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"It's you, Dragon!" Smoker exclaimed. "The World Government has been trying hard to find you. Why would someone like you help those pirates escape?"
Smoker positioned himself protectively in front of Tashigi, eyeing the man blocking their way with caution. Facing Monkey D. Dragon, whom the World Government considered the most dangerous criminal, Smoker didn't dare lower his guard.
"What can stop a young man with dreams from going to sea?" Dragon asked with a smile, then turned to look at Tashigi with curious eyes. "Your swordsmanship was taught by the man named Ikki?"
Though Dragon had never seen Ikki use Water Breathing techniques himself, he had heard Zoro's words earlier.
"You know Ikki?" Tashigi asked, immediately frowning at the mention of his name.
"I'm just curious. Judging from your reaction, I guess he did teach you those sword techniques," Dragon laughed.
In his mind, he recalled seeing Nami and Nojiko on the Explorer. Nami was clearly a skilled sword wielder. As for Nojiko, although Dragon hadn't seen her in action, he could sense the sharp aura surrounding her.
'Someone who can train three swordsmen with such potential must be an excellent sword instructor,' Dragon thought to himself.
"Curious?" Tashigi's frown deepened. A notorious criminal showing interest in Ikki made her instinctively worry that Dragon had harmful intentions toward him.
"I won't let you harm him," she said, taking a fighting stance. Under the influence of Water Breathing, the rain around her began to swirl and gather at the tip of her sword.
'It's somewhat similar to Fish-Man Karate. What a strange sword style,' Dragon thought, looking at Tashigi's sword with interest as his own aura began to rise.
"Be careful, Tashigi. This man is not easy to deal with," Smoker warned. "Let's attack together!"
With Tashigi's current strength, Smoker felt confident about fighting alongside her. She had earned her place at his side.
Tashigi nodded, drawing the water to her sword's tip as Smoker transformed into white smoke, and both charged toward Dragon.
...
"Captain Smoker, what do we do now?" Tashigi asked, standing at the coast and staring at the Going Merry, which had disappeared from view. Due to Dragon's interference, they had completely lost their chance to capture Luffy and his crew.
"That straw hat boy actually laughed in the face of execution," Smoker said. "Such a man cannot be allowed to roam free. Prepare the ship—we're going to sea!"
Smoker turned to the nearby Marine soldiers and shouted his orders.
"Going to sea?" Tashigi's eyes lit up. "Captain Smoker, I'm coming with you!"
"Hmm?" Smoker glanced at her. "You probably just want to take this opportunity to find Ikki."
"No... no, I just want to help you catch the Straw Hats," Tashigi replied softly, lowering her head.
"Whatever you say," Smoker responded, looking at Tashigi's slightly red face without pressing further. Instead, he turned to urge the Marine soldiers to prepare their ship.
About ten minutes later, a Marine warship departed from the coast of Loguetown, heading toward the Grand Line.
'Ikki, we would meet again soon,' Tashigi thought, standing at the bow with her sword in her arms and a faint smile on her face.
...
"Achoo!" Ikki sneezed while lounging in a deck chair on the Explorer.
"Have you caught a cold, Captain Ikki?" Nami asked with concern. She was wearing a white mesh t-shirt and short skirt, offering him a glass of juice.
"With my constitution, catching a cold seems unlikely," Ikki replied, taking the juice with a smile. "Maybe someone is talking about me."
"Heh, if anyone's talking about Captain Ikki, it must be that Marine girl Tashigi from Loguetown," Nojiko said as she approached, wearing a midriff-baring shirt and denim shorts. She gave Ikki a meaningful look.
"Tashigi? That's possible," Ikki nodded thoughtfully. He then took out four bottles of 'C-grade nutritional potions' from his system space and handed them to Nami and Nojiko.
"Nami, Nojiko, these are newly prepared nutritional potions," he explained. "They're more effective than anything you've tried before. You should take them before exercising in the training room."
Hearing this, both women stepped forward to accept the potions.
"Captain Ikki, you've been lazy lately. You don't exercise in the training room much anymore," Nami commented, putting the potion in her skirt pocket.
"Wouldn't you prefer having the training room to yourself, Nami?" Ikki asked with a teasing smile. "That way, even if you took off all your clothes, you wouldn't have to worry about me seeing you. Or do you actually want me to look and pay you some berries for the privilege?"
He looked Nami up and down before adding, "Tsk,Tsk, though you need to develop a bit more before charging me."
Feeling Ikki's gaze that seemed to see through her clothes, Nami immediately blushed.
"Just wait! One day I'll make you drool over my figure," she declared. "Nojiko, let's go. Ignore this guy—let's go to the training room together."
Nojiko shook her head. "You go first, Nami. I'd better stay here and watch the ship. After all, we can't expect our Captain Ikki to keep an eye on our course."
Hearing this, Nami looked at Ikki, who was leisurely enjoying his sunbath with his eyes closed.
"I really can't trust this lazy guy," she sighed. "Fine, I'll exercise first, and I'll replace you in an hour and a half."
Nami nodded to Nojiko, then turned and quickly headed to the cabin.
As Nami's presence faded, Ikki couldn't help thinking, 'It's not that I don't want to exercise—it's just that I don't have any B-grade nutritional supplements.'
Although he could strengthen his life force through exercise without supplements, this method was too slow, which naturally reduced Ikki's desire to train.
Shaking his head, Ikki opened his personal attributes panel:
[Host: Ikki]
[Age: 25 years old]
[Weapon: Zangetsu]
[Life force: 4050, B-grade]
[Swordsmanship realm: Sky-Cutting Realm]
[Special abilities: Beginner Armament Haki, Beginner Observation Haki]
[Swordsmanship schools: Demon Slayer breathing methods, Zoro's Santoryu, Tashigi's single-sword style]
[Items: E-grade nutritional potion x4, D-grade nutritional potion x0]
'Exercise these past few days has only increased my life force by 50 points. That's really slow,' Ikki complained mentally. His eyes gradually focused on the two bottles of '500-point life force boost potions' that the system had provided when Nami and Nojiko's life force had broken through from D-grade to C-grade.
'A potion that can increase life force by 500 points is valuable. It's too bad one person can only use one bottle,' he thought. 'Nami and Nojiko now have C-grade nutritional medicine to help them train, so they don't need these. Perhaps I should save them for future crew members.'
As he considered this, Ikki glanced at Nojiko, who was controlling the rudder nearby. Nojiko noticed his gaze and gave him a bright smile before walking over.
"Captain Ikki, now that our course is set, let me fulfill my earlier promise of a full-body massage," she offered, not waiting for Ikki to respond.
Nojiko adjusted Ikki's recliner to a flat position, and with two graceful steps, she began pressing her slender fingers against his temples.
Feeling the gentle rhythm of her fingers, Ikki gradually closed his eyes.
'I'll wait a bit longer,' he decided. 'If I still can't get a B-grade nutritional potion next time, I'll take one of the 500-point life force boost potions myself.'
Before confirming the effectiveness of the B-grade nutritional potion, Ikki felt it would be more meaningful to save the life force boosting potions for potential future crew members who might be weaker.
With these thoughts settled, Ikki gradually relaxed and drifted off to sleep under Nojiko's skilled hands.
Hearing Ikki's breathing become steady, Nojiko smiled softly.
"Nami will probably take a while before coming out," she murmured, glancing toward the cabin. After thinking for a moment, she stopped massaging, climbed onto the lounger where Ikki was resting, leaned against him, and slowly closed her eyes.