Self-reflection

After finishing the villa and estate, Lind began the farming life he had been looking forward to.

Every day, he took his two young secretaries out to farm on the estate, occasionally guiding his subordinates' training and handling administrative affairs.

Within a few days, Liana had become thoroughly familiar with her secretarial duties, making Lind's days even easier. All he needed to do was listen to her daily report and offer his opinions.

With the help of Allison's Grow-Grow Fruit powers, Lind became completely immersed in the joy of farming. For a while, he was so happy that he forgot everything else, the farming instinct etched into his soul from his previous life awakening in full.

Lind's only regret was that his mutation ability had produced nothing worthwhile lately.

Ever since his time on Hachinosu, Lind had been collecting different varieties of food crops. Rice, wheat, corn, potatoes—he had gathered plenty of every kind.

Yet none of them yielded anything worthwhile, regardless of the variety. And as Lind grew stronger, his stamina had increased at a truly frightening rate.

Like the Op-Op Fruit, Lind's Mutation Fruit consumed enormous amounts of stamina. Early on, his mutation efficiency had been very low, but he had still produced plenty of good stuff.

Now, however, Lind was countless times stronger, and his mutation efficiency had increased dozens of times over, yet his rate of worthwhile results had actually dropped.

Even the occasional success was a fruit with some miraculous effect. The food crops he had poured so much effort into had yet to yield anything worthwhile.

Lind was beginning to wonder whether the laws of this world were to blame. Perhaps the world itself favored fruit. Otherwise, why were the secret treasures of the sea devil fruits rather than devil corn or devil potatoes?

"Ah, could it really be this world's fault?" Lind sighed after yet another failed mutation.

"Maybe the Dragon Banana and Divine Dragon Coconut have already used up most of my luck. Perhaps if I expand my territory and improve my luck, I can roll another legendary." Lind muttered to himself.

His inexplicable fruit powers had now driven Lind a little out of his mind. He was actually thinking about mystical fortune, something utterly at odds with the world of One Piece.

Still, perhaps it really was possible. After all, although One Piece was a hot-blooded anime, its later storylines were full of predestination.

Lind scratched his head in frustration. After enjoying the cheat-like speed of improvement that came from consuming fruit, he found it hard to endure his strength now increasing at a snail's pace.

Almost every day, he wondered when he would produce another new fruit and experience that feeling of his strength soaring again.

Although he had thoroughly enjoyed his farming life these past few days, the lack of results genuinely irritated him.

In fact, Lind was already starting to lose his mental balance. He had found success young, suddenly gained tremendous power after his rebirth, and enjoyed smooth sailing all the way.

He had become captain of the Rocks Pirates' Seventh Division, defeated Sengoku and Zephyr in succession, and claimed Oran Island, establishing himself in the first stretch of the New World and basking in glory.

All of this had taken less than three years, two and a half of which he had spent surviving alone on a deserted island, unaware of how strong he really was.

Lind was now at a dangerous stage. Many geniuses who rose like meteors would fall like meteors too.

His physical talent had been ordinary to begin with, and he owed his current strength to his fruit. Without a solid foundation, there was no telling what his future would hold if he failed to straighten out his mindset.

Just like GG Bond, who could only rely on Super Lollipops during competitions, he would suffer a serious setback sooner or later if he did not get his head straight.

It was only because Lind had read so many novels in his previous life, acted cautiously rather than recklessly, and had a naturally mild, unaggressive disposition that he could settle down and farm peacefully on Oran Island.

A protagonist with an arrogant, world-conquering personality might already have been sitting in Level Six of Impel Down.

"I'm done trying! Whatever happens, happens!" Lind sprawled on the sofa and stared at the ceiling, no longer holding out much hope for the Mutation Fruit.

After lying there for about half an hour, Lind recovered a little and decided to go outside for a look.

When he reached the fields beside the estate, Allison and Liana were chatting there.

"Allison, have you noticed anything off about the boss lately? He's seemed a little restless." Liana played with the Water Shot in her hand as she spoke to Allison.

"Hehe, men have a few days like that every month. The boss is only seventeen, after all. It's perfectly normal for him to have something on his mind." Allison covered her mouth and chuckled, not giving it much thought.

"Ah, what do you think could be bothering him? We've got such good momentum right now. Everything's heading in the right direction." Liana sighed, clearly unable to understand what was going on with Lind.

"Hehe, who knows? Our captain is so young. Maybe he's lovesick!"

Allison casually took the Water Shot from Liana's hand. As she admired its gorgeous appearance, she gave Liana a suggestive look, paused, and continued:

"Of course, I think it might be because of his strength. He's only seventeen, after all, right at the age when his strength should be growing rapidly."

"But he's already so strong that improving any further will take quite a while."

"Just look at his age and strength, and you can tell how quickly he used to improve. He probably can't stand the difference now, so it's only natural that he's frustrated."

Allison spoke calmly. Compared with Liana, she clearly understood Lind better and had a better idea of what he was going through.

"There's nothing to worry about. Give him some time to get used to it, and he'll be fine!"

Chuckling, Allison looked toward Lind, who was walking over to them.

Allison made no attempt to conceal anything, and every word of her analysis reached Lind's ears.

Perhaps that was precisely what Allison wanted. After all, an outsider could see things more clearly than the person involved, and Lind himself might not even recognize his own problem.

A gentle reminder like Allison's could instead help Lind regain his balance.

Having just come out of his room, Lind did not mind Allison's teasing. On the contrary, he felt deeply grateful to her. Her words had clearly made him recognize his current state.

Drawing on his experience reading novels in his previous life, phrases such as rushing for results, having shaky foundations, and lacking the character to match one's position instantly sprang to Lind's mind.

He ran through all the cautionary examples from novels of people who gained tremendous power, only to fail to control it and become controlled by it instead.

Good thing I caught it early. I should reflect on myself every day. I can't always look for shortcuts to improve my strength. Steady progress matters more. Lind broke out in a cold sweat, inwardly relieved.

After giving Allison a grateful glance, Lind walked toward the two women as though nothing had happened. As their boss, he still had his dignity to maintain.

"Allison, Liana, how have the past few days been? Are you tired? Would you like to go out for a bit?"

Lind spoke gently to them, unable to keep the smile off his face.