Chapter 30: The Road Ahead
Apollo lay on a reclining chair on the deck, eyes closed, feigning sleep.
Sailing wasn't exactly a non-stop thrill ride.
Every day, you faced the endless, unchanging sea, and your range of motion was limited to the small confines of the ship. There was no internet in this world, either.
The biggest challenge every day was simply figuring out how to alleviate boredom.
He opened his eyes slightly, watching the boisterous Luffy running around, and muttered with a hint of envy, "Sometimes, having a screw loose is a blessing. At least he lives happily every day."
Nami, who was sitting beside him, put down her newspaper and leaned over with a mischievous smile. "Are you bored? Let's do something fun!"
Apollo glanced at her and said coldly, "I need to cultivate. I don't have time."
Nami retorted, "You're clearly just sleeping!"
"My cultivation is different from Zoro's. It's about mental simulation—using my brain." Apollo pouted and closed his eyes again.
His meaning was clear, and his attitude was firm.
Nami immediately slumped back into her chair, deflated.
The so-called "fun activity" wasn't some indescribable sport between adults. And this "fun" certainly wasn't about making Apollo happy. To be precise, it was about him expending effort to entertain others.
Telling stories—that's what Nami wanted him to do.
It all started five days ago.
After dinner, while drinking tea and chatting, Usopp had exposed Apollo's identity as a "novelist" and suggested that Apollo record their adventure stories and compile them into a book.
That way, they might become protagonists in legendary novels in the future.
This suggestion received an enthusiastic response.
Even the usually stoic Zoro eagerly joined in, demanding that Apollo write him as a powerful, fearless swordsman who cut through everything.
During the discussion, the topic inadvertently veered off course.
Apollo casually lamented how many masterpieces he had read in the past and regretted that he would never see them again.
The crew ignored his lament and instead became very interested in the stories he mentioned.
At everyone's request, Apollo casually told a segment of "The Legend of Kaguya's Ancestry," also known as "The Konoha Genin Who Beat the World,""The Legend of Magic Eyes," or simply... "Naruto."
There were legends of ninjas in the world of One Piece, mainly from Wano Country, and they were widely spread and extremely popular.
However, the so-called ninja legends in this world were merely short folk tales with limited appeal. How could they compare to the epic saga of Naruto?
Although Apollo only narrated it from memory—and took many creative liberties to fill in the gaps—it immediately captivated everyone's attention.
Even Nami, Sanji (who usually couldn't stand Apollo), and Zoro (who only cared about training and sleeping) became instant fans.
Whenever Apollo started storytelling, everyone would put down their work and gather around to listen. Luffy and Usopp became the most fervent fans, their greatest anticipation each day being "Story Time."
They even appointed a dedicated "Editorial Assistant" to urge him for updates: Nami.
After a few days, Apollo went from being initially enthusiastic to being annoyed. Finally, he had to lay down some ground rules.
He would tell the story for one hour after dinner every day. At other times, he would update based on his mood, but no one was allowed to rush him.
The others naturally disagreed.
Unfortunately, on this matter, Apollo had absolute control. He forcefully suppressed dissenting opinions and pushed the agreement forward unilaterally.
He even threatened that if anyone rushed him, that day's update would be canceled permanently.
Everyone was intimidated, including Luffy, who didn't dare to act rashly for fear of missing out on the next jutsu battle.
However, Nami didn't stop. She would tease him or hint at it whenever she had a chance. Sometimes, she even used a "sugar-coated bullet" offensive—sweetness and bribery.
Most of the time, Apollo would eat the sugar coating and discard the bullet. But occasionally, he would indulge her.
Right now, however, he didn't have time to bother with her. Apollo was pondering the future direction of his growth.
Contrary to his initial expectations, after unlocking the "Heaven and Earth Manifestation" (Giant Form), the development of his divine abilities had stalled, and his strength growth had slowed significantly.
He recently realized that aimless wandering and waiting for power to grow naturally wouldn't work. He had to be purposeful.
Apollo pondered silently.
'Currently, I have three directions for improvement.'
'First: Continue to train my physique.'
'This was my main method of gradual improvement for the past year. The problem is that my physique has reached a high level of intensity. Although I haven't hit a hard bottleneck, improving it further isn't easy.'
'A lot of effort will yield minimal returns right now. Moreover, I have a feeling that for a Mythical Zoan of this caliber, physique is secondary, and Magic Power is the key. Training the physique right now is low cost-efficiency, so I'll put it aside for now.'
'Second: Practice Haki.'
'In that battle with Mihawk, I personally felt the power of Haki. It is indeed a formidable force.'
'But, again, the problem is that improving Haki takes years of grinding. To raise Haki to a level that significantly boosts my current strength would take a considerable amount of time.'
'The key to my future transcendence of the One Piece world is definitely this Devil Fruit, which is transformed from a hair of the Monkey King.'
'Spending years to gain short-term Haki strength... is it worth it? My current strength is basically sufficient for the East Blue and early Grand Line.'
Apollo rolled over on the chair.
He tagged this method as "pending."
'Third: Cultivate Magic Power.'
'This should be the best choice. But the fatal flaw here is that I don't know how to do it.'
'Previously, the increase in Magic Power was a natural side effect of my physique improving. I don't actually have a cultivation method for Magic Power, nor do I have a clue about developing specific divine abilities.'
'Studying how to use my current Magic Power just adds some moves and techniques; it doesn't provide a fundamental improvement in tier.'
Apollo pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a little melancholic.
These past few days, he had been trying to recall the specifics of the Monkey King's abilities.
Unlike in the TV series, according to the original literary work, Sun Wukong's fundamental ability was a cultivation secret technique called the "Great Heavenly Immortal Art."
With this cultivation method, the Monkey King cultivated to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm in just three years, which was the fundamental source of his power. Once that realm was reached, "one method led to a hundred," and many divine abilities and spells naturally became known to him.
As for the others—the Seventy-Two Transformations primarily served to avoid the Three Calamities; the Somersault Cloud was a movement technique; and the Body-Outside-Body (Clones), Heaven and Earth Manifestation, and Three Heads and Six Arms were combat-oriented divine abilities.
In short, those abilities mostly belonged to the realm of "Skill" (Jutsu), while only the Great Heavenly Immortal Art was the "Dao" (The Way).
Considering all the circumstances, Apollo's thoughts gradually clarified.
'For me, my current combat strength is sufficient, so there's no urgent need to grind for raw power. The other two matters are what need to be resolved immediately.'
'First, a method of Cultivation.'
'The "Great Heavenly Immortal Art" would be best. While the Monkey King's extraordinary talent allowed him to speedrun it in three years, the power of the technique itself cannot be overlooked.'
'Perhaps I can unearth the memory of the "Great Heavenly Immortal Art" if I dig deeper into the "Heaven and Earth Manifestation" ability. If that doesn't work... I might have to try creating a method myself.'
'Second, I have a fatal weakness, which is also a common weakness for Devil Fruit users: Fear of the Sea.'
'My strength is high, but this weakness is a ticking time bomb. I need to resolve this as soon as possible. Otherwise, I might capsize in a ditch—literally. I should attempt to solve this problem using divine abilities or spells.'
'That is my next task. As for Haki and other fancy moves, they are all put on hold!'
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