Raiden Ei emerged from the ship's cabin and took out the East Blue Daily she had found earlier from her system backpack. She walked towards the bow and sat down on the gunwale.
Looking at the newspaper, although it wasn't the latest edition, its contents let her know the current point in time and where she should go next.
Raiden Ei carefully read the report: "The great pirate Santana, with a bounty of twenty-two million, was arrested in the East Blue by Navy Vice Admiral Garp, and his Pirate Crew was wiped out."
"The Fierce Elephant Pirate Crew escaped the Marine purge and subsequently plundered three more villages. The Navy has placed a bounty of seventeen million Berries on Keff, the Captain of the Fierce Elephant Pirate Crew."
Anyone who can make it into the newspaper is a tough character. Garp is actually in the East Blue. It's currently the year 1500, and the Great Pirate Era has already begun two years ago. An explosion in the number of pirates is inevitable. What is he doing in the East Blue instead of catching pirates?
It should be related to Roger's son, Ace. Ace was born after staying in his mother's womb for 20 months. To root out Pirate King Roger's child, the Marines seemingly took away all children born in the South Blue over these two years.
To help Roger hide it from the World Government, that old fellow Garp really would do anything. Is Ace not born yet? It's possible, but it's none of my business.
While Raiden Ei was reading the newspaper, Strong as an Ox and the others walked over to her. Seeing her reading intently and muttering to herself, they didn't dare disturb her and stood aside waiting. Even the Young Miss had quieted down.
Raiden Ei naturally knew they had arrived, but she was only halfway through the paper and didn't want to put it down. Sensing that they were just standing there with no intention of interrupting, she complacently finished the rest of the newspaper before turning around to look at them.
Without any expression, Raiden Ei asked directly, "Do you need something from me?"
Strong as an Ox wasn't that afraid of Raiden Ei anymore. He had just been scared out of his wits by the pirates when he was captured yesterday; he wasn't usually so cowardly.
"Miss, thank you. You wiped out that group of pirates and saved us."
"No need. It was just in passing. I only saw you in the cabin after killing all the pirates. Don't thank me."
Seeing the others about to speak, seemingly wanting to thank her like Strong as an Ox, Raiden Ei quickly spoke to change the subject.
"By the way... what are your names? I am Raiden Ei. It's easier to address you if I know your names. Also... I don't know where we are right now, so you'll need to find a way back."
Everyone... what's going on? They were only captured for one night, and now they can't go back?
Strong as an Ox: "Miss Raiden Ei... my name is Haisier, a shipwright from Vinia Island."
Clerk: "I'm Sang, a clerk at a shop on Vinia Island as well."
Thugs: "Maiga, Cyrus, Mandi, and Bia are thugs from the island."
Chef: "I'm Gando." Clearly, his mind wasn't on the conversation, as his eyes were darting around.
The Young Miss spoke with much more confidence now.
"I am the Young Miss of the Hylf Chamber of Commerce, Nicola Hylf."
Waitress: "My name is Geer."
Servant: "Hello... I'm Mina."
Raiden Ei just listened and noted their names. Only the scrawny young man was left, so she turned to look at him. He was a Navigator; in the eyes of pirates, he was probably the most valuable person among them.
Seeing everyone looking at him, the scrawny man was still a bit nervous, but he spoke calmly:
"My name is Gatt. Half a month ago, I was supposed to go to a Marine Branch to join the Navy, but unexpectedly, the merchant ship encountered the Silver Axe Pirate Crew. They heard I was a Navigator and wanted me to join them. I didn't agree, so they locked me up."
Good grief, was this kid starved into this state? This is eye-opening. To be starved to skin and bones and not be dead yet; it seems this kid was the most brutally tortured by the pirates among this group.
"Alright, now that we're all acquainted, let's talk about what to do next! We're currently on the vast ocean. Do you know how to get back?"
Nicola: "Can't we just take the ship back?"
Sang: "Don't speak, Young Miss. Miss Raiden Ei, are you saying we're lost?"
Raiden Ei nodded. "Yes. However, since we have a Navigator here, there's no need to worry. We just can't find the sea route right now. Everyone is on this ship, and we'll have to live here for a while before we find another island. Everyone, go find some work you can do! Gatt... go to the cabin later and see if you can find a sea chart. This is what I found."
Gatt: "Yes... I'll do my best."
Raiden Ei didn't want them just standing there foolishly. Having explained the current situation and future plans, she sent them off to find work while she continued reading the newspaper.
Seeing Raiden Ei reading the newspaper, Haisier and the others didn't dare disturb her again. This was a ruthless person who could wipe out a Pirate Crew. They could only find something to do on the ship.
Seeing that everyone had left, Raiden Ei stopped reading the newspaper. She opened the system with her consciousness and converted everything in the system backpack that could be turned into energy.
energy conversion system
Initial Panel:
Energy: 2156
Raiden Ei
Age: 0
Constitution: 6 + (50000)
Armament Haki: 3 + (5000)
Observation Haki: 3 + (5000)
Conqueror's Haki: 1 + (10000)
Backpack: Kusanagi no Inabikari, wild fruit, raft, bamboo tube, meat, sundries
Raiden Ei thought: "It's still better to make money as a Bounty Hunter. Killing sea beasts for two days only got me 135, but now looting a pirate ship got me nearly 216 energy points."
Her Haki had been practiced by herself over the past few days. With Raiden Ei's memories, practicing Haki felt like doing more with half the effort. Now, she was becoming a bit of a martial arts fanatic, practicing martial arts and Haki whenever she had nothing to do, and even practicing meditation now.
When she encountered those two ten-meter-long sea beasts before, she discovered that besides Elemental Power, she had no large-scale techniques. It was fine when fighting those two sea beasts, as her blade could still cut off their heads.
But what if she encountered Sea Kings hundreds of meters long? Wouldn't she just be eaten? Cutting something that big with a blade, she didn't know how long it would take to kill it.
So she was now studying the swordsmanship of this world to become a Master Swordsman, using Flying Slashes to make up for her current shortcomings. She recalled how to become a Master Swordsman from the anime.
First, one needs very strong swordsmanship. She already had this. When Raiden Ei's memories were transmitted without reservation to this puppet body of Raiden Ei, it was like flipping a switch for this body; Raiden Ei knew all the swordsmanship.
Then there are swordsmen who can cut anything, yet they also cut nothing. This was a bit difficult to understand, with a hint of metaphysics. It should involve sensing the enemy's weaknesses and controlling one's own power, which she could also do.
Finally, there's the Breath of All Things. This part was a bit difficult. However, Raiden Ei's meditation method could be used to sense everything around her. Paired with Observation Haki, she could quickly become a Master Swordsman.
It's just that she was currently stuck at the meditation stage, unable to even calm her mind. She wasn't the Raiden Ei truly created by Raiden Ei; she didn't have that state of mind. That's why she needed to practice meditation, hoping to enter a meditative state soon.
Although Raiden Ei hadn't mastered the Flying Slash yet, she had found a lower-level substitute: the Slash Wave. The threshold for this was much lower than a Flying Slash. A Slash Wave is similar to a shockwave, but unlike a shockwave, it doesn't require massive energy to produce.
She had tried using Slash Waves; although she wasn't proficient yet, they did have some power. Since she wasn't using Elemental Power and hadn't learned the Flying Slash yet, this was her only long-range attack method.
Raiden Ei closed the system and stepped down from the gunwale. Seeing them busy tidying up the ship, she didn't disturb them and climbed up to the crow's nest. Meditating here would also allow her to know immediately if anything happened.
About two hours later, a small portion of the sun had sunk below the horizon. The sea breeze blew across the surface, creating ripples. The sun's reflection on the water began to bob up and down.
Untimely sounds of arguing came from below. Raiden Ei opened her purple eyes and sighed, not only frustrated by her inability to enter meditation but also by the helplessness of the petty arguing on the deck below.
Coming down from the crow's nest, Raiden Ei saw Haisier and Gando arguing. The others were watching from the side, occasionally criticizing Gando.
From their conversation, she learned it was because Gando, fearing they would run out of food, had stuffed his own stomach and left only a little for the others, claiming it was to save food.
Seeing Raiden Ei arrive, everyone stopped what they were saying. Seeing this, Sang hurried forward to tell her about Gando's faults.
Seeing that Sang was going on endlessly, Raiden Ei immediately stopped her. She really wasn't used to handling such matters, so she just went with her own thoughts.
Raiden Ei's face was serious: "Gando, go cook... make enough for everyone. If you don't eat your fill on the ocean, you won't even have the chance to eat when danger strikes."
Everyone was a bit terrified by Raiden Ei's words. Was it really that scary? Thinking about it, the ocean is a place where accidents can happen at any time. If you don't eat your fill when it's safe, you might really not have anything to eat after an accident occurs.
Gando went to cook reluctantly. He didn't dare talk back to Raiden Ei. He had seen the marks left by the pirates on the ship—the collapsed cabin, the cracked gunwale from the impact. Aside from a few bloodstains, they had all been taken out without bleeding, and the swords hadn't even been cleared away.
Raiden Ei turned and saw Geer nearby. "Geer... what weapon can you use?"
Geer had been standing far away, fearing that some trouble would find her, but what she feared most came true. How should she answer?
Geer was a bit dazed. "What's wrong, Miss Raiden Ei? I'm just an ordinary Waitress; I don't know how to use any weapons." Her heart was a bit uneasy. Had her secret been discovered?
Raiden Ei didn't believe her. "No way. Then come with me." She thought Geer had already practiced on her own. Shouldn't one explore properly upon discovering they are different from others? Was she lying to me?
Geer: Σ(ŎдŎ|||)ﾉﾉ "Yes." Now she could only take it one step at a time.
Raiden Ei used Observation Haki to sense the firearms around them, picked a good one to hand to Geer, told her how to fire and aim, and gave her the flintlock bullets.
Geer looked conflicted. "Miss Raiden Ei, I'm just an ordinary person. I've never even touched a gun. I can't do it."
Raiden Ei really couldn't understand. Geer should know she has a talent different from others. Shouldn't she be as arrogant as the people in this world, starting to talk about becoming some kind of king just because she has a bit of talent?
Raiden Ei didn't expose her either, wanting to see how long Geer could keep up the act. "It's just that you're too idle. Go find a target and practice by yourself. While you're at it, patrol and see if there's any movement on the sea."
Raiden Ei turned and left, really not wanting to see her waste her talent like this.
Geer had no choice; she couldn't beat Raiden Ei anyway. She found a place and used the method Raiden Ei taught her to begin the first target practice of her life.
Raiden Ei returned to the cabin and saw the few people with nothing to do. She thought she shouldn't show favoritism; on this ocean, she might not necessarily be able to look after them during a battle.
Raiden Ei thought for a moment. "It's not night yet, and it's impossible for you not to face threats. You should also go find weapons and practice yourselves. Call Mina along."
The thug quartet had already been playing around with the swords and flintlocks they picked up all afternoon. Now they were even more excited and ran out quickly.
Nicola's face crumpled with a look of despair. "Can I not go?"
Raiden Ei: This Young Miss needs to be properly disciplined. I'll treat this as today's entertainment.
"Sure, as long as you don't cry when you're captured by pirates."
Nicola: "I'll go, I'll go, alright?"
"Go quickly. Everyone else has gone. If you don't go now, it'll be dark."
Without waiting for Nicola, Raiden Ei went to the deck. Seeing the mess they were practicing, she couldn't bear to look and had to step forward to correct them one by one. Nicola was handled the most severely and had already cried.
Being a teacher felt pretty good, but this diverse group of students also gave her a bit of a headache. If she didn't teach them, they would definitely be doomed if they met pirates. Teaching them would at least give them some ability to protect themselves.
Before long, night fell, and oil lamps were lit on the ship. A ship that could hold over a hundred pirates had plenty of supplies. Everyone ate their fill and went to sleep. Although this ship wasn't a great place, it was a safe harbor.
Raiden Ei returned to the crow's nest and continued her meditation, hoping to get the hang of it soon.
In the early morning, Raiden Ei's Observation Haki suddenly sensed something approaching. She quickly went to the bow and looked out at the ocean, which was still illuminated by Moonlight. Beneath the endless horizon, a sea beast was approaching.
A sea beast dozens of meters long was swimming rapidly toward the ship. The churning seawater caused the ship to rock violently as if it were about to capsize.
Raiden Ei's expression was a bit grim. "Of course, what I fear most had to happen."
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