Time flowed swiftly, passing in the blink of an eye.
Before he knew it, five months had gone by.
Over these five months, Charlie had grown taller again, his physique becoming more robust and his strength increasing steadily.
Charlie stood before a massive rock, and with a slight thought, his status panel quietly appeared.
[Host: Nico Charlie]
[Age: 11]
[Height: 178cm]
[Skills/Talents: Six Treasures Immortal Thief LV2 (2%), Mythical Zoan-Type Fish-Fish Fruit: Azure Dragon LV1 (25%)]
[Main Quest 1: Join Dragon Tiger Mountain, become a disciple of the Celestial Master. Reward: Eight Wonders Qi Body Source.]
[Main Quest 2: Participate in the Grand Rite of Heaven, defeat all competitors, and claim first place. Reward: Eight Wonders Heaven Reaching Talisman.]
[Main Quest 3: Become the new Celestial Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain. Reward: Eight Wonders All-encompassing Hands.]
[Main Quest 4: Defeat the Old Celestial Master and become the strongest under heaven. Reward: Eight Wonders Great Luo Insight.]
[Side quests not yet triggered. Please explore on your own.]
Thud!
Charlie took a deep breath and suddenly threw a punch, striking the massive rock. His fist sank three inches into the stone, and spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across the entire boulder.
He slowly withdrew his fist, and with a few cracking sounds, the rock shattered into a pile of rubble.
"In just a few months, my physical strength has increased from ten times to thirty times its original level. Such rapid progress—truly worthy of a Mythical Zoan!"
Charlie's face showed delight. The Azure Dragon Fruit had played an indispensable role in his substantial improvement.
"By the way, about 20 days ago, Six Treasures Immortal Thief leveled up to LV2. After the upgrade, my body can not only store more energy, but my self-healing ability and strengthening speed have also doubled compared to before."
"However, correspondingly, the leveling speed of Six Treasures Immortal Thief has changed from 5 days per 1% to 10 days per 1%."
This meant that it would take at least a thousand days—nearly three years—for Six Treasures Immortal Thief to reach LV3!
Not bad. In three years, he would only be 14 years old. That was acceptable.
Additionally...
[Unknown spiritual entity detected, decomposing: Curse of the Sea (36%)]
"After Six Treasures Immortal Thief leveled up, the decomposition speed also doubled. On average, it progresses 4% every 10 days. At this rate, it will take about 160 days to fully decompose."
Charlie planned to join the Marines only after the "Curse of the Sea" was completely decomposed.
That's right. After careful consideration, Charlie had ultimately decided that, compared to other options, the Marines had more obvious advantages.
As a colossal force ruling the seas, the Marines possessed a systematic training system and promotion mechanism, ample funding, and a safer environment for development.
Going to sea as a pirate carried higher risks. Not only would he have to figure out his training on his own, but he would also need to spend time and energy finding companions, earning money, cooking, and so on.
A pile of trivial matters awaited.
In the end, the rate of strength improvement would definitely not be as fast as joining the Marines.
Of course, the most important point was that Charlie wanted to learn the Navy Six Styles through the navy, and ultimately master Life Return.
The skill of Life Return was exceptionally compatible with Charlie, and its importance in his mind was only slightly lower than that of the Azure Dragon Fruit.
Just imagine—Life Return, the Six Treasures Immortal Thief, and the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Fruit combined...
Tsk, tsk, tsk, the image was too beautiful to even imagine.
At that point, who else but me could claim to be The Strongest Creature in Sea, Land, and Air?!
Sit-ups?
As if anyone couldn't do those!
Before my back even touched the ground, I'd flip right back up, fully revived!
...
Nighttime.
Charlie entered the study, where Olvia sat quietly reading at the desk.
Last year, Olvia had already passed the examination and become an archaeologist.
Because of this, the sense of urgency in Charlie's heart grew even stronger.
Meeting Olvia's puzzled gaze, Charlie grinned and said:
"Sis, I want to discuss something with you. Promise you won't get mad."
"What is it? Don't tell me you want to set sail again? It's only been a few days!"
Olvia closed her book, her willow-like brows slightly furrowed and her lips pressed together.
Seeing tears welling up in Olvia's eyes, Charlie quickly explained:
"No, I plan to enlist in the military next year. Don't worry, it's not far—just the naval base nearby."
Ohara, as a famous archaeological sanctuary in the West Sea, had a thriving culture and a prosperous economy. Additionally, it secretly provided a substantial amount of funding to the navy each year, which was why there was a naval base in the vicinity.
Yes, although Ohara was not a member nation of the World Government, it still paid protection fees to the navy every year.
Note that it was paid to the navy, not the World Government.
This was actually one of the navy's sources of funding. If they relied solely on allocations from the World Government, the navy would be impoverished.
At the same time, the navy would hand over half of these funds to the World Government.
As a result, the World Government chose to turn a blind eye.
Over the years, Ohara's peace and safety were largely thanks to the nearby naval base. Because of its presence, pirates rarely came to the area.
Even if pirates did show up, naval reinforcements would arrive quickly.
Or, pirates would be detected and eliminated by the navy as soon as they entered the nearby waters.
So, while one could call the navy the lapdogs of the Celestial Dragons or accomplices in their tyranny, the navy's existence did indeed protect some of the populace.
The "roots" of the navy were truly rotten, but some of its "branches and leaves" remained green and full of life.
And this was one of the reasons Charlie chose to join the navy.
...
After a moment of silence.
"You want to join the navy?"
Olvia looked surprised and couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
"For justice!"
Charlie spoke with a straight face, spouting nonsense.
"Justice? You?"
Olvia was taken aback, completely caught off guard by Charlie's answer.
But she quickly shook her head and said:
"No, no, you're only 11 now, and you'll just be 12 next year. You're so young—how could I possibly feel at ease? If you want to join the navy, you can do it after you come of age."
As if remembering something, Olvia's expression turned serious:
"Being a navy soldier isn't child's play—your life could be in danger at any moment!"
"Sis, I'm not afraid. I can protect myself." Charlie said with unwavering determination. "My age isn't a problem. We can just forge an identity. With how I look now, who could tell I'm only 11?"
In this world, there is no concept of household registration or identification cards, making it relatively easy to forge an identity. Moreover, the screening process at naval branch offices isn't particularly strict, and the navy's intelligence network isn't powerful enough to investigate everyone thoroughly. Therefore, slipping through the cracks isn't difficult.
Of course, if one were to directly join the naval headquarters, the scrutiny would be much stricter. The headquarters doesn't accept just anyone. However, if one starts at a branch, gradually stands out, and eventually enters the headquarters based on military merits, strength, talent, or a combination of these, that's a different story.
Coincidentally, Zephyr hasn't yet transitioned from admiral to instructor, and the Navy's Elite Training Camp hasn't been established.
Thus, Charlie plans to first infiltrate a naval branch, slowly reveal his talent, enhance his strength, and accumulate military achievements. After a few years, when the Navy's Elite Training Camp is established, he aims to become one of its first trainees.