Meat sauce noodles, bacon, fried eggs, fish fillets… Arion was shoveling these foods into his mouth plate by plate, as if a starving ghost had reincarnated, and the empty plates beside him stacked up faster than the eye could follow, stunning everyone in the cafeteria.
Arion was truly starving—in order to have enough strength last night to handle the demands of 2B and Hina, he had added a point of proficiency to Recovery Enhancement.
The result was obvious: his skill cooldowns halved, his stamina fully recovered, giving him more energy for combat, even letting him easily cradle Hina in his arms and roam the room like a vendor with displays, leaving traces on the sofa, at the desk, and by the window.
At the time, no one noticed anything; in the morning, he could even press Hina against the wall and whip her, as if he never grew tired.
It wasn't until everyone had finished tidying up, after leaving Hina's captain's cabin and heading to the ship's mess hall to taste the first bite of breakfast, that they could not help themselves and started gorging again.
He was just that hungry.
But no matter how Arion ate, the food in his stomach was digested and converted into energy the moment it entered.
Hina stood beside him, propping her chin and watching, letting Arion gorge.
Until Arion belched loudly, Hina waved to signal the Marines soldiers who had brought the meals to stop.
With one more cup of milk down the hatch, Arion rubbed his belly and let out a long sigh.
"Finally full."
"You're gifted," Hina praised, "to gain and store energy by eating is the basis of Seimei Kikan, and the reason many strong people can keep fighting."
Hina finally understood why yesterday Arion could duel two women and keep fighting for so long; it was this method.
This was also the first time Hina had heard of someone using this ability in this way, which was somewhat indecent.
"What is Seimei Kikan?" 2B asked, because she also has the ability to gain and store energy through eating, though she's an android, very different from living humans and pure flesh-and-blood beings.
"A way to control each body part and better call on internal energy," Hina explained, "for example speeding up digestion and storage, delivering energy to different parts of the body to perform extraordinary martial arts and other things."
"If used properly, it can even grant life to hair, making it as agile as an arm."
With that, Hina demonstrated, injecting "life" into her long hair and controlling it to grab a cup of milk from the desk.
But it grabbed only partway and dropped the cup; Hina caught it and downed the milk.
"I'm not great at controlling hair like this, but that's the idea. There's also making fingers as fast as bullets, delivering sharp slashes, etc. Marines call this Rokushiki."
Arion closed the jaw that had fallen open in shock and asked, "Can you teach me these?"
"I can teach you, as long as you join the Marines."
"Forget it, I'll figure it out on my own."
"Suit yourself," Hina rejected again, not caring, "but tinkering by yourself won't beat a systematized learning. That'll save you years of detours."
Arion merely smiled; he has a system, and with some points in Martial Arts Mastery and Recovery Enhancement, learning Rokushiki—and perhaps surpassing Rokushiki—would be just a matter of time.
—Though it's mainly to avoid kidney deficiency from not finishing tasks in time.
But what he didn't expect was that Seimei Kikan's energy control method is at the heart of martial arts in this world.
Thinking carefully, this setting had already appeared in the Enies Lobby Arc, where that long-haired CP9 member specialized in Seimei Kikan to control his hair, granting life to deliver powerful Shigan.
And in this world, binge-eating until your belly balloons, then your figure returns to normal the next moment—perhaps even regrowing missing teeth—could also be a Seimei Kikan, a way to store energy?
This power is, indeed, a hallmark among the world's strong!
"Come on, enough sitting here after a meal, let's go train."
"Glad to join you."
This time Arion misread Hina's meaning; he thought the "training" meant going back to the room for a physical bout.
But Hina's "training" meant real training.
On the dock, Marines soldiers were sweating in the sun just like yesterday.
"How about it? Want to train with my subordinates?"
"Sure," Arion loosened up his body, "I've been wanting to work out for a bit."
Also, to gauge his current strength.
Hina nodded and shouted, "Attention!"
At that cue, the Marines soldiers on the dock stopped what they were doing, stamped their feet, and lined up neatly in front of Hina, straight and tall, awaiting her orders.
Hina surveyed them and boomed, "Training isn't just day after day of swinging fists. What matters is practical combat—using what you've learned to beat opponents and defend justice!"
"Today, to give you a taste of a different kind of battle from your usual sparring with comrades, I've invited a village-saving hero to train with you—give him a hand clap!"
At Hina's signal, the Marines soldiers erupted in thunderous applause, full of energy.
But after the applause, a tall Marine soldier stepped forward and said, "Captain Hina, you want us to spar with this pale-faced kid, right?"
2B and Arion had learned a lot about these Marines soldiers from villagers in the fishing village.
One was a silver-haired swordsman who defeated a Pirate Crew single-handedly and carried a bounty of ten million Belly; the other was an ordinary man who turned the pirates at the last moment with a harpoon.
The difference was obvious: the silver-haired swordswoman wasn't any match for Marines of their level, so the only one who could spar with him was the pale-faced kid.
With that remark, the Marines soldiers burst into laughter; to them, a man with no scars, so pale and clean, what kind of man is he?
Just some pretty face living under a woman's protection.
2B found the laughter irritating and wanted to punch their faces for their insolence.
Hina was also unhappy, shouting, "Silence!"
With a shout, the Marines soldiers shut their mouths, not daring to defy Hina's authority.
"Pick any Marine soldier you want to spar with," Hina signaled, "let me see your strength. If you don't meet the standard, I won't count last night's words."
Hina was talking about legally going to sea, though East Blue is the weakest of the Four Blues, without any self-defense ability going to sea would be a death sentence.
Even though 2B has solid strength, could she protect someone for a moment or always stay by their side?
If someone bad targeted them, they would always find an opening.
Without real strength, going to sea would be like tying him to a dog.
"Stay safe," 2B reminded, "put on protective gear to avoid injuries."
So Arion understood; before choosing a opponent, he walked aside and honestly put on protective gear from a wooden box.
And his wearing protective gear drew a round of laughter from the Marines soldiers.
In their eyes, only women wear protective gear during sparring.
The real romance is fists to flesh!
The Marines soldiers laughing loudly drew a disapproving look from Hina, who silenced them with a stern stare.
They did not dare challenge Hina's authority.