Three Years, Setting Sail!

One month later.

"Ow! That hurts so much!" Swain wailed.

"Can't you go a little easier on me, old man?"

Several hot, swollen "hills" bulged out on Swain's head.

"It hurts now, but you'll take a lot less damage in future fights!"

With that, Woli picked up a stick and swung it again.

This was to train Swain's Observation Haki, covering his eyes with black gauze and launching surprise attacks from behind to achieve the maximum effect.

This was also the method Rayleigh once used to let Luffy practice Observation Haki on Amazon Lily, and it was very effective!

Three months later.

Clang clang clang clang clang! Swain easily dodged five consecutive strikes despite his blinded eyes.

"Your Observation Haki has improved a lot lately!" Woli praised.

"We'll practice the application of Conqueror's Haki in the afternoon."

One year later.

On a winter day, a powerful black domain began to expand from the inside out around a young man. Wherever the Conqueror's Haki passed, even the snow on the trees fell off in succession.

"Is this how you use Conqueror's Haki? It really is amazing."

After a year's interval, apart from the times he had used it inadvertently, this was the first time he had unleashed Haki based on his own consciousness!

"Mm. Conqueror's Haki is the hardest of the three types of Haki to learn to use, and you've done very well to reach this point in just one year."

"Given time..." Woli's flat voice stopped abruptly.

He looked at Swain, who was cheering in front of him.

He muttered to himself:

"Maybe... the future belongs to him."

Time flies, and the years slip away.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

In the Dead Silence Sea, a short-haired youth stood proudly in mid-air.

His handsome face held a maturity that shouldn't belong to his age.

"Rise!"

He simply crossed his hands and raised them from his waist to the top of his head.

The sea instantly began to churn turbulently, and huge waves surged one after another.

The entire surrounding sea area looked as if it were about to flip over.

Yet the young man before his eyes was as small and insignificant as an ant amidst these waves.

If anyone were nearby to witness this scene, they would probably think it was the end of the world.

The waves rose dozens of meters high—these were truly monstrous waves, a natural disaster!

And the source that created them was the handsome youth hovering in mid-air right before them.

Undeniably, he was Swain, the user of the Sea Fruit.

Half an hour later, the sea surface returned to calm, as if nothing had happened at all.

"The effect is pretty good!" Swain let out a long breath.

He looked with a firm gaze toward the end of the Dead Silence Sea, where the sea and sky met, tinged with the afterglow of the setting sun, with a few black dots flying in the distance—those were seagulls, representing freedom.

"It's time to set sail!"

That short sentence marked the end of his seventeen-year wait and the beginning of a boyhood promise!

Returning home.

Woli was patching up a small boat on the side. This was the very boat he had once taken to arrive on this uninhabited island.

Now it would be used to send this young man off.

"Old man, are you really not coming out with me?" Swain asked sincerely.

He genuinely couldn't bear to part with Woli; after all, having lived together for seventeen years, even if they weren't father and son, their bond was like that of father and son.

Woli laughed heartily, though that infectious laughter could hardly conceal the sorrow of their impending separation.

"I'm old, and in a few years I'll truly have to retire. How could I travel the four seas with you?"

"The future belongs to you young people! Go out and make your bold adventures!"

Swain looked at Woli. He had grown to be just as tall as him, reaching nearly one meter ninety.

Then, seeing the white hairs sprouting at Woli's temples, he understood that no matter how reluctant he felt, Woli truly shouldn't sail out with him anymore.

"Alright! Take care of yourself too, old man!"

Swain turned and left without hesitation, afraid he would actually see Woli shed tears.

Farewells were always sorrowful!

When he finally saw Swain leave aboard that small boat, his eye sockets grew red as well.

Having been at sea for three days, Swain was still drifting on the ocean.

Seeing the map Cardiff had once given him in his hand, he couldn't help falling into deep thought.

"I seem to have... have I gone the wrong way?!" he said in disbelief.

"Poo-tu-ya!" he blurted out in a grumble. This was something Woli would blurt out whenever he saw him not paying attention during training.

It was similar to his past life's catchphrase, "What the heck!"

It was only right when you flipped the map over to look at it!

There were no words on this map at all, only simple routes and landmark directions.

Any navigator would naturally be able to understand it, but for a novice like Swain, it was completely confusing.

He had simply looked at the landmark directions backward, and knowing the truth turned his face green.

Fortunately, he discovered it in time and decided to head first to Uwin Town, which was the closest place to his current location.

It was also the hometown of Cardiff, the Shang Dynasty merchant whom he had saved four years ago.

He immediately changed the flow of the seawater and set off toward Uwin Town!

After a few more bland days of coasting along, Swain finally started to move.

Because three or four hundred meters to his right, a large ship was also sailing parallel to him.

"Captain, look over there! There's a boat to our right," a lackey shouted loudly.

"What are you yelling for! Have you never seen a boat before!" The rugged-looking captain walked up and kicked the lackey to the ground.

Afterward, he picked up his telescope to take a look, immediately letting out a puzzled query.

"Huh? How come there's only one person?"

The other lackey also picked up his telescope to look, seeing only a young man riding in a simple small boat. He was sitting on a stool in the boat with his hands folded, looking right over at them.

This youth was none other than Swain.

One of them said, "Could he be a crew member from another Shang Dynasty ship that got shipwrecked?"

Because commerce in this region was extremely developed, with trades in clothes, Jin, daily necessities, and everything else, Shang Dynasty merchant ships practically all traveled this sea route.

After this person brought it up, the others nodded in agreement one after another.

"Yeah, Captain, we should send a signal to pick him up."

The captain walked up and gave him a rap on the head, saying, "What if he's a pirate?"

This time it was that person's turn to stop talking; the moment he heard the word pirate, he was scared too.

Obviously, pirates were also rampant in this area.

While they were engaged in Shang Dynasty discussions, Swain certainly wasn't going to let go of this great opportunity to hitch a ride!

With a slight mental nudge, the current of the sea within a thirty-meter radius centered on him began to shift, flowing in a direction completely opposite to the surrounding waters.

Within just a few minutes, he had drifted close to that ship. One of the crew members on board was in the middle of discussing Shang Dynasty matters when someone unceremoniously tapped him on the shoulder. Feeling a bit annoyed and wanting to curse, he turned around.

Yet when he saw the person in front of him, his mouth gradually widened into the shape of an "o".

"It's a ghost!"

Startled by that roar, the rest of the crew turned around to look one after another.

As a result, they all wore the exact same expression as him.

However, none of them screamed or shouted, yet they all stared at the youth before them with bizarre gazes.

Swain felt his skin crawl under their stares, and he couldn't help greeting them, "Hello there, my dear friends!"