The Spear is Still There! Sorry, I walked into the wrong set.”

"Ha, I did pick up a few sword techniques."

Biggie grinned, then unceremoniously reached out and snatched the cigarette pack from Kaelar's hand, lighting one for himself. "To be honest, I didn't think much of it at the time. But the more I think about it, the more I realize Shanuo's swordsmanship is truly incredible."

Blowing out a slow ring of smoke, Biggie glanced at Kaelar and chuckled. "Honestly, if Shanuo weren't so young, with his sword skills, even you wouldn't stand a chance against him."

Kaelar smiled noncommittally and didn't respond.

When he finished his cigarette, Biggie stubbed it out, then glanced at Shanuo not far away and asked with some curiosity, "By the way, Shanuo just jumped down from the second floor, right? Isn't he just practicing swordsmanship? Was there really a need to rush like that?"

"Who knows?"

Kaelar gave a meaningful look toward the second floor of the ship's cabin, where faint sounds of commotion could still be heard from the storage room. He chuckled softly and shook his head as if he didn't care. "Let's go. It's getting late. We should catch some sleep. We're on night duty later, so we'd better rest up."

"Oh."

Biggie nodded instinctively but stopped after taking a step. "Wait a minute. We haven't had dinner yet. Shouldn't we wait?"

"Dinner? Forget about it."

Kaelar sighed lightly. "Have you forgotten what we had for lunch?"

"Lunch?"

Biggie froze, then his face twisted in discomfort. "You mean Captain Tado is cooking again tonight?"

Kaelar lit another cigarette with a melancholy expression. "What do you think?"

That morning, bolstered by Shanuo's praise, Captain Tado's confidence had skyrocketed. He prepared a massive feast for lunch, intending to surprise his crew. The result? Every single bathroom on the ship was occupied for the rest of the afternoon. Except for Shanuo, who was too tired to wake up and thus avoided the ordeal, everyone else had a firsthand experience of what true culinary disaster and despair tasted like.

Meanwhile, after seeing Kaelar and Biggie leave the deck with expressions of digestive distress, Shanuo breathed a sigh of relief. Although his movements with the wooden sword didn't stop, his peripheral vision kept darting to the upper floor.

"Sorry about that, little Sanji…"

Shanuo's face turned red as he thought about Zeff's earlier outburst, silently mourning for Sanji in his heart.

After all, while the boy did sneak some food, he also ended up taking the blame for Shanuo.

"Well, Tado's already up there, so the kid probably won't get scolded anymore. Better use the time before dinner to practice swordsmanship a bit more, then rest."

Taking a deep breath, Shanuo refocused his attention on the wooden sword in front of him.

The steady rhythm of his swinging sword filled the air with the sound of cutting wind. As time passed, the random thoughts in his mind faded, and his body and soul gradually immersed themselves in the ebb and flow of the blade.

Before he knew it, five days had passed.

The days came and went, and time flowed quietly amidst calm and simplicity. During this time, the pirate ship sailed further and further from Andrick Island, heading steadily northeast.

Over these days, apart from sleeping, eating, and daily meals, Shanuo devoted nearly all his time to practicing Wind Swordsmanship.

At dawn, his silhouette would already appear on the deck. Even as night fell and fishing lights flickered on distant islands, one could still see the traces of Touya Lake swinging in the sea breeze.

From initial curiosity to becoming part of the daily routine, even the busiest crew members noticed the black-haired boy Zeff had brought aboard was a swordsmanship fanatic, constantly training with his wooden sword and paying no attention to anything else.

Many crew members admired Shanuo's perseverance, but beyond that, they didn't think much of it. Given his age, most of them assumed it was just a phase. Except for Kaelar and Biggie, who had witnessed his swordsmanship firsthand, most pirates treated it as a child's game.

At best, they would casually remark during idle chat, "This kid's got potential. Maybe he'll become a sword master someday." Such comments were more jokes to liven the mood than serious predictions.

That was all.

Far more pressing to the crew was the issue of food.

After Captain Tado cooked for two whole days, the renowned Redfoot Zeff could no longer stand it. Using the excuse of "no food should be wasted," he beat up Tado, then forcibly took over the kitchen with the ship's cook, Rika.

Finally, the pirates' days of eating meals with tears in their eyes came to an end. To celebrate, they even held a grand bonfire feast that evening.

Life at sea returned to its usual uneventful rhythm, except for Tado, who often sat silently on the deck during mealtime, looking melancholic.

However, on the fifth day, something seemed to shift.

Snap!

A sharp crack echoed from the ship's stern as a wooden sword broke clean in two. As half the blade fell to the deck, a shadowy figure darted forward. The man holding the remaining sword felt the cold press of a blade against his chest, immobilizing him. He stood frozen in shock.

"How… how is this possible…"

In front of him stood a black-haired boy in a blue shirt, gripping the wooden sword that now pointed at the man's chest. Due to their height difference, the boy's right arm was raised high and extended forward, making him appear strained.

But despite the apparent mismatch in stature, the boy had a clear advantage.

For the man, a pirate with a bounty on his head for over a decade, this was the most absurd experience of his life. He had been defeated in a duel by a single strike from this boy.

Yes, a single strike.

As soon as the duel began, the boy had made a drawing motion with his sword. Before the man could even react, he realized his wooden sword had been split in two. In that fleeting instant, he was already defeated.

If this had been a fight to the death, he would have died without even knowing how.

"I've lost."

After a long silence, the man slowly raised his head and looked at the black-haired boy with a wry smile before tossing aside his broken sword.

"Yeah, Uncle Raku, you lost."

Shanuo grinned mischievously and flicked his wrist, smoothly sheathing the wooden sword at his waist. "That makes sixteen."

"Sixteen, huh? So the rumors on the ship are true…"

The burly man named Raku seemed to realize something. He let out a bitter laugh and sighed.

"You're telling me that in the past week, you've defeated every combatant on this ship?"