Knock knock!
Knock knock, knock knock.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Qingcheng."
"Come in!"
Creaaak. Qingcheng pushed the door open and greeted, "Hope I'm not disturbing your rest, Captain Roger."
"Hahaha, I don't sleep this early. But it's late — what brings you here?"
"Of course there's something. And it concerns the safety of everyone on the ship."
Roger's expression turned serious. "What is it?"
Qingcheng extended his hand and calmly said, "Aside from the tools I brought, the infirmary doesn't have a single medicine or piece of equipment. So I came to ask you for money."
Roger's face shifted. "How much do you need?"
Seeing Roger's expression, Qingcheng rolled his eyes, then held up a single finger. "This much."
"Ten thousand Berries?" Roger asked.
"Uh…" Qingcheng twitched at the corner of his mouth and replied, "Ten million Berries."
"Nani?!" Roger's eyes bulged. "Are you trying to scam me? Why would medicine cost that much?"
"Of course it does." Qingcheng explained seriously, "There are so many kinds of medicine, and they're all insanely expensive. Besides, we have nothing in stock. So the next time we dock, we'll need to do a massive restock — buying whatever we can find. We might not need them now, but we have to stock up. Not to mention I need a lot of herbs for crafting my own hemostatic powders, wound medicine, and so on—"
"Stop stop stop! I'll give it to you now!" A nervous Roger interrupted. A moment later, there was a loud thump as a black leather pouch hit the table.
"There's seven million Berries in here. Take it all — that's everything I have!" Roger shouted, then pulled out several more bundles of cash from his pockets. "Here, take this too."
…To think a notorious pirate worth over 100 million had so little money — Qingcheng looked at Roger with contempt. "Well, it's a bit short, but it should barely be enough."
"Barely enough?" Roger twitched at the corner of his mouth, dumbfounded, watching Qingcheng walk away coolly.
"Oh right — here are two of my special medicines, one bottle each. Don't take them unless absolutely necessary."
"What the hell?" Roger mumbled, reading the labels Rage Pill and Nutrient Pill. But when he saw the effects written on the back, his expression changed drastically. If the descriptions were true, these could be life-saving.
Morning. On the calm sea, the Roger Pirates' ship sailed toward their next destination — Crocodile Island — under the sunrise. On deck, some were idly chatting while others were actively training. For Qingcheng, who had just broken through to vice-captain level, wasting time was not an option. He was currently looking for a quiet place to enter his Zanpakutō's inner world and ask Sakuya if he could now begin learning Bankai.
In the vast sky and endless grassland, Qingcheng figure suddenly appeared.
"Say, don't you think you're too lazy? Why do I always find you sleeping when I come in?" Qingcheng said as he walked toward the figure.
"Then, my master, what do you think I should be doing?" The man in white robes stood up and replied, "And if I'm not mistaken, you haven't visited me in over a year. That really hurts my feelings! How do you plan to make it up to me?"
"Cut the crap." Qingcheng snapped. "My spiritual pressure has reached vice-captain level. Teach me Bankai already! I urgently need to get stronger."
"Bankai? You've reached vice-captain level?" Sakuya stared at him in surprise, then burst into laughter: "Puhaha!"
"You bastard, what's so funny?! Am I wrong?" Qingcheng glared, clearly annoyed.
"You're still far from Bankai. You need captain-level spiritual pressure before you can even think about it." Sakuya explained. "But what I can tell you now is… my true Shikai."
"Wait—what? True Shikai?" Qingcheng was stunned.
"Yes, the true Shikai," Sakuya explained. "It can only be unlocked once your spiritual pressure reaches vice-captain level. What you learned before was at best a half Shikai. I only taught it to you because you kept nagging in my ear. Frankly, it was embarrassing."
Qingcheng face turned dark. I thought we were friends, and you tricked me…
"What's wrong? Mad that I tricked you?" Sakuya grinned. "So the question is: are you going to learn the true Shikai or not?"
"...I'll learn it," Qingcheng growled through gritted teeth, looking like he'd swallowed something foul.
"That's more like it." Sakuya smiled. "Then listen closely — the incantation is @#$@!#!..."
Qingcheng looked confused. "What did you say?"
"Eh?" Sakuya paused, then taunted, "You can't hear me? See? That's what happens when you don't talk to me for a year. Back then, you'd have heard it perfectly."
Aocheng: "!·%·#￥…"
Sakuya calmly said, "Don't look at me like that — it's the truth."
"Fine! I was wrong! From now on I'll talk to you every day. But right now, I need to start training, so just watch." Aocheng took a deep breath and began chanting.
From the haze, a corrupted crest emerges. Untamed, arrogant talent surges. Tides swell—negation—paralysis—instant strike, disrupting eternal slumber…
Hummm—
In the sky, as Aocheng chanted, mysterious black objects rose in pillar-like formations. As they formed, the once-stable aura around Aocheng began to spiral out of control…
The Iron Princess crawls, self-destructing endlessly…
Cough, cough.
Suddenly, after just reaching 10% formation, the black pillar collapsed entirely, and Aocheng, drenched in sweat, gasped heavily.
Damn it… I was super focused, and I still couldn't get even 20% of Black Coffin completed. Kidō above level 90 really is on another level…
Huff… Huff…
After resting a while, Aocheng took another deep breath and resumed his training.
Time always flies when training.
By midnight, under the soft moonlight, Aocheng returned from his Zanpakutō space. He sighed, gazing at the serene moon outside his window. After an entire day, he had only managed to grasp 10% of the level 90 Hadō: Kurohitsugi (Black Coffin). That kind of progress was truly frustrating.
And now, only three days remained before they reached Crocodile Island. In mere tens of hours, time would fly like an arrow.