After bidding farewell to the giants and the children of the House of Lambs, Reno led Linlin and the others away from Elbaf.
On the calm sea, the ship cleaved through the waves, slowly sailing away from Elbaf.
On the ship, Reno was organizing his gains.
The trip to Elbaf had earned him a huge profit once again.
Besides the Devil Fruit he had already obtained, there was the addition of four new crew members.
The Cook-Cook Fruit user with A-Rank aptitude: Streusen.
The giant warrior with A-Rank aptitude: Hajrudin.
As someone who knew the original story, Reno wasn't surprised by their aptitude, given the strength and talent they displayed.
What surprised him most were Jace and Black Shadow, especially Jace.
Black Shadow: A+ Rank Aptitude!
Jace: S-Rank Aptitude!
Back at the House of Lambs, he knew Jace had talent, but he didn't expect it to be so high—reaching S-Rank.
He had to admit, Carmel's professional ability was indeed strong.
This was also the first S-Rank aptitude member Reno had recruited. Once he grew up, he would be a top-tier powerhouse of the sea and become Reno's right-hand man.
Reno rejoiced inwardly; he had really found a treasure!
"Open System Panel!"
Reno chanted in his mind.
[Opening System Panel...]
[Host]: Reno
[System]: Great Voyage System
[Swordsmanship]: Lv30 (31/20000)
[Observation Haki]: Lv10 (11/30000)
[Armament Haki]: Lv10 (11/30000)
[Conqueror's Haki]: Lv6 (7/30000)
[Voyage Points]: 1,400,000
[Subdued Crew]: Roge (Golden Sword-Lion Fruit), Charlotte Linlin, Streusen (Cook-Cook Fruit), Jace, Black Shadow, Hajrudin
[Fortune Value]: 0
...
The Voyage Points, which had been completely spent, now reached a staggering 1.4 million.
Jace with his S-Rank aptitude contributed 500,000 points. Black Shadow with his A+ Rank aptitude contributed 300,000 points. Streusen and Hajrudin, with A-Rank aptitude each, contributed 50,000 points, totaling 100,000.
The four crew members recruited on Elbaf brought Reno a total of 900,000 Voyage Points.
As for the remaining 500,000 points, they were the reward for obtaining the Soul-Soul Fruit.
Reno hadn't expected that a single Devil Fruit would yield a reward of 500,000 Voyage Points, comparable to recruiting Jace.
However, he knew very well that the Soul-Soul Fruit was one of the top-tier Devil Fruits on the sea, something one could only hope to come across by luck.
Such a generous reward was reasonable.
[Congratulations Host! You have obtained a total of 1,400,000 Voyage Points. Do you wish to add them to your attribute stats?]
Reno rubbed his chin, mentally allocating the Voyage Points.
After weighing his options, he decided to add most of the points to Conqueror's Haki.
After all, whether it was Swordsmanship, Observation Haki, or Armament Haki, they could all be improved through training.
Only the cultivation of Conqueror's Haki was extremely difficult, and Reno didn't want to waste too much time on it.
Following Reno's request, the System quickly distributed the 1.4 million Voyage Points.
Swordsmanship (300,000 points): Lv40 → Lv41 (80,000)
Observation Haki (300,000 points): Lv16 → Lv17 (100,000)
Armament Haki (300,000 points): Lv16 → Lv17 (100,000)
Conqueror's Haki (500,000 points): Lv12 → Lv13 (100,000)
Seeing his Voyage Points cleared out again, Reno clicked his tongue secretly. A whole 1.4 million points gone before he could even warm them up.
The higher the level, the more Voyage Points were needed, making upgrades increasingly difficult.
[Ding! Detected that Host's Observation Haki has successfully reached Level 15. Awakened: Future Sight!]
An unexpected surprise! Another unexpected surprise!!
The system notification ringing in his mind almost made Reno laugh out loud.
Originally, he simply thought upgrading Observation Haki would only increase the detection range. He hadn't expected that a quantitative change would lead to a qualitative change.
Observation Haki could sharpen the five senses, perceive the aura of surrounding creatures, and predict and avoid danger.
When cultivated to the extreme, one could briefly see the future.
In the original story, Big Mom's son, Charlotte Katakuri, was the representative figure of this ability, having mastered Observation Haki to perfection.
Of course, this was just one branch of Observation Haki.
For example, Queen Otohime of Fish-Man Island could perceive the thoughts and emotions of others and transmit her own thoughts to influence their minds.
Patrick Redfield ("Red the Aloof") could read minds, and Aisa could hear the voices of everyone in the country.
These innate, extremely special types of Observation Haki were, in a sense, even rarer than Conqueror's Haki.
But for the current Reno, Future Sight was more than enough.
"I'll have to find ways to get more Voyage Points in the future."
After organizing all his gains, Reno stretched comfortably.
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
"..."
At this moment, Linlin and the others walked out of their rooms one after another.
Looking at the people in front of him, Reno nodded happily in response.
Navigator: Roge (Golden Sword-Lion Fruit user)
Cook: Streusen (Cook-Cook Fruit user)
Combatants: Linlin, Hajrudin, Jace, Black Shadow
And the Captain, naturally, was him.
Although the ship still lacked many positions, it basically had the embryonic form of a pirate crew now.
Jace and Black Shadow were extremely talented, but they had no experience in other areas, so they could only be trained as combatants.
"Captain, all the guards have safely returned to the Karst Kingdom," Roge walked up to Reno and reported.
Roge used to call Reno "Young Master," but since the pirate crew had been established and Reno was the Captain, it was better to unify the title.
"Understood."
Before leaving Elbaf, Reno had ordered the guards to return to the Karst Kingdom.
These men were strong, the elite force of Karst. If not for protecting Reno, the King wouldn't have dispatched so many people at once.
But for the current Reno, their strength was truly lacking.
Rather than keeping them by his side, it was better to let them go back to protect the country, where their strength could be put to better use.