Welcoming the sea breeze, Tang An began his daily training.
However, this time he added Shave to the routine.
Push-ups, sit-ups, frog jumps, running one hundred laps around the pirate ship--after completing all the basics of the Military Combat Technique and running through a set of military boxing, Tang An was already half-dead with exhaustion.
He felt entirely limp and weak, as if his body had been completely hollowed out.
After resting for half an hour, Tang An mustered his remaining spirit and began practicing Shave.
Compared to the basics of the Military Combat Technique, Shave was quite straightforward in principle.
Yet, simple as it looked, practicing it proved exceptionally troublesome.
The force of Shave relies entirely on the legs. If the method is incorrect or if the physical requirements are not met, forcing the technique can easily lead to crippling injuries.
"Stamping the ground ten times or more in 0.36 seconds."
Standing on one leg, Tang An rapidly stomped his right foot into the air a few times, but the result was far from ideal. Damn it, a single stomp took nearly a full second.
It seemed that successfully mastering Shave was still a long way off.
Tang An did not give up, continuing to practice in accordance with the knowledge and techniques stored in his mind.
When his right leg grew numb, he switched to his left leg. He was determined to master Shave.
The next day, Tang An could barely get out of bed. His legs were completely numb, and it took a long time of standing and moving around for them to recover.
Then, the monotonous training resumed.
He started with fifty push-ups, sit-ups, and other basic exercises before moving on to Shave.
Sweat continued to pour out of him during the training.
Two days passed just like that.
During these two days, they encountered a merchant ship, but the two parties did not interact.
On the fourth day, an ocean-going restaurant appeared in Tang An's line of sight.
Looking at the restaurant in the distance, where numerous merchant ships and pirate ships were docked, Tang An stood bare-chested and drenched in sweat.
"The Baratie. Have I already missed Zoro and Nami?"
According to the order in which the Straw Hat Pirates members joined, Luffy would meet Zoro first, followed by Nami, then Usopp, and finally Sanji.
Zoro was fine; he should currently be studying swordsmanship at Koushirou's dojo.
That was a heavyweight figure, and trying to kill Zoro right under his nose was obviously unrealistic.
Furthermore, Dragon might appear at the dojo at any time. In the event that Dragon already knew he was the one who had nearly killed Luffy, wouldn't that be walking straight into the tiger's den?
That possibility certainly existed.
Therefore, killing Zoro had the highest difficulty, followed by Sanji.
The difficulty was not small either, as he also had a heavyweight figure standing behind him--at least to Tang An, Red Leg Zeff was a big shot.
He was simply someone to avoid provoking.
Considering how effortlessly that man could shatter rock and leave footprints in steel plates, Tang An probably couldn't even withstand a single kick.
Calculate it any way he liked, the easiest targets to kill were Usopp and Nami.
Usopp had already been shot in the head by him, and he had missed Nami for now too.
He wondered if Arlong was currently in Orange Town.
Tang An was not entirely clear on the specific One Piece timeline and could only vaguely remember certain parts of it.
Looking at the gradually approaching ocean-going restaurant, Tang An fell into deep thought.
Since he had already arrived here, there was no reason to just pass it by.
His current strength was far too weak; continuing to drift across the open ocean was undoubtedly courting death. Not encountering any pirates over the past few days was already a blessing.
Perhaps he should stay here for a while.
At least he needed to successfully master Shave. Only then would he have a sliver of self-preservation capability, and when the time came to go back and deal with Zoro or Nami, his success rate would undoubtedly increase significantly.
The only uncertainty was the terminal cancer, and he had no idea when it would claim his life.
Judging by feel, however, lasting another three to four months should not be a problem.
If this were normal terminal cancer, it would be absolutely impossible for Tang An to still undergo daily training like this.
If not for his body twitching and spasming from time to time, Tang An would have doubted whether he even had terminal cancer at all.
Once he thought of something, he acted on it; Tang An had never been someone of indecisive character.
Just to be safe, however, there was still one more thing that needed to be done.
Tang An looked over at Raphael beside him.
Since he had chosen to stay at the ocean-going restaurant for a while, Raphael was no longer of any use.
Raphael knew all about the affairs of the Goa Kingdom, and Tang An had no desire to leave loose ends behind.
If he exposed his identity because of Raphael, it would undoubtedly bring unexpected trouble down the road.
Even if there ended up being no trouble, or if he was just overthinking things.
In this morbid world, caution was what allowed a person to live longer.
"Raphael, help me carry the alcohol and combustibles from the storage room."
Tang An turned around and walked toward the ship's cabin.
"What are we moving those for?"
Raphael looked somewhat bewildered.
"To burn this ship down."
Tang An did not hide his intentions.
After much deliberation, burning this pirate ship down was the best course of action. What if the Revolutionary Army followed the trail and tracked him down?
"Huh?"
Raphael was even more bewildered.
"I said move them, so move them."
Tang An glared, his tone deepening significantly.
Raphael said no more and began helping Tang An splash the alcohol and gasoline from the cabin all over the place.
When everything was done, Tang An and Raphael stood panting on the cabin staircase, two bundles at their feet packed entirely with gold, silver, and Berries.
These were originally Bursam's wealth.
But they belonged to Tang An now.
This money was more than enough to let him live comfortably and without worry for a whole year at the Baratie.
"Are we really going to burn it?"
Raphael stared down the stairwell, completely unaware that the God of Death was standing right behind him.
"Bang!"
A Type 52 pistol materialized in Tang An's hand. Accompanied by brain matter and shattered flesh and scalp flying from the back of the head, Tang An kicked Raphael down the stairwell.
Pulling out a lighter, he tossed it casually down the stairs and walked away without looking back, carrying the two bundles.
Behind him, the raging fire continued to spread. Tang An jumped off the pirate ship and landed on a small wooden boat that had to be propelled by oars, then moved further and further away from the pirate vessel and closer and closer to the ocean-going restaurant.
A real man never looks back.
"A ship is on fire over there."
At that moment, someone at the ocean-going restaurant naturally spotted the pirate ship engulfed in billowing flames, as well as Tang An rowing his oars across the sea surface.
About ten minutes later, Tang An rowed his small wooden boat to the Baratie.
The entire ocean-going restaurant was shaped like a giant ship with fish-shaped figureheads at both ends, covering a very large area.
Throughout the East Blue, the Baratie was the most famous of its kind.
The entire ocean-going restaurant adhered to the principle that "food must never be wasted" and possessed a large force of heavily armed combat chefs.
This faction could not be underestimated.
At least in the East Blue, not many pirates dared to cause trouble aboard it.
"Welcome to the Baratie."
The moment the small wooden boat docked at the exclusive small harbor, a waiter dressed in chef attire stepped forward to help.
These waiters were not only chefs but also served a dual role as combat personnel to maintain order in the ocean-going restaurant.
Most of them were former pirates, having simply been subdued by Red Leg Zeff.
"Help me carry these two bundles up."
Tang An pulled out ten thousand Berries as a tip.
"No problem."
"May I ask if the guest is staying overnight or dining?"
"Arrange the best room available for me."
The two of them walked up the stairs one after the other onto the main deck.
Along the surrounding railings, guests were sipping red wine and surveying their surroundings.
"Please follow me."
The waiter carried the bundles, judging from his years of experience that they were packed entirely with treasure.
This was a big spender.
Guided by the waiter, Tang An arrived at an area on the top floor. This room even came equipped with a private bathroom, balcony, and more.
However, the daily rate was very expensive.
According to the waiter, just the accommodation alone cost fifty thousand Berries a day, not including other expenses and miscellaneous costs.
Tang An was not short on money now, so naturally, he chose the best.