— — — — — —
Deep in the jungle—where even trees that'd take two or three people holding hands to wrap around still only counted as saplings—Veyron moved forward slowly, wielding his crimson blade, Bloodwing.
Every swing of the sword, paired with the chirp of birdsong, split towering beasts—each two to three stories high—cleanly in half with a flash of red.
[Basic Swordsmanship (Lv. 29) gained 166 EXP.]
Maybe it was the enhancement from the divine blade Bloodwing, or maybe it was just how the skill system worked—fighting real enemies gave more experience than solo training.
Probably a bit of both.
Ever since stepping into the jungle, even though Veyron's form remained exactly the same as when he trained in the bamboo grove, every swing now carried noticeably more power—and gave him the kind of EXP he used to only get after hundreds of reps.
It wasn't quite as efficient as that time he first drew Bloodwing and, fully immersed, struck with all his will.
That one slash earned him a whopping 490,000 EXP in one go, instantly leveling his [Basic Swordsmanship] from Lv. 27 to Lv. 29 and pushing the bar more than halfway to Lv. 30.
Still, being able to rack up over a hundred EXP per swing felt as satisfying as curling up in fuzzy pajamas in an air-conditioned room on a hot summer day.
Swish—
He sidestepped a boar charging at full speed, then countered with a backhand slash. A crimson arc sliced through its midsection, cleanly bisecting the 10-meter-tall beast.
After uploading both halves of the boar to the group marketplace—set to private so only he could see them— Veyron glanced toward his left shoulder, pleased with how the inventory function worked.
No weight, no energy cost, infinite space, and no time passing inside. Perfect.
Sitting there was a palm-sized version of Merlin.
"How far in am I now?" he asked.
"If we divide the island into ten rings from the shoreline inward," Mini-Merlin said, waving her staff and projecting a 3D map of Ruscaena Island, "you've just about finished exploring the outermost ring. You're about to step into the second one."
The map showed Veyron's trail through the jungle, highlighted by a glowing line. Dots marked the positions of the other group members—including both versions of Merlin.
Veyron gave a nod, double-checked his paths against the projection, then started walking back toward the beach where Chika and the others were hanging out.
"Not going deeper?" Merlin floated off his shoulder and resumed her full size. "With your sword, even if you're not using its full power, you should still be able to handle yourself. If it's stamina, I can cast a few buffs—magic's kinda my thing."
"I'm good for now," Veyron replied. "That boar earlier was already pushing the limits of my reflexes and dynamic vision. Sure, Bloodwing is powerful enough to carry me deeper in—but from that point, it's basically kill or be killed in a flash."
He could unlock his first-tier Gene Lock to boost his capabilities, but until Eirin gave him the green light after a full medical check, he and Kaguya both agreed—avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.
Guess that's what you call veteran cautious types.
Truth be told, if Merlin hadn't tagged along and guaranteed backup, he wouldn't have dared venture this deep, no matter how tempting the beast meat in the One Piece world was for body training.
"If you were born in my world," Merlin teased, "you'd probably either quietly live your whole life unnoticed… or one day pop up from nowhere and take over the whole thing before anyone saw it coming."
Veyron gave her a thumbs-up. "You nailed it."
...
Back on the beach, Veyron returned just in time to see two figures moving at blinding speed, locked in a heated spar.
One wore a sleek black-and-white spider suit—Gwen, the Spider-Woman.
The other, dressed in a revealing red blouse made for mobility, was Hancock, the future Pirate Empress.
The two dodged each other's strikes with uncanny reflexes, almost like they could predict each other's moves before they happened. Neither missed a chance to counter.
Their instincts were on another level.
The others had backed off to a safe distance and were watching from about a hundred meters away.
"Veyron! You're back," Chika called out when she spotted him.
"What's going on with those two?" he asked, checking the group chat. No clues in the recent messages.
"Oh, it started during our water fight," Chika said, eyes glued to the duel. "We noticed Hancock and Gwen could dodge sneak attacks from literally any direction. So they decided to test whose 'instincts' were better."
She sounded amazed—and rightfully so.
Gwen's Spider-Sense, triggered after a radioactive spider bite, gave her an innate danger precognition.
Hancock, on the other hand, had mastered Observation Haki. It sharpened the senses to ridiculous levels—enough to sense attacks, predict movement, gauge strength, read emotions, and even detect people far out of sight.
They'd explained all this in the past, sometimes even posting short clips or gifs to show off their powers when the group still didn't have livestream functionality.
But none of that compared to watching them go at it in person.
And it wasn't just their reaction speeds. The craters scattered across the sand proved they both packed serious punch.
One hit and a normal person would get a VIP pass to the underworld!.
For someone like Chika, who came from a perfectly normal world, this was the first time seeing superpowers this up close—and it was mind-blowing.
"Yeah, they're no joke," Veyron agreed, eyes landing on Hancock.
Gwen's spider-sense, along with her enhanced strength, speed, and healing, were all unique traits tied to her world.
According to stuff he'd read online before crossing over, Spider-People in the Marvel multiverse drew their powers from something called the Spider Totem, linked to a mystical force called the Web of Life and Destiny.
Only the chosen ones got that deal—so if that same radioactive spider bit anyone else, odds were they'd just drop dead.
But Haki in the One Piece world? Aside from the rare Conqueror's Haki, Observation and Armament Haki were standard tools for any high-level fighter. Hancock had both.
Her homeland, Amazon Lily, was even dubbed a warrior nation because pretty much all their fighters could use Haki with finesse.
The only question was… did Haki require some kind of "native to the One Piece world" trait to unlock?
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