Kairos Flint had just finished washing up.
He pulled a fresh set of clothes from his portable inventory and changed.
As for the blood-soaked clothes? He simply tossed them into the sea.
There was no point in trying to clean them — they were far too saturated with blood. And with the wealth he had, he didn't see the need to waste time or energy salvaging them.
Inside his portable storage space, he kept a massive supply of essentials — clothes, food, fruit, drinking water — practically everything he needed for extended journeys. And even with all that, he hadn't even come close to reaching the space's capacity.
Honestly, he didn't even know what the upper limit was.
Not that it mattered — what he had was already more than enough.
———
Stepping out onto the deck, Kairos saw Nami moving about cheerfully.
She was busy tying the remaining pirate ships together with ropes to keep them from drifting off. Afterward, she started collecting the bodies of the pirates who had bounties on their heads — a task that required quite a bit of effort on her part.
But it was well worth it.
Every one of those corpses was a bounty. Cold, hard cash.
Once she'd secured the bodies, she began scouring the pirate ships one by one.
Coins, treasures, valuables — not a single scrap escaped her eye.
Watching her hustle, Kairos stepped in to lend a hand.
These ships were more than just scrap — they were valuable materials he could use to upgrade his own vessel. Many of them were armed with decent weapons too, which also needed to be collected.
More importantly, his sword — the demon blade known as the Third Generation Kitetsu — needed to be fed. He couldn't afford to waste any resources.
And so, both he and Nami got to work — looting and salvaging everything of value across the pirate fleet.
Three hours passed.
When they finally finished, the results were impressive.
5,112 ordinary weapons.
431 refined weapons.
33 excellent weapons.
It was a haul worth celebrating.
From the look of things, it was clear Kairos would have to stay on this stretch of sea a while longer.
Ship synthesis required physical stamina — and he'd need to use a significant portion of it to merge materials. He also needed time to combine his newly collected ability crystals, reducing their quantities and consolidating their strength.
The ultimate goal: upgrade his overall power.
———
That process took him an entire day to complete.
Especially the synthesis of ships and weapons — that was the most taxing.
The Creek Pirates weren't pushovers. They had 50 ships in total — one of which was of rare grade, and the other 49 were all of excellent grade. Merging them with his own ship demanded a great deal of strength and focus.
To finish the job efficiently, he had to burn through one of his Perfect Body Crystals. That alone allowed him to complete the synthesis in a short time.
Once all the ships were successfully merged, his vessel's stats changed:
Rare-Class Large Ship (5.9/10)
The ship had finally reached rare grade — a significant leap forward.
However, it still needed more materials to reach the excellent grade.
Not that Kairos was in any particular hurry. The ship was already more than enough for his needs. At rare grade, it had grown significantly larger, tougher, and more functional.
Next came the weapon synthesis.
The sheer number of weapons he'd salvaged, combined with what he had in storage, gave him ample material. In total, he synthesized 13 high-quality blades.
Out of those, he took 9 and merged them directly with his Third Generation Kitetsu.
After synthesis, the demon sword's level rose — from a standard sharp blade to a high-quality sharp blade.
If the Third Generation Kitetsu had been a living being, it would have dropped to its knees and kowtowed to Kairos hundreds of times in gratitude.
With the massive number of ability crystals he had collected, Kairos went ahead and upgraded everything that could be upgraded.
The results were staggering.
Here were his updated stats:
[Host]: Kairos Flint
[Talent]: General Level (0/10)
[Physique]: Academy Level (1/10)
[Soul]: Academy Level (0/10)
[Abilities]: Academy-Level Physical Skills (0/10), Swordsman (0/10), Lieutenant-Level Silent Steps (0/10)
[Weapon]: High-Quality Sharp Blade · Third Generation Kitetsu (0/10)
[Ship]: Rare-Class Large Ship (5.9/10)
Both his body and soul, as well as his physical skills, had reached Academy Level.
On top of that, he'd officially become a Swordsman — unlocking the ability to comprehend the "Cutting Steel" realm, a powerful sword technique known to elite warriors.
Naturally, this kind of transformation didn't come without a price.
But that price? It was well worth it.
Kairos and Nami remained anchored in the waters of the Drinking Sea for an entire week to complete everything.
And in the end, it paid off.
Looking at his stats now, Kairos was confident — even if he walked straight into the territory of the Arlong Pirates, he'd be able to wipe them out in an instant.
That said, there was one important thing he had to do first.
He needed to cash in the bounties from the Creek Pirates. That meant heading to Loguetown first.
If he went to Cocoyasi Village now and then traveled to Loguetown afterward, the corpses might decay and lose their value.
So, after a quick discussion with Nami, they decided:
Loguetown first.
Cocoyasi Village second.
That way, they wouldn't waste their hard-earned rewards.