws. Only after hearing the latter half did she snort coldly, withdraw her killing intent, and continue processing the lumber.

"Come back early. Don't get caught."

Dawn nodded and said no more. He controlled the darkness around him, making it cover his entire body like a living creature. It not only perfectly concealed his figure, but also completely absorbed any faint sounds his movements might make.

Like a true ghost, he melted into the night and raced toward the Tree of Knowledge.

A few minutes later, inside the Tree of Knowledge library.

Though it was already night, the place remained brightly lit. Many scholars had forgotten food and sleep in pursuit of their research. The heavy doors were suddenly pushed open by an invisible force, leaving a narrow gap, yet there was no one outside.

A young scholar near the entrance looked up, adjusted his glasses, and muttered in confusion:

"Strange. There wasn't such a strong wind tonight..."

As he spoke, he stood up and casually shut the doors tightly again.

Wrapped in darkness, Dawn surveyed the interior of this legendary library. Massive bookshelves stood like a forest, reaching all the way to the ceiling, packed densely with books and scrolls from all over the world. The air carried the distinctive fragrance of old paper and ink.

Even at this late hour, dozens of scholars were still scattered throughout the library. Some bent over their desks writing furiously, some discussed matters in low voices, and others climbed tall ladders in search of ancient texts.

"What... astonishing thirst for knowledge. But what a hassle. With so many people around, quietly looking for something won't be easy."

After murmuring that, Dawn cautiously controlled the range of darkness covering him. Like a true shadow, he avoided every scholar's sight and headed toward the towering shelves.

When he reached the bottom of the shelves, Dawn activated his ability and absorbed his own gravity, causing his body to float gently upward like a feather.

He slowly moved along the bookshelves, his eyes sharp as lightning as they swept over rows upon rows of titles. History, literature, biology, geography, astronomy...

It contained everything imaginable, including many unique copies long lost to the outside world. Yet the sea charts he cared about most remained nowhere to be found.

Just as he had nearly searched through most of the visible shelves and was preparing to give up and leave, his peripheral vision caught sight of a book tucked into an inconspicuous corner of the upper shelves. Its ancient cover bore the words "Detailed Explanation of Return Life" in the common language.

"Life Return? Could this be...?"

He was uncertain, unsure whether it was the Life Return he understood it to be.

After looking around and confirming that no one had noticed this secluded corner, he carefully used a finger covered in darkness to silently pull out the book. He swiftly wrapped it completely in denser darkness, placing it in an "invisible" state.

The motion flowed seamlessly, causing no disturbance in the air, as though the book had vanished into thin air.

Dawn drifted down into a more secluded corner. Using the shadow of the shelves for cover, he quickly flipped through the invisible book in his hands.

Every sound of turning pages was absorbed by the darkness wrapped around the book. As he read, delighted light filled his eyes. This book not only thoroughly explained the principles of Life Return, but also recorded a systematic and complete method of training.

"As expected of the Tree of Knowledge, where the wisdom of the entire world gathers! It even has something like this!"

Dawn praised it inwardly. To him, this was undoubtedly a tremendous treasure, one that could greatly compensate for his shortcomings in pure physical techniques and bodily control.

He forcibly suppressed the urge to start training immediately, closed the book, and carefully tucked it into the canvas bag he carried with him.

Even now, he still could not fully control the powerful compression and annihilation properties of the Dark-Dark Fruit's inherent extradimensional space. Anything placed inside would be crushed apart by invisible force, making it utterly useless for storing items. It often left him helpless.

Shaking his head and suppressing his regret, Dawn concealed himself once more and began searching even more carefully for traces of sea charts.

He spent several full hours searching nearly every shelf in every publicly accessible area of the Tree of Knowledge, but never found anything resembling an atlas. Meanwhile, the number of scholars in the library showed no obvious decrease.

Could it be that Ohara had no interest in sea charts, or that they simply were not stored in this main hall?

Just as Dawn was thinking that, an elderly scholar emerged from a side door he had previously overlooked, half-obscured by bookshelves, carrying a large yellowed roll that was clearly made of drawings.

Dawn's heart stirred, and he immediately drifted in that direction. Once he arrived, he discovered that behind the side door was a modest storage room. Inside... were thousands of scrolls and drawings piled up like a small mountain!

That was not a figure of speech. They were genuine sea charts piled high like a small hill!

"So many!"

Even though Dawn had prepared himself mentally, his scalp still went numb.

Finding precisely what he wanted among this vast ocean of maps would be no different from searching for a needle in the sea.

He couldn't possibly take them all, could he...

Dawn sighed inwardly, feeling a wave of helplessness.

Indeed, with his current strength and the Dark-Dark Fruit's bizarre abilities, he could completely kill every scholar here without anyone noticing, then calmly take away all the sea charts.

These Ohara scholars valued knowledge and history more than their own lives. Robbing them openly would inevitably provoke desperate resistance. If he wanted to take the charts away, killing them all would be the only option.

But the thought merely flashed through Dawn's mind before he extinguished it himself.

He had gone to sea to take revenge on those pigs of the World Government, who stood above all others and treated human lives as worthless—not to become the same kind of being who trampled life and dignity at will.

His pride and his bottom line would not allow him to do that.

Of course, his bottom line only applied to those he had not deemed enemies. If he had found these things in a pirate stronghold, a Marine base, or a World Government institution, then as long as he was certain of success, he would strike immediately.

The Marines and the World Government had practically become inseparable, so they were naturally enemies. As for pirates, although Dawn had not officially formed a pirate crew yet, he certainly would in the future. From a pirate's perspective, everyone except his own companions was an enemy.

Shaking his head to dispel his wandering thoughts, Dawn took one final deep look at that mountain of sea charts, forcibly suppressed the restlessness in his heart, and moved toward the main entrance.

Considering the existence of Life Return, before leaving, he even deliberately searched for books related to Haki. In the end, he found only books introducing the relevant concepts, with no training methods explained. He could only leave with regret.

By the time Dawn returned to the forest by the shore, the night had grown deep. Stella had already finished processing all the lumber, and the cut planks and support beams were neatly stacked together.

When she saw Dawn dismiss his invisibility and reveal himself, Stella immediately ran over and tilted up her little head.

"How was it? Did you find them?"

Dawn gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

"I found where they're stored, but there are far too many—more than I ever imagined. There's no way to quietly take the portion I need without alerting anyone. It looks like we can only follow the original plan, stay here for a while, and take it slowly."

He had already made up his mind. He needed to establish a sufficiently solid relationship of trust with Robin, then rely on her familiarity with the Tree of Knowledge to help him locate the specific sea charts he needed.

In any case, there was still plenty of time. It had only been about a year since Pirate King Roger's execution, and the Great Pirate Era had only just begun. Many people who would one day shake the world had yet to emerge, and many events that would alter the world's balance had not yet occurred. He had enough time to make plans and wait.

Stella swished her tail and feigned regret.

"I see. Then there's nothing we can do. Looks like we'll have to stay on this island for a while."

Dawn stepped forward and looked at the processed lumber.

"Forget that for now. Change back first. We'll work together and build the cabin as soon as possible. At least then we'll have somewhere to shelter from the wind and rain."

Stella nodded, and that familiar cloud of pink smoke burst around her once again. Once it cleared, she clapped her hands and looked at the blond-haired boy.

"Fine, let's get to work! But just so we're clear, I'm doing the roof. I don't trust your sense of aesthetics!"

Dawn smiled and did not argue. Beneath the hazy moonlight and the darkness that still had not fully dispersed around them, the two began working together to build their temporary home on Ohara.

TO BE CONTINUED