Lucas didn’t even spare a glance at the carnage behind him.
With a light jump, he crossed the gap between the ships and landed on Kuro’s vessel.
He walked toward the captain with a faint smile.
“Normally, I don’t waste words on cannon fodder.
But you’re different.”
Lucas’s gaze sharpened.
“You appeared in the original story, and that Shakushi of yours happens to interest me.”
A trace of caution appeared in his eyes.
Before Lucas could finish, Kuro stopped dead in his tracks.
His figure vanished.
Lucas raised an eyebrow and rapidly scanned his surroundings, but he couldn’t locate Kuro anywhere.
The next moment, Kuro suddenly appeared behind him.
Lucas’s sword whipped backward.
Clang!
Steel struck steel.
Lucas gave the Nidai Kitetsu a slight tremor, successfully blocking Kuro’s cat-claw blades.
Meanwhile, the hypnotist Jango finally recovered from his shock.
He was scared half to death as he scrambled toward the barely surviving Nyaban Brothers.
Their throats had already been slashed, and they were weakly struggling on the deck.
Jango’s eyes were filled with terror.
He killed that many people in an instant!
Even Captain Kuro couldn’t be this powerful with Shakushi!
Who exactly is this man?
Lucas turned toward Captain Kuro, a trace of approval in his eyes.
“Not bad.
This Shakushi is pretty impressive, although it’s somewhat different from the anime.”
Kuro was astonished that Lucas had managed to block his claws, but his face remained filled with confidence and bloodlust.
“Anime?
What’s that?”
Lucas chuckled.
His sword suddenly thrust forward.
“Something that’s going to get you killed!”
But before the blade could reach Kuro, his figure silently vanished again.
Lucas clicked his tongue in admiration.
Kuro had actually disappeared completely from his field of vision!
“But unfortunately for you, you’ve run into me.”
Lucas slowly closed his eyes.
The next instant, a peculiar sensation appeared within his mind.
Clang!
His sword collided with Kuro’s claws once again.
A trace of astonishment appeared on Kuro’s face.
He had never failed when attacking from this angle.
Yet now…
Lucas had blocked him again?!
Kuro was shocked, but immediately continued using Shakushi, causing his figure to disappear once more.
“This is the so-called Breath of All Things?
I understand now!”
Lucas kept his eyes closed and sensed the surrounding atmosphere, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
So this was what the Breath of All Things meant.
At its most basic level, it was somewhat similar to a sixth sense.
It allowed the swordsman to sense everything around him, creating a unique perception of his surroundings.
As for the second level…
Lucas’s eyes suddenly opened.
He didn’t draw his sword.
Instead, he lightly swung it while it remained inside its scabbard.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
After several faint sounds rang out, Kuro appeared to Lucas’s left.
His expression was one of utter disbelief.
The claws on his left hand had been sliced cleanly in half!
“How is this possible…?!
His sword wasn’t even drawn!”
Jango stared in horror.
He couldn’t understand what he had just witnessed.
When had such a powerful swordsman appeared in the East Blue?
The Nyaban Brothers, their throats already cut, watched the scene unfold.
Their heads finally drooped, and they died.
“Heh.
Once you can sense the Breath of All Things, you can also sense the weakest point of everything around you.”
Lucas spoke as though he were talking to himself.
“Attack that weakest point and deliver a fatal strike.
That’s what it means to truly become a first-rate swordsman.”
Lucas was satisfied.
After all, his way of thinking was fundamentally different from that of the people in this world.
Once he understood the principle, mastering it was only a matter of time.
“What an incredibly powerful swordsman…
Who are you?”
Kuro could no longer maintain his composure.
His body trembled slightly as he asked the question.
Lucas glanced at him.
A cruel smile appeared on his lips.
“Just an unknown nobody.
But I’ll have a name soon enough…”
At this point, Kuro’s Shakushi was no longer worth much in Lucas’s eyes.
He smiled lightly and uttered two words that sent chills through everyone present.
“Shakushi.”
Without making a sound, Lucas’s figure disappeared.
The next instant, Jango and the remaining pirates hiding farther away saw their heads fly into the air, blood spraying behind them.
“You!
You!
That’s impossible!
How could you have learned my Shakushi?!”
Kuro stared at Lucas in disbelief, madness flashing through his eyes.
He snarled,
“Spoon!”
Whoosh!
Kuro vanished from his position once again, his movement carrying a chilling killing intent.
Lucas merely shook his head.
His right hand trembled slightly.
In that instant, he had already completed the entire sequence of drawing and sheathing his sword.
Behind him stood Captain Kuro.
His eyes were filled with despair and unwillingness.
His body split cleanly in two.
The Shakushi wasn’t actually all that useful.
Someone with sufficiently sharp eyes could prevent Kuro from entering their blind spot.
And against a first-rate swordsman of comparable level, the technique was practically useless.
It also consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
Lucas looked slightly disappointed as he walked forward.
Hopefully the Marines’ Six Powers—Soru and Geppo—won’t disappoint me.
As Lucas walked across the ship, he sensed the Breath of All Things around him.
Within just a few breaths, he located Nami.
He gently pushed open a door in a secluded corner.
Inside, Nami’s petite figure was curled up in the corner.
Lucas didn’t blame her.
Instead, he looked at her with a warm smile.
If Nami didn’t try to escape and didn’t constantly come up with little schemes, she simply wouldn’t be Nami.
The anger and frustration he had expected never appeared.
After spending the past several days constantly looking for opportunities to escape and repeatedly clashing wits with Lucas, Nami had become utterly exhausted.
After hiding here, she had simply fallen asleep against the wall.
Lucas looked at the sleeping Nami.
She looked peaceful and innocent in her sleep.
He carefully picked her up and carried her back to his own ship, placing her on her bed.
He quietly looked at her sleeping face before leaving the room.
Lucas gently closed the door and returned to the deck.
After cleaning the deck, he looked toward the sky.
“The plot has already changed so much.”
Lucas’s eyes carried a trace of concern.
“Kuro is gone, and Nami is about to be gone as well.
I wonder if this will trigger a butterfly effect and completely change the entire world?”
The greatest advantage Lucas relied upon was his knowledge of the original storyline.
If the storyline changed beyond recognition, he would lose one of his greatest advantages.
But after thinking about it, Lucas shrugged.
Forget it.
Even if he lost that advantage, it wouldn’t matter.
As long as he possessed overwhelming strength, he could deal with anything.
Besides, even if the events changed, the information itself wouldn’t change.
Knowing the abilities of future enemies in advance meant he could prepare counters for them and eliminate them one by one.
Aside from the Four Emperors Big Mom and Kaido, he already knew the abilities of most of the major figures.
There were also the mysterious Fleet Admiral Kong and the Five Elders.
But he couldn’t come into contact with those people yet.
So his first target…
would be one of the Four Emperors.
Determination filled Lucas’s eyes.
He gripped the Nidai Kitetsu with both hands.
The blade trembled.
Three seconds later—
A gigantic sword slash swept across the sea.
The Black Cat Pirates’ ship was cleanly cut in half!
After performing the attack, Lucas looked somewhat exhausted.
After all, he was only a first-rate swordsman.
He was still far from the realm of a Sword Master.
Using his clever understanding of swordsmanship to unleash such a powerful slash consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
A day passed quickly.
Lucas still rose early and practiced his swordsmanship.
Suddenly, a scream came from inside the ship.
Nami hurried out.
The moment she saw Lucas standing on deck, repeatedly drawing and swinging his sword like a machine, her body swayed and she nearly collapsed.
“How far is it to the nearest Marine branch?”
Lucas smiled at her.
But in Nami’s eyes, that smile was almost as terrifying as seeing a ghost.
She stammered,
“A-about a day and a half…”
Am I dreaming?
No way…
Wait.
I must be dreaming.
This bastard must have exhausted me so badly that I’m hallucinating.
Nami breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she noticed something on the ship’s mast.
A severed head.
That was…
Captain Kuro’s head, bearing a bounty of 16 million Berries!
Nami covered her mouth, barely suppressing a cry.
She had always known that Lucas was powerful.
She had even witnessed his battle with the Flower Blade captain.
But she had still vastly underestimated him.
During his fight with the Flower Blade captain, Lucas had been nearly completely exhausted, while his previous sword had also been inferior to his opponent’s superior-grade blade.
That was why he had appeared so battered.
But this…
Nami looked at the man who continued practicing his swordsmanship like a machine.
A conflicted light appeared in her eyes.
If he can defeat Captain Kuro, who has a bounty of 16 million Berries…
Then maybe he could also defeat Arlong, whose bounty is 20 million Berries.
No!
This guy obviously isn’t a good person.
He’s probably a pirate too.
I can’t trust him!
Thinking this, Nami shook her head and sadly left the deck.
Everything had fallen within Lucas’s notice.
He said nothing.
He simply continued practicing.
He raised the sword in his hand and slowly lowered it.
When it reached waist level, he suddenly exerted force and unleashed a tiny slash.
Through studying the original story and practicing swordsmanship for three years in this world, Lucas had learned that the most important step toward becoming a Sword Master was understanding sword pressure.
What exactly was sword pressure?
When Lucas had first heard the term, he hadn’t understood it either.
But as his swordsmanship improved, his broad way of thinking allowed him to quickly grasp its meaning.
Once a swordsman became a Sword Master, he could unleash powerful flying slashes carrying tremendous sword energy.
Such slashes could even cut an entire ship in half.
When swinging a sword, a swordsman could feel the resistance of the air.
Use that resistance.
Break through it.
Make the sword move faster and strike harder.
That was the path to becoming a Sword Master.
Because Lucas already knew about sword pressure from the original story, he had focused on practicing Iai Slash.
It was an extremely basic movement, but it allowed the sword to unleash tremendous force in an instant.
Even without truly comprehending sword pressure, Lucas could already produce faint sword arcs.
That was the foundation of his strength.
As someone who had come from another world, his unconventional way of thinking was precisely why he could advance so quickly.
After practicing for a long time, a faint layer of sweat appeared on Lucas’s forehead.
He took a deep breath and returned to the cabin.
“By the way, Nami.
Drawing a simple sea chart of the East Blue should be easy for you, right?”
He called toward the somewhat melancholy Nami.
“Help me with this, and I’ll let you go.”
Nami’s expression immediately brightened.
Her eyes rolled as she turned toward him.
“No.
For a sea chart drawn by me, you’ll have to pay at least ten million Berries!
My charts are the most detailed in the entire world.
They can even allow someone who knows absolutely nothing about navigation to become a navigator.
I can…”
“Fine.
Deal.”
Lucas smiled and interrupted her before she could continue.
Nami nearly bit her tongue.
He actually agreed?!
How is that possible?
Is this guy really an idiot?
That’s ten million Berries!
She lowered her head, hiding her smile.
But the trembling of her shoulders betrayed her excitement.
Seeing her reaction, Lucas couldn’t resist teasing her.
“Oh, right.
You stole eleven million Berries from my pirate ship last time.
So you only need to give me another one million Berries, and we’ll call it even.”
Nami’s delighted smile instantly froze.
Dark lines practically covered her forehead.
She had stolen from plenty of pirates before.
Although she had never encountered Lucas before, she couldn’t exactly argue with him.