"Man... that was a great nap."
Daren opened his drowsy eyes and gave a big stretch.
He looked around and found himself still lying amidst the ruins of the auction house, a thin blanket casually draped over him.
"Commodore Daren! You're awake!"
A young Marine soldier rushed over, saluting with excitement. His eyes were filled with raw admiration and awe.
"Hmm? How long was I out?"
Daren smiled as he glanced at the soldier, whose face was still smudged with blood and dirt.
"Roughly an hour and a half, sir. We're still cleaning up the battlefield."
Daren looked around. Not far off, Marines had organized into teams—slapping Seastone shackles on surviving pirates, escorting prisoners, clearing corpses, and assisting civilians.
He nodded with a smile.
"Good work, everyone."
"It's nothing! Commodore Daren, what matters most is that you rest and recover!"
The young Marine's voice was practically trembling with enthusiasm. His eyes sparkled with reverence.
After all, Daren had single-handedly crushed Shiki's airborne fleet. His strategy and sheer force had nearly wiped out every pirate on the island, and he even secured the Moa Moa no Mi…
In all his years of service, the soldier had never seen a commander like this.
Even without the final tally, just the feat of annihilating Shiki's pirate fleet was enough to earn the respect and admiration of any Marine.
Rest and recover?
Daren checked his own condition and chuckled softly.
His wounds had been stitched and bandaged. After that nap, the cuts were already scabbing over and starting to itch.
As for stamina… after a good sleep, he felt nearly back to full strength.
Ever since his Physique stat crossed the 80-point mark, his already monstrous recovery rate had jumped to a whole new level.
If it kept climbing, Daren figured once he hit 90 or so, he might reach the kind of regeneration that awakened Zoan-type Devil Fruit users were known for.
With that thought, he calmed his mind and activated his innate perception to check his current stats:
Physique: 86.312 (Steel Body)
Strength: 75.513
Speed: 74.711
Fruit Ability Development: 81.211 (Island-Wide Coverage)
Armament Haki: 50.035
Observation Haki: 37.117
Conqueror's Haki: 53.301
Not bad at all.
A faint grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Fighting strong enemies really was the fastest way to grow stronger.
It was just a bit... life-threatening.
From this one battle, his Physique, Strength, and Speed had each risen by about 0.8 to 1 point.
If he had tried to train those stats the normal way, it would've taken at least a month to see those kinds of results.
At his level, even gaining one full point was a massive challenge.
Especially once a stat surpassed 80 points—the difficulty spiked dramatically.
It really did feel like 80 was some kind of clear dividing line.
The Fruit Ability Development stat was proof of that. If not for the Seastone suppression training he'd undergone recently, he wouldn't have broken through the 80-point threshold. Without that, he could never have pulled off "Electromagnetic Entanglement: Ten Thousand Cannons," manipulating metal across an entire island.
"So… maybe I should focus more on Strength and Speed now?"
Daren muttered, furrowing his brows thoughtfully.
Once a stat passed 80, leveling it up further got exponentially harder.
So the smarter path to boost overall power might be to bring all the lower stats up to 80 first. Once they crossed that line, each would undergo a qualitative leap.
"You brat, finally awake."
A gruff voice snapped Daren out of his thoughts.
He turned to see Sengoku approaching, drenched in sweat from the workload. Daren smiled.
"Yes, Admiral Sengoku."
With a blank expression, Sengoku replied,
"Good. Then get your butt up—there's still plenty of work to do."
Then, with a scowl, he turned on his heel and walked off toward a crowd, putting on a warm smile as he soothed the civilians.
Daren: "..."
Man, that was cold.
Not even gonna ask how I'm feeling?
I've bled for the Marines! I've earned my keep!
"What's up with him? Who got on his bad side?"
Daren asked the nearby Marine, looking genuinely puzzled.
Normally, Sengoku would be singing his praises—pretending to stay calm, but secretly thrilled.
The Marine's eye twitched.
"Uh… Commodore Daren, I'm not entirely sure."
"M-maybe Admiral Sengoku's just in a bad mood?"
Daren rolled his eyes and muttered,
"Win a battle and he's still in a bad mood? Tough guy to please."
Suddenly, shouts rang out nearby.
"Quick, get someone over here!"
"Where's the medic!?"
"We've got an injured Marine here!"
"Dammit! Where the hell is the doctor!?"
Daren blinked. A dozen or so Marines rushed toward the commotion, looking panicked.
"What's going on?"
The soldier shook his head.
"No idea, Commodore Daren."
"Let's check it out."
Daren stood up and headed in that direction.
...
"What is this…?"
"It won't budge!"
"Damn it… what the hell is this thing?!"
"Arthur!!"
A group of Marines had gathered, their faces filled with anxiety.
Before them stood a massive pink wall—solid and unmoving.
Trapped inside it was a younga Marine, encased as if in crystal-clear amber. He looked lifelike, frozen mid-motion.
"This is… candy made by Charlotte Perospero!"
"No good! We can't break it!"
One of the Marines desperately swung his sword at the wall, but even after chipping the blade, he couldn't leave so much as a scratch on the rock-solid candy. All it did was spark harmlessly off the surface.
Daren stepped closer and instantly recognized the figure sealed inside.
It was Arthur—that same young Marine he'd taken a liking to earlier.
Inside the candy, Arthur's hands were locked around his sword, his youthful face set in a look of unwavering determination. He remained frozen in a fearless pose, charging forward even now.