Tarakha Town Marine Base.
The afternoon sun filtered through gaps in the leaves, spilling across the wide training ground.
A man stood there, his posture straight and steady, the lines of his muscles especially clear under the sunlight.
In his hand was a sharp long blade engraved with the words Destroy Demons, its surface reflecting a dazzling gleam.
Sweat slid down his forehead and dripped onto the dry ground, only to be instantly evaporated by the burning sun. His breathing was even, his movements smooth and powerful. Every swing carried a force that seemed almost capable of splitting the air itself.
"So that's the famous Thunderfire Blade!"
A new recruit stared at the figure constantly swinging his sword on the training field, disbelief filling his eyes.
Who in the South Blue didn't know by now?
Marine Branch 32 had produced a swordsman skilled in a blazing thunderfire sword style. Rumor said that with every breath the man took, flames burned and thunder exploded!
And if not for the appearance of that man, his own hometown would have been destroyed by pirates three months ago.
The whole reason he joined the Marines was to see that man in person.
"Ah, now that I've seen Thunderfire Blade, even if I die on the next mission, I'll have no regrets!"
A blissful expression appeared on the recruit's face. He was just about to look up at the sky and carve the moment into memory when—
Bang!
A sharp pain struck his forehead.
"Idiot, call him Major Mo Wu!"
Glancing nervously toward the figure on the training ground and seeing that Mo Wu hadn't noticed them, the squad leader finally let out a sigh of relief. Then he quickly turned back, stared into the recruit's eyes, and whispered,
"If you don't want to get shipped off to headquarters for special training, don't ever mention the words Thunderfire Blade in front of Major Mo Wu!"
The recruit was a little dazed and had no idea why those three words were forbidden. But the moment he heard the words "special training at Marineford," his unfocused eyes instantly turned firm.
"Yes, sir, Captain!"
"Phew…"
The squad leader didn't dare linger any longer. He hurriedly dragged the recruit away at once.
Mo Wu paid no attention to the little disturbance nearby.
His eyes remained focused and resolute, as though the entire world held only him and the sword in his hand. The sunlight cast a long shadow across his body, shifting constantly with each movement.
His body moved in rhythm with his sword swings. Every motion looked perfectly natural, perfectly coordinated.
Until finally—
"One million!"
"Phew…"
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Mo Wu sat down right where he was and quietly waited for his talent to activate.
Come to think of it, the last time he unlocked a milestone had been two months ago, when he saved his hundred-thousandth ordinary civilian.
He wondered what this one would bring.
"Blade-light and shadow reflect the sun's brilliance; a million swings forge the body!"
"One million sword swings completed."
Ding!
The familiar sound echoed by his ear, lingering for a long while.
"O steadfast one…"
"Miracle granted: state reset, strength increased, speed increased, stamina increased."
"Miracle granted: Armament Haki Lv3."
"Miracle granted: Observation Haki Lv1."
"Miracle granted: Life Return — Absorption."
The moment he heard that Observation Haki had been unlocked, joy stirred in Mo Wu's heart.
And when he heard that Life Return had also been granted, the delight on his face became impossible to suppress.
With a thought, he opened the personal status panel he hadn't checked in quite some time.
Mo Wu
Class: Dreamer
Combat Level: First Tier (Intermediate)
Dream Points: 200
Paradise Points: 0
Talents: Great Feat, Transparent World, Eyes Bathed in Dawn, Nine Oxen and Two Tigers (60%)
Skills:
Heart That Comprehends All Things (Pseudo)
Mixed Breathing
Dragonblood
Life Return — Absorption
Basic Swordsmanship Lv5
Sun Breathing Lv4
Demon Sense Lv4
Thunder Breathing Lv3
Marine Six Powers Lv2
Armament Haki Lv3
Observation Haki Lv2
Equipment: Nichirin Blade +4
Item: Dream Notebook (Locked)
Looking at how much stronger he had become, and at the many extra skills now displayed, a hint of satisfaction appeared in Mo Wu's eyes.
The Dream Notebook had turned out exactly as he expected.
The moment he entered an instance world, it became disconnected and was marked as locked. Even if he took it out, he couldn't turn its pages.
Let alone write in it.
Still, the strength-enhancing talent he had exchanged for earlier had already been developed to sixty percent.
And after so many rounds of reinforcement, honestly, even Mo Wu no longer knew where the upper limit of his strength truly lay.
But pushing around a boulder three meters tall was effortless.
As for the Marine Six Powers, at first he had only known Moonwalk and Shave, both taught to him by Milenko.
But after saving a hundred thousand civilians and triggering a milestone unlock, the miracle had directly granted him the full Marine Six Powers. And with the aid of the Transparent World, he had raised them to Lv2 almost immediately after receiving the complete set, using them now as naturally as if he had been born with them.
The Transparent World really is an absurd talent.
Looking at Observation Haki—originally Lv1—which had instantly jumped to Lv2 on the panel just like Armament Haki had done when he first obtained it, Mo Wu's eyes filled with astonishment.
But the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it felt.
After all, the Transparent World itself already had functions similar to Observation Haki: observing, predicting attacks, sensing the strength of others' life force.
In face-to-face battle, being able to directly see an opponent's muscles, organs, bones, and nerves made it hardly inferior to Observation Haki at all.
Of course, when it came to sensing the emotions and thoughts of living beings, detecting things and people outside one's field of vision, and especially the highest-level future sight…
The Transparent World still fell well short.
"Major Mo Wu! Something huge has happened! The sea is about to turn upside down!"
A familiar shout came from the distance.
Already guessing who it was, Mo Wu let a faint smile touch his lips—then immediately changed his expression, putting on a gloomy, displeased look as he slid the Nichirin Blade back into its sheath.
"Drake, today's newspaper is late."
Hearing that, Drake stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face. When he looked up and saw the dark expression on Mo Wu's face, his heart leapt into his throat. He hurriedly began explaining in a panic.
"It's huge, Major, really huge! You need to see this!"
Fear and unease, huh?
Mo Wu withdrew his Observation Haki back into himself. Having clearly read Drake's emotions, he no longer bothered pretending to be upset. A smile reappeared on his face as he spoke in a calm tone.
"You're acting like a headless chicken. You're already a lieutenant now, Drake."
"Uh… right…"
Scratching his head, Drake looked at the suddenly smiling Mo Wu in total confusion.
Is the major testing me again?
No, this isn't the time to think about that.
Nervously, he pushed the newspaper toward Mo Wu, his expression caught somewhere between joy and worry.
"Major… you don't think I'm going to lose my job soon, do you?"
"Shh."
Motioning for Drake to quiet down, Mo Wu took the newspaper. The smile on his face vanished at once, and he began reading the front page with a blank expression.
What was destined to come would always come.
Sea Circle Calendar 1498, September
"Pirate King! Captured!"
"Pirate King? Gold Roger? Public Execution! Marines Announce to the World!"
"Has the age of pirates reached its end? The World Government calls another World Conference!"
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