The next day.
Sunlight streamed through the window, scattering onto the bed.
Lin Que lazily opened his eyes and slowly got up.
The alluring figure that should have been beside him was gone, but there was a sound coming from the kitchen.
"You're awake."
Nojiko walked in, carrying a plate of food: "Nami said she had some things to do and left a while ago."
"If you want to see her, I can help lead the way later."
Lin Que shook his head: "No need, there will be plenty of time to spend together in the future, let her be alone for a while now."
"Alright."
Nojiko shrugged and changed the subject.
"What are your plans next?"
"Do you have any thoughts of staying in Coco Village, or are you going out to sea for an adventure?"
"Nami might stay, but I'm leaving."
Nojiko was stunned: "You're not going together?"
"The conditions aren't right yet."
Changing into a new set of clothes, Lin Que replied leisurely: "Don't worry, I'll come back when I have time in the future."
After all, besides Nami, there's also a good fruit to taste here.
Grabbing a tangerine from the table nearby, Lin Que waved at Nojiko.
"Looking forward to seeing you next time~ Nojiko."
...
As a qualified sea king, Lin Que left Coco Village without any hesitation.
After greeting Nami in the chat group, he arrived in front of Arlong's palace.
After Lin Que and Hawkeye fought yesterday, this place had completely turned into a pile of ruins.
The fish-men's bodies were chopped up by the villagers and thrown into the sea, and the money in the palace was also found by the villagers.
At Lin Que's suggestion, this money was returned to its original owners according to the number of people.
Thanks to this, Coco Village's favorability was directly maxed out by Lin Que.
The reason why A Jian and others were so enthusiastic yesterday, and why Nami didn't even refuse his invitation, was at least 50% due to this inconspicuous small matter.
"Indeed, establishing a persona is very important."
Leisurely walking into the forest, Lin Que looked at Hawkeye, who was still dancing ahead.
"I'm sorry, I had too much fun yesterday and accidentally forgot about you."
Hawkeye: "…"
He didn't want to say anything now, he just wanted to kill someone to silence them.
"Well~ don't be too sad."
Lin Que smiled: "As the saying goes, a loss may turn out to be a gain. You seem to have lost your freedom now, but in reality, you have gained unprecedented benefits."
"Following me, it's not difficult for you to break through your current shackles and reach a higher level."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Hawkeye didn't really want to talk to this man: "Although I don't know your origin, I understand your purpose."
"Just tell me what you want me to do."
"I like talking to smart people."
Lin Que got straight to the point: "First, give me the cultivation method for Haki and your insights into swordsmanship."
Hawkeye was stunned: "You don't have Haki?"
He had thought Lin Que didn't use it yesterday because he looked down on his strength.
He hadn't expected the other party to genuinely not know how.
Suppressing the surprise in his heart, Hawkeye spoke.
"The method for cultivating Haki is actually very simple. First is Armament Haki..."
...
As the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye's understanding of the three types of Haki was far beyond what ordinary people could compare to.
In just a few minutes, he finished explaining the principles and cultivation methods of Haki, and even demonstrated them for Lin Que.
And after Lin Que watched it once, three notification sounds rang in his ears one after another.
"Detected the cultivation method for Armament Haki. Do you wish to spend 100 points to gain initial mastery?"
"Detected the cultivation method for Observation Haki. Do you wish to spend 100 points to gain initial mastery?"
"Detected the cultivation method for Conqueror's Haki. Do you wish to spend 300 points to gain initial mastery?"
"Only 500 points?"
Lin Que raised an eyebrow: "That's quite cheap."
As long as one grasped the method of learning or cultivating, one could use group points to learn new skills.
Asuna had told him about this shortly after he joined the group.
Skill levels were divided into five grades: Initial Mastery, Proficient, Mastered, Perfected, and Divine.
In addition, there were some special abilities that didn't have level divisions, such as Lin Que's [Limiter Release].
However, these were few and could be disregarded.
Besides helping with Initial Mastery, group points could also help increase skill proficiency, allowing them to reach higher levels.
Lin Que only realized this, which was why he saved all the points he gained from daily sign-ins after his first use of points.
Compared to using them to improve his negligible physical fitness, learning new skills or traveling between worlds with points was more cost-effective.
"[Points -100, Armament Haki level increased to Initial Mastery]"
"[Points -100, Observation Haki level increased to Initial Mastery]"
"[Points -300, Conqueror's Haki level increased to Initial Mastery]"
With 500 points spent, Lin Que's three types of Haki successfully reached Initial Mastery.
"So this is Armament Haki?"
Black Armament Haki spread over his fist, quickly enveloping it completely.
Lin Que carefully sensed it and came to a conclusion.
"It's really not very useful."
Compared to his physical fitness, the Initial Mastery level Armament Haki seemed too insignificant.
If he hadn't specifically tried to sense it, he wouldn't even have felt the boost this Haki provided him.
Compared to Armament Haki, Conqueror's Haki and Observation Haki were more practical.
The former could help Lin Que clear out weaklings, while the latter could make his perception sharper, allowing him to sense things he couldn't before.
After some thought, Lin Que decided to raise the level of Observation Haki first.
"[Points -300, Observation Haki level increased to Proficient]"
"[Points -1000, Observation Haki level increased to Mastered]"
"[Points -2000, Observation Haki level increased to Perfected]"
"[Points -5000, Observation Haki level increased to Divine]"
....