Pirates' Magic Odyssey: Unveiling Eight Skills At The Beginning - Chapter 18

The residual ashes of the flames drifted away with the wind. The group of students gazed at the figure bathed in sunlight. Despite his small stature, he was covered in wounds, scars on his body seemingly narrating the challenges he had faced.

All the students wondered, if it were them in that situation, could they, like Yang Ming, tactically target an enemy officer?

For a moment, everyone looked at Yang Ming, their respect and admiration evident.

Smoker gave a harsh stomp on the Silver Fox Fukusei beneath his feet. He had also heard Yang Ming’s words earlier, and muttered to himself:

“No matter how many times you’re knocked down, will you still rise up?”

Smoker’s heart brimmed with passion and a warrior’s spirit as if those words had ignited it. In his pupils, he saw the reflection of Yang Ming’s figure, his gaze intense.

“I really look forward to the day when I can have a good fight with you!”

Yang Ming stood in place, his chest slowly rising and falling.

When he used the Flame Breathing to inhale a large amount of oxygen into his chest, circulated his blood, and enhanced his explosive power, there would be a brief period of weakness afterward.

He felt discomfort throughout his body—aches from being beaten by the pirate officers and fatigue from repeatedly using the iron blocks, causing a heavy burden on his body.

A group of tardy students approached from the distance. Looking at the front row where Drake and others were, Yang Ming’s lips curled slightly.

“My dear son, you finally decided to come see your old man?”

Drake and the others in his dormitory clenched their foreheads, veins bulging as they shouted:

“Damn it, give us back our sense of awe!”

Yang Ming’s source of happiness was just that simple. Seeing Drake and the others, who shared his dorm, looking furious and agitated, relieved much of his built-up tension.

Many seasoned soldiers who had been on the battlefield were prone to post-traumatic stress disorder due to the stimulation of teammates’ and enemies’ deaths or the psychological impact of their own killings during wars.

If not regulated in time, this condition could become inevitable.

Apart from regular training, the Naval Academy also had courses on dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Everyone had different methods to cope with it.

For example, Garp shifted his focus by continuously eating snacks, while Kyros traveled around the world on a bicycle to relieve pent-up negative emotions.

If not done this way, it was easy for their temperaments to change dramatically.

Yang Ming had once heard Vice Admiral Zeff talk about his first batch of students he had taught 21 years ago. At that time, Akainu was not as hot-tempered and unyielding as he was now; at most, he harbored resentment towards pirates who disrupted peace.

Later on, due to prolonged battles against pirates, seeing his companions and innocent civilians dying tragically at the hands of pirates and cannons, he developed his current obsessive personality in the high-pressure environment. He believed in implementing absolute justice, eradicating all pirates from the world to achieve global peace.

Vice Admiral Zeff’s family had been killed in a pirate revenge attack, but he didn’t go looking for revenge against those pirates to fulfill his sense of justice. Instead, he chose to nurture new talents in the Marines, finding solace in that role for the remainder of his life.

People’s viewpoints on justice varied based on their perspectives and experiences.

Yang Ming escorted the Silver Fox Fukusei onto the training ship.

When he saw the towering figure of Vice Admiral Zeff, the Silver Fox Fukusei instantly recognized him—the former Marine Admiral who had been awe-inspiring on the high seas.

In an instant, the Silver Fox Fukusei’s face turned pale.

He knew he had been terribly deceived by Donquixote Doflamingo!

Vice Admiral Zeff cast a satisfied glance at Yang Ming, lifted the Silver Fox Fukusei, and walked towards the makeshift interrogation room on the training ship without looking back, saying:

“You guys go rest and recover from your injuries. I’ll interrogate this guy thoroughly.”

Due to the number of wounded, the ship’s original sickbay was repurposed to treat the severely injured. Yang Ming had no choice but to remain on the deck.

Tashigi brought a medical kit over, and upon seeing Yang Ming haphazardly tying strips of cloth around his wounds, she hurriedly approached.

“Yang Ming, let me bandage your wounds.”

A pleasant fragrance wafted over. Perhaps she had rushed over, but a hint of turbulent waves seemed to emanate from Tashigi.

Tashigi took out cotton swabs, medicinal disinfectant alcohol, gauze, and other items from the medical kit and carefully tended Yang Ming’s wounds.

Looking at the ghastly wounds on Yang Ming’s body, Tashigi felt a shiver run down her spine. She couldn’t imagine how a boy his age could endure such severe injuries without making a sound.

As the cool medicinal disinfectant alcohol came into contact with the exposed wounds, it was as if chili powder had been sprinkled over them, causing an immediate burning sensation. Yang Ming’s brow furrowed in pain.

There were many wounded on the deck, and with the help of their comrades’ treatment, agonized cries could be heard from time to time.

Through this method, the injured could divert their attention elsewhere.

Yang Ming was a bit different. He shifted his focus onto the prompt from the system he had just seen.

“Ding!”

“Congratulations to the host for uttering a classic line from a food-themed prisoner and earning a chance to draw from the roulette wheel. Would you like to activate the roulette wheel?”

In Yang Ming’s field of vision, a roulette wheel slowly appeared.

Even though it was right within reach, the people around him, including Tashigi which seemed oblivious to it.

Yang Ming had noticed long ago that only he could see the roulette wheel. Others couldn’t see or touch it.

The roulette wheel had only two types of prizes: combat skills and special abilities.

Fighting Techniques: Hammer Fist, Gourmet Ethics.

Special Abilities: Gourmet Cells, Demon King’s Sense of Smell.

Noticing that Tashigi had been staring at him, Yang Ming suddenly turned his head and saw Tashigi propping up her cheek with one hand, and her eyes fixedly locked onto him.

With Tashigi’s help, Yang Ming’s upper body was wrapped in white bandages, making him look like a mummy.

“Why, is there a wound on my face? You’re looking at me so intensely.”

Seeing Yang Ming’s somewhat distressed expression, Tashigi couldn’t help but chuckle.

Then, she took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the bloodstains off Yang Ming’s face.

“I just think that you’re just a kid, yet you unexpectedly have such a manly air!”

“I am a man to begin with!” Yang Ming replied honestly.

“Yes, yes, you’re a little man.”

Tashigi didn’t catch the true meaning behind Yang Ming’s words and thought he was just saying it to save face.

Upon hearing a muffled sound like a drumbeat coming from Yang Ming’s abdomen, Tashigi, like an elder sister from the neighborhood, lightly flicked his nose with her jade-like fingers and sweetly smiled.

“I just applied medicine for you. Don’t move around, or you might reopen the wound and get infected by bacteria. I’ll go to the cafeteria and get you some food. Wait for me here, okay?”

With that, Tashigi packed up her medical supplies and turned to head back to the cabin.

Yang Ming smiled awkwardly.

Sensing the lingering fragrance around his nose, Yang Ming didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Fortunately, the lottery results were just announced.

?Gourmet Cells?: When implanted into the human body, the cells of the human body are activated, allowing the human’s life to evolve after enjoying food, thereby breaking through the limits of genetic shackles and surpassing the limits of humanity.

The Gourmet Cells gently merged into Yang Ming’s body, and he didn’t feel any obvious changes. However, they had already begun to subtly transform Yang Ming’s physique at a cellular level.

Human beings are a peculiar species which capable of creating all sorts of incredible miracles.

However, humans also have their limits. After growing to a certain extent, no matter how much they train, they won’t make any more progress.

It’s just that each person’s physique is different, and the upper limit of growth also varies.

In the original work, Johnny and Yosaku were both bounty hunters alongside Roronoa Zoro, but ultimately, they only became unknown bounty hunters in the East Blue. They might have died in some corner of the world at any time.

Those humans with extremely high growth potential are often labeled as geniuses with innate talent and skill.

As for those humans with little growth potential, people often refer to them as ordinary folks.

This is the harsh reality.

Even though Garp and others always viewed Yang Ming with the eyes of a genius, only Yang Ming himself knew that he couldn’t be considered a genius at all. He just had an external system installed that others didn’t.

Now that he had assimilated Gourmet Cells into his body, it meant that Yang Ming would no longer be restricted by his physical limits in the future!

However…

There’s one issue here! Yang Ming must eat delicious food to trigger the effects of the Gourmet Cells.

Just at this moment, Tashigi slowly approached with a food basket in hand.

Along the way, Tashigi attracted many glances.

Tashigi’s appearance and figure were top-notch, coupled with her lively personality. It could be said that she was a flower of the Naval Academy. Not only were the students of the same year envious, but even the seniors from the previous two years who were still in the Naval Academy had many admirers pursuing Tiana.

Unfortunately, Tashigi had never shown interest in other men.

Precisely because of this, when the students on the deck saw Tashigi feeding Yang Ming gently, they felt their hearts shatter.

If looks could kill, Yang Ming would probably be in great distress by now.

As the food fell into Yang Ming’s net, he felt a slight sense of dissatisfaction coming from his Gourmet Cells.

It seemed that these large pot meals couldn’t satisfy the Gourmet Cells’ definition of gourmet food.

This made Yang Ming realize that finding a chef must be added to his agenda. 

Otherwise, if he wanted to get stronger in the future, he would have to cook for himself, which would be quite troublesome.

After a satisfying meal, thanks to the resonance between the Flame Breathing and the Six Sensei Thieves, Yang Ming felt his injuries improving. In about three more days, his body would likely be back to normal.

The interrogation of Silver Fox Fukusei conducted by Vice Admiral Zeff went smoothly. It seemed that he was intentionally retaliating against Doflamingo. Silver Fox Fukusei detailed everything clearly.

Vice Admiral Zeff walked out of the temporary interrogation room, holding a notebook filled with handwriting, his face exuding a solemn and murderous aura.

He gathered Yang Ming, Smoker, Tashigi, Drake, Jonathan, and Daddy Masterson, six elite students. His tone was unusually serious as he said:

“I’m giving you a special mission. This mission is extremely dangerous, and a slight misstep could result in death. You haven’t formally joined the military yet, so you can consider it carefully before making a decision.”