Chapter 36: Plenty of Points, Back to the Village to Develop!
In the afternoon, a passenger ship set sail from the pier.
At the bow, Shane leaned against the railing, gazing at the gradually blurring capital of the Goa Kingdom. From this angle, the cityscape was indeed magnificent and glorious, like a paradise blessed by the gods. The title of "most beautiful country in the East Blue" was well-deserved.
It's just...
Shane shook his head.
He turned and walked back towards his cabin, a small, exquisite dagger spinning up and down in his right hand.
This was the same dagger Ace had used to attack him, the one he had kicked away. He had picked it up from the bushes when the two hot-blooded, simple-minded brothers weren't looking.
He didn't expect it to be worth many points, but every little bit helped. Just like the night before he left Shimotsuki Village, he hadn't forgotten to "borrow" Koshiro's glasses. It wasn't that he'd forgotten to turn off his auto-loot; it was mainly for Kuina's own good. This way, Koshiro would surely be able to empathize with his daughter's pain of not being able to see clearly, and getting her glasses would become a top priority, without any further delay.
Swish—
The dagger spun around and, at some point, suddenly vanished without a trace.
Shane looked at the system information that had just popped up.
A pair of glasses, plus this dagger, had provided a total of 700 points. By that calculation, his remaining point total should be 12,825.
But the balance displayed on the panel now was far greater than that number.
The reason, of course, was—
[Sacrifice: Luffy's Straw Hat]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Value: 30,000 Points]
[Appraisal: The straw hat of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. He personally gave it to Red-Haired Shanks, who then gave it to Luffy, witnessing the countless legendary adventures of three generations. "Straw Hat" has since become Luffy's nickname. And in the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, Imu still keeps Joy Boy's giant straw hat. The continuation of the Will of D. will perhaps always make some people feel fear.]
[Remaining Points: 43,025]
A full thirty thousand points!
That was twice as much as Shanks's severed arm!
His total remaining points had broken the forty-thousand mark, making Shane feel utterly content, a sense of unprecedented security welling up in his chest.
With so many points, even if he were to spend them recklessly, it would be enough to last him a long time. He wouldn't even need to replenish them before he officially set out to sea as an adult.
Of course, no one would complain about having too many points.
Shane planned to wait until the cooldown period ended next year, and after the threat of Arlong was resolved and he had no more worries, he would make a temporary trip out to sea to find Luffy again. He wanted to see just how much the fake straw hat would be worth after being worn for a whole year.
He then looked at the trading tab on the side.
This was the twentieth day of his trip to sea, and the Trading Market hadn't refreshed yet. Shane had asked the captain of this passenger ship earlier; the journey from the Goa Kingdom to Cocoyasi Village would take about ten days. This meant that by the time he got home, he would be able to buy a new round of items from the market.
"I hope something useful shows up."
Shane's eyes flickered, full of anticipation.
Closing the system panel, he washed up briefly and then lay down comfortably on the bed, preparing to get some good sleep first. He had been running around in the Colubo Mountains for the past few days, and before setting off today, he had to withdraw money from the bank and find a ship. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, twelve days had passed.
In a spacious training room that had been specially converted on the second floor of the ship, Shane was practicing "Shave," one of the Six Powers, all by himself.
He was no longer the poor boy who had hitched a ride on old Garter's merchant ship twenty days ago. He had booked half the tickets on this passenger ship, and he spent lavishly in the restaurant. Naturally, he enjoyed the highest VIP treatment. When he requested a training room, the captain didn't say a word and had the sailors convert one for him in half a day.
On the south side of the training room, three low wooden posts were arranged in a row according to Shane's request. The north side was the same. In the corner stood the Statue of Heracles, silently providing a three-times buff to his martial arts training efficiency.
Shane stood on the middle post on the south side, his eyes fixed on the corresponding post ten meters away on the north side.
The next moment, he took a deep breath, lifted his right leg slightly, and tensed the arch of his foot.
"Shave!"
Swish! A sound of tearing air. The moment his voice fell, Shane's figure abruptly vanished from the spot without a trace.
When he reappeared, he was directly on top of the middle post on the north side. He just didn't land steadily and stumbled off.
"So close!"
Shane stood up, his eyes showing no disappointment or frustration, but rather filled with pleasant surprise.
After all, it had only been about ten days since he started practicing the Six Powers. His progress could already be described as lightning fast. He had first spent a few days completely mastering the power generation technique of Shave, then another few days to lock his reappearance position within a smaller margin of error. And today, that margin of error had finally shrunk to an almost negligible point.
In a real battle, he could now teleport to any precise point he wanted when facing an enemy. This was crucial. If he hadn't practiced it well, teleporting in a real fight and landing on his opponent's head would be very awkward. If he was off by a little more and his chest impaled itself on the opponent's sword, that would be even worse.
"Has it been judged as 'Beginner' level already?"
Shane looked at the skill tab on his system panel and nodded with satisfaction.
After reaching the beginner level, he no longer needed to focus all his training time on this one technique every day. He could start practicing other techniques, and for Shave, he just needed to spend some time consolidating it each day. Within a month at most, he could raise its level to "Adept" and master it completely.
"Even with the statue's buff, this speed is still much faster than I expected."
He tried a few more times, each time landing precisely on his intended target post. Shane's mood grew more and more cheerful.
It seemed that the physical transformation brought about by mastering the Breathing Fist had an additional benefit. It was like in those wuxia novels where one opens up their energy channels; once one path is cleared, all paths are cleared. It made his speed in practicing other martial arts much faster than before.
Speaking of which, the specific principle of "Shave" seemed simple. It was nothing more than continuously stomping the ground at high speed dozens of times in an instant to generate an explosive reaction force, thereby achieving high-speed movement, even to the point of disappearing right before an enemy's eyes.
But it had certain requirements for the body's basic attributes and the microscopic control of one's muscles. If one didn't meet the threshold, it couldn't be compensated for with mere aptitude or talent.
Shane just happened to have an advantage in both these areas. Coupled with his natural talent for martial arts, the combination resulted in his terrifyingly fast training progress.
"Preliminary mastery of Shave in ten-plus days. Next, I'll spend another ten-plus days to see if I can master Iron Body as well."
Wiping his sweat with a towel, Shane opened his inventory tab. He was just about to read through the training method for Iron Body when a knock came from the door.
"Who is it? If it's food, just leave it at the door," he said casually. He had been soaking in here for over ten hours a day these past few days, and all three of his meals were delivered by a restaurant waiter on a cart.
"It's me, Mr. Shane!"
Manba pushed the door open, pointed at the porthole, and said with a joyful face, "It's time to get off the ship, sir! We've arrived at Cocoyasi Village!"