One Piece: I Can Simplify Skills

Finally, Rokujins arrived at the window where the scholars were throwing books. Just as he was about to enter, several more books flew out from inside. “Hm?” Rokujins frowned, slapped the books aside with one palm, and jumped into the building. The place was already engulfed in flames, the temperature far higher inside than out, and the room filled with thick smoke. Many scholars had already collapsed. Only Olvia and a few others were still persistently trying to throw books out. When they saw a man in black enter, they instinctively stepped back in fear.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Upon seeing him, Olvia quickly stepped forward to explain, “Don’t be afraid, he is… he’s the one who saved me!” She didn’t know who the man in black was, nor if he was a good person. Hearing her words, the scholars calmed down a bit.

Rokujins ignored them, looking straight at Olvia, “I came to get you out of here.” After thinking for a moment, Olvia bit her lip, embarrassed to ask, “Can you take them with us?”

“I can only take one person!” Rokujins replied. He wasn’t interested in the fate of the others.

“Then take him, it’s my fault everyone’s in danger, I should stay,” Olvia said with a look of guilt. If it weren’t for their research being discovered by the Navy, this disaster would never have happened.

“No! Olvia, you are the one who needs to survive. We’re old,” one of the scholars interjected. “You have better knowledge than us, you should get out and tell the real history to more people.”

“…” The other scholars also refused.

“You…” Olvia stopped, her responsibility weighing heavily on her. At that moment, Rokujins urged, “We need to leave now, or none of us will make it!” He wasn’t actually afraid of the fire, but more so of Aokiji and Akainu arriving after the bombardment.

“Alright, I’ll go with you!” Olvia said, gritting her teeth.

“Let’s go!” Rokujins stepped forward, wrapped his arm around Olvia’s slender waist, and leaped out of the window. They ran towards the shore from the back of the Tree of Knowledge, where a small boat was waiting.

Along the way, Rokujins carried Olvia because she was too slow. Eventually, he simply carried her princess-style, holding her close to his chest where she could clearly hear his heartbeat and the wind whistling by. Despite the continuous cannon fire from above, it seemed like every cannonball was dodged by the man in black in front of her. Who was he? Why was he saving me?

Meanwhile, on a Navy ship nearby. A Navy officer spotted Rokujins and Olvia and immediately ran to report to the admirals nearby: “Admiral Garp, Admiral Kuzan, we’ve spotted a man in black and a scholar on the back of the island!”

“What? Let me see!” Garp immediately grabbed the binoculars to look in the direction the Navy soldier had indicated. Indeed, there was a man in black carrying a woman. And that man in black… he looked a lot like his grandson!

“I’ll go after them!” Aokiji got up, ready to pursue, but was stopped by Garp who casually said, “The man in black is a task given to me by Sengoku, you stay here!”

“Alright…” Aokiji, feeling reluctant, stayed behind because he had already seen his friend Sengoku and didn’t want to confront him personally.

About ten minutes later, Rokujins reached the shore, setting Olvia down. “Get on the boat, we need to leave!”

“Okay!” Once Olvia jumped on the boat, Rokujins hoisted the sail and quickly steered the boat away. However, they hadn’t gone far when suddenly a Navy ship appeared behind them, its distinctive grey dog figurehead all too familiar.

“Yes, the Navy! They’re chasing us!” Olvia said, looking anxious.

“It’s okay!” Rokujins shook his head, staring at Garp at the bow of the pursuing ship, thinking, “Grandpa, it’s me, your grandson, even if I’m wearing a black robe, you should recognize me, right?”

As he suspected, Garp on the bow had already recognised Rokujins, his face lined with irritation, ‘That darn kid, wasn’t he supposed to be learning swordsmanship? What’s he doing here? And dressed as a man in black, was he the same one from before?’ ‘It shouldn’t be, he wasn’t capable of using Haki back then, how to explain this now…’

As he puzzled over this, a nearby Navy officer reminded, “Admiral G

arp, they’re about to get away. Shall we open fire?”

“Cough, cough!” Garp coughed twice to ease the awkwardness and commanded, “Bring the cannons, I’ll handle this myself!”

“Yes, sir!” The sailors hurried to fetch the ammunition.

“Fist of Love: Meteor!” Garp shed his Navy cloak, picked up the cannonballs, and hurled them towards Rokujins’s boat. Removing the Navy cloak symbolized that he was not acting as a Navy officer but as a civilian at this moment. One after another, the black cannonballs, like a rain of petals from the heavens, bombarded Rokujins and Olvia.

“This is bad, here come the cannonballs!” Olvia’s face changed slightly, scared as she clutched her head.

“Observation Haki!” Seeing this, Rokujins frowned slightly. Using Observation Haki, he had already detected that none of the cannonballs were aimed at them.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep going our way!” Reassuring Olvia, Rokujins continued to drive forward.

“Boom! Boom! Boom…”

Cannonballs continued to explode behind Rokujins’ boat, creating terrifying waves that helped accelerate their escape. Meanwhile, Garp kept hurling cannonballs, shouting, “Don’t think you can escape!” But internally, he was thinking, ‘You little brat, just wait till you get back, I’ll show you what’s what!’ Ironically, none of the cannonballs hit Rokujins; they helped him escape even further. Soon, Rokujins ultimately left Garp’s attack range and gradually disappeared over the horizon.

Relieved by the cessation of the bombardment, Olvia dared to open her eyes, amazed, “Are we okay?” At that moment, the system notification sounded. ?Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the task, system reward: Energy points +5, Physical Technique +1, Dual Sword Technique +1!? Rokujins glanced at the two new skills and then suddenly asked, “Where do you want to go next?”

“I don’t know how Robin is. I want to check on her!” Olvia looked back at the smoke-filled, war-torn Ohara Island; her mind filled only with thoughts of her daughter. “You are now a wanted criminal, and the Navy knows you’ve escaped!” Rokujins reminded her.

“Hmm…” Realizing her situation, Olvia looked up into Rokujins’ eyes with a pleading tone, “Can you take me to see my daughter? Just a distant look will be enough!”

“Alright, I’ll take you to see her,” Rokujins waved his hand dismissively. He guessed that Robin’s escape route might be similar to the one they used to leave, and they might even encounter her. This time, it wasn’t a system task but seeing Olvia as a mother, longing to see her daughter after many years. It was out of compassion!

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