Chapter Two: Fire Fist Ace Again (Second Update)

Regarding this question, Mord could not answer immediately for a moment.

His initial thought was quite simple: to become stronger as quickly as possible and thereby acquire the capital to establish himself.

He was well aware of the reality.

In this world of the survival of the fittest, where the big fish eat the small fish, if one wanted to avoid becoming someone else's fish on the chopping block, one had to become stronger than anyone else.

Could this kind of purposeful drive be considered a dream?

Mord did not know, but a certain phrase suddenly came to his mind.

To want to live, one must eat.

Since one must eat, one should eat the best.

How could such a thing be achieved?

Through a strength so great that one could do whatever one pleased.

Mord pondered for a moment, shifted his gaze away from Sanni's profile, looked up at the star-filled sky, and smiled. "Is being able to do whatever one pleases considered a dream?"

Sanni thought about it, nodded, and said, "I suppose so. I remember Sol saying something similar."

"What did he say?"

"If you can't do whatever you please, what is the point of going out to sea?"

"That really doesn't sound like something he would say."

"Well, maybe he heard it from somewhere."

"Haha."

The two of them chatted casually, back and forth.

Bari was dozing nearby, drooling all over the ground.

Lafitte was still sitting on a rock, quietly sipping sheep's milk wine brewed by Kaya's own hands.

From time to time, however, he would glance in Mord's direction, as if eavesdropping.

Sitting beside the campfire, Kaya was silent, yet she could clearly hear the conversation between Mord and Sanni.

"Pirates, huh..."

Kaya muttered to herself inwardly.

Ever since she was old enough to understand the world, the pirates she had seen were all scoundrels who came to Monmon Island to pillage, burn, and slaughter.

Even the pirates she learned about through newspapers were associated with nothing but bad things.

Therefore, she truly detested pirates.

Although Gaban had once been a pirate, that fact alone could not change her perspective.

Yet she was not the sort of narrow-minded person who would condemn an entire group based on a few.

At the very least, she did not dislike Sol and the others.

If she had to single one out, though...

Kaya cast an imperceptible glance at the taciturn Lafitte.

This man gave her an unfavorable impression.

As for the specific reason, she could not quite put her finger on it.

Lafitte was perceptive; noticing Kaya's fleeting gaze, he merely offered a faint smile and brushed it off without a second thought.

Night passed.

The next day, under Sol's supervision, Mord resumed his routine training.

Sol maintained a calm expression, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened last night.

Yet he also knew that the shameful, tear-stained display from the previous evening was something he could never wash away.

On the grassland, Mord trained relentlessly, sweat pouring from his body like rain.

Bari accompanied Mord in his workouts.

Ever since he successfully lost weight, it was as if his entire personality had shifted, and he had become extremely dedicated to physical training.

Presumably, it was because he had experienced the various benefits brought by a stronger physique...

Near noon, Kaya arrived on schedule, carrying lunch.

Mord and Bari, already starving, began to devour the food voraciously.

In a short while, they completely cleaned the medicinal nourishing lunch that Kaya had brought.

After Kaya left, Mord glanced at Bari, who was lying lazily on the grass with a look of utter satisfaction.

"Sol, can a creature like Bari learn Haki?"

Hearing Mord's words, Bari's ears twitched.

Sol pondered for a moment before replying, "In theory, it is possible."

"Oh."

Mord nodded.

Hearing Sol's words, Bari straightened his upper body, looking rather excited.

However, he still preferred Moon Walk, as it was a skill that could at least be used to flee for one's life.

After resting for a little while, Mord and Bari resumed their training.

In the residential area, Sanni was still following Lafitte to learn navigation techniques.

Ever since she decided to join the Revolutionary Army, Sanni's enthusiasm for physical training had dropped significantly.

Because she wanted to become an intelligence operative, the relative importance of strength and knowledge had shifted for her.

Besides, she was never cut out to be a powerhouse in the first place.

After returning, Kaya had nothing particular to do, so she simply sat to the side and listened in.

Watching Lafitte clearly and systematically explain the principles of navigation, her impression of him improved slightly.

Days passed in this manner.

Five months later.

On the grassland, sharp sounds of air exploding rang out frequently.

Sol and Gaban sat on a rock, tilting their heads back to watch Mord stepping on thin air to execute "Z"-shaped directional changes.

After five months of continuous effort, Mord had finally mastered the technique of Moon Walk.

At present, he was capable of using Moon Walk to change direction mid-air.

Having reached this level, he could now incorporate Moon Walk into actual combat.

Watching Mord tread upon the air as he headed toward the mountaintop, Sol spoke calmly, "A month faster than anticipated."

Gaban sighed with emotion, "Time flies indeed."

"Hmm."

Sol nodded, lowering his voice. "It is time to let him go out to sea..."

Gaban smiled, briefly tempted to tease him, but thought better of it and let the impulse go.

On the mountaintop.

Mord stood at the edge of the cliff, closing his eyes to enjoy the wind rushing against his face.

Perhaps stemming from human instinct, using Moon Walk brought with it a profound sense of freedom.

For this reason alone, spending so much time to master the technique had been entirely worth it.

A moment later, Mord opened his eyes.

In the distant sky ahead, a diligent news coo was flying toward them.

"Is today the day for the weekly newspaper delivery?"

Mord looked at the news coo, a thought sparking in his mind, and couldn't help smiling faintly.

Bang! Bang!

He executed Moon Walk, heading straight toward the news coo.

Seeing a human "walking" through mid-air, the news coo was startled.

Only after recognizing the human's appearance did it calm down slightly.

Having delivered newspapers here so many times, the news coo recognized Mord.

"I'll take the paper."

Reaching the side of the news coo, Mord directly pulled a newspaper out of the delivery pouch.

Seeing this, the news coo began to squawk loudly and flap its wings.

As if to say: Are you going to pay for that?

Although Mord could not understand the squawks, he instinctively grasped the bird's meaning.

"Go collect it from Sanni."

Leaving behind those words, Mord halted his Moon Walk, letting his body drop freely toward the ground, and vanished from the news coo's field of vision shortly after.

Feeling rather helpless, the news coo had no choice but to continue flying toward the residential area.

It was terrified that the payment for this newspaper would be skipped.

Holding the newspaper, Mord landed steadily on the ground and began to browse through it.

Occupying the front-page headline was once again news concerning pirates.

"Fire Fist Ace again?"

Mord glanced at the photograph of Ace plastered across the headline.

The main content roughly detailed that Fire Fist Ace, after becoming the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, had been extremely active, crushing numerous enemies on behalf of the crew.

Additionally, there was a secondary piece of news placed near the front.

In a little over a month, the once-every-four-years Levely would take place.

"Are you done reading yet?"

Just as Mord was scanning the contents of the newspaper, Sol's voice reached him from ahead.

"Finished."

Mord replied insincerely.

Although he hadn't finished reading every word, he had already grasped the general gist.

"If you're done, bring the paper over."

"Alright."

Mord walked over and handed the newspaper to Sol.

Sol took the paper, unfolded it, and began to read.

"Hmm? The headline is this Fire Fist Ace again?"

"Tsk, tsk."

Gaban leaned in to take a look and clicked his tongue.

Mord watched Sol and Gaban's reactions from the side.

These two elders still did not know that Ace was Roger's son.

And understandably so.

Had they known, they certainly wouldn't have sat by and watched idly as Ace was executed in the original story.

"Should I tell them? Nah, forget it..."

Mord thought to himself.

Even if he told them, they might not believe it, and if they did, he wouldn't be able to come up with a plausible explanation for how he knew.

Mord patiently waited for Sol to finish reading the newspaper.

Then,

Mord said earnestly, "Sol, I have mastered Moon Walk."

The underlying meaning was crystal clear to Sol.

Sol lowered the newspaper and looked calmly at Mord.

After a long silence,

Sol tapped the newspaper lightly with his fingers.

"Brat, how long before I get to see your face plastered across the front-page headlines?"