Chapter 24: Zephyr’s Close Attention! Xiao Ze’s Strength Skyrockets!

Chapter 24: Zephyr’s Close Attention! Zephyr’s Strength Skyrockets!

Ingredient Processing Room.

The arrival of Hina undoubtedly added a youthful, beautiful, and invincible landscape to this kitchen, which was usually filled with chaotic ingredients and a mixture of pungent odors. Naturally, it also inevitably led to a decline in work efficiency. The first to bear the brunt were the group of sycophants in the processing room—the kitchen assistants. Even if Hina simply stood on the floor, her mere presence was enough to attract the attention of the vast majority of male creatures in the room.

Cui Ze was not among them. However, his fish-slaughtering efficiency was still affected by Hina.

"Cui Ze, Hina heard you went to the Iron Body training class?"

"Yeah." Cui Ze responded casually, his sharp kitchen knife mercilessly slicing through the soft belly of a sea beast.

"Hina didn't go to learn Iron Body; Hina is learning Paper Art. It is the first of the Six Powers that Hina is studying."

"Good eye."

"Hina was recently also... wait, why did you say Hina has a good eye?"

Cui Ze was forced to shift his gaze from the dying sea beast to the curious Hina. "Because compared to the other Six Powers, Paper Art, which focuses on evasion and force deflection, is indeed more suitable for girls whose physical constitution isn't particularly outstanding."

"That's right!" Hina nodded vigorously. "My idol, Vice Admiral Tsuru, said the same thing before!"

"So, Hina really admires Vice Admiral Tsuru?" Cui Ze subconsciously slipped into his practiced "scumbag" smile. "Actually, I..."

*Oh no!* Cui Ze frowned, realizing the conversation was drifting off course. If I keep chatting with this girl, I won't be able to kill thirty fish today! If I can't kill thirty fish, I can't gather enough bait; if I can't gather high-quality bait, I can't fish for super abilities; and if I don't get super abilities, I can't kill the Beast Pirates and Big Mom!

*Work hours, focus on killing fish!*

Cui Ze instantly changed his tune. "Actually, I... prefer the work attitude of Vice Admiral Borsalino~"

Hina: ???

...

Just as the Tainted one, Cui Ze, was diligently slaughtering fish, the Iron Body training class was drawing to a close on the other side of the ship. As soon as the lesson ended, Instructor Shuzo immediately announced a dismissal. A second later, Shuzo’s figure vanished like a ghost before the eyes of the trainees.

"The instructor is gone!"
"I couldn't see him at all! What happened?"
"That was one of the Six Powers, Shave! Perhaps the instructor has something urgent to handle..."
"Everyone, the instructor has his own plans. Let's discuss how to challenge that guy, Cui Ze!"
"Great idea!"
"I knew you had that thought!"

Shuzo was unaware of the conversation in the training room behind him. After leaving, he moved at high speed to the highest office on the warship, arriving before the Chief Instructor, Zephyr.

"Instructor Zephyr! I have something to report!"

"Calm down, Shuzo. Your impulsive temper really needs to be tempered." Zephyr didn't even look up as he pointed to the guest seating area in the office. Only after finishing the document in front of him did he look at his long-time adjutant. "What is it?"

Shuzo stood up from his seat, his expression still brimming with excitement. "That Cui Ze, the little guy you asked me to teach the Six Powers to."

Zephyr became a bit interested. "What about him?"

"He's a monster!" Shuzo said with absolute certainty.

Zephyr: ? *Are you accusing a student with a clean background as an instructor?*

Before Zephyr could ask, Shuzo continued, "The speed at which that kid is practicing Iron Body is simply too fast! I estimate that in less than half a month—no, ten days—he should be able to master Iron Body!"

A faint flash of surprise appeared in Zephyr's eyes. "Is that kid's talent really that good?"

"Absolutely!" Shuzo swung his fist. "Cui Ze's physical talent is outstanding! It's as if he's like those three monsters who emerged in the first few years when the training camp was founded!"

Zephyr finally took it seriously. Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan! These were the "monsters" Shuzo was referring to. If Cui Ze's talent could truly rival those three, wouldn't his previous plans have much more room for maneuver?

"I even heard from that 'Scarface' guy at noon that Cui Ze's marksmanship talent is equally high!" Shuzo said with disdain. "But even if a man fires cannons, he shouldn't be playing with handguns! A real man should be doing man's work—the work that needs to be done!"

This statement was delivered with conviction.

"Iron Body, marksmanship..." Zephyr raised his hands, interlaced his fingers, and leaned forward tactically. "Besides these two, is there anything else about Cui Ze worth noting?"

"Other things..." Shuzo reined in his fanatical expression, frowning in thought as he recalled every detail of his contact with Cui Ze over the past two days. "Right! His breathing! Cui Ze's breathing frequency is very strange! It's not like a normal person's, and every time he uses Iron Body, he uses that strange breathing to assist!"

Zephyr's brows furrowed slightly. A flash of insight crossed his mind, and he murmured to himself, "Is there some inevitable connection between Cui Ze's breathing and his Iron Body..."

Setting aside his wandering thoughts, Zephyr said to Shuzo, "Shuzo, do not expose too much attention to that child, and do not let word get out that his Iron Body training speed is far beyond the norm. Once Cui Ze has completely mastered Iron Body, come and report to me again."

Shuzo straightened his legs and gave a crisp, formal military salute. "Mission accepted! Instructor Zephyr!"

...

Night fell. After finishing a hearty dinner in the canteen, Cui Ze returned to his room. After washing up, he began to sort through the day's gains. Influenced by Hina's presence, he had only managed to kill 28 sea beasts today, slightly fewer than yesterday. Currently, the total reserve of "Victory Bait" stood at 60, all of F-rank.

"Fortunately, Hina said she was only coming for today." Cui Ze closed the light screen. He intended to continue storing bait. "Otherwise, my future fish-slaughtering yields would be affected! That would be too great a loss."

Cui Ze did not intend to expose his true nature at the moment—*cough*—he did not intend to focus on trivial enjoyments. With his current weak strength, he had no sense of security on this sea filled with monsters; he only wanted to increase his power!

*Women only slow down my fish-slaughtering speed!*

Standing in the center of the room, Cui Ze first reviewed the progress of his Iron Body. Then, his breathing slowly became long and steady—it was the specific frequency of the [Beast Breathing]!

The next step for the Full Focus Beast Breathing was "Full Focus: Constant," meaning maintaining the breathing technique around the clock, whether awake or asleep. He had been too busy the past two days to maintain the frequency, but now that most things were on track, he could shift his focus to the further improvement of [Beast Breathing].

"For the next few days, I need to force my body to change its ingrained breathing instincts... It's fine during the day, but at night I might need someone else's help for training... Forget it, let's just maintain the full-day breathing during the daylight hours first!"

He went to bed, pulled up the covers, and fell into a deep, sweet sleep.

...

Over the next two days, Cui Ze immersed himself entirely in increasing his strength. After the training camp's morning exercise, he would finish breakfast and soak himself in the shooting range.

At the 50-meter target range, he mastered [Long-Range Shooting].
At the 80-meter target range, he mastered [Extreme Shooting].

With the four F-rank ability entries—[Close-Range Shooting], [Mid-Range Shooting], [Long-Range Shooting], and [Extreme Shooting]—all acquired, they fused together to form a new E-rank entry, with improved effects.

[E-rank Entry: Precision Shooting]
[Entry Effect: 1. Gain +1 E-rank bonus to Agility attribute; 2. Within 100 meters, hits the target 100% of the time when attacking fixed targets.]
[Entry Evaluation: Well, look at that~ I'm quite accurate, aren't I?]

Through the evaluation of [Precision Shooting], Cui Ze understood the next direction for his marksmanship practice: moving targets! However, the current [Precision Shooting] fully satisfied his daily needs. In the short term, he didn't plan to invest more energy there.

After the morning shooting training, the afternoon Iron Body training followed. The "torture" methods of the instructor became increasingly refined. Cui Ze could feel his Iron Body improving every day. He had a premonition that he would likely master this skill before the weekly assessment! When faced with Smoker's challenge then, he would be even more confident!

After the Iron Body training, it was time for the mandatory fish-slaughtering mission. In just two days, Cui Ze collected another 60 F-rank baits. His total bait count had reached exactly 120! With this amount, even if they were the lowest F-rank bait, it was enough for two D-rank fishing attempts! However, like a hamster, Cui Ze chose to keep storing them for later use.

Beyond that, life in the training camp also greatly tempered his physique. Under the growth effects of [Wild Body], his Agility and Strength attributes had each increased by one point.

On the light screen's personal attributes, his [Strength] remained "E," but his [Agility] had reached "E+!" His overall rating remained the same, but his actual strength was skyrocketing!