In short—
Thanks to Nao's ruthless approach, the upgrade progress on his Yone Twin Blades had skyrocketed during this battle. Now, he was just a step away from hitting the upgrade threshold.
[Wind Sword / Azakana Blade]
Type: Weapon
Grade: Fine Blade, Upgradeable (Next Grade: Great Grade Blade)
Current Upgrade Progress:
Points: 0 / 50,000
Blood of the Wicked: 738 / 1000
The points weren't a concern—Nao still had plenty to spare.
As for "Blood of the Wicked", this battle had bumped the total by more than 200. By his estimate, just two more battles against high-bounty pirates would be enough to trigger the upgrade.
The second major gain?
His "One-Thousand Hearts (Ladykiller Legend)" mission progress.
Opening his system's mission tracker, he checked his current status:
[1,205 / 2,200]
He remembered being just over 900 before arriving at G2, so in the few days aboard Buma's warship, he'd somehow added over 300 more.
But there was a problem.
Even counting every female Marine on the ship—including the mess hall aunties in their forties—there were barely a hundred women total.
Something didn't add up.
Nao rubbed his chin, puzzled.
Forget it. Not worth combing through the info panel one by one.
The Hawkeye Pirates were mostly women anyway. He figured those extra 200+ progress points probably came from them.
Sure, many had been decapitated by his hand—but what else could he do?
He could only hope the girls who'd fallen for him found peace, healed by the glow of their "idol."
Let the misguided find redemption, and those beyond saving… well, he'd help them reincarnate into something better.
Two days later, at dusk—
The warship sailed into G2's port under the fading light.
Everyone returned to their respective units and quarters.
Exhausted soldiers headed back to their barracks. Nao and Kawakawa Shuma made for the operations office to report in. Rear Admiral Buma was on her way to the fortress' top floor—to meet with the base commander, Vice Admiral Kizaru, and report on the mission.
Assuming she could actually find him, of course.
Just before parting ways, Buma seemed a bit reluctant to leave. She gave both boys a firm hug before smiling and waving goodbye.
Nao wasn't too fazed.
Shuma, on the other hand, felt like his spine had shattered when he was finally released.
"Ow, ow—does the Rear Admiral not know her own strength?" he groaned, rubbing his back. Still, he muttered, "But… she's actually a pretty nice person."
"Yeah."
Nao chuckled, though his mind was elsewhere—wondering if he'd have any chance of working with Buma again in the next few months.
Probably not.
Even though he'd spent most of the return voyage in the training room, he'd overheard at mealtimes that Buma had squeezed valuable intel out of the captured pirates. Apparently, it linked back to a massive underground weapons trafficking ring—filthy, horrifying stuff.
It didn't just involve guns and bombs… even the rescued children had been part of the "merchandise."
That was why Buma had been so eager to report directly to Kizaru the moment they returned.
She'd likely be buried in follow-up operations from here on out, while Nao needed to keep grinding for battle merits.
Two straight lines, crossing just once before going their separate ways.
Half an hour later—
Nao and Shuma arrived at the operations office on the second floor of the fortress.
They were greeted by a familiar face—the same female commander from before. She looked up, and upon seeing them, blinked in surprise.
Clearly, she hadn't expected the mission to go so smoothly. Start to finish, they'd been gone less than six days.
But after hearing the full debrief and confirming everything with Rear Admiral Buma over the phone, her initial surprise turned into complete disbelief.
"Wait—you're telling me you defeated Hawkeye Missaya… by yourself?"
She stared at Nao's unfairly handsome face, jaw dropping. Her hand holding the phone didn't move for a long moment.
"That's the 93 million Berry pirate—the infamous female captain with a brutal record?"
"Yeah," Nao nodded modestly. "But it wasn't just me. Rear Admiral Buma and the entire crew did their part. Without them, I couldn't have done anything."
"Oh, stop it."
The commander rolled her eyes and laughed. "Buma already told me on the call. She said you carried about ninety percent of the operation. You're here to earn merits, kid—no need to be shy now."
Nao offered a sheepish smile and stayed quiet.
"Don't worry. I'll document all your achievements in full detail. Every month we send reports to your instructor, and this one's going in."
She scribbled furiously for a while—took up nearly a page and a half just for Nao's combat record.
Finally, she seemed to remember someone else was standing there.
She glanced at Shuma, paused for a second, and then added a single, brief line to the end of the report.
Blowing the ink dry with satisfaction, she capped her pen and leaned back like she'd just finished a masterpiece.
Nao and Shuma exchanged glances—Shuma's face looked like he was about to cry.
"I screwed up. I really screwed up…"
On the way back to the dorms, Shuma mumbled like a man who'd just seen his dreams burn.
"I should've just slept that night. If I hadn't been such a light sleeper, I wouldn't have tagged along with you. And if I hadn't tagged along, I might've scored some actual merits somewhere else. Now look at me…"
Nao gave him a sympathetic look. Yeah, it really was his fault this time.
He had originally planned to hand Shuma a fair one-on-one duel with a mid-level pirate officer—something to help the guy shine.
But after snapping Missaya's neck, he'd gotten caught up in the adrenaline and gone full rampage mode, mowing down every officer in sight.
The rest, those he didn't get to, were finished off by Buma or her elite officers. Barely any leftovers remained for Shuma.
Which meant the poor guy ended up fighting only low-tier mooks—his biggest contribution being the defeat of two five-million-Berry pirates. His name, following Nao's long, decorated entry, was reduced to a single sad sentence.
Brutal.
"I did hint to you before we shipped out," Nao finally said, patting his shoulder. "Just… treat this as a learning experience. Next time, partner with someone else."
Shuma nodded solemnly.
By the time they returned to the dorms, it was past 8 PM. The sky had gone completely dark.
They parted ways at the stairwell.
Shuma was off to crash in bed, while Nao planned to hit the shower and then train all night before his next mission.
That's right—before leaving the ops room, he'd already booked his next assignment. The commander had stared at him like he was crazy.
—A warship would be departing at 6:30 AM to clear pirates from a small town on an island 200 kilometers away.
That captain only had a 50-million-Berry bounty—not even close to Missaya's level—but after scouring the listings, it was the best target Nao could find.
His mind wandered, lost in thoughts as he entered his dorm. He didn't notice anything strange—until he reached for a towel at his locker.
Then he froze.
There was someone sitting on his bed—arms crossed, glaring at him coldly.
"Eh?!"
He stared at the all-too-familiar figure, stunned. The washbasin in his hands slipped with a loud clatter.
"You're here?! R-Rear Admiral?!"
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin