At noon, on the seaside of Cocoyasi Village.
Barrels of fresh water, baskets of vegetables and fruit, and a large amount of meat were delivered to the Wind Rider.
The villagers were extremely enthusiastic, even wanting to give their homes to Caelan.
"Enough, enough! There's no room for more!"
Seeing that the storage room was already full, Caelan stopped the overly eager villagers.
The captured Fish-Men with bounties were already lying unconscious in the cabin.
There were also piles of treasure and Berries stored inside the Wind Rider's hold.
Everything was ready. It was time to set sail.
"Goodbye, Mr. Caelan!"
"Nami, don't cause trouble for Mr. Caelan!"
The villagers waved goodbye to both Caelan and Nami.
"Nami, stay by Mr. Caelan's side from now on. Don't be so willful."
Nojiko smiled as she gave Nami a reminder. The two of them were as close as sisters.
Of course, Nojiko was reluctant to see Nami leave, but at the same time, she was genuinely happy for her.
"I'm not a burden! I'll be helpful!"
Nami clenched her fist and assured Nojiko confidently.
"It's just a shame that I won't be able to see Belle-Mère's orange trees."
Nami's mood dropped. Those orange trees were the legacy left behind by her adoptive mother, Belle-Mère.
As long as she was with the orange trees, it felt like Belle-Mère was still by her side.
"That's not necessarily true!"
Nojiko winked at Nami with a playful smile before turning away.
With such a good captain, Nami really had nothing to worry about.
"Huh?"
Nami was momentarily confused.
"Come on, Nami, it's time to go!"
Caelan's voice came from behind. He was already standing on the deck of the ship.
Nami didn't have time to think about it any further. She quickly ran aboard the Wind Rider.
As soon as she stepped onto the ship, Nami noticed two vibrant orange trees swaying on the deck.
"Thank you, Caelan! You're amazing!"
Nami threw her arms around Caelan, her excitement overflowing.
It turned out that her captain was such a considerate person. What should she do if she starts liking him even more?
"Alright, let's hurry up and set sail."
Nami's soft body pressed against Caelan as her short orange hair brushed against his face.
Caelan helplessly pushed her away. Seducing him like this was asking for trouble.
"Yes, Captain!"
Nami gave him a crisp salute. Just as she was about to start the ship, she paused.
"Caelan, where are we heading?"
"Destination: Loguetown, full speed ahead!"
Caelan pointed toward their next course. Nami immediately turned the helm.
With Nami's superb navigation skills, the Wind Rider began its journey toward Loguetown.
…
While Nami focused on steering, Caelan entered the treasure room, where the loot from the Arlong Pirates was stored.
Although the Arlong Pirates had squandered most of their money on building Arlong Park and their foolish dream of the Arlong Empire, there were still 80 million Berries remaining.
The total bounties of the Arlong Pirates added up to nearly 45 million Berries.
There were also the 100 million Berries that Nami had handed over.
Even without receiving any bounty rewards yet, Caelan now had 180 million Berries on hand.
"System, consume 180 million Berries to increase synchronization progress."
As the Berries in the treasure room disappeared, Caelan's system panel began to change once again.
"Consume all Berries to improve synchronization progress."
The system panel flickered for a moment before updating.
[Host: Caelan Alaric]
[Template: Berserker Class · Heracles]
[Synchronization Progress: 50.5%]
[Berries: 3 million]
[Strength: B+]
[Durability: B+]
[Agility: B+]
[Magic: B+]
[Luck: A]
[Noble Phantasm: A+]
[Personal Skills]: Battle Continuation (B), Mind's Eye (Fake) (B), Valor (A+), Divinity (A), Madness Enhancement (B)
[Noble Phantasms]: God Hand: The Twelve Labors (B), Nine Lives: Shooting the Hundred Heads (C–A+)
…
A tremendous force surged into his body, instantly enhancing all of Caelan's attributes.
He nodded with satisfaction. Every one of his physical stats had risen from B to B+.
Don't underestimate the small addition of a plus sign. B+ represented an exceptional level, effectively doubling the attribute's power.
At this point, Caelan's strength, speed, endurance, and magic power had all doubled, making his combat abilities even more overwhelming.
"With my current strength, no one in the first half of the Grand Line can compare to me."
The increase in power was within Caelan's expectations.
However, the change in synchronization progress made him frown slightly.
The progress hadn't reached the expected 55%, stopping instead at 50.5%.
After reaching 50%, does it really take 100 million Berries to increase synchronization by just 1%?
Caelan thought it over and found this result acceptable.
Once they entered the Grand Line, pirates would be everywhere.
In the weak seas of the East Blue, there were only a handful of pirates with bounties in the tens of millions. The rest were small fry with bounties of a million or less.
Caelan had spent a lot of time and effort capturing those pirates, but the bounty earnings weren't much.
The Grand Line was different. It was a paradise for pirates. Any pirate group with even the slightest ambition was there.
Pirates with bounties of ten or twenty million were as common as crucian carp crossing the river. They were countless.
Just by defeating any pirate crew, he could easily obtain 50 million Berries.
Figures like Arlong and Don Krieg were considered lower-tier in the Grand Line, nowhere near the top.
There were also the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Despite their relatively low bounties, their strength was undeniable, and they often commanded large crews.
Although it wasn't possible to claim bounty rewards for capturing them, fighting such opponents could still improve his synchronization progress.
Compared to hunting ordinary pirates, the cost-effectiveness of targeting the Seven Warlords was much higher.
"The only issue is that I still don't have Haki."
Caelan couldn't help but feel frustrated. In the East Blue, there was no opportunity to learn Haki.
The reason he was able to push his swordsmanship to the level of a swordsman was entirely thanks to the Heracles template.
Even in the first half of the Grand Line, Haki was something only true elites possessed.
It wasn't until the New World that Haki became widespread.
Without Haki, facing Logia-type Devil Fruit users would put him at a serious disadvantage.
No matter how powerful his physical attacks were, they would be completely ineffective.
Likewise, Logia users couldn't hurt him either, but it would be a deadlock.
Still, Caelan had a plan. Crocodile, who ruled over Alabasta, would make a good teacher.
Of course, compared to someone like Kaido, Crocodile was far from the top.
Kaido was a top-tier monster, capable of knocking out Conqueror's Haki users with a single swing, or awakening the Nika Fruit wielder with two strikes.
At Caelan's current level, there was no way he could handle Kaido's brutal "training methods."
He hadn't even set foot on the path of Haki yet, let alone reached the level where he could learn Kaido's advanced techniques.
Crocodile, however, was just right. With his moderate-level Armament and Observation Haki, he could still serve as an effective mentor.
Caelan could already imagine the scene of himself awakening both types of Haki under Crocodile's guidance.
"The Grand Line… I'm looking forward to it more and more."
Caelan's blood was boiling with excitement.
The East Blue was just the starting point of the pirate world. The Grand Line was where the real adventure began.
It was far too dull to keep hunting small-time pirates with measly million-Berry bounties.
He wanted to charge into the Grand Line and fight against the true powerhouses.
(To be continued.)