The Dull, Tedious Life of an Intern

Ever since becoming an intern at the Room of Authority, Lu Ye had been busy every day.

He left promptly at seven each morning, wearing two Pure Gold bells, each bigger than his head and weighing five or six hundred jin. Clanging and rattling, he ran several laps through the sleeping quarters of all nineteen families, treating them all equally.

His useless relatives complained bitterly and said plenty of nasty things about the Mad King behind his back, but ever since they could no longer revel every night, every one of them looked noticeably healthier.

The Holy Land's stewards and slaves were even more grateful to Lu Ye. Compared with the way those vermin had tormented them day and night before, now that Lu Ye had stepped in and imposed a curfew with his seven o'clock wake-up call, both their workload and their death rate had plummeted.

Once he had woken everyone up, Saint Longinus, the Holy Land's diligent alarm clock, resumed studying the Six Powers and Haki.

Lu Ye thought his training in Soru and Geppo was progressing nicely. He could dart faster and jump higher; he probably wasn't far from teleporting and walking through the air.

But when Lu Ye asked Hoffman to assess his progress, the poker-faced man pondered for a long while before offering a cautious assessment:

"Saint Longinus, you still lack the technique to apply your strength, but your physical gifts are truly exceptional."

Lu Ye frowned in thought for quite a while, then looked at him suspiciously. "Old Huo, were you just insulting me?"

Jinbao covered his mouth and giggled. "Well, he means that even though your skills haven't improved much, you really are strong now!"

Lu Ye rolled his eyes.

So it's my fault?

A Superman from Pallet Town, with the physique of a high-martial-arts world but only the agility of a low-martial-arts world, was no help at all when it came to developing techniques.

The doubled strength granted by the [Strongman] trait floored the accelerator, driving Lu Ye straight into the dead end of the brute's path and then building a wall across the entrance behind him.

Since he began systematic training, his control had improved nowhere near as fast as his strength.

And so Lu Ye raced down the path of the brute, leaving everyone in the dust as he cried out in despair, "No, no, yamete!"

It got to the point where even Shigan seemed meaningless.

Both his hands were coated in Armament Haki he couldn't turn off, paired with all that brute... ahem, god-given strength.

Why bother with Shigan?

Hey! You know what a humanoid siege cannon is?

Lu Ye had only briefly looked into Kami-e and Tekkai before deciding they were incompatible with him.

They looked like absolute defenses, but in reality, they made him a stationary target.

One required him to relax completely, and the other required him to tense up completely. He couldn't move while using either technique.

What was he supposed to stand still and wait for? Death?

But then Flora demonstrated the advanced use of localized Tekkai for Lu Ye, making Xia Sea Dog, who was wearing a lecherous grin, suddenly purse her lips and whimper from the hard impact.

Lu Ye's pupils abruptly widened.

"I want to learn it! Coach, you absolutely have to teach me that! Who could resist the temptation of localized hardening?"

Jinbao clutched his head in pain, as if someone were chanting the Tightening Spell.

"Little Lu Ye, I'm begging you, stop pouring shit into my brain!"

Lu Ye turned his head and said in surprise, "I'm talking about smashing a boulder with my forehead. It never hurts to have more skills. What were you thinking about, you damned rat?"

Jinbao's rat face reddened slightly, and he rubbed the soft fur on his paw.

"Well, I thought you meant smashing a boulder on your chest. I was afraid it would squeeze the shit out of you..."

Rankyaku was the Six Powers technique Lu Ye had mastered best so far.

After all, it required relatively the least technique: kicking at high speed created a vacuum in the surrounding air, forming an air slash.

High speed meant great force, and when it came to force, he, Lu Ye, had never been inferior to anyone!

The explosive power left Hoffman dumbstruck. After all, it was the first time in his life he had seen someone fail at Rankyaku and blow their own clothes to pieces.

Shalria's eyes lit up, but her short legs made her a step too slow. Lu Ye got dressed before she reached him, leaving her looking thoroughly disappointed.

Lu Ye jabbed Xia Sea Dog in the forehead and said sheepishly:

"Everyone, for ranged attacks, you obviously fire a cannon. This is my improved version of Rankyaku for close combat-Heaven and Earth Shared Longevity Explosive Kick!"

Hoffman nodded.

"As expected of Saint Longinus, but please give careful thought to the technique for releasing it. If your Armament Haki Emission is the same, you'll have to call it the Mutual Destruction Explosive Kick..."

Lu Ye was shocked. Even Poker Face has learned to joke?

As for Haki, he still had no leads on Armament Haki, but his Observation Haki was improving day by day, every day, and yet again each day...

He played a hand-slapping game with Shalria, smacking the sweet girl's hands until she burst into tears.

Lu Ye was quite pleased with himself. "[Timidity] actively responded to my trait. Their compatibility really is high."

Jinbao said contemptuously, "A timid brute. Sounds like you have neither courage nor brains."

Training continued until three in the afternoon.

After that, Lu Ye draped himself in a golden feather cloak and swaggered off to the Room of Authority with an arrogant stride that acknowledged no one.

The enormous room was five or six hundred square meters in area, with a ceiling thirty or forty meters high, yet it contained only a few small sofas and coffee tables in the very center.

Lu Ye could hardly bear to look at it. "Old Star men, don't tell me you ran out of money halfway through decorating?"

The old man Saturn, wearing his little black hat, rebuked him in displeasure:

"Brat with only a hundred points of intelligence, do you understand metaphor at all?

The emptiness, the view over everything-it's a symbol of power. The five of us sit at the highest point in this room."

Lu Ye curled his lip and couldn't resist remarking, "Then, you old geezer, you should be hanging from the ceiling..."

Saturn flew into a rage, but the balding old Mercury held him back.

"Forget it, forget it! He's only three. He doesn't understand anything."

The blond old Jupiter chimed in with a smile, "Yes, yes! He only has a hundred points of intelligence. Don't hold it against him."

Lu Ye bared his teeth. The next one of you to mention my hundred intelligence points, I'll fucking bite you to death!

It was worth mentioning that Saturn's surname was Jaygarcia, as was that of the Gladiator King and his son.

While the five were away attending to business, Lu Ye reassigned some workers from the crew building his Guan Di Temple to redecorate the Room of Authority. After all, it was his internship office too.

Since the old geezers only want five sofas, the rest is mine. That's perfectly reasonable, right?

He had an entire wall of bookshelves built against the eastern wall, finally giving his beloved gangster books a place to go.

They no longer had to suffer being crammed in with Lady Daisy's romance novels. Their styles were completely different, all right?

He also had all kinds of exercise equipment brought in, creating a workout area and a private kitchen.

Dumbbells cast from Pure Gold, a gleaming cage treadmill, sabers, spears, swords and halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks and forks...

Gleaming cleavers, a kitchen counter cut from Treasure Tree Adam, pots, bowls, ladles and basins, a stove and grill...

Lu Ye also planned to set aside a hundred square meters and dig a large indoor pool.

He had his big iron ball brought in as well. Ever since he got the golden bells, the ball had been reduced from a functional prop to a practical training tool for Armament Haki.

As for the five old men's sofas and coffee tables...

Lu Ye tossed them all into the northwest corner and thoughtfully instructed the workers to build a twenty-square-meter meeting room there, so he wouldn't disturb the elderly gentlemen while he exercised.

Hoffman notified Garling, who hurried over using Soru and Geppo all the way. But instead of stopping Lu Ye, he sat on the windowsill, cracking melon seeds with great interest.

The Celestial Dragons passing by all thought the Five Elders and the Knights were swapping offices.

When the five old men returned, they bristled and glared, nearly coming to blows with Garling.

The plans for the pool and meeting room were scrapped, and the undignified iron ball was thrown out too.

The Five Elders placed the sofas and coffee tables beside the bookshelves on the eastern side, leaving the western half as Lu Ye's activity area.

Old Mercury drank his tea and remarked with a smile:

"How did Homing put up with it? Seeing this child always reminds me of the hard years when I used to keep large dogs..."

Lu Ye bared his teeth. Old geezer, I can hear you!

His internship in the Room of Authority lasted until eight in the evening. Thanks to [Insomnia], Lu Ye still had the whole night to read and train after returning to his blond Pops' sleeping quarters.

When the next day's sun broke through the darkness, Lu Ye hoisted the clanging golden bells onto his shoulders. Another full and wonderful day had begun.

"Brrr-brrr~ Brrr-brrr~"

"Hello, is that Evan?"

"Saint Longinus, the Baseball King has woken up..."