46: The seed of doubt

April 3, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle

Orion exhaled a breath and opened his eyes.

He had been meditating to train his Observation Haki, and each day he was making a little progress, slowly but surely. There was still a long way to go to reach the next level, but he was happy with his current rate of progress.

Now that he had the passive skill "Talent in Haki (Level 1)", his development speed was decent, although he wanted to find a way to increase this passive skill in the future. If this skill were at Level 5, for example, would he have the same ease as Gloriosa in wielding Haki? 

It had been four days since he had stolen the Devil Fruits from the island's headquarters, but so far there had been no movement from Cipher Pol agents.

He had designed the dynamite camouflage so that if someone tried to take the fake Devil Fruits, they would lose their shape, causing the dynamite to reappear and cause a huge explosion.

So far, there hadn't been any explosion, so he was sure the Cipher Pol agents hadn't noticed the fruit theft.

Orion could only sigh at the careless way this intelligence organization was run. Perhaps their authority had gone unquestioned for a long time, and they had become a bit careless— a kind of arrogance of the powerful.

In any case, he was glad the theft hadn't been discovered, as if it had, the island's defenses would likely be reinforced, complicating his escape plan in the future.

During these days, in addition to his usual training, Orion had been testing the limits of his new abilities.

The system's inventory had a peculiar function, which was similar to his "Art Coating" skill.

Both abilities worked on inanimate objects on an individual basis. Apparently, no matter the size or mass of an object, the system considered that each inventory slot could hold only one individual "entity." For example, he had tried to put two small rocks in the same inventory slot, but it had proved impossible. However, if he placed a handful of rocks in a bag, he could put them all together in the same slot. On the other hand, if he divided that same amount of rocks into two different bags, he had to place them in different slots.

Orion didn't know exactly what criteria the system used to stablish these rules, but he intuitively understood them.

As for whether there was a space limit for each slot, he didn't know. He had tried depositing the largest rocks he could find and hadn't had any problems.

As for his new ability, "Space Door," he'd been experimenting quite a bit these days, and he'd discovered that there was a limit to the area within which the ability worked. That limit was the size of the sphere he could access when he opened a door in the air, and it was roughly ten paces in diameter.

Thus, he could open a door and pass through anything within that limit, but he couldn't open, for example, a door from one side of a mountain to the other.

Another interesting thing he'd discovered was that he could bring living things into the sphere formed when he opened a door in the air, which he'd named the "Pocket Dimension."

Within the Pocket Dimension, living beings were unharmed and could remain there even if he wasn't present. This discovery encouraged him greatly, as it filled a gap in the system's inventory. At least he could use this dimension to protect people without any problems.

Another thing he discovered was that this space wasn't static. When he was inside, the Pocket Dimension had clear and immovable boundaries, but if he brought something into this space and moved to another location, the things within the Pocket Dimension moved seamlessly along with him. He had put a small rabbit inside and then advanced several kilometers before releasing it without any problems, so this was now another card up his sleeve, one he could use when the time was right.

Orion looked at his available SP on the system screen.

*Available SP: 4963*

He was only 37 points away from being able to buy the mysterious mushroom from the system store.

The problem was that these 37 points weren't so easy to obtain. He had tried to obtain them over the past four days, but on this island, it was almost impossible to take actions that would affect the world for the better. Or at least do so discreetly.

He had tried beating Jabra up to see if it would do any good, but he hadn't gotten even a measly SP!

Now, he had set his sights on the newcomer Kalifa. Over the past few days, he had interacted with her quite a bit, and he felt there was a chance he could influence her enough to make a significant change and gain SP.

If he didn't get results with this approach in the next few days, he would have no choice but to do something more drastic, such as destroying the training facilities on this island ahead of time.

Orion went to the library, which was filled with all sorts of books on different topics. The history books were completely useless due to their bias toward the World Government and the fact that they had been tampered with to a greater or lesser extent, but most of the books on practical knowledge were very useful to Orion.

He still had the mission to go to Ohara to expand his knowledge of this world, but being on this island training for Cipher Pol had greatly improved his knowledge. It could be said that it was a light version of the Ohara mission, although he wouldn't receive any rewards from the system for studying here.

Anyway, today he hadn't come to study, but to see little Kalifa, who loved being here, reading all kinds of books.

In Orion's eyes, she was more suited to being an academic than a Cipher Pol agent.

He entered the large library and immediately spotted Kalifa, who was sitting at a table full of books, reading with great interest at an impressive speed.

He approached her and sat in the empty chair opposite her.

Kalifa heard someone arrive and frowned, but when she saw it was Orion, her expression returned to normal, and she continued reading enthusiastically, paying no attention to him.

During these days they had been living together, Kalifa had formed an initial impression of her two housemates: Gloriosa: bad, Orion: good.

This was because Orion usually kept a certain distance and didn't try to approach her aggressively. Kalifa was a bit introverted and enjoyed this style of interaction more, so she had developed a good impression of Orion, who was much more mature than a normal child.

On the other hand, Gloriosa "harassed" her day and night, trying to ingratiate herself with her, which made her feel suffocated, and consequently she had a much lower opinion of the hyperactive girl.

Orion took a book from the table and read silently next to her. After a long while, Kalifa finally put down the book she was reading 

"Hi Orion, how was your training?" Kalifa said with a smile that inspired great tenderness in anyone who saw her.

"Pretty good. Although I still can't use all six techniques, I've made a lot of progress. The only problem is that it's hard to find a practice partner," Orion replied, telling her a little about his progress.

"Aah, I want to be able to train like the others, but the instructor says my body isn't ready yet," Kalifa pouted.

Over the past few days, Orion had spoken with her quite a bit and learned about her situation.

Kalifa Medici was the daughter of two Cipher Pol agents, and her parents had been children of agents as well. The Medici family was a renowned family that had served the World Government for centuries, and almost all of its members had ended up with a job at Cipher Pol or in the Marines.

Kalifa had been raised, since she could remember, with the ideal that one day she would become an agent and serve the world government, and she took great pride in that. She had come directly to the Guanhao advanced area because there was no need to determine her suitability and loyalty. She was what could be considered a "pureblood" of this institution, and she would surely be an elite agent in the future.

Although she hadn't been brainwashed like the other recruits on this island, it was safe to say that her indoctrination was much deeper, almost second nature. She would never question her current situation or her future, because that was the way the world worked in her mind. That was how things were meant to be.

Orion didn't know why she had been brought to this island so early, because Kalifa had avoided the question, but she couldn't participate in physical training and was only allowed to take theoretical classes.

Time and again, Kalifa had proclaimed her envy of Orion and the other recruits, who were able to participate in physical training, and she liked to hear Orion tell stories about it.

"Kalifa, I have a gift for you, but you have to keep it secret. Can you do that?" Orion said, trying to sound mysterious— almost in a cartoonish way.

Kalifa was immediately interested in his words, leaned across the table, and said in a low voice.

"A secret? What is it? I'm the best at keeping secrets!"

Orion nodded and replied,

"Very well, then I'll wait for you at home. There are too many eyes watching us here."

Then he stood up, left the book on the table, and left the library without waiting for Kalifa's response.

Upon arriving home, he opened the door and found Gloriosa lying flat in her hammock, seeming to be sad or in a bad mood.

Orion completely ignored her and walked toward his room. However, the girl's depressed voice echoed in his ears.

"Orion, welcome home. How was your day?"

Orion raised his eyebrows in surprise and stopped.

For the past two days, Gloriosa hadn't attended training, and she didn't seem to have suffered any consequences for her absence, which further reinforced his belief that she was a special existence on this World Government island.

She had been sulking at home for two days, but hadn't made any attempt to talk to Orion until now.

Hearing the girl's dejected tone of voice, Orion's heart softened a little. Perhaps he had been too distant with this girl, who was usually cheerful and hyperactive, but now seemed like a wet rag.

"Hi, Gloriosa. The training was more of the same. How are you? Did anything interesting happen today?" Orion asked, approaching the hammock where Gloriosa was lying.

The girl sighed and answered, still depressed,

"Nothing interesting happened. Nothing interesting ever happens here. I wish I could go far away and visit wonderful, distant places."

Orion was surprised by the girl's words. No recruit on this island would say anything like that. In the minds of these future Cipher Pol agents, there was nothing more than to serve the world government and impart justice.

"Tell me the truth, what's going on with you? I can't give you advice if you don't tell me what's happening ," Orion said, sitting down in a chair next to the hammock.

Gloriosa hesitated for a moment, her expression conflicted, as if she were making an important decision, and finally said:

"To tell you the truth, I miss my sister. When I saw Kalifa, she reminded me of my older sister, and that's why I wanted to get closer to her and maybe get her to see me as an older sister."

The girl's eyes lost focus as she spoke; she continued:

"But Kalifa hates me. She doesn't want to get close to me. My older sister hates me too. She abandoned me here without caring about my feelings!"

Gloriosa began to cry, right in front of Orion's surprised gaze.

He would never have thought that this lively, cheerful, and hyperactive girl would show this vulnerable side of herself.

Listening to the content of her words, it was clear that the problem didn't lie with Kalifa, who was simply a kind of substitute, but instead with the older sister Gloriosa had mentioned.

Orion placed his hand on the girl's head and stroked her hair, trying to comfort her, but she began to cry even more inconsolably. With a single leap, she landed on Orion's body, hugging him tightly like a koala, still bawling her eyes out.

It took her a long time to calm down, and when she finally did, Orion's clothes were a mess, completely wrinkled and soaked with Gloriosa's tears and snot.

Before Orion could say anything to the girl, who had just calmed down, the door of the house opened, and Kalifa burst in, full of joy.

However, she didn't take two steps before seeing the explosive scene of Gloriosa and Orion embracing intimately, and she was rooted to the spot.

After a few moments, she reacted, and while covering her eyes with her hands, she stammered,

"T-that's sexual harassment!"

Hearing the little girl's words, Orion lost all strength in his legs and almost fell to the ground along with Gloriosa.

"Duck! Who taught that term to a little girl? And that's clearly not the current situation!" Orion said in his mind, while trying to maintain his composure after hearing Kalifa's innocent words.

Orion saw that Gloriosa hadn't said a single word, and thought maybe she was embarrassed, but upon closer inspection, he realized the girl had fallen asleep.

It was the first time he'd seen someone cry themselves to sleep. Evidently, the girl's mental condition had been more precarious than he'd initially imagined.

Sighing, he brought a finger to his lips, signaling Kalifa not to make a sound, then carried Gloriosa to her room and gently laid her down on her bed. She didn't wake up during the whole process and continued sleeping, cuddled like a koala onto a pillow. Perhaps cuddling something like that gave her security or comforted her in some way.

Orion left Gloriosa's room and found Kalifa, who was looking at him curiously. The little girl looked him up and down and said in her tender, curious voice...

"Were you making babies? Are you getting married?"

The girl's eyes seemed to light up for a moment, and he couldn't imagine what kind of strange thoughts were running through her precocious little mind.

Orion lightly hit her on the head with the edge of his hand and said:

"What nonsense are you talking about, Kalifa? Gloriosa was just sad and cried herself to sleep. Try to be nicer to her the next time you see her, okay?"

Kalifa immediately turned her head to the side and puffed out her cheeks, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

"No, she's very annoying. She's always on top of me and treats me like a child!" Kalifa said indignantly.

"Don't be so harsh with her. She just misses her sister, and you remind her of her," Orion said, stroking Kalifa's hair.

Hearing Orion's words, the girl abandoned her indignant posture and asked in surprise.

"...Her sister?"

Orion told her what Gloriosa had said, and Kalifa remained silent, her head bowed.

Finally, after a long moment, she looked up and said,

"Okay, I'll be nicer to her next time."

Orion nodded, agreeing with the girl's change of attitude, unaware that Gloriosa's story had resonated with her own personal experience.

"Now that we're alone, I'll give you the surprise I mentioned. Remember, it's a secret! Wait for me here," Orion said, entering his room and leaving the girl alone.

Once out of Kalifa's vision, he accessed the system's inventory with his mind and pulled out a book he had stored there ande then returned and gave it to her with a smile.

"This is my gift for you, Kalifa," said Orion.

"A book? What kind of book is it?" Kalifa asked, overjoyed to receive such a gift from Orion.

She couldn't do any physical training and spent her days reading, so this was the perfect gift for her!

"It's a book I found by chance. I thought it was quite interesting, and I decided it would be a good gift for you, since you love reading so much," Orion replied vaguely.

Kalifa opened the book and began reading enthusiastically. After a brief moment, she was completely absorbed in the book's contents and had completely forgotten about Orion's presence.

He watched her reading passionately, then left without disturbing her. He would continue training to try to master the last of the six techniques he couldn't yet use.

As for the book he had given Kalifa, it was a book he had written himself and was unique in this world.

These past few days, he had been thinking about how to make a significant difference in the lives of these Named Characters, in order to gain extra SP, and he had decided that Kalifa was the most flexible of all the recruits on this island.

Still, it wasn't an easy task to change the ideas she had been taught for as long as she could remember, so he decided to use the little girl's knowledge and love of books to move forward.

With his knowledge of his past life, he transcribed several writings that could encourage critical thinking in the girl and spark curiosity about the truths of the world. Once doubts began to form in her mind regarding the workings of this world, her view of the World Government would begin to waver, and it would be possible to bring about a change in her.

He knew that to induce this change, he couldn't be too aggressive and attack her beliefs directly. If he decided to speak ill of the World Government openly, he would likely only earn the little girl's hatred.

For that reason, he transcribed texts like Plato's Allegory of the Cave or Descartes's Meditations, which could help "expand" her thinking in more subtle ways.

After all, in his previous life, he had been a philosophy professor; if he were asked how to build an engine or some other practical knowledge, he wouldn't be able to do much, but when it came to philosophical knowledge, he was capable of teaching a little girl without any problem!

His idea was simple: let the power of the culture of his previous world influence the girl's mind, and this would lead her to have doubts about the status quo of this world. She would undo the indoctrination she had been subjected to, and he would simply give her the necessary tools.

In a good mood, Orion walked toward the training grounds, where he would try to beat up Fukurou to see if he could get some extra SP. It was always good to have backup plans.