Luffy had truly felt the power of Logia types last night—flame, sand, smoke... not to mention lightning, which ranked among the most devastating Logia abilities.
Once this idea took root, he couldn't suppress it. He began consciously guiding the electrical currents to circulate within his body, trying to use his rubber body's elasticity to bind and compress them into the minute spaces between his muscle fibers.
"Seems like it actually works?" Luffy's eyes lit up.
The process was extremely difficult, requiring extraordinary control over his body. The slightest lapse would cause the current to escape. But if Luffy had nothing else, he had a stubborn tenacity.
[Physical energy compressed and trained. Your physical strength increased. Armament Haki proficiency +1]
[Mental energy severely depleted. Your willpower improved. Observation Haki proficiency +1]
An unexpected harvest. Luffy pressed on. Once, twice, failure... the current escaped, making his hair stand on end slightly.
I refuse to believe this.
Luffy tried again, concentrating hard.
By the time the first hint of dawn colored the eastern sky, Luffy was drenched in sweat, but his eyes sparkled with excitement. He opened his palm and, with a slight thought, a tiny blue electric arc danced at his fingertip!
"Out of a million volts, I can store ten thousand? One percent efficiency?" Luffy was still somewhat dissatisfied. "Too low. At this rate, when will I ever have several million volts?"
Take it slow.
"Anyway, the electricity stored through the Gomu Gomu no Mi's properties is semi-permanent." Now, Luffy's body was like he'd eaten a weakened version of the Goro Goro no Mi. Rubber could also generate heat through friction. In one go, he'd managed to rob two of the most offensively powerful abilities among the Logia fruits.
Actually, things like lightning and fire could be produced through various means even by strong individuals who hadn't eaten Devil Fruits.
"But I have lightning, and I have fire... Then if I get a sword, who could stop my combo attack 'Gomu Gomu no Thunder-Fire Sword'?!" Luffy was thrilled.
Who could possibly resist a Thunder-Fire Sword package? Both offensive weapons were right here.
"Luffy, up early again as always."
A gentle female voice came from behind. Luffy turned to see Robin, who had arrived on the deck at some point. She wore casual clothes with a light jacket over them, holding a book bound in what looked like ancient leather.
These past few days, Robin had seen Luffy training diligently here almost every morning.
"Morning, Robin!" Luffy grinned, dispersing the electric arc, and curiously pointed at the book in her arms. "What book is that?"
"Something I compiled." Robin gently stroked the book's cover, a complex of emotions flickering in her eyes. "It's a collection of my notes and theories on the ancient language and the Poneglyphs, gathered and transcribed bit by bit over the years through various channels. You could say it holds a portion of the weight of my past twenty years of life."
That sounds heavy.
Her demeanor, steeped in the sedimentation of years, filled with life experience in every gesture... in a way, Uta's worries weren't entirely unfounded.
Just then, the [Plan] prompt in Luffy's mind sounded again, utterly inappropriate.
[Unexpected situation detected. Verifying...]
[Verification complete. Enhancement of knowledge reserves aids in deciphering Poneglyphs. Aligns with final goal of becoming Pirate King. Generating temporary schedule...]
[Temporary Schedule issued!]
[Objective: Raise Archaeology knowledge level to LV2.]
[Time: Must be completed within today.]
Luffy's brow instantly furrowed into a deep scowl, his face falling.
Training, training. Studying, studying.
He could actually choose to ignore it and take the electric shock instead. With his rudimentary power storage ability, he could probably store a fair bit of ammunition. But Luffy's intuition told him these makeshift plans often linked to important nodes—in other words, things he couldn't afford to miss.
Like capturing Vivi before.
Hesitation lasted only a few seconds before Luffy made his decision. He looked at Robin.
As everyone knew, every single person on this ship was his teacher in one way or another.
And Robin? What was her identity?
An absolute academic master.
Luffy scratched his head and plopped down on the deck next to Robin. "Robin, teach me more."
"Alright."
As perhaps the world's only surviving archaeologist who commanded the ancient language, Robin was lonely. And Luffy could resonate with her on the same frequency. Finding someone on the same frequency was far too not easy.
Luffy's basics was excellent. Robin had already experienced Luffy's perverted talent last time. Once he entered a learning state, his passive talent of photographic memory kicked in.
However, progress wasn't as smooth as at the start. About an hour later, Luffy obviously felt his knowledge absorption rate slowing down, as if hitting an invisible barrier.
[Through diligent study, your historical knowledge has improved. Proficiency +1.]
[Archaeology Level | LV1 — Proficiency 120/300]
Proficiency was increasing, but very slowly! If it was a brisk walk at first, now it was a snail's crawl. What was going on?
Luffy voiced the doubt in his mind. "Robin, I feel like my learning speed has dropped a bit. I'm absorbing less new stuff."
Robin closed her notebook, looking at Luffy with some surprise. This learning speed was considered slow? She thought for a moment and asked, "Luffy, let me test you. In the World Government's official records, in what year of the Sea Calendar did the Battle of God Valley take place? And what joint force, known as the 'Cradle of Evil,' was its main target for suppression?"
"Sea Calendar 1484! The target was the remnants of the Rocks Pirates and the Giant Tribe rebellion alliance! But I remember Grandpa said when he was drunk, the official records are all bull. It was actually the Celestial Dragons getting beaten up while trying to steal stuff, and then they called in reinforcements to settle the score."
A flicker of wonder passed through Robin's eyes. The official historical record was indeed as Luffy said. But who was this 'Grandpa' of his who knew inside information? Still, the fact that Luffy could answer even a casual question like this showed his foundation was already pretty solid.
"In that case, Luffy, you have already completely mastered elementary-level historical knowledge," Robin concluded. "The reason you feel you're absorbing less new knowledge is because that knowledge is largely repetitive. What you need to access next is intermediate, even advanced historical knowledge. This knowledge is more obscure, involves more complex context, and the amount of related information that needs to be memorized and understood increases exponentially."
Luffy nodded, somewhat vaguely understanding. "So you're saying I've already got the beginner stuff down, and now I need to learn harder things, right?"
***
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