Chapter 20: The Second Life Simulation

[Ding, you have consumed one opportunity to use the Life Simulator. The simulation is beginning...]

[Age 17: You have been at the Naval Academy for a year, mastering basic skills such as shooting, navigation, artillery, and steering. Your abilities have significantly improved.]

[Age 18: After completing the basic courses and meeting the physical requirements, you are granted permission to start training in the Six Powers of the Navy. Within a year, you successfully master all Six Powers.]

[Age 19: You hide most of your abilities and graduate from the Naval Academy with mediocre grades, becoming an ordinary marine. After two years of honing your skills, your swordsmanship advances, and you successfully unleash flying sword slashes, becoming a 'Swordmaster.']

[Age 20: As you continue to keep a low profile and prepare to request a transfer, the infamous pirate Golden Lion Shiki escapes from Impel Down's sixth level. You are part of the unit sent to stop him.]

[Unable to match the strength of Golden Lion Shiki, you ultimately perish outside Impel Down...]

[This simulation has ended. You have earned the following rewards. Please choose one to receive:]

Basic knowledge of shooting, navigation, artillery, and steering.Training methods for the Six Powers of the Navy.Swordmaster-level swordsmanship and insights.Four years of physical enhancements.

In the second life simulation, Wood once again died young, but he was no longer surprised by it.

This world was full of dangers. If he could easily simulate a life of seventy to eighty years, after a few simulations, he would be nearly invincible at sea.

Compared to the first simulation, where he died in a shipwreck, this time he at least died a more honorable death.

Wood wasn't too surprised by the way he died this time, either.

Hiding his strength was something he would do, as it indeed increased his chances of survival.

However, his bad luck could only be blamed on encountering the Flying Pirate Crew's captain, Golden Lion Shiki.

Shiki was from the same era as the Pirate King, Roger, and even after more than a decade, he remained a legendary pirate.

As the first person to escape from Impel Down, it made sense that Wood, whether he concealed his strength or not, would be killed by Shiki. There was no real difference in the outcome.

Golden Lion Shiki, after Roger's death, single-handedly fought the Marine headquarters, battling Garp and Sengoku for days before being imprisoned in Impel Down.

And a few years later, he would indeed cut off his own legs to escape from Impel Down, which fit the timeline perfectly.

Returning to the present, Wood hesitated briefly as he looked at the four rewards displayed at the end of the simulation.

The first reward was easy to eliminate immediately. Regardless of whether it was shooting or artillery, Wood had little interest in them. He planned to follow the path of cold weapons.

As for the second reward, if it had been the "Six Powers" themselves rather than just the training methods, Wood might have chosen it. However, since it was only the training methods, he dismissed it right away.

He had already obtained the training insights for the Six Powers from Tokikake, and with some practice, he could master them on his own.

If he had directly learned them, it would have saved time, but just the training methods were of little value to him.

The reason for Wood's hesitation lay primarily between the third and fourth rewards.

The Swordmaster-level swordsmanship and insights, along with the ability to unleash flying sword slashes, were highly tempting, but the four years of physical enhancement were equally appealing.

With the system counting down to the selection time, Wood eventually chose the Swordmaster-level swordsmanship as his reward, avoiding the risk of losing everything.

The reasoning was simple: although the four years of physical enhancement were valuable, Wood could achieve similar results over time with diligent effort.

However, the Swordmaster-level swordsmanship and insights were not so easily obtained. These depended on talent, insight, and a bit of luck.

Just because Wood managed to reach the level of Swordmaster in the second simulation didn't mean he could replicate that success in another life.

One option could be achieved through accumulated time, while the other offered a rare and valuable experience. The choice was clear.

After selecting the reward, a vast amount of knowledge flooded into Wood's mind. Although he had experienced this before, it still felt remarkably strange.

Outwardly, nothing seemed different, but Wood could feel a wealth of new information in his mind, and his understanding of swordsmanship had become much clearer.

If he were to face Iron-Arm Cook again, Wood was confident that he wouldn't struggle as much as before.

Even without using any tricks, Wood believed he could defeat Cook and the entire Iron-Arm Pirate Crew while sustaining only minor injuries, even when facing Cook's Devil Fruit powers.

As he formed his fingers into a blade and slashed through the air, a sharp sword energy shot out from his hand, leaving a shallow mark on the foot of the bed beside him.

Flying sword slashes! This was every man's dream! After all, who didn't grow up with fantasies of being a martial arts master? And unleashing sword energy was the ultimate symbol of a master!

"It's a shame that my sword broke during the fight with Iron-Arm Cook. Otherwise, I'd love to see just how powerful my full-strength flying sword slash would be now!"

The Navy did provide standard-issue swords, but these mass-produced, low-quality weapons couldn't withstand Wood's rigorous training.

As a result, Wood had been using wooden swords weighted with rocks for his daily swordsmanship practice.

Don't ask why—wooden swords could be made easily, but even the poorest-quality Navy swords cost money.

"I really need to get myself a better sword. Now that I'm a 'Swordmaster,' it's embarrassing not to have a proper sword."

Wood's mastery of swordsmanship had reached the level of a Swordmaster, but further progress in the short term would not come easily.

Since Tokikake had provided him with the Six Powers training insights, Wood decided to focus on intensive physical training in the near future to prepare his body to master the Six Powers.

Night had fallen, and in the Naval Academy's freshman dormitory, the new students, exhausted from a day of grueling training, were fast asleep, snoring loudly.

But Wood quietly got up, changed into casual clothes, grabbed his training gear, and stealthily snuck out of the dormitory. Familiar with the routine, he vaulted over the fence and made his way to the forest behind the Naval Academy.

Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 43 at patreon.com/Betek.