"Spiritual Energy."
"Life Energy."
"The Three Types of Haki."
"Hmm…"
Ike looked at his status panel, deep in thought, trying to figure out what exactly was going on.
The Three Types of Haki were easy enough to understand.
Although—
Yeah…
Ike rarely used Haki, especially Conqueror's Haki, which he had never actually used before.
But—
He possessed Conqueror's Haki.
That wasn't strange.
Wasn't that basically standard?
"Spiritual Energy!"
"Life Energy!"
"In theory, these should correspond to mental strength and vitality, right?"
Ike muttered to himself as he analyzed the situation. As for his useless system?
Heh…
He didn't expect any explanations from it at all. Unless it was absolutely necessary, that system would never give him answers.
Gradually, Ike began to examine things more carefully.
His Spiritual Energy and Three Types of Haki were both at Level 5, while his Life Energy had reached Level 9.
"In that case…"
After a moment of thought, Ike—being the ruthless type—directly grabbed a decorative blade from the side.
Slash!
The blade flashed with a sharp glint as Ike brought it down on his own arm without hesitation.
And then—
Not a single mark.
"Hmm?!"
Ike stared at his completely uninjured arm and murmured, "That was just a casual strike, but this blade is still very sharp. Which means…"
"My level of life itself has increased."
Ike understood now.
Next—
He infused the blade with Armament Haki and once again cut across his skin.
This time—
The skin was broken.
But—
The time it took to heal was at least cut in half compared to normal.
"As expected…"
Ike nodded in realization, thinking to himself, "What's changing is my fundamental life level."
Spiritual Energy represented his mental capacity—simply put, as its level increased, his willpower, memory, and overall cognitive ability would improve.
Life Energy represented his vitality—his recovery speed, defensive capability, and even lifespan would all increase.
"Damn…"
Ike blinked, muttering, "So this is a pure evolution of life itself…"
To be honest—
Ike had never been particularly interested in flashy abilities.
In his eyes, those fancy powers were largely meaningless.
What truly interested him—
Was this kind of pure enhancement.
Mind.
Life.
If both of these could increase without limit—
Then…
What would he become in the future?
A god.
That's right.
If this continued indefinitely, Ike would become a god—an existence beyond all others, a true transformation born from the evolution of life itself.
At that point—
What need would he have for any flashy abilities?
With a single punch, a single kick—
Or even a single thought—
He could annihilate his enemies completely.
Having figured it out, Ike didn't dwell on it any further and soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next day—
Bang! Bang!
"This was absurd!"
Ike was still asleep when the door was suddenly slammed open. He opened his eyes in confusion and saw Newgate striding in.
Tilting his head, Ike couldn't help but complain, "Big brother, what are you doing? What time is it? Didn't you drink too much last night? Why not sleep a little longer?"
"Gurararara~~~"
"Sleep?!"
"Get up!"
"Get up right now!"
"I want to see my niece!"
"Hurry up!"
…?!
Ike was completely baffled.
It was barely four or five in the morning!
They had been drinking until past one last night, and now he was already here?
Was he insane?
Still—
Ike was ultimately dragged out of bed by his overly excited brother. After reluctantly getting dressed and grabbing some breakfast, he forcibly delayed things until around eight in the morning before finally heading to see Artoria.
Even then—
His big brother had nearly reached the point of fighting him over it.
"Hehe…"
Selina watched her helpless husband and couldn't help but laugh softly as she said gently, "Husband, you should hurry and take Artoria out. Otherwise, elder brother might lose his patience."
"Fine…"
Ike shook his head helplessly, picked up Artoria, and walked out.
Perhaps after a full day of rest—
Artoria's bright little eyes were now darting around curiously, observing everything around her. Though she was only a one-day-old infant, she looked as if she could already understand the world.
…
Newgate stared at Artoria as Ike carried her out.
In that instant—
He fell completely silent.
Thud!
Overwhelmed, Newgate slowly lowered himself to one knee.
He carefully reached out, as if wanting to say something.
Seeing this, Ike could only shake his head helplessly and gently placed Artoria into Newgate's hands.
At 666 centimeters tall, even one of Newgate's hands was enough to hold the tiny infant.
"Gurararara~~~"
Looking at his niece, Newgate suppressed his voice as much as possible, yet his laughter trembled uncontrollably. Tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes.
Edward Artoria!
Ah…
Ah!
This—
This was his niece!
This was his family's descendant!
Wasn't this exactly the family he had always dreamed of?!
Newgate carefully held Artoria, looking at her, touching her lightly, before finally handing her back to a waiting maid.
Then—
He leapt to his feet, his excitement exploding outward.
"Let's go! Let's go!"
"I'm setting sail!"
"Hmm?!"
Ike blinked in surprise and asked, "Big brother, you're heading out to sea already?"
"Yeah!"
Newgate clenched his fists, his grin wide and fierce. "I'm going to build a massive foundation for my family—so they can live better lives!"
Ike looked at his brother, brimming with ambition and excitement.
He simply shook his head—
And said nothing.