Astonishing Growth

"Another surprise?"

"So this was the choice the system said would determine my future?"

Listening to the prompt in his mind, Gawain quickly came back to his senses, delight appearing on his face.

With three advanced abilities laid out before him at once, the best choice was naturally to take them all, but reality clearly would not allow it.

For a moment, he hesitated.

After all, this concerned his future increase in combat power. It might even be his first transformation at this stage, so he could not afford to be careless.

The functions of the three abilities were clear enough from their names alone.

"Iron Cutting increases the power of sword slashes. Zoro demonstrated this when he fought Mr. 1, Daz Bones, in Alabasta. Even a body of steel can be casually cut apart by a first-rate swordsman."

"Flying Blade points toward Flying Slash. This is the mainstream long-range method for swordsmen in the later stages of this pirate world. Used well, it can let one sever mountains and even islands with a single strike, just like Hawk Eyes."

Gawain then turned his attention to the final option, Godspeed.

"Godspeed undoubtedly increases the speed of my attacks. In battle, even being a fraction faster is often enough to decide victory or defeat, or even life and death."

After pondering for a moment, Gawain finally fixed his gaze on Godspeed.

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

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

"The same goes for Flying Blade. It is a late-game skill to begin with. No matter how powerful a Flying Slash is, it cannot surpass the blade itself. When I need range, I can trade cannon fire or learn a thing or two from the Ashina Sword Saint."

"Why use martial arts when you have a gun? How else can you call yourself a grandmaster?"

"With that in mind, Godspeed is the greatest help to me right now!"

Having reached that conclusion, Gawain no longer hesitated and directly chose Godspeed. The System Panel before his eyes immediately vanished.

The next instant, however, his body began to heat up. The high temperature turned his skin bright red, and scorching steam even rose from him.

His fingers became longer and stronger, while the muscles throughout his body began to regrow. His entire physique underwent a transformation, developing in a more perfect, precise, and powerful direction.

A few breaths later.

Gawain's body temperature gradually returned to normal. As he exhaled a plume of white vapor and slowly opened his eyes, what he saw made his breathing catch.

"This is..."

Everything in his eyes had slowed down.

The leaves drifting down in the distance, the waves churning by the shore, even the branches swaying constantly in the wind—all of them were unbelievably slow, as though he were watching a slow-motion video.

He could even clearly see a mosquito drifting past his eyes, from the vibration of its wings to its flight path. Every detail was laid bare before him.

"It is not that the world has slowed down. My perception has become sharper!"

Gawain instinctively swung his sword...

Swish!

A silver gleam flashed from the blade. Drawing, striking, and sheathing were completed almost instantaneously.

By the time Gawain reacted, the mosquito in midair had already been split in half. Its body spiraled to the ground, while its transparent wings, severed down the middle, were scattered by the wind.

Yet Gawain stared at the sword in his hand, his pupils involuntarily shrinking.

"Did I do that?"

"Too fast!"

"It was so fast that everything was already over before I could even react. That kind of attack speed..."

Gawain once again used Morgans, whom he had fought before taking over this body, as a point of comparison. The corner of his mouth curled upward.

"Now, I can take his head with a single strike!"

That was because the improvement brought by Godspeed could be said to be comprehensive.

From neural reflexes and perception to the instinct to draw his sword, everything served one purpose: achieving faster sword speed.

From drawing his sword, killing the mosquito, and sheathing it again, the entire process had taken less than 0.2 seconds. This speed had even surpassed the theoretical limit of humans in Gawain's previous life.

Yet he could feel that this was still not the limit of this body. Once he became more familiar with it, he could do even better!

He could become even faster!

With the boost from Godspeed, the speed of Gawain's sword swings had become utterly outrageous.

As long as he could break through the enemy's defense, being a fraction faster was the difference between life and death.

Gawain tossed a stone into the air and set the blade in his hand dancing.

By the time the stone hit the ground, it had shattered into dozens of pieces, every cut surface incomparably smooth.

"Before the stone landed, I struck thirteen times. This speed is already comparable to a light rifle. It is basically enough for battles in the East Blue!"

Gawain was invigorated.

The unease he had felt since crossing over was finally eased somewhat by his own growth.

Moreover, he was now even more eager to see what improvements the system could bring him in the future.

"If I can gain a trait every five skill levels, then once my Swordsmanship reaches level ten, I can obtain the next trait."

"No!"

"My Physique is about to reach level five. As long as the people on the ship continue growing at this rate, Physique will meet the conditions for an upgrade in at most half a month."

"What will the branch ability for Physique be?"

Many guesses surfaced in Gawain's mind, but they were nothing more than speculation.

Fortunately, as long as he seized a ship from Morgans and found a place to let these leeks train for ten days or half a month, the Physique experience would be more than enough.

Gawain suppressed the stray thoughts in his mind and began to familiarize himself more seriously with his greatly increased attack speed.

Following the Swordsmanship in his mind, he practiced each stance and each move, even using Morgans in his mind as an imaginary opponent.

Time passed, and it was soon the latter half of the night. Having basically grown accustomed to his body, Gawain was drenched in sweat.

He simply took off his shirt, revealing clearly defined muscles across his upper body. Combined with the proportions granted by his height of over two meters, he looked like a Greek sculpture, full of aesthetic beauty.

This body bore the appearance of Gawain among the Knights of the Round Table, one of the prototypes for Prince Charming. His looks were naturally exceptional, so it was no wonder the Queen of the Goa Kingdom could not restrain herself.

Imitating a certain famous anime hair-gel guy, Gawain swept the loose strands over his forehead back with one hand, revealing his refined and sharply defined features. Compared to his original gentle and elegant gentlemanly image, he now carried a touch more aggression.

After tidying himself up a little, he headed toward a cave.

The Pirate Ship had been severely damaged and was already beyond repair.

Gawain simply had his subordinates dismantle the cannons from the ship and move them, along with the supplies and ammunition, into this hidden cave. After taking measures to keep the cannonballs dry, he considered it a temporary base.

Before long.

The cave was right before him.

At this time, most of the pirates were already resting. Thunderous snores echoed through the cave, and even those on watch sat back-to-back before the fire, their eyes closed in light sleep.

After roughly scanning the area, Gawain frowned slightly.

Other than those left behind near the Pirate Ship, everyone under his command was here.

Only Jamila was missing.

Logically, an injured man should have remained here to have his wounds treated by the Ship Doctor.

"Guarding the ship?"

"That should not be it. With enough manpower available, why would they have an injured man guard the ship?"

At the same time.

At the mouth of the sea.

A Pirate Ship with a broken mast lay quietly moored there.

Whether it was the dense scorch marks covering its hull or the keel that had almost completely cracked apart, everything indicated that the ship no longer had the ability to sail.

Jamila carefully jumped down from the deck and looked around. After confirming that no one was nearby, he slowly removed the seagull pendant from his chest.

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

"This is Third-Class Seaman Jamila. Reporting the current location of Knight Gawain. Distance from the 16th Branch..."