Frankly speaking, Luo Lan wasn't a fan of those brute-force, punch-for-punch kinds of battles. They just seemed... crude. And kind of dumb.
The same applied to swordsmanship—too rough, too basic.
So even after he fixed his physical condition and his body improved rapidly each day, he still preferred to use firearms as his primary weapon.
Why, you ask?
Well, as a man from the modern world, wouldn't using cold weapons be a step backward?
What's that? You're saying hot weapons in the One Piece world aren't as strong as cold weapons?
Don't be ridiculous. That's only because the "hot weapons" in the One Piece world are barely scratching the surface of real modern firepower.
Who told you that's the full potential of hot weapons?
Please. They haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg…
Of course, the most important reason is—
Guns just look cooler!!
This swordsmithing workshop? For Luo Lan, it meant nothing.
But just because he didn't need it didn't mean others wouldn't find it useful.
Ian had mentioned before that the Marines should be equipped with melee weapons. Otherwise, if enemies closed the distance…
Plus, within the 157th Branch, Ian had already identified several promising swordsmanship talents.
After all, not everyone is suited to wield a gun.
---
[Sword & Blade Forging Workshop]
Building Grade: C
Placement Requirement: Leveled ground
Construction Requirement: One C-class construction team
Build Time: 2 days
Materials: 1100 Standard Building Units
Blueprint Cost: 2800 points
Special Effect Slots: 2
"Hmm, not too expensive. System, I'll take one."
> [Ding! Host has purchased the blueprint for the Sword & Blade Forging Workshop. 2800 points deducted.]
[Ding! Host has used 1950 units of standard materials. 1100 points deducted.]
[Ding! Remaining points:]
Still got one billion Berries!
No need to rush into construction. The current project queue is already long enough.
Now that there's finally money to spend, it's time to do something he's always wanted to do—but couldn't until now…
Upgrade the Hive-Style Underground Research Institute with special traits.
Since this facility was a gift from the system's newbie package, unlike custom-built structures, it didn't come with a free trait draw.
In other words, the five available special trait slots for the Research Institute were all still empty!
Luo Lan had long wanted to add traits to this key building. The only problem was...
S-tier traits were insanely expensive—one billion Berries per refresh.
Where was he supposed to get that kind of money before?
"System, refresh the first special trait slot for the Hive-Style Underground Research Institute!"
> [Ding! Refresh complete.]
[Building Trait 1: 'Eureka' Chance +300%]
[Ding! Remaining Points: 250]
Eureka chance?
Luo Lan remembered seeing this on Seras' profile before.
He quickly pulled up the personnel management system and reopened Seras' stats. Sure enough—
Eureka Chance: 0.9%.
Don't underestimate that number—it's incredibly high.
Think of a "Eureka" moment as the research equivalent of a sudden epiphany in cultivation—a rare and precious moment of enlightenment.
With this building trait added, Seras' Eureka rate would now triple from 0.9% to 2.7%.
And not just Seras—everyone in the research institute, hundreds of staff members, would benefit from this!
For just ten thousand points?
Totally worth it.
The only downside…
Remaining Points: 250.
Kinda feels like the system's mocking him…
"System, what's the cost of apprentice-level workers in the manufacturing category?"
> "One point per worker."
Oh? Only one-tenth the cost of a researcher?
Should I send a batch to Barton?
That guy cries even more than Seras.
Makes sense, though. Relying solely on Ian to find and bring back new talent was too slow.
And even when they did bring people in, not everyone was suited for factory work. Those who were still needed extensive training.
"System, use all remaining points to recruit apprentice-level workers!"
> [Ding! 250 points deducted. All workers will arrive gradually within three days.]
[Ding! Remaining Points: 0]
1.8 billion Berries.
Sounds like a lot, but once you start spending... it goes fast.
No worries though. He still had more than two billion left to burn.
And later on, once his strength increased—
A trip to Skypiea would solve all money problems.
Remember how in the original story, the Straw Hats picked up just a few golden trinkets and earned 300 million Berries?
That was just from small items—not even a tenth of that giant golden bell's value. Let alone all the gold Enel used to build his Ark Maxim…
Conservatively speaking, the total value of gold on Skypiea would easily be in the hundreds of billions.
Still, Luo Lan needed to prepare beforehand.
In his previous life, there were various theories about extracting Devil Fruits from certain methods.
Even if he couldn't use one himself, giving it to a subordinate would be more than worth it.
After all, those Logia-type Fruits were top-tier in offense. Calling them "Admiral-class seeds" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
No way he'd let them go to waste.
Just as Luo Lan was about to close the system and nap for a bit—
The internal comms chimed.
He reached out and tapped to accept. First Officer Richard's face appeared on-screen.
"Captain, we've spotted a Navy warship heading toward Rhodes Island."
"A Navy warship…?"
Luo Lan paused—then suddenly remembered.
Given the time and location, it was probably Smoker.
Tsk. Soon enough, this guy would be one of his Marines. A First-Class Seaman!
As for where to assign him?
Hina's squad.
Should be fun to watch!
---
Meanwhile, on the warship's deck…
No one noticed the massive vessel cruising several hundred meters below them.
Inside one of the cabins, Smoker, who had been fast asleep—
Suddenly jolted awake.
He was drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged.
As if he'd just finished hours of high-intensity training.
"Damn it… I can't even remember what I was dreaming about. But this feeling… what is it?"
"It's like something terrible is about to happen!"
Good thing Luo Lan couldn't see him right now.
Otherwise, he'd probably grin and say:
"They say a woman's intuition is strong, but you, Smoker…"
"You're not bad yourself."
"Don't worry. With all those years of friendship between you and Hina, I'm sure she'll take good care of you."
---
A/N: You can visit my Ko-Fi for more free chapters.
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27