Surprising Improvements

"Are there still surprises?"

"Is this the choice the system said would determine my future?"

Listening to the prompt echoing in his mind, Gawain soon recovered his composure, a look of pleasant surprise appearing on his face.

With three advanced abilities placed before Gawain at the same time, the best choice was naturally to take all of them, but reality clearly did not allow for that.

For a moment he felt some hesitation.

After all, this concerned the future growth of his combat power and would likely be his first transformation at this stage, so he could not afford to be anything less than cautious.

The functions of the three abilities could be understood simply by looking at their literal meanings.

Iron Cutting enhances the power of sword slashes, something Zoro demonstrated when facing Mr. 1 Daz Bones in Alabasta; even a body of steel can be casually cut through by a top-tier swordsman.

Flying Blade points to the Flying Slash, which is the mainstream long-range method for swordsmen in the later stages of the world of One Piece; used well, one can slice through mountains or even islands just like Hawk Eyes.

Immediately afterward, Gawain focused his attention on the final option, which was Godspeed:

Lastly, Godspeed undoubtedly increases the speed of executing attacks. In battle, even being faster by just a tiny margin is often enough to decide victory, or even life and death.

After pondering for a moment, Gawain ultimately focused his sight on Godspeed:

The opponents I currently face do not yet possess Armament Haki, and those Devil Fruits that can significantly enhance physical strength are not in the East Blue.

Although Iron Cutting is useful in high-intensity combat, it is nowhere near as helpful to me right now.

The same goes for Flying Blade. This is fundamentally a late-stage skill; no matter how strong a Flying Slash is, it cannot be stronger than the blade itself. When long-range attacks are needed, I can just blast away with cannons or learn a thing or two from the Ashina Sword Saint.

What is the point of knowing martial arts when you have guns? How can you call yourself a grandmaster?

Looked at this way, the thing that helps me the most right now is Godspeed!

Thinking of this, Gawain hesitated no longer and directly selected Godspeed, whereupon the system panel before his eyes vanished.

His body, however, began to heat up the very next moment, the high temperature turning his skin a fiery red and even causing scorching steam to rise.

His fingers became longer and more powerful, his muscles began to regrow all over his body, and his entire physique ushered in a transformation, growing toward a more perfect, more precise, and more powerful direction.

A few breaths later.

Gawain's body temperature slowly returned to normal, and accompanied by a puff of white smoke exhaled from his mouth, he slowly opened his eyes, yet everything before him caused his breath to hitch:

"This is..."

All things in his view slowed down.

Leaves drifting in the distance, the churning waves at the seashore, and even the branches swaying constantly in the wind became absurdly slow, looking like a video played in slow motion.

He could even clearly see a flying gnat drifting past his eyes, from its vibrating wings to its flight trajectory, everything laid out in meticulous detail.

It is not that this world has slowed down, but rather that my perception has become much sharper!

Gawain instinctively swung his sword...

Swish!

The sharp blade swept out a silver gleam; the three motions of drawing the sword, striking, and sheathing it were completed almost instantaneously.

By the time Gawain reacted, the flying gnat in midair had already been split right down the middle, its insect body spinning as it landed, its transparent wings severed in the center and scattered by the wind.

Gawain stared at the sword in his hand, his pupils unable to help contracting:

"Did I do this?"

"Too fast!"

"So fast that even I didn't react before everything was already over. This kind of attack speed..."

Gawain once again picked Morgans—who had fought his predecessor—for comparison, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly:

"Now I can cut off his head with a single sword!"

This was because the improvement brought by Godspeed could almost be called all-encompassing.

From neural reflex speed to sensory capability, and down to the instinct of drawing the sword, everything served the purpose of achieving a faster sword speed.

From drawing the sword to slaying the gnat and sheathing it back, the entire process took less than 0.2 seconds, a speed that even exceeded the theoretical limits of humans in Gawain's past life.

Yet he could feel that this was still not the limit of this body of his; once he grew accustomed to the flesh, he could do even better!

Even faster!

Under the bonus of Godspeed, the speed at which Gawain swung his sword became extremely exaggerated.

As long as he could break through defenses, being faster by a single thread was the difference that decided life and death.

Gawain tossed a stone into the air, the sharp blade in his hand dancing.

By the time the stone landed, it shattered directly into dozens of pieces, the cut surface of every single small piece being incomparably smooth.

"Before the stone hit the ground, I struck thirteen times. This speed can already keep up with a light rifle, and it's basically enough to handle battles in the East Blue!"

Gawain's spirits were uplifted.

The unease after crossing over was finally partially alleviated at this moment by his own growth.

Furthermore, he looked forward even more to the subsequent improvements the system could bring him.

If every five levels of a skill grant an entry, as long as my swordsmanship grows to level ten, I can obtain the next entry.

No!

My physique is about to reach level five. As long as these people on the ship keep growing at this speed, in half a month at most, my physique will meet the upgrade conditions.

What will the branch ability for physique turn out to be?

Many conjectures popped into Gawain's mind, but these were merely his guesses after all.

Fortunately, as long as he seized the ship from Morgans and found a place for these leeks to cultivate for ten days to half a month, the experience for his physique would be completely sufficient.

Gawain suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart and began more earnestly to familiarize himself with his skyrocketing attack speed.

Following the swordsmanship in his mind, he practiced move by move, even treating the mental image of Morgans as a hypothetical enemy.

Time passed, and it was soon deep into the night. Having basically grown familiar with his body, Gawain broke out in a sweat.

He simply stripped off his upper garments, revealing the clearly defined blocks of muscle on his upper body. Matched with the head-to-body ratio brought by a height of over two meters, the whole man resembled an ancient Greek sculpture, brimming with aesthetic appeal.

The appearance of this body belonged to Gawain of the Knights of the Round Table, one of the prototypes of Prince Charming, so his looks were naturally formidable. No wonder the princess of the Goa Kingdom could not keep her hands off him.

Imitating some well-known two-dimensional hair-gel user, Gawain swept the stray bangs from his forehead straight up, revealing delicate and three-dimensional facial features, making his entire person possess a bit more aggressiveness compared to his original gentle and refined gentlemanly image.

After tidying up slightly, he walked toward a cave.

The pirate ship was severely damaged and had already reached a state where it could no longer be repaired.

Gawain simply had his subordinates dismantle the cannons from the ship, transfer them along with supplies and ammunition to this concealed cave, and apply moisture-proofing to the cannonballs before calling it a temporary stronghold.

Before long.

The cave was close at hand.

At this time, most of the pirates had already rested. Inside the cave, snoring shook the heavens, and even the lookouts sat back-to-back in front of the campfire, closing their eyes for a shallow sleep.

After taking a rough glance, Gawain furrowed his brows slightly.

Aside from those left behind near the pirate ship, all of his subordinates were here.

Only Jamila was missing.

Logically speaking, an injured person should have been left here to have their wounds treated by the ship doctor.

"Guarding the ship?"

"That shouldn't be right. Under circumstances with plenty of manpower, how could they possibly let an injured person go guard the ship?"

At the same time.

The estuary.

A pirate ship with a broken mast was quietly moored here.

Whether it was the dense charred marks on the hull or the keel that was almost completely split apart, both indicated that this vessel had lost the ability to continue sailing.

Stepping down from the deck with light and cautious steps, Jamila looked around and, confirming that no one was around, slowly removed the seagull pendant from his chest.

He opened it from the middle, revealing a miniature Den Den Mushi hidden inside.

"This is Third-Class Private Jamila, now reporting the location of Knight Gawain, from the 16th Branch..."