?"
After reading the description, Nao narrowed his eyes, and a big question mark slowly appeared above his head.
Did I read that right?
Was that over eighty million? Four zeros after the eight?
He had indeed been a card player before, but he wouldn't even consider buying an actual Blue-Eyes White Dragon for that many points, let alone a commemorative card?
"What a joke."
He muttered to himself, losing all interest in the item and letting his gaze slide downward.
[Takeshi Gouda's Album CD]
[Type: Permanent Item]
[Description: The CD comes with an old-fashioned boombox. After pressing the play button, it will continuously play all the songs that Takeshi Gouda has sung on the steel pipes in the empty lot. It will cause all living creatures that hear the singing to make a face of agony and has a chance of making them vomit on the spot.]
[Note: This is a biochemical weapon that affects both friend and foe. Each use will reduce your lifespan by one year. Please use with caution.]
["Gian! Do you really have to sing before you enter?!"]
Another ridiculous item.
"Not only do I have to hear Gian's singing myself, but it also reduces my lifespan…"
Nao pressed a hand to his forehead, speechless.
"Which god designed this? Out to take revenge on society, are we?"
Without hesitation, he skipped it entirely.
...
[Meditation Incense]
[Type: Consumable]
[Description: Light this indoors to clear your mind, greatly aiding meditation, enlightenment, and spiritual cultivation.]
[Note: Each stick of incense lasts a maximum of 24 hours. Current number of sticks available (10/10)]
["Apprentice, you must focus and calm your mind during meditation. Do you understand?" "Too easy, Master. I can already do it!"
"Good. Then I will test you. Listen carefully! You love me, I love you, so-so-so-so sweet…"]
...
The note was ridiculous, but the description made it seem like a very practical item.
As a swordsman, meditation was an essential part of refining his swordsmanship. This incense could clearly be used as a buff-like item, similar to the Gravity Field, to aid him in this aspect.
"Besides swordsmanship, it might also be useful for training my Observation Haki…"
Nao looked at the price.
100,000 points, which meant 10,000 points per stick. The price was a bit high, but it was not unacceptable.
Besides, he was well off right now. After a moment of hesitation, Nao added it to his cart.
...
[Elder Soma's Kendo Notes]
[Type: Permanent Item]
[Description: As a renowned elder of Ionia, these notes contain all of the wisdom of Elder Soma's life as a swordsman. Master it, and you will benefit for the rest of your life.]
[Note: A Wind Technique note, suitable for Dual-Sword style swordsmen.]
["Is there anyone who died a more unjust death than me?"]
"Wind Technique…"
Nao mumbled softly. As expected, this item, as its name suggested, was extremely valuable to him. It was arguably the most valuable item to have been refreshed in the shop in the past few weeks.
He had previously received a similar sword technique note, but it was from the legendary swordsman Ryuma from Wano, which was a single-sword style and was also incomplete.
Even so, during the days he spent mastering that note, his swordsmanship had improved by leaps and bounds, allowing him to surpass Shiryu and become the undisputed top swordsman among all the elite camp rookies.
And this note was a perfect match for him…
Nao believed that as long as he put in a lot of effort and worked hard on his training with the same passion he had as a rookie, his swordsmanship, which had been stagnant for a while, would once again make a complete breakthrough with the help of this note!
210,000 points was a bit expensive, but compared to its value, it was nothing. He bought it!
[Adamantine Body]
[Type: Talent Skill Scroll]
[Description: When the Adamantine Body skill is mastered, your entire body will become as hard as iron, and weapons will not be able to harm you in the slightest. Unfortunately, this scroll is a low-quality, incomplete version that can only make one insignificant part of your body adamantine and indestructible forever.]
[Note: Only effective for male humanoids.]
["Yes, sir, even the post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear explosion won't be able to destroy it. It will live on forever with humanity's new civilization!"]
"Oh my God…"
Nao's expression was subtle. He looked down and then looked up again, his lips curling into a sneer.
It could only make that one small part of his body indestructible, and it cost a whopping 200,000 points? The complete version of the Adamantine Body talent would be worth this price, right?
What a rip-off. Only an idiot would buy this!
Nao scoffed in disdain and then casually added it to his cart.
He was done picking, so it was time to check out!
Of the six items that were refreshed this week, Nao bought three of them, for a total of 510,000 points. The remaining points he had were also exactly around 510,000.
Now he didn't have enough to spend on a stat boost. With the thought of being prepared for a rainy day, Nao decided to hold off on it for now. He then closed the system panel, excitedly grabbed the Azakana Sword next to his desk, and rushed towards the bathroom.
Halfway there, he suddenly hesitated. He looked at his beloved sword, put it back in its place, and switched it with a regular Marine-issued longsword.
A moment later, there was a clatter of a blade breaking and falling to the floor from inside the bathroom, followed by his incredible exclamation:
"Wow, it's really adamantine now!"
...
Time passed quietly.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. During this time, Nao had maintained a professional attitude. He spent his days handling documents in his office, and at the same time, avoiding the heat and attention after the Golden Lion incident.
When others were off work and resting, he would go to the training room alone to train, putting his time management skills to the ultimate test.
His stamina was incredibly high, and he didn't need to sleep every day, which was a comfortable blessing.
Elder Soma's sword notes were deep, complex, and long. Even dedicating huge chunks of time each day to reading and studying them, after a month he'd only gotten through about a third.
But you couldn't rush these things, especially when it came to swordsmanship training.
Nao had been immersed in the way of the sword for over ten years. He was used to step-by-step progress and kept his mindset calm and steady. When he finally wrung every drop from this note, he'd enhance it further with the Meditation Incense before moving on to true enlightenment.
Two other events happened during that month.
First was New Year's. Nao had been ready to spend the night alone, but right after dinner, Garp dragged him to his home.
And so, in the company of one big clown and one small clown, he watched the night sky above Marineford bloom with fireworks as the year turned—warm, almost like family.
—If only Garp hadn't gotten drunk, insisted on sharing a bed with him, ground his teeth, snored, mumbled "Dragon, it's your turn to get the award" in his sleep, and farted all night long.
When that torturous night ended, the Sea Calendar quietly turned to year 1503.
The second event happened right at the start of the new year—another class of Elite Camp recruits graduated, with a promotion ceremony held in Marineford's plaza.
Many Marine bigwigs attended. Naturally, Nao was among them. Many of the graduates were his old friends, including Rosinante.
But…
Unlike him, graduating straight into a Rear Admiral rank was extremely rare. Even the top performers of this class, Maynard and Kasha, only got Commander ranks.
As for Rosinante…
After Nao and Shiryu's early graduation, Rosinante had pushed himself even harder—training like a madman, ranking consistently in the top five in every assessment.
So, in Nao's original estimation, Rosinante, whose strength was greater than his own in the same period of the original manga timeline, also had a great chance of becoming a Headquarters Captain upon graduation.
At the very least, he would have been a Commander.
But the result was a bit unexpected.
Rosinante was only given the rank of Lieutenant Commander. At the promotion ceremony, he was just a green leaf to a red flower. He went up on stage, went through the motions, and was completely unremarkable.
After the ceremony, when he came to find Nao, his morale was clearly low, his face betraying disappointment and frustration.
"I don't understand, Nao…"
That night, the two of them met up for a drink. Rosinante filled Nao's cup, then drank his own cup in one gulp and said gloomily, "Why, though? My graduation combat assessment wasn't bad, and my performance during my internship was also pretty good. Why did they only give me this rank…"
If Shiryu were here, it would've felt like a Northwest Iron Triangle reunion.
"If you can't figure it out…" Nao said softly, swirling his wine glass, "Why don't you go home and ask Sengoku-san?"
"I'm just a little rookie—I don't have the right to go see Admiral Sengoku—"
Rosinante stopped mid-sentence, staring in shock.
"Go home… Nao-nii, you… you know I'm—"
"I've known for a while."
Nao admitted it without hesitation.
Back when they were in the elite camp, he hadn't wanted Rosinante's special identity to create a rift in their friendship, which was why he had never brought it up.
But now, everyone had graduated and was about to go their separate ways.
And he had already become a high-ranking officer at Headquarters. The immense gap in status and social standing between him and Sengoku was no longer there, so there was no harm in talking about it openly.
"Since when…" Rosinante's eyes widened in confusion.
"You don't need to know that."
Nao smiled and patted his shoulder. "Speaking of which, when I was taken away by the CP9, I wasn't too surprised that Garp-san, Zephyr-sensei, and the others stood up for me.
"But Sengoku also joined in. I wasn't that close to him back then, so when I think about it, I guess it was your hard work behind the scenes, right?"
"Hehe…" Rosinante scratched his head sheepishly. "You figured that out. Nao, it's really nothing. After all, it had gotten to that point. I had to do something…"
"Don't say anything more. I didn't bring this up just to thank you. I mentioned it to remind you that the fact that you were passed over and your rank was lowered by two levels is very likely related to Sengoku-san."
Nao poured himself another glass of wine and said lightly, "As for the reason, you'll only find out if you ask Sengoku-san yourself."
"What the hell…"
Rosinante immediately looked displeased and complained:
"What is that old man doing? Is he playing the avoidance card? But my scores are all real, and I've never revealed my identity to outsiders. Why is he being so cautious…"
Nao just smiled and didn't say anything. He looked up at the bright moon in the sky, without answering.
He could guess Sengoku's intention.
After all, Rosinante was a Celestial Dragon by blood, and his status was beyond words. Although Sengoku had allowed him to enter the elite camp and learn from Zephyr, he probably wanted him to live the rest of his life quietly and peacefully, rather than become a sharp and prominent figure.
If Rosinante had a smooth journey and became a high-ranking officer at Headquarters, and it caught the attention of the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, no one would be able to predict the consequences.
A Celestial Dragon turned into a Marine "lapdog"?
Who knew if the bubbleheads could stomach that.
Also, by his estimation, the Little Flamingo's crew in the North Blue had already taken shape and was about to officially start causing trouble, right?
Nao glanced at Rosinante, who was still mumbling to himself, and fell into thought. If nothing went wrong, Rosinante would be assigned to infiltrate the Donquixote Family as a spy in about a year.
In that case, in order to maintain secrecy and ensure his personal safety, a two-level rank reduction might not be a bad thing.
However…
"Donquixote Doflamingo…"
Nao sneered.
A few years later, in the original timeline, Law would watch his Cora-san die in front of him. He would run away in the snowstorm, crying silently. And the late-arriving Sengoku, a white-haired man holding the corpse of his adopted son, would be so grief-stricken that he couldn't control himself…
But unfortunately, now, with him and the special Vivre Card, this scene was destined to never happen again.
...
Another week passed.
One early morning, Nao stood at the port, waving with a smile as a ship full of newly graduated recruits set sail.
These colleagues from the elite camp would scatter across the sea, going to various branches to practice their own justice and grow into the new pillars of the Marines in the future.
Rosinante was also among them. He was assigned to the West Blue and would pass by the G-6 branch on the way, finally getting a chance to reunite with Shiryu after a year and a half.
Who knew when they'd meet again after that…
As the ship disappeared into the horizon, Nao turned to leave—when something caught his eye.
From the northeast, another Marine ship was slowly entering Marineford's harbor.
On its white sail—bold black numbers: 16.