May 22, Sea Circle Calendar 1501.
Deep inside Joseph's orchard on Starfish Island.
A week had already passed since Noah was rescued from his shipwreck.
His uncle's home was situated at the edge of the town, close to a mountainous forest. The dozen or so surrounding households were spaced one to two hundred meters apart, and the fruit trees in the back in particular were flanked by small hills, making the interior relatively secluded.
Bang, bang, bang... Throwing punches that struck a large log like raindrops, Noah watched as the massive log was driven bit by bit into the earth's mud under the frenzied bombardment of his fists.
After a week of readjustment, Noah had drawn up a series of plans for his training and the development of the Card-Card Fruit.
Regarding physical training, he had formulated a rigorous training regime for himself.
He woke up at six o'clock every morning, and after eating breakfast, he pushed a boulder up and down the mountain for 10 kilometers, completing it within two hours.
At the very beginning, he did not aim too high, choosing instead a thirty-kilogram stone as his weight load.
At nine o'clock in the morning, he began punching the log, continuing until eleven o'clock.
At eleven o'clock, he ate and rested.
From twelve noon to two in the afternoon, he practiced calligraphy in the small secret wooden cabin in the orchard, while simultaneously adapting Five Volumes on Slaying Dragons into the local language, singing "There Is No Savior" all the while, and incessantly applying psychological suggestion to himself.
From two to four in the afternoon, he covered his eyes and had Joshua beat him with bamboo poles, using this to stimulate the Awakening of his Observation Haki.
From four to six in the evening, he crafted various apparatuses inside his own small wooden cabin.
From six to ten in the evening, he read, studied, and developed his Devil Fruit powers.
At the same time, to satisfy his own needs, he planned to go out to sea to fish every week and even prepared to hunt Sea Kings.
As for his Devil Fruit abilities, aside from updating his metal-textured cards, he was also trying to expand the volume limit of the card space.
Time flew like an arrow, the years like a shuttle.
Six months later.
Inside the small wooden cabin in the orchard, a stirring song drifted out.
"...There has never been any savior..."
"...Nor do we rely on divine emperors..."
While singing, Noah wrote out the adapted and localized Five Volumes on Slaying Dragons.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from outside the cabin.
He stopped his pen, and saw a youth push the door open and enter. The newcomer was none other than his cousin Joshua. Compared to half a year ago, however, Joshua had grown much taller, standing at around 1.8 meters, and the muscles on his body were increasingly pronounced.
Over the past six months, Noah had not simply been training bitterly at home all the time; instead, he carved out time every week to go fishing, and relying on the abilities of the Card-Card Fruit, he had hunted many Sea Kings.
As the saying went, poor scholars and rich martial artists; without adequate meat supplements, blind and bitter training would instead yield the opposite of the desired results, and could even cause physical collapse.
He sold a portion of the relatively small Sea Kings, using the proceeds to subsidize household expenses and purchase materials and supplies, while reserving the larger portion of Sea Kings, storing them within his cards as daily meat for the family.
Benefiting from this, Joshua followed along and reaped the rewards.
Naturally, this was also inseparable from Noah's training and supervision.
"Brother, here is the newspaper you wanted."
Taking the newspaper, Noah skimmed through today's papers.
Whether it was the Loguetown Daily, the East Blue Times, or the World Economy News Paper, Noah ignored none of them, reading through each carefully and occasionally copying down snippets of their content.
For instance: [September 14, 1501: Loguetown Marine recruitment drive; rookie Smoker exceptionally recommended to Marine Headquarters...]
Under what circumstances would a newly enlisted recruit be exceptionally recommended to Marine Headquarters? Combined with his memories from his previous life, Noah had already roughly guessed the answer.
Take another news item: [October 22, 1501: The Flame Pirates annihilated in the Kanoba Sea by the hero of the Marines; the flame-man Bath matched not a blow of the Iron Fist, falling into the water and being swallowed by a Sea King...]
Clearly, the Flame-Flame Fruit had entered a state of reincarnation and wandering.
Sometimes public intelligence also possessed the value of being analyzed and refined.
Noah had recorded a thick seven hundred pages of such news intelligence analysis; by now, his understanding of the entire East Blue had reached a very deep and meticulous level.
Having finished reading the newspaper, he sealed the newly transcribed information back inside the [Secret Card - Library].
Beside him, Joshua picked up the first volume of Five Volumes on Slaying Dragons, sat on a wooden chair nearby, and while flipping through it carefully, asked with curiosity, "Brother, you are truly clever, actually able to write such an amazing book."
"I am merely standing on the shoulders of giants."
"That's right, Brother, the matter you asked me to investigate, I've finished it."
Noah continued browsing the newspaper: "Tell me about it."
"Our town has a total of 1,376 households, with a population of 6,855. There are 273 orphans, among whom 32 have no other relatives to look after them."
"Not bad. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, I also tallied the ages of these orphans. Among them, 8 are under twelve years old-3 girls and 5 boys. They are..."
Noah nodded with satisfaction: "Well done, Joshua. Now I am giving you a new task: tomorrow, go and invite these 8 orphans to come to my place for a barbecue. Remember not to draw the attention of others."
"Leave it to me." Joshua nodded.
Noah lowered his head and continued reading the newspaper.
He was too lonely in this world. Although he now had family, Noah wanted friends he could talk to even more. But the reality of the pirate world was that there were too many ignorant, foolish people.
Since there were no people he could talk to, he would raise them himself. One day, he would have friends and companions who shared his ideals.
Recruiting orphans was Noah's first attempt.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking,
Joshua slipped out. A little over an hour later, he returned with eight children following behind him.
The group arrived beside the little wooden cabin in the orchard behind the house.
Noah had already set up an iron grill, with more than a dozen steaks laid out on top. Seeing how uneasy everyone looked, he smiled and said, "Welcome to my home! Let's get to know each other while we grill some meat!"
With that, he handed a few small brushes to the three girls. "My name is Noah, Carnegie Noah. I'm thirteen. Could you help brush some barbecue sauce on the meat?"
"Hello, Big Brother Noah. I'm Lilith, and I'm eleven." The girl who spoke had long, pale golden hair and a few freckles on her face. Her cheeks were a little red, and the hand she used to take the brush was rough and pale. Noah knew that she often washed clothes for the fishermen in town to make a living.
Another girl, hiding behind Lilith, also had long, pale golden hair and a face somewhat like Lilith's. She seemed very shy and answered him softly:
"I... I'm Lilian, and I'm eight."
The remaining girl was rather carefree. As she brushed barbecue sauce onto the meat, she replied to Noah with a hearty laugh, "Heehee! Hello, Big Brother Noah. I'm Mary, Green Mary, and I'm nine."
Following Noah's arrangements, Joshua also took the five boys to fetch charcoal, chairs, and other tableware.
He didn't want the children to develop a sense of entitlement, nor did he want them to feel they were being given charity.
Sure enough, as Joshua continued assigning tasks, everyone gradually went from looking uneasy to feeling more at ease.