At that time, Ryu was on a mission at sea, and his friendly meeting with Ace naturally caught the attention of many navy personnel. Upon returning to headquarters, Sengoku specifically summoned Ryu for questioning.
Ryu didn't hide anything; he recounted his encounter with Ace and how he ended up at Marine Headquarters. After listening, Sengoku simply waved him off and warned him to avoid any further contact with pirates.
Ryu knew that Sengoku was already aware of the connection between Ace and Garp; whether he knew Ace's true identity was still up for debate.
After lunch, Garp discussed their departure time with Ryu before leaving.
"Ryu, come out!" Ryu had just finished tidying up and hadn't even settled down when he heard the call from outside.
"What's going on? Did you all agree on something today?" Ryu scratched his head as he stepped out of his small courtyard.
"Have you finished lunch? How about training with me this afternoon? Don't refuse! I saw Vice Admiral Garp leave and came looking for you!" A woman with a sexy figure, a blade at her waist, and a spider tattoo on her thigh said cheerfully.
Ryu winced; she had clearly anticipated everything, even the reasons he might give to decline.
"Big sis, you're making this difficult for me!" Ryu said with a pained expression.
Though Ryu had met Gion through Garp's meddling, she had already heard of Ryu's reputation in the Navy, which was why she agreed to meet him.
"Don't worry! It's just some simple training; nothing will happen!" Gion said, adjusting the sword at her side.
Yes, the one looking for Ryu was Vice Admiral Gion.
Ryu shrugged, seeing Gion play dumb, and chose not to mention anything.
Every time Gion invited him to train, the next day, Tokikake would come looking for a spar. This wasn't the first time it had happened, and he didn't believe Gion was unaware.
"Ugh~ Let's go! The sooner we finish training, the sooner I can complete my own training for the day!" Ryu said, lacking enthusiasm.
He couldn't beat Gion anyway, so battling her wouldn't yield him any experience, and he couldn't muster any excitement.
After training with Gion, Ryu returned home and opened the system, looking at his meager 9,000 diamonds, feeling a bit pained.
In the past two years, aside from getting the advanced skill manual "Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms" in his first ten consecutive draws, he had worked hard on missions but only managed to save enough for four ten-draws. Unfortunately, he didn't gain anything worthwhile. In the end, he had no choice but to stop the ten draws and first max out his three basic skills to advanced level, which cost him 16,000 diamonds. Because of that, his diamond balance had never broken through 100,000, making those advanced manuals in the shop nothing but a dream.
As for his level, he was currently stuck at level 19, meaning he hadn't completed the third stage of the main quest. However, his advanced basic skills were already maxed out, so if the main quest for the third stage offered advanced skill books, he would be at a loss.
Fortunately, thanks to Garp, Ryu had mastered the six powers, and both his Armament Haki and Observation Haki had successfully awakened. He just hadn't awakened Conqueror's Haki. Whether it was due to lack of talent or something else, he didn't care much—he preferred to let fate take its course, without forcing it.
As his health points increased, the value of items like chicken legs and health potions in the shop gradually exceeded their in-game settings. Theoretically, as long as his opponent couldn't take him down in one hit, he could rely on these restorative foods and potions to keep regenerating his health, making him virtually indestructible.
However, after testing this against Garp, he discovered that this was merely wishful thinking. Continuous consumption would trigger a cooldown period for even health-restoring items like chicken legs, preventing him from using the same type of food or potions in quick succession.
While he might not become invincible, it significantly boosted Ryu's actual combat power, especially concerning his physical training, agility, and mastery of techniques, essentially acting like a cheat that doubled his effective training time.
The next morning, Tokikake arrived as scheduled.
"Hey, big bro, aren't you tired? It's always the same—first dealing with that big sister, then having to put up with you the next day!" Ryu said, exasperated, looking at the grinning Tokikake.
"Hmph, am I being shameless? I have to come find you, if only for appearances!" Kaji replied nonchalantly.
"Appearances? You still care about that? Count how many times you've been turned down by Gion!" Ryu said in frustration.
He usually wouldn't say such things, given Kaji's rank as a Rear Admiral, but he regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth.
"You bastard, I knew you all looked down on me behind my back!" Kaji exploded in anger.
"Please, if I truly looked down on you, would I bother to say this?" Ryu waved a hand, kicking over a barrel of liquor at his feet.
Kaji paused, then chuckled helplessly. "Well, I guess I'll pretend to be angry and force you to give your all in battle!"
"I'll be heading back to East Blue with the old man in a few days. Let's have a proper match when I return!" Ryu laughed, taking a large swig of liquor.
After two years in the Marine Headquarters, he had yet to master much, but he was becoming quite adept at drinking, resembling characters from anime.
"Sure, I look forward to our duel! Even though you always pretend not to be my match, I can sense you're not going all out!" Kaji said, taking a sip of his drink.
Ryu fell silent; it wasn't that he was holding back, but mastering the "Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms" was incredibly challenging. The energy consumption was brutal; so far, he could only execute the first five palms. By the sixth, his energy would be nearly depleted. If he used his basic techniques instead of the "Purple Mist Divine Art," he feared he wouldn't even manage the first three moves. Other than when testing the replenishing pills against Garp, he had yet to utilize it in real combat.
After seeing Tokikake off, Ryu headed out again. He planned to challenge the Marine captains, commanders, and rear admirals before leaving, but he didn't think he had much chance against the vice admirals, so they weren't included in his daily experience grind.
As for officers below the rank of commander, he didn't intend to challenge them. First, the experience gain was minimal; second, it wouldn't look good to bully his subordinates.
A few days later, when Ryu boarded Garp's ship and set off for East Blue, the remaining captains, commanders, and rear admirals at Navy Headquarters celebrated, thrilled to be free from the torment of being beaten by Ryu every few days.
Thus, Ryu's departure with Vice Admiral Garp brought them the greatest relief.
Before long, Garp's ship arrived in the Calm Belt. The Marine ships, equipped with Sea-Prism Stone at their hulls, could safely navigate through the Calm Belt, so their journey from Headquarters to the Four Seas always took this route.
"It's been over two years already! I walked this very Calm Belt to get to Marine Headquarters!" Ryu said, standing on the deck, gazing at the calm sea.
The stoic swordsman beside him shot a glance at Ryu but remained silent.
Ryu smiled. Back then, he wasn't a match for this swordsman, but now he was entirely out of his league.
"Old man, once we reach East Blue, I'll visit Loguetown first and then head home. Are you going straight back to Foosha Village? Where should we meet?" Ryu asked, returning to the cabin to find Garp munching on donuts.
The old man was attempting to break some sort of donut-eating record, leaving Ryu incredulous. Did such a record truly exist, or was he just making it up?
"Ah, I'll head back to Foosha Village first and stay there until my leave ends. Just come find me there when you're back!" Garp yawned, sounding uninterested.
Ryu frowned. Even after being in this world for a while, he remembered Garp didn't encounter Luffy during this trip.
"Alright then, if I don't find you in Foosha Village, we'll meet up in Loguetown! Don't forget!" Ryu nodded, ignoring Garp further. The old man was notoriously unreliable when it came to ordinary matters, so he mentioned it in front of the swordsman to ensure he'd remind Garp later.
They passed through the Calm Belt without incident, and Garp's ship soon reached East Blue. On the way, they encountered a merchant ship heading to Loguetown. After greeting the crew, Ryu and Garp switched ships to continue their journey, while Garp's ship headed straight for Fuschia Village.
"Admiral, we'll arrive at Loguetown in about a day!" the merchant captain said, sounding a bit eager.
"So slow?" Ryu frowned.
Marine ships were unmatched in speed and firepower, and even more so compared to small merchant vessels.
"Ah, sorry! We have quite a bit of cargo on board, so our speed is slower!" the captain said nervously.
He feared that if Ryu showed any displeasure, they would be in deep trouble.
"It's fine; it's a nice opportunity to enjoy the scenery. By the way, how's the security in East Blue these days? Is Loguetown still as it used to be?" Ryu asked, engaging the captain in conversation.
"Although East Blue is considered the weakest sea, our security is the best among the Four Seas. Even wanted pirates with bounties over ten million are rare, and Loguetown has become even safer and more peaceful under the governance of Captain Smoker!" The captain smiled, eager to share good news with Ryu.
After chatting for a while, the captain sensed Ryu had lost interest and left to attend to other matters.
"Buggy the Clown, Don Krieg, and the fake death of Crocodile—if I remember correctly, those were the only ones with bounties over ten million in East Blue, right?" Ryu mused, stroking his chin.
..............
Started editing the chapters now ^^
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