People in One Piece: I Can Copy Any Talent - Chapter 7

That alone was enough to turn a battle around, let alone when all three types of Haki had been strengthened.

But precisely because of that, Noil was even more inclined to choose the first talent, "Sovereign's Gift."

Although the talent Noil had displayed so far was already impressive, he didn't dare say what the future would hold. With this talent, at least, he wouldn't have to worry about training his Haki in the future.

After all, Haki was one of the most important power systems in the world of pirates. As long as one mastered all three types of Haki, one would become a well-rounded warrior.

Besides, there were still two years before Noil's powerful enemy, the Arlong Pirates, arrived. He urgently needed some way to greatly increase his strength.

In his eyes, the 10% boost from "Child of the Sea" was nowhere near as valuable as the version of himself who trained for two years with "Sovereign's Gift."

"Selected! I'm choosing you!"

"Ding! The host's talent slots are full. Please select an existing talent to replace."

"Replace 'Stamina Boost'!" Noil had long since felt that this skill was useless.

One gold and one purple talent entered his body, and Noil soon felt the changes within him.

First was swordsmanship. His mind suddenly gained countless new applications of swordsmanship. When he checked the values provided by the system, his swordsmanship had jumped directly from 150 to 206—a full increase of more than fifty points.

He had previously trained with his head down for seven years to reach 150 points in swordsmanship. Now, after obtaining a talent, it had surged by so much in an instant.

Next, Noil sensed a mysterious force. It was right in front of him, yet he seemed unable to see it clearly or grasp it completely.

"Hey! I'm here! I'm over here!"

Just then, a pirate ship sailed over from the distance. Noil focused his eyes and saw that it was Shanks's crew.

Shanks happily slapped Noil on the shoulder and said, "Thank you, Noil. They really came back for me!"

Chapter 10: Foolish Nami

Noil almost couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes.

There was no need to thank him. His crew had obviously thrown him away just to scare him.

Noil was familiar with most of the people on the pirate ship: the fat guy who carried a chicken leg around all day, Usopp's father Yasopp, the vice-captain Benn Beckman, and others.

Several other officers whose names he didn't know were also standing on deck, laughing at Shanks without restraint.

"What happened, Captain?! Don't tell me you swam here!"

"Captain, you've already lost an arm, so stop fooling around!"

Listening to everyone's laughter, Noil was covered in black lines. Shanks, however, didn't react at all. Instead, he laughed along with them, completely carefree.

Shanks leaped onto the ship, and the pirate ship slowly sailed away from the shore. Noil waved goodbye to him.

Shanks's sunny smile could always infect those around him. He waved at Noil and called, "Noil, once you enter the Grand Line, come find me if you get the chance!"

Huh?

How did he know I planned to enter the Grand Line?

Noil remembered that he had mentioned it during his battle with Kenbula.

Had Red-Hair already been there at the time?

He hadn't noticed him at all.

So, even if I hadn't intervened, the original story's Kenbula and his men would have been dealt with by Red-Hair as he passed by, before they could invade the village.

What a pitiful bunch.

Noil smiled and said goodbye to Shanks and his crew, when the system's notification suddenly rang out at an inopportune moment.

"Ding! The host has befriended the important figure Red-Haired Shanks. System rewards are being issued: Armament Haki Awakening Novice ×1, Constitution +15."

Huh?

Armament Haki?!

Noil excitedly opened the system and saw that a new entry had indeed appeared beneath "Swordsmanship"—Armament Haki: 10 (maximum value: 99).

That mysterious force from earlier seemed to have suddenly been grasped at its core. So this was the power of Haki!

He had truly reeled in quite a few great rewards from this fishing trip.

One gold, one purple, and one blue talent, plus the awakening of Armament Haki—it was an enormous unexpected bonus.

Just as Noil happily calculated his rewards, the fishermen from earlier finally returned with a large group of villagers, charging over in a mighty procession to support him.

His mother, Bellemere, was among them.

Bellemere rushed over with worry written across her face and supported Noil. Seeing the shocking wounds covering his body, she looked even more distressed.

Noil hurriedly comforted her. "I'm fine, Bellemere. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Bellemere turned her head away and stubbornly said, "It's not like I care about you!"

"How did a perfectly good child turn into a bloodied mess in the space of just a moment?"

"Do you know how worried I was when everyone came to tell me?"

As he listened to Bellemere's nagging, Noil merely played dumb and grinned, not talking back even once.

Seeing him like that, Bellemere rolled her eyes, lightly tapped him on the head, and asked, "Where are those pirates? Don't tell me you lost the fight, brat."

Noil hurriedly smiled ingratiatingly. "How could I lose? I'm Bellemere's child!"

He pointed toward the distant sea and said, "I took care of them all. Their pirate ship sank too."

Bellemere nodded, while the villagers beside her said excitedly:

"Noil is incredible! He defeated them so quickly!"

"Exactly! Those pirates looked terrifying!"

"Stop wasting time and take Noil back to the village to treat his wounds!"

Surrounded by the villagers, Bellemere helped Noil back to the village. He was then laid down in the village clinic.

Bellemere stayed beside him and comforted him. "You'd better get well soon. You caught such a huge Sea King before, and you even defeated pirates. The whole village is going to hold a feast!"

Wrapped up so thoroughly that he looked like a dumpling, Noil weakly explained, "Actually, my injuries aren't that serious..."

Noil struggled to sit up, but when Bellemere glared at him, he obediently lay back down.

"Big Brother!"

A spoiled-sounding call rang out. Noil knew who had arrived without even turning his head from the hospital bed."

A small orange-haired figure rushed through the door, shouting loudly, then threw herself into Noil's arms like a heavy little ball.

"Argh!"

Noil let out a strange cry. Even that single impact made him feel his wounds split open again...

Seven years had passed, and Nami had transformed from the frail little girl she had once been into a lively, healthy, energetic child.

With her orange hair framing her face, Nami lifted her little head from Noil's arms. Her large, sparkling eyes were filled with tears, and mucus was about to run from her tiny nose.

In a grief-stricken voice, little Nami sobbed intermittently, "Big Brother... don't... don't die, waaaah!"

Noil was covered in black lines. He pulled Nami, who was wrapped around him like an octopus, off his body and tossed her aside, shouting irritably, "I'm only injured! I'm not dying!"

"Oh, so that's what it is?"

The moment she heard this, little Nami immediately broke into a smile. She roughly wiped the tears and mucus from her face with her chubby little hands, then excitedly ran outside to play again.

"Gen-san, I want to play with your windmill..."

Listening to his foolish little sister laughing outside, Noil was so exhausted that he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

Fortunately, he had two younger sisters.

Nojiko, wearing a headband and a blue sundress, stood beside the bed. She looked at Noil's injuries with concern and asked, "Big Brother, are you all right?"

Noil sighed inwardly: Now this is what a truly gentle little sister is like.

As for that carefree little Nami...

Forget it. Better not mention her.

Noil stroked Nojiko's beautiful hair and said gently, "I'm fine. Those pirates weren't that capable."

Nojiko nodded and gazed at Noil admiringly. "I heard about it! Big Brother is amazing. You sank an entire pirate ship!"

Noil and Nojiko were actually about the same age. However, Noil had always been the one looking after the two sisters, so everyone had tacitly accepted that he was their older brother.

And in truth, that was how things were. Back then, Nojiko had been holding Nami on the battlefield. Noil had found them and gotten them food. Nami hadn't been old enough to remember much, but Nojiko remembered it clearly.

That was why Nojiko had admired Noil most of all since childhood. In her eyes, her brother had always been capable of anything.

Even Bellemere fell slightly short!

In the Bellemere household, Nojiko was Noil's number-one little follower. As for Nami...

She only clung to Noil whenever she wanted something from him.

Noil chatted happily with Nojiko beside the bed while Bellemere watched her children with a sunny smile.

An excellent son, along with one mischievous daughter and one gentle daughter—Bellemere was completely satisfied with her life.

This was the life she wanted.

Chapter 11: Arlong's Bribe

In the end, Bellemere didn't let Noil spend the entire night lying in the hospital bed. Noil still went to attend the village feast.

To be fair, the feast culture in the world of pirates was rather appealing. Ever since Noil was little, the village would hold one or two feasts whenever there was a festival or a harvest.

Those were the times when the three Noil siblings could really run wild.

Only on those occasions would Bellemere allow Noil to drink a little with the villagers.

Nojiko and Nami could also use their adorable appearances to beg plenty of delicious food and fun toys from the adults.

Of course, since Noil was injured and couldn't drink at this feast, he was destined to miss out on his share of the fun.

By the time the feast ended, it was already the middle of the night. Bellemere and Noil each carried one of the two exhausted sisters home.

After returning home, Noil decided to have a talk with Bellemere.

"What? You want to go into seclusion and train for two years?" Bellemere looked at her son in surprise.

Noil nodded. He had had this idea for a long time.

Now that he possessed the power of a Devil Fruit and had extraordinary talents for training in swordsmanship and Haki, it was time to devote himself to developing his strength.

"Child, you're already strong enough." Bellemere held his hand and said worriedly.

"Don't put so much pressure on yourself."

Bellemere had always understood that ever since her son was adopted, he seemed to have something weighing on his mind.

He had never relaxed his training, as though some burden were pressing down on him.

This had frustrated her more than once.

You're my child! Are you really afraid I can't protect you?

"Don't worry, Bellemere. It's only two years. Nothing will happen." Noil gently reassured her.

Bellemere fell silent, but Noil knew that she had agreed.

She would never interfere with any decision her child made.

But she would always stay by your side, all the way until you succeeded or grew tired and returned to her arms.

Guilt surfaced in Noil's eyes, but he quickly hid it and silently swore:

Two years. Once I come out of seclusion and deal with Arlong, I'll spend plenty of time with you.

After that, the villagers of Cocoyasi Village all seemed to feel that something was missing.

That brat no longer shouted about challenging people, and they no longer saw him sneaking out to drink their liquor or practicing swordsmanship in public.

Everyone found it difficult to adjust.

Noil found an isolated island in the nearby waters. It contained plenty of ferocious beasts, and its natural environment was harsh enough, so he planned to stay there for the time being.

Two years would be enough to change a great many things.