Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

This musical instrument, a treasure from his homeland in his previous life, was probably beyond his current skill level, so he could only force himself to focus on other instruments.

In the end, Reina spent 30 points to redeem a more elegant violin. After all, that musical instrument that accompanies you from birth to death is not something that just anyone can control.

After putting the violin he had exchanged back on his bed, Reina took a shower and then excitedly ran off to find Ismail. He wanted to test his newfound ability and see just how much energy he could absorb.

"Hey kid, why are you waking me up so early? I haven't had a good night's sleep yet!" Ismail said to Reina, who looked impatient, while yawning.

"Haha...Quick, quick! Let's have a spar!" Reina said with a laugh after pulling Ismail onto the deck.

"Hmm? Did you go crazy from training last night? Although you've improved rapidly, there's no way you can beat me in just one night!" Ismail squinted at Reina and waved his hand as he spoke.

"Take this!" Reina didn't bother to explain, and after shouting, he threw a punch at Ismail.

"You bastard! Fine... since you want to get beaten up, I'll grant your wish!" Ismail was startled by Reina's sudden punch and immediately came to his senses.

"Bang!" Reina's punch was just to force his opponent to fight him, and there was nothing fancy about it. Naturally, it was impossible for him to hit Ismail. He was the one who was hit. Enraged, Ismail did not hold back and kicked Reina directly in the stomach.

"Huh? What's going on?" Completely different from what he had imagined, after he kicked Reina, the other party did not react at all, as if he had not been kicked at all. Moreover, Ismail felt as if he had kicked cotton, as if he had not exerted any force.

Chapter 5 Increase in Strength

"What happened? I definitely kicked you!" After they separated, Ismail looked at Reina with a puzzled expression and asked.

“Hehe…” Reina chuckled lightly, without offering any explanation.

Ismail's full-force kick just now didn't reach his absorption limit, but he could feel that the energy generated by that kick was close to half of what he could absorb.

In other words, if he doesn't release the energy he just absorbed during a battle, he can absorb at most the same amount of attack energy as the previous two kicks in a single fight.

Moreover, when he tried to absorb this energy to strengthen himself, he found that he could not digest this energy instantly like the Black Emperor, but needed time.

"You brat, what kind of strange ability do you have? Did you secretly eat a Devil Fruit?" Ismail asked Reina curiously.

At this point, he no longer cared that Reina had woken him up from his nap.

"No, this isn't a Devil Fruit ability! I don't know why, I just suddenly felt like I had this ability!" Reina shrugged and said directly.

“That’s strange, let me try again!” Ismail said curiously as he walked up to Reina.

"Wait! I'm not quite proficient at it yet, wait a bit longer!" Reina said, closing his eyes and sitting on the ground.

After waiting for about five minutes, Reina stood up and said, "Alright, try your best!"

He stopped Ismail from attacking earlier to test how long it would take him to absorb all that energy.

"Hoo! Watch out, I'm about to make my move!" Ismail took a deep breath and stepped forward, aiming directly at Reina's chest.

But something strange happened again; his fist felt like it was hitting cotton, and Reina didn't even flinch.

"Hehe, not bad, even more powerful than that kick just now!" Reina said with a smirk.

"You little brat... that's really strange! What kind of ability is this? It feels like... it feels like I didn't even hit you!" Ismail withdrew his fist and asked in surprise.

However, Reina ignored him and continued to close his eyes and absorb energy.

Five minutes later, Reina opened his eyes again and said, "Come on, let's continue our sparring!"

Ismail's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and without refusing, he immediately started fighting with Reina.

After several experiments, Reina discovered that his ability could be triggered as long as his body came into contact with the other party, and that the absorbed energy could actually be stored as long as it was not digested or released by himself!

In other words, he could deliberately take two kicks from Ismail and then release his energy all at once, which would not only damage his opponent but also deplete all the energy in Ismail's body.

However, there are limitations to activating his abilities. It seems to be related to his physical strength. After releasing his energy, he finds that his physical strength has been greatly depleted. After a battle, he would be out of breath after releasing his abilities four or five times.

Even so, Ismail, who had slightly surpassed him just a day ago, was no longer a match for him.

"You're a real freak! How's it going? Have you figured out your ability yet?" Ismail knew that Reina was challenging him to a sparring session to test his ability, so he was basically cooperating with Reina by the end.

"Hmm! I've almost got it down, but I still need to improve my proficiency!" Reina nodded and grinned as he spoke.

"Your ability should be to absorb and release the damage I caused you, right? When you were closing your eyes and not moving before, were you dealing with the damage I caused you?" Although Ismail wasn't very strong, he still guessed part of Reina's ability.

“Yes! I can absorb the damage others inflict on me and then release it after accumulating it. But right now, the absorption limit is very low. If I don’t release it, I need to actively expel the damage from my body. During this time, I have to be very focused!” Reina nodded and said, half-jokingly.

He knew that the Black Emperor's bloodline was the foundation of his current position, so even though he had a good relationship with Ismail, he didn't tell him the truth.

“Very good ability. From now on, I am no match for you!” Ismail smiled helplessly and waved his hand at Reina.

"Thank you for being willing to spar with me during this time!" Reina said with a bow.

Without Ismail's cooperation, his progress would never have been so rapid.

After the two parted ways, Reina continued working with his tools, never forgetting the fundamental reason why he was able to become stronger.

Soon after, news of Reina's sudden possession of magical abilities spread throughout the ship. This was something Ismail had specifically asked Reina about before telling anyone.

If Reina didn't want to make it public, Ismail promised to keep it a secret for him. However, Reina knew that such things couldn't be hidden, so it was better to just say it openly. After all, this world is still a world where the strong are respected.

"Kid, I heard you've acquired a pretty good ability? Let me see!" Longbread said with a mocking smile when he came to Reina to get the cake at noon.

"It's not exactly a special ability. It's just that I can absorb a certain amount of damage and then release it as my own energy. But if it exceeds my absorption limit, it's completely useless!" Reina scratched the back of his head and said with a smile.

During his previous battle with Ismail, he absorbed and digested energy twice. Although it wasn't much, he discovered that this energy could not only change his physique and enhance his speed and strength, but also slightly improve Black Emperor's abilities.

Digesting that energy will increase the total amount of energy he can absorb, and he has found a way to train this ability.

"Oh? How much damage can it absorb? If the upper limit is high, this ability is not bad!" Longbread's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile.

"Well... I can't absorb much damage right now. If Ismail goes all out, that's about my limit!" Reina said with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head, trying to make himself look as simple and honest as possible.

"Really? Then let me see the results of your physical training these past few days!" With that, Longbread put down the cake in his hand, intending to spar with Reina.

"Well... how about we send the cake over first, and then come back? What if Lingling gets angry because she didn't get to eat the cake? I'll be in big trouble!" Reina said with an embarrassed smile.

“Alright! Come with me!” Long bread nodded and said.

So the two of them went to Charlotte Linlin's cabin, delivered the cake there first, and then went up to the deck.

"Get ready! I'm attacking!" Longbread had barely finished speaking when he was already in front of Reina, throwing a punch straight at Reina's chest.

Reina didn't dodge, and directly raised his leg to strike the long bread.

A glint flashed in Longbread's eyes. He didn't dodge. At the same time, he punched Reina and kicked Reina's whip leg with one foot.

"Oh!"

The two men's legs collided, making a loud noise.

The long bread did a somersault in the air and landed, then took a few steps back, leaving Reina's attack range. It looked at Reina with a surprised expression, only to find that Reina was looking at it with a smile and did not press his advantage.

His fist should have hit Reina first, but the return of his fist felt quite strange, as if it hadn't hit him at all. Judging from Reina's condition, it really hadn't caused him any damage.

Moreover, the two legs collided, and the opponent's strength was somewhat beyond his expectations; otherwise, he wouldn't have been knocked back by Reina's whip kick.

"Is this your ability? It's rather strange! Now I'll get serious!" Long bread said seriously after making some adjustments.

"Yes! Please guide me!" Reina nodded and said.

Although he now possesses the Black Emperor's abilities, he doesn't believe he can truly defeat Longbread, because the opponent still has three question marks above their head and no specific data is displayed, proving that the opponent's combat strength is at least one and a half times that of him.

These days he has figured out the pattern: as long as the opponent's combat strength is within one time of his own, he can see the opponent's specific combat strength; but if it exceeds that value, he can only see a question mark.

His current combat power is already over 140 points, so the opponent's combat power is at least 300 points or more.

He felt that the combat power given by the system was somewhat similar to the power level of CP9, a member of the World Government, which was used in the anime to measure their power level. He remembered that Kalifa, the CP9 member with the lowest power level, had a power level of over 600 before she ate the fruit.

An ordinary naval soldier wielding a weapon has a power level of 10, which is similar to his value when he first learned basic physical techniques.

"Is this the hardworking menial crew member?" On the second-floor attic of the pirate ship, Captain Rocks looked down at Longbread and Reina sparring and asked listlessly.

"That's right, he's the handyman, doing the most cleaning work every day. The fact that our ship is so clean now is all thanks to him! But his strength... is still a bit lacking," combatant John said with a smile.

"Hmph, the head chef that Lingling recommended is really weak, isn't he? He's having such a hard time dealing with a mere servant?" Shiki the Golden Lion said with some dissatisfaction as he watched the battle below.

"He's just a chef, this is pretty good!" Silver Axe glanced at Golden Lion and said coolly.

"Damn it, what do you mean?" Shiki the Golden Lion had already drawn his sword, ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Silver Axe snorted coldly and turned his head to the side, ignoring Golden Lion Shiki.

"Is his ability... a Devil Fruit ability?" Rocks, sitting in the main seat, tilted his head and asked listlessly.

“According to him, he doesn’t seem to have eaten a Devil Fruit; he just woke up one day and apparently gained this ability!” John, standing next to Rocks, replied with a smile.

"Whether you've ever eaten a Devil Fruit or not, why don't you try it and see?" Shiki the Golden Lion suddenly stood up and disappeared from the spot.

Reina, who was fighting back and forth with the long bread below, had just exhausted the energy stored in his body when he suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He subconsciously activated his ability, but there was too much energy, and he instantly reached the limit of what he could absorb.

Before he could even activate his ability to retaliate, he was kicked away and fell into the sea from the ship.

Chapter 6 Trainee Crew Members

"Pfft!"

After Reina fell into the sea, Longbread looked at the suddenly appearing Golden Lion Shiki with a grim expression.

"Shiki... are you looking for death?" Charlotte Linlin, who was eating cake and watching Longbread and Reiner spar, suddenly stood up, stared at Shiki the Golden Lion, and said in a deep voice.

However, Shiki the Golden Lion was not afraid. Instead, he smiled and said, "Linlin, he's just a handyman. I'm only checking if he's eaten any Devil Fruit. I have no intention of taking his life!"

"This is no reason for you to suddenly attack my people!" Charlotte Linlin was clearly not one to listen to reason, and after getting up, she threw a punch at Shiki the Golden Lion.

Shiki was not to be outdone, drawing his two weapons, "Sakura-ju" and "Kikura-ku," to block Charlotte Linlin's punch.

"This is just a warning. If you dare to mess around again, I'll kill you!" Charlotte Linlin didn't continue her attack after her fist was blocked. Instead, she snorted and said directly.

Shiki the Golden Lion ignored Charlotte Linlin and instead looked at Reina on the sea surface outside the ship. He had not sunk to the bottom of the sea but was swimming on the surface, seemingly heading towards the pirate ship.

"Hmph!" Upon seeing this, Shiki the Golden Lion snorted coldly and flew directly to the second floor.

His purpose was indeed only to confirm whether Reina had eaten a Devil Fruit, so Reina's ability to swim has proven that he really did not eat a Devil Fruit.

Reina, who had been pulled aboard by the crew, lay on the deck panting heavily. He hadn't seen who attacked him at all. He was extremely flustered when he was suddenly attacked, otherwise he would have had a chance to retaliate with the energy. Therefore, he was very dissatisfied with his performance.

However, this is a matter of combat awareness, which can be trained. As he gains more combat experience, he will gradually improve.

After learning from Longbread that it was Shiki the Golden Lion who suddenly made his move in order to verify whether he had actually eaten a Devil Fruit, Reina silently cursed all the women in Shiki's family.

"You're quite good. Besides your rapid improvement in strength, you're also very diligent. So the captain has just personally ordered that you be recognized as an apprentice crew member on the ship. However, the menial tasks are still your responsibility!" Longbread said softly, seeing that Reina had recovered a little.

"I'm a trainee crew member?" Reina exclaimed in surprise, his face beaming with joy.

Don't underestimate this trainee crew member's status. Before, he was a handyman, which is basically a slave on the ship. No one cared whether he lived or died. But the trainee crew member is different. It proves that he is already a member of the ship. If someone kills him at will, it is a challenge to the captain's authority, which is a serious crime of persecuting a comrade in the pirate world.