"Once we get this ship, we can cross Reverse Mountain and head to the Grand Line..."
Shano's gaze calmly swept over the system panel.
He had no interest in continuing to mess around in this small pond that was the East Blue.
Counting the time he spent training hard before Arlong arrived, he had already been steadily developing in East Blue for four years. If not for wanting to spend a little more time with his family before becoming an adult, he would've long set off for the Grand Line to make his mark.
As for his strength now—well, it was nothing like it used to be.
[Name: Shano]
[Age: 18]
[Height: 185/370 cm]
[Strength: 6.8]
[Agility: 6.6]
[Endurance: 6.4]
[Mental Power: 5.2]
[Skills: Rokushiki (Mastered), Armament Haki (Advanced), Life Return (Advanced), Breath Fist (Mastered), Ripple Fist (Advanced), Brain Seal Technique (Advanced), Flesh Furnace Method (Advanced), Sealed Severing Slash (Advanced), Fishing (Advanced), Mining (Advanced), Stealing (Advanced)]
[Remaining Points: 29,000]
Three years ago, when his stats were still hovering around 3 to 4, he could already solo and easily crush the Arlong Pirates.
And now—
Every basic stat had reached an absolutely terrifying level.
With a solid and powerful physique backing him, his physical techniques—centered around Rokushiki—had practically reached the pinnacle.
In other words—
If the version of himself who defeated the Arlong Pirates back then were to stand in front of him now, that guy would be torn apart in seconds, no more difficult than taking out weaklings like Hachi or Kuroobi.
East Blue could no longer keep up with his level at all.
At this point, not to mention the first half of the Grand Line, even if he headed straight to the New World, he had full confidence that he could carve out a place for himself!
"I wonder, by the standards of One Piece fans in my previous life, which level would I be placed at now?"
Vice Admiral-level?
Or some kind of 'half-step Yonko Commander Perfected Realm'?
Those terms from xianxia novels were kind of funny to think about now.
Shano smirked, then turned his gaze to the inventory.
Over the years, he had bought many things—not just various training manuals, but also some interesting tools.
Points were spent like flowing water, but thankfully, with top-quality leeks like Luffy and the others constantly providing fresh supplies, his point pool kept getting refilled like a steady stream.
Compared to two years ago, his balance had only decreased by about ten thousand points.
Among all the manuals he purchased, the most expensive was Ripple Fist, costing 2,800 points—a superior version of Breath Fist.
Not only did it further increase the upper limit of Shano's physical growth, but it also allowed him to concentrate power into his fists and palms with greater efficiency.
The fighting techniques within were numerous, and after breaking them down, they could be combined and adapted freely during battle. Each punch created terrifying shockwaves—powerful enough to make the air ripple visibly.
Additionally—
Sealed Severing Slash had also been trained to the advanced level.
Yes, he had indeed found a loophole and bypassed the requirement of having a swordmaster-level prerequisite.
Thanks to his mastery of Life Return, he could now morph his arms into razor-sharp blades at will—slicing through steel as easily as a hot knife through butter.
So technically speaking—
Aside from Kuina, there was now another full-fledged swordsman on the ship: him, a dual-wielding swordsman.
—If anyone had doubts, he didn't care. Just answer this: aren't hand blades still blades?
As for tools he had purchased—
The most worth mentioning was the Devil Fruit Detection Radar, directly sold by the system, bought for 2,500 points.
It looked almost exactly like the Dragon Radar Bulma made in Dragon Ball, even about the same size.
It could be used ten times in total. No need to even take it out—just keep it in the backpack, and whenever a Devil Fruit enters within a 100-kilometer radius, a green light would flash; if within 10 kilometers, a bright yellow light would blink rapidly.
If multiple fruits were detected at once, the radar would display the same number of lights, but it would only count as one use—not wasting extra charges.
Very practical and highly effective.
He had bought it last year, and during his last point-harvesting spree, he had kept a close eye out for any reactions—but unfortunately, didn't find a thing.
Which was understandable, since the round trip only took about twenty days and the route was fixed.
Once he started journeying across the seas full-time, he would definitely encounter some.
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.
The New Gatt had a much faster cruising speed than their old ship. On the afternoon of the eighth day, they finally reached Shelly Island.
From far away, they could already see the massive neon sign that read "Whale Shipbuilding Company" on the dock.
Golden and flashing, it was far more eye-catching than the combined signage of all the other shipyards.
"So we're finally here?"
Kuina stretched and yawned as she disembarked. Thanks to tagging along with Shano, she'd also been given a luxurious first-class suite.
The bed was big and soft, and the sleep was incredibly sweet—it was her first time enjoying such a comfortable ship ride.
Thinking back to the time she had taken Grandpa's cola-powered mini-ship out to sea—it had been pure torture in comparison.
"Haha, don't worry! Your new ship will definitely be far better than this old thing of mine!"
Old Gatt chuckled as he puffed on his pipe.
"How do you know? Did you already see our ship in advance?" Nojiko asked curiously.
"No, not really. But I can guess! With your brother's reputation, there's no way the Whale Shipbuilding Company would dare slack off. They'll definitely treat it with top priority and build it as their most proud masterpiece!"
Old Gatt turned to look at Shano.
"If you don't believe me, ask Lord Shano himself. When he contacted them by phone before, wasn't their attitude super warm and sincere?"
"Warm and sincere?" Shano blinked, rubbing his chin. "Yeah, now that you mention it, they were pretty enthusiastic. They even rounded off twenty million from the bill, but I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just how they treated big clients…"
"It's not what you think!"
Old Gatt exhaled a ring of smoke. "Other shipyards, sure—they'll cater to major clients. But the Whale Shipbuilding Company is a century-old name-brand shipyard! They've got a golden reputation!"
"Those veteran shipwrights are all super proud. Orders pour in from all over the four seas—they're not the type to fawn over every big spender. And rounding off millions of Berries? That only happens if the sun rises in the west!"
"He's right." Zeff nodded seriously. "When I was younger, my first ship was built by the Whale Company. Their customer service was... cold, to say the least."
"So how did the sun rise in the west for my brother?" Nojiko teased with a giggle.
"Because your brother took out nearly all the major pirates in East Blue!" Old Gatt laughed loudly. "This is supposed to be the birthplace of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, and now the pirates here are so weak it's laughable!"
"Merchant convoys can travel way more smoothly than before. The shipyards benefit from this too—and your brother deserves all the credit! Whale Shipbuilding Company's no exception!"
Shano gave a wry smile.
That was true, now that he thought about it. Over the past few years, every pirate in East Blue with a bounty over ten million Berries had pretty much been wiped out by him.
It felt like a sustainable overfishing problem—but the speed at which the "fish" matured never caught up with the rate at which they were getting killed off.
Now the entire East Blue had barely any fish left—not to mention big ones, even small fry were scarce. Pirates with bounties over five million Berries were few and far between.
"Time really flies…" Old Gatt sighed. "I remember the first time I met your brother, he wasn't even 1.6 meters tall. Who would've thought, just a few years later, he'd become someone the entire East Blue respects!"
As he said this, Old Gatt's face glowed with pride—like he was basking in borrowed glory.
After all, when this most renowned swordsman of East Blue first ventured out into the world, it was his ship he took—and they'd even fought a Sea King together.
Over the years, he always got envious looks whenever he bragged about it to fellow old-timers. What a badge of honor.