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It turns out, humans really shouldn't overestimate themselves.
Kael's training had only lasted a little over forty minutes, and he was already lying flat on the ground from exhaustion.
"Huff~! Huff~!"
He gasped heavily, muttering in pain:
"Alright, stop. This is ridiculously tiring."
"An hour of planking—this is just part of the preparatory training!?"
"This isn't preparing me for Haki training; this is trying to kill me!"
Even with the extraordinary physical abilities he had acquired in this life—something unattainable in his previous one—Kael still couldn't avoid the overwhelming fatigue after a period of intense training.
Especially considering that back on Earth, he was the kind of guy who thought just getting a gym membership counted as working out.
And from the original body's memories, there wasn't much to empathize with when it came to tough training either.
To suddenly throw him into forty minutes of high-intensity training was honestly a bit much.
"With my current level of fitness, who knows how long it'll take before I even learn Haki."
"Training? Screw that!"
Accepting reality, Kael rested for a moment, then slowly stood up and dragged his exhausted body to the desk.
Physical work clearly wasn't his strong suit.
He figured he might as well think through his next steps while his mind was still functioning clearly.
He reached under the desk drawer and pulled out a nautical chart.
Next, they would head to a small town called Will for supplies.
It would also serve as a way to make their whereabouts known—to let Smoker, who was chasing them, catch a hint of their route.
Kael's current plan was simple…
Drift on the seas for a while, see if they could run into some unlucky pirates, and rob them of their money and treasures…
Once Tashigi's rank and combat strength reached a certain level, they would immediately set off for Shells Town…
The same town where Zoro and Luffy first met in the anime.
Coincidentally, it was also the base of operations for the Marine 153rd Branch.
Although much of what Kael said in his earlier conversation with Sengoku was made up to gain more support…
The situation with the East Blue Marines wasn't exactly clean or righteous.
Just from what was shown in the story: one Colonel Morgan from the 153rd branch, and one corrupt Colonel Nezumi from the 16th branch—those two alone were enough for Kael to report back to Sengoku.
One oppressed civilians with tyrannical rule, and the other accepted bribes and colluded with pirates.
Both were the very antithesis of "justice."
As it happened, Kael urgently needed money, so he would have to make do with these two Marine colonels.
Morgan might not yield much, though.
That guy was a self-obsessed narcissist, with little interest in gold or treasure.
While he was tyrannical, he thrived more on being feared and respected.
Under his rule, the people of Shells Town lived in fear—but at least they could still get by.
Colonel Nezumi, however…
Thanks to the bribes he received from Arlong, Kael guessed he could easily extort a few hundred million Berries in dirty money from him.
Unfortunately…
With their pirate crew's current strength, they still weren't ready to go up against the Arlong Pirates.
Everything would need to be carefully planned.
Kael leaned over his desk, writing down his plans, upcoming actions, and potential surprises in his notebook.
This was his personal habit.
Before doing anything, he always liked to think through the structure, the pros and cons, before acting.
Especially now, in the world of One Piece—even with the powerful support of his uncle Kizaru and a cheat-like system…
Out on the sea, no one could predict what might happen next.
He had gone through the trouble of being reincarnated—he wasn't about to get wiped out by some dumb mistake before even getting started.
And just as Kael was deep in thought…
A mysterious warm current suddenly surged from within his body and spread throughout.
"Huh!?"
Kael froze and instinctively stopped writing.
Looking at the time, he quickly realized…
"Has it already been an hour?"
A thought flashed through his mind.
The system interface appeared once again in his mind.
Kael skillfully opened the Partner panel, and sure enough, Tashigi's stats had updated.
[Partner: Tashigi (Rukia Kuchiki)]
[Potential: A]
[Level: 2]
[Experience: 0/120]
[Combat Power: 120]
After an hour in the training room, Tashigi had earned 100 experience points and leveled up from 1 to 2.
Looking at her status screen, Kael's eyes lit up with joy.
"She only leveled up once, but her combat power jumped by 80 points—that's double her level 1 stats!"
"Looks like the rewards for combat power scaling are even better than I thought."
"No wonder that warm wave felt so good!"
The crew trains hard, and the captain levels up by sitting down.
Now this is the life!
This is how it should be!
Kael stood up and stretched a bit.
The newly gained combat power wasn't much, but it significantly relieved the fatigue left over from his earlier workout.
Since he had no "Potential" stat, his combat power was evenly distributed across all attributes.
That might make him less specialized in one area, but it also meant he had no fatal weaknesses.
With the boost from Tashigi's progress, Kael's mood immediately improved.
His mind felt clearer and more focused.
After some light stretching, he sat back down and continued writing out his future plans.
To avoid memory lapses from time delays, he wanted to write down everything he could recall about the plot and useful intel while it was still fresh.
That way, if his memory got fuzzy in the future, a glance at his notes would help him remember key things.
Below deck in the training room, Tashigi was still diligently studying those complex techniques.
Up on the lookout post, Little Diga had transformed into a Taoist priest, summoning howling gales with every wave of his hand.
In the captain's quarters, Kael continued mapping out the future of the Dusk Pirates.
Everyone had their roles. Everyone had a bright future ahead!
And so, the Dusk Pirates spent two quiet and peaceful days at sea.
Though from a time perspective, only two days had passed…
To the newly-recruited Tashigi, it felt like she had lived through two centuries!
In the captain's quarters.
Tashigi stretched lazily as she woke up beside Kael.
Her flowery shirt lifted slightly with the stretch, unintentionally revealing a glimpse of her fair, playful little belly.
Realizing how unladylike her movement was, her face flushed red. She quickly lowered her arms and sneaked a glance at Kael on the bed…
Seeing that he was still fast asleep, she quietly got up.
After tidying the bedding on the floor, she tiptoed out of the captain's quarters.
To help Tashigi recover and fully commit herself to training…
Kael had let her sleep in the captain's quarters these past two days.
And after experiencing the miraculous restorative effects of the room, she had—despite her flushed embarrassment—reluctantly stepped in.
Though this time, Kael didn't give up the bed for her. He had her sleep on the floor.
After all, as long as you slept in the captain's quarters, the recovery effect was the same.
"A beautiful day starts with training~"
After washing up, Tashigi hummed a little tune and headed below deck, her Zanpakutō in hand.
As for her beloved former sword, Shigure…
Though she felt sorry, the bond she now had with her Zanpakutō was far deeper than with any other blade.
To Tashigi, even if someone offered her a Supreme Grade sword, she would still choose her Zanpakutō without hesitation.
In the training room—
Tashigi headed straight for a device made of strings tied to small balls.
It was designed to train reaction speed.
After fully digesting Kael's notes, she decided to start by training her Observation Haki, which best suited her.
However…
Two days had passed.
She hadn't even managed to get the hang of Haki yet, but her strength had already doubled!
All of this was thanks to her newly acquired power…
Shinigami!
Over the past two days, every time she trained for a while, spiritual energy would suddenly surge within her, and she'd mysteriously learn a Kido spell.
When she told Kael about this supernatural phenomenon, all she got in response was: "That's normal."
She still didn't fully understand what was going on, but these past two days had been amazing!
Her enthusiasm for training had skyrocketed!
Every morning, she didn't even want breakfast—just rushed straight to the training room.
If not for the 8-hour daily limit, she'd practically want to live in there permanently!
Time slowly passed…