On the way, Luna walked while moving her fingers.
After her Rubber Constitution reached level 4, her control over her ability had noticeably increased.
Now, she could easily stretch her fingers to half a meter long, and she could barely feel any burden when they returned to their original shape.
“System,” she chanted silently in her mind, “What are the specific effects of increasing skill levels?
Is there any quantified data?”
As if responding to her question, a new line of description appeared on the system interface:
[Increasing skill levels will enhance all effects related to that skill.
Improving Taijutsu levels enhances strength, speed, and technique; improving Rubber Constitution enhances stretching limits, elasticity, and Form Control.
The higher the skill level, the greater the enhancement, with no upper limit]
No upper limit!
These three words made Luna’s heart race.
She began to calculate: If she could train in seawater for three hours every day, at her current experience acquisition speed, Basic Taijutsu and Rubber Constitution could probably reach level 100 in about ten days.
What about a year?
What about ten years?
Ten years later, when the original plot began, how powerful would she become?
“No, practicing three hours a day is still too short; it needs to be at least 12 hours.
Moreover, from now on, whenever I sleep, I will soak in a wooden barrel of seawater,” Luna thought.
“However, I can’t just practice the basics.
I need to develop techniques.
This requires imagination, and combining it with Haki requires constitution.
It’s a pity that the skill system can only train skills and enhance constitution through skills, rather than directly increasing constitution…”
“Right, I also need…
Berries.”
Yes, Berries.
Establishing a female pirate crew required funding.
Ships cost money, food costs money, equipment costs money, and the clothes of the beauties…
Cough cough, that also costs money.
“I need to find time to go to the golden land of Skypiea,” Luna thought to herself.
“But when it comes down to it, in this world, money is actually the least important thing.
If the money is gone, I just need to go rob other pirates.”
This thought made her smile involuntarily.
“Thinking of something happy?” Makino lowered her head to look at her.
“Thinking about the future,” Luna answered honestly, “My pirate crew will definitely be the best in this world.”
“A pirate crew?
I’ve never heard you say you wanted to be a pirate before…” Makino sighed, but didn’t try to dissuade her.
“If Mr.
Shanks finds out, he will definitely be very happy.”
When they returned to PARTYS BAR, the bar had already resumed its usual liveliness.
The pirates were drinking heavily and laughing loudly, as if the mountain bandit incident during the day had never happened.
However, Luna keenly noticed that there were a few more hidden guards around the bar—the people of the Red Hair Pirates were on alert.
Shanks was sitting in his usual spot.
Seeing her come in, he waved.
Luna walked over and sat down opposite him.
Makino brought hot soup and bread, then went off to busy herself with other things.
“I heard you went to the seaside?” Shanks took a sip of his wine and asked casually.
“Mm, training.” Luna didn’t hide it either.
“Training?” Shanks raised an eyebrow, “In the sea?”
“The weaknesses of the Devil Fruit are too obvious; I have to find a way to overcome them.” Luna took a bite of bread and said it casually.
Shanks stared at her for a long time, while Luna also looked right back into Shanks’s eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Shanks shook his head and smiled, “I just think…
you’re really special.
Generally, when young children eat a Devil Fruit, their first reaction is to excitedly play with their abilities.
Very few people would immediately think of its weaknesses and try to overcome them.”
Luna’s heart remained undisturbed.
The thick nerves brought by the Rubber Fruit allowed her internal state to remain calm and light in the face of any situation.
She might have behaved too maturely, completely inconsistent with the thinking a five-year-old child should have, but so what?
Therefore, Luna looked at Shanks and said calmly, “This is also a good thing.
The sea is cruel.
Without sufficient determination and preparation, you won’t live long.”
Shanks quickly realized the subtext in Luna’s words.
He paused, his tone becoming serious: “Luna, have you really decided to walk the path of a pirate?
This isn’t a game; people die.”
Luna put down the bread and looked straight into Shanks’s eyes: “I know, but I won’t die.”
“So confident?”
“Because I have a reason to live.” Luna said, flashes of various beauties passing through her mind—Nami’s orange hair, Robin’s intellect, Hancock’s arrogance…
“I want to assemble a pirate crew, find many companions, and see the scenery of this world.”
There was a second half left unsaid: And by the way, take all the beauties under my command.
Shanks looked at the fire burning in her eyes.
That gaze, firm to the point of near-obsession, reminded him of another person—Captain Roger.
It wasn’t a similarity in appearance, but that light deep within the soul: once a goal was decided, he would never look back.
“Alright,” Shanks finally said, “Since you’ve decided, I will teach you some things.
But before that…”
He leaned in closer and lowered his voice: “You have to tell me first, what kind of fruit did you eat?”
Shanks didn’t know?
How was that possible?
“I can feel that it’s not an ordinary Devil Fruit,” Shanks continued, his eyes deep, “The moment you ate the fruit, I felt a kind of…
very special aura.
Warm, free, making people want to laugh.”
What he described were precisely Nika’s traits.
I see.
It seems he was giving a veiled reminder that this isn’t an ordinary Rubber Fruit.
“It can turn the body into rubber, so it should be the Rubber Fruit.
According to the classification of Devil Fruits, it should be Paramecia.”
“Rubber Fruit…” Shanks repeated the name, deep in thought, “I see, that really is a very interesting fruit.”
“Right,” Luna changed the subject, “Shanks, do you know how to quickly improve one’s strength?
Isn’t that a basic ability for being a pirate?”
Shanks was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly: “Hahahaha!
You’re already starting to consider this?
Indeed, the strong must lay their foundations from a young age.” He rubbed his chin: “You’re too young right now, and there are some places you can’t go to.
Besides, in a place like Windmill Village, there aren’t any strong people either.”
Luna was a little disappointed, but Shanks’s next words made her eyes light up:
“However, if you just want to train yourself, I do have a suggestion.
Of course, you can also save up a little money along the way to buy a pirate ship.”
“What suggestion?”
“Go hunting in the forest behind the mountain,” Shanks said, “There are some fierce beasts deep in the forest.
Their fur and teeth can sell for quite a bit of money in the neighboring town.
Moreover, fighting against fierce beasts can also train your actual combat ability.”
Hunting!
This really was a good idea.
It could make money, train combat skills, and gain actual combat experience to increase skill levels.
“Thank you!” Luna immediately stood up, “I’ll go right now!”
“Wait,” Shanks held her down, “Don’t be impatient.
Although you have the Devil Fruit ability now, you’re only five years old after all, and your experience is insufficient.
Tomorrow I’ll have Yasopp go with you.
He is a sniper with very strong observation skills and can ensure your safety.”
Luna originally wanted to refuse, but on second thought—having someone guide her could indeed save her from taking detours.
Furthermore, Yasopp was Usopp’s father and might become a relative of her second crew member’s (son) in the future.
It wouldn’t be bad to build a good relationship in advance.
“Okay.” She agreed.
That night, Luna returned early to the room Makino had prepared for her.
Lying on the bed, she opened the system interface and began planning tomorrow’s training and hunting schedule.
“First, I need to test the application of Rubber Constitution in actual combat,” she thought, “Stretching attacks, elastic defense, utilizing terrain…
Also, I need to develop a few basic techniques.”
She thought of Luffy’s techniques in the original work: Rubber Pistol, Rubber Rocket, Rubber Whip…
“Those are too simple,” Luffy shook his head, “And they don’t suit my combat style.
I need more precise control and more efficient attack methods.”
The various wild ideas she had discussed with AI in her past life collided in her mind, surfacing one by one at this moment:
——The essence of Rubber Constitution is altering the physical properties of the body, so can it be locally reinforced?
For example, increasing the rubber density of the arm to its limit, turning it into a hardness comparable to steel?
——Can the storage and release of elastic potential energy achieve instantaneous explosion?
Just like a spring ejecting after being compressed to its limit?
——Adjustment of vibration frequency…
If a certain part of the body can be made to vibrate at high speed, would it produce a cutting effect?
——And most importantly, Gear 5 Nika in the original work, which is awakening, turns other things into rubber as well.
At the same time, Luffy himself also turns white.
Also, rubber can be white, but there is also transparent rubber!
That is to say, if I can develop it, I can also make myself transparent.
Wouldn’t that mean I could sneak in…?
Oh, I’m a girl now, so I can walk in openly…
Thinking of this, Luna’s originally excited expression suddenly became a bit desolate.
She simply sat up and began trying to develop the simplest techniques.
She extended her right hand, concentrating her mind to imagine the structural changes inside her arm.
Instead of simply stretching, it was purposeful reorganization—making the muscle fibers spiral and intertwine like rubber bands to increase elasticity and strength.
At first, it was very difficult.
Although Rubber Constitution gave her the ability to change her body, fine control required a lot of practice and imagination.
After failing more than a dozen times, Luna’s arm finally began to change: fine spiral patterns appeared on the surface of her skin, and her entire arm looked tighter and more powerful.
[Rubber Constitution LV7 (19/100)]
[Acquired new skill: Form Control LV1 (1/100)]
Another new skill!
And the skill Form Control clearly possessed huge potential.
Luna continued to try.
She suddenly struck her spirally intertwined arm forward—
“Rubber Spiral Gun!”
Her arm shot out spinning like a drill, its speed thirty percent faster than ordinary stretching!
Although it reached its limit after extending only two meters, that spinning penetrating power was obviously much stronger.
“Succeeded!” Luna waved her fist in excitement.
But after the excitement, she immediately felt a wave of exhaustion—not physical tiredness, but mental consumption.
Fine control ability required a high degree of concentration, which was quite a burden for her right now.
“It seems Form Control cannot be used as a routine method for now,” Luna analyzed, “But it can serve as a trump card.
Regular combat should still focus on basic stretching, using this move to catch the opponent off guard at critical moments.”
She practiced the Spiral Gun a few more times until the Form Control skill rose to LV2 (15/100) and her mind truly couldn’t hold out anymore before stopping.
Lying on the bed, Luna stared at the ceiling, her thoughts drifting far away.
“One year…
two years…
ten years…”
She had ten years of time.
Ten years later, that Luffy wearing a straw hat and setting out to sea would appear in the East Blue.
But now, that Luffy had become her—a Luffy with a system cheat, past-life memories, and a clear goal.
“I won’t follow the route of the original work,” she said to herself, “I won’t go to Cocoyasi Village to wait for Nami, I won’t go to Loguetown to wait for Smoker, and I won’t wait until the plot begins to take action.”
She was going to take the initiative.
“First, I must become strong—strong enough to roam the Grand Line, strong enough to recruit those beauties, strong enough to be invincible under heaven…”
Thinking and thinking, Luna fell asleep.
In her dream, she saw herself standing at the bow of a huge pirate ship, with a row of beauties with various graceful bearings standing behind her: the orange-haired Navigator smiling while drawing nautical charts, the black-haired archaeologist quietly reading a book, the arrogant Empress looking at her gently…
“Captain,” Nami in the dream turned her head, “Where to next?”
Luna grinned and spoke the oath destined to resound across the sea:
“Go find the next beauty!”
The moonlight outside the window spilled into the room, shining on the sleeping face of Luna in the seawater wooden box.
A smile played on the corners of her mouth, as if she had already seen that radiant future.
Deep within her consciousness, the system interface floated quietly, the skill experience bar still slowly growing in her sleep—Rubber Constitution was deeply integrated with her body, strengthening her essence every second.
The “devil” in the Devil Fruit was merging with her, shaping a new life that was both like Luffy and unlike Luffy, both reckless and sober, both free and persistent.
The night in Windmill Village was very quiet.
But the gears of fate had already begun to turn.
And this time, the direction of rotation would be completely different.