Nice Sword. I'll Take It!

"BOOM-!"

Xie Wen did not even blink at the explosion in the distance and carried on with his physical training.

It had been over a week since he had summoned Klee Meow, and explosions had gone off practically every day since then. He, Sanji Meow, and even the other creatures on the island had more or less gotten used to the noise.

This time, for instance, it had barely startled any birds...

Though that also had something to do with nearly all the birds nearby having moved away.

Ahem... Anyway, loud as it sounded, Klee Meow had been right when she said she had plenty of experience with this. Apart from being a little uncertain about controlling her flames on the first day, she had kept all the subsequent explosions and fires within acceptable limits.

In fact, almost all the explosions after that had little to do with Klee Meow practicing her powers. She had been testing her various explosives instead.

And just as Xie Wen had guessed, after eating the Flame-Flame Fruit, Klee Meow was perfectly capable of cleaning up after herself. Even if she accidentally set the nearby trees alight, she could bring the fire under control immediately.

So...

What was wrong with letting a little kitty play with bombs for a while?

Xie Wen set down the boulder, which was far larger than he was, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and decided to take a short break.

Ever since learning that this was the world of the Pirate King, he had started trying to bring the intensity of his training up to Zoro's level. But ramping it up that much all at once was unrealistic, and he still needed time to adjust. He had even put his exploration of the island on hold for it...

At the very least, he had to master Armament Haki. That was the minimum prerequisite Xie Wen had set for himself before heading out to sea.

After all, with no idea which region this island was in, he needed to master Haki-a power that was practically everywhere in the second half of the Grand Line-to keep the cats safe.

And Xie Wen was not entirely clueless about how to train his Haki.

As mentioned before, Demon Mode combined with Spirit Blade seemed to brush against the edges of Armament Haki. After several attempts, Xie Wen had confirmed that this approach was broadly correct. Even charged attacks with the Great Sword, hammer, and lance, along with the charge blade's Super Amped Elemental Discharge, helped him work toward mastering Armament Haki.

As for awakening Observation Haki, skills such as Foresight Slash and shield counters offered useful parallels.

As for Conqueror's Haki...

Xie Wen, who had a fairly clear understanding of himself, had chosen to give up on it almost immediately.

Of course, he had not completely ruled out the possibility.

After all, by the later parts of the manga, characters with Conqueror's Haki were everywhere, and the protagonists of all sorts of fan fiction invariably had the qualities of a king... even if, before transmigrating, they had been either gross shut-in nerds or slackers who had long since given up on trying-people who hardly seemed like "kings" by any stretch.

So, as a fellow transmigrator, Xie Wen felt he had at least a tiny chance of awakening Conqueror's Haki. But awakening it had nothing to do with training and everything to do with fate, so he could not be bothered to waste his energy on it.

He would keep a level head and let things take their course.

Besides Xie Wen pushing himself like mad, Sanji Meow, who had originally only wanted to be a happy little cook, had also joined in the training.

In his own words-

"You said this world was dangerous, meow! As a gentleman, how could I stand by and watch little Klee fight without doing anything myself, meow!"

Tch! You certainly didn't have that resolve when you watched me fight on my own.

That said, Xie Wen himself had told Sanji Meow to keep himself safe and stay out of the fighting back then. Besides, he could hardly compare with the adorable Klee Meow. So he could not really blame Sanji Meow for anything. He could only grab him and give him a vigorous petting to vent his frustration.

While stepping up his training, Xie Wen had also put together a rough plan for what to do after setting out to sea.

Personally, the simplest option would have been to find somewhere to hole up in Foosha Village in the East Blue, then wait until Luffy found the One Piece and Luffy's father overthrew the World Government before coming out to have some fun.

But that was only a fantasy. First, he had no way of knowing what point in time this was. If Roger had not even kicked the bucket yet, he would be screwed. Second, neither Sanji Meow, who wanted to visit Zou to see the older cat ladies of the Mink Tribe, nor Klee Meow, who loved adventuring everywhere, would agree to it.

Joining the Marines was a decent option. Although they were essentially the Celestial Dragons' lapdogs and nowhere near as righteous as they claimed, they were still far better than the pirates, most of whom were scum. The Marines also had more systematic training methods, making them an excellent choice for most transmigrators.

If Xie Wen had not had "a family in tow," he would probably have chosen to build a career in the Marines too. But with two cats who wanted to roam around, especially when one of those Palicos was named "Klee"...

He would not have been remotely surprised if a Marine Base suddenly suffered a massive explosion one day.

Besides, Xie Wen's Cheat Ability did not allow him to stay in one place forever. If he became a Marine, he would most likely be stationed at some base. Even if he went out to sea, he probably would not get to choose his destinations or routes. That was clearly unacceptable to someone who wanted to unlock more pages.

As for becoming a pirate, Xie Wen had absolutely no interest in that, not even an adventure-focused pirate like Luffy...

If you want to adventure around the world, why do you have to fly a pirate flag? Other than putting the Marines on your tail, there's no benefit whatsoever.

Xie Wen, who had never even considered becoming the Pirate King, simply could not understand people like Luffy in this world, who had no interest in murder, arson, or plunder yet still dreamed of becoming pirates.

Since his Cheat Ability was related to Monster Hunter, he might as well form a Research Commission.

That was the role Xie Wen currently envisioned for himself and his Palicos.

As for the Research Commission's main business, naturally, they would take in the sights of different lands, hunt all kinds of prey, and occasionally moonlight as bounty hunters.

Xie Wen also had a preliminary plan for their route after setting sail.

No matter where they were now, he intended to head for the East Blue first.

Besides the East Blue being the "weakest" sea, it also offered quite a few "opportunities."

First came unlocking the pages of his Cheat Ability. Barring any surprises, the weapons page would most likely require him to collect famous swords such as the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords and the Fifty Skillful Grade Swords. And Loguetown in the East Blue had two famous swords that would be extremely easy to obtain: Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu.

He had already snatched the Flame-Flame Fruit from Ace and Sabo, so taking these two swords from Zoro hardly made a difference. As for Wado Ichimonji, Xie Wen did not dare get his hopes up, though Shusui was something he could look forward to... Admittedly, repeatedly fleecing Zoro alone seemed a little excessive, but the manga had mostly only explained how he acquired his swords...

In any case, as a member of the main cast, Zoro would never lack swords to use.

Second, Xie Wen planned to visit Koshiro in Shimotsuki Village for systematic instruction in blade techniques-or rather, swordsmanship. Although Monster Hunter's blade techniques were quite useful, they were designed to fight large monsters, and its power system differed from this world's. Learning about this world's swordsmanship should therefore help him improve his strength considerably.

Showing up in front of Zoro after taking his swords was rather shameless, but the thick-skinned Xie Wen did not care. Besides, he still did not know exactly where he was in the timeline. Zoro might already have taken those two swords, or even Shusui.

Of course, Xie Wen still hoped Luffy had yet to set sail, because besides the two famous swords in Loguetown, he also had his eye on Nami's sea charts.

He did not know whether charts drawn by someone else could directly advance the map progress in the Hunter's Notes, but having them would at least save him a great deal of effort when mapping the East Blue.

And one final point... Xie Wen was quite curious about what amusing things might happen when Sanji Meow met the original Sanji.

Japan has traditionally made no clear distinction between blades and swords. Moreover, their term "sword saint," when translated, actually refers to someone versed in all manner of martial arts, or proficient with various weapons.

So many so-called sword saints did not necessarily use swords. Instead, they wielded long weapons such as halberds and spears.

Even "teppo," meaning firearms, fell under the category of "swords." The Sword Saint of Ashina truly lived up to his title.

In modern times, however, "sword saint" has come to refer specifically to a master of swordsmanship-though, of course, they still use a long sword.