In the blink of an eye, three more days had passed.
The next destination had not yet been reached, and the Endgame continued to sail steadily across the sea.
"Achoo!"
Shano suddenly sneezed, puzzled, he rubbed his nose.
"Strange, why have I been sneezing so easily these past two days, who on earth is talking about me..."
At this moment, he had just pushed the door open from the training room, shirtless and drenched in sweat.
He looked up, moonlight poured through the porthole into the corridor, the whole ship was quiet, with only the gentle lapping of waves against the hull.
It was already deep into the night.
"Today will end here, time to sleep."
He stretched lazily, having just endured nearly twenty hours of grueling self-discipline, it was indeed time to let his muscles relax a bit.
Hmm?
Shano suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Wait.
Relax?
He touched his chin, his gaze turned to the dark sea outside.
Speaking of it, a few days ago he had been so preoccupied with flirting with the historical texts.
But the "Deep Sea Breathing Technique", after initially mastering it, he hadn't practiced much.
Because to further refine it, one must spend long periods in the water, adjusting breath and meditating to gradually adapt to the feeling of breathing underwater.
This was too time-consuming, which was why he had temporarily shelved it for a reason.
But now, a flash of inspiration hit him.
With his control over his body, he should be able to, even when losing consciousness, maintain the automatic operation of the Deep Sea Breathing Technique and could completely switch to sleeping underwater.
This way, he could use rest time to both replenish sleep and slowly train this technique to Great Success.
Feasible!
Twenty-four hours of seamless training a day, who could possibly outwork me?
He did what he decided to do.
Shano found a sturdy rope, tied it around his waist, then went to the side of the ship, and leaped into the sea like a fish.
At the moment he entered the water, he didn't need to deliberately control himself, his skin pores were already expanding, and muscle fibers contracted rhythmically like gills.
Bubbles gurgled out from the corners of his mouth as Shano slowly sank.
Twenty meters, thirty meters, fifty meters...
The moonlight penetrated the surface, turning into a hazy blue halo in his vision, a school of small fish were startled, scattering away, their silver scales flickered like a river of stars.
"More comfortable than imagined."
Shano adjusted his breathing rhythm, letting his body sink into deeper darkness, and when the rope was taut enough——
"Whew..."
He rested his hands behind his head, crossed his legs over, floating like lying on a bed, and slowly closed his eyes.
Perhaps it was the exhaustion from the training today, but underwater, it seemed easier to fall asleep than on the ship.
The seawater isolate all noise, leaving only the slow rhythm of his heartbeat.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Under the effect of the Deep Sea Breathing Technique, every heartbeat caused his muscles to slightly tremble, stirring the water flow around him.
Shano's consciousness gradually blurred, but his body spontaneously maintained the operation of the breathing technique.
Yes, his judgment was correct.
He indeed could continue refining this technique even in his sleep.
Now...
Finally, he could sleep peacefully.
...
With the advance of the Endgame, turbulent currents gurgled past his side.
An ordinary person would be thrown off balance under this impact, struggling to maintain balance.
But it didn't cause any disturbance to the black-haired young man.
He continued to sleep soundly.
A curious, giant sea beast appeared from afar, casting a massive shadow, its eyes lit up upon seeing the figure ahead, speeding up to swim over.
However, as the distance closed and it sensed the faint dangerous aura emanating from Shano, the giant sea beast's expression became increasingly hesitant.
Eventually, it stopped, smartly swimming off in another direction.
In this realm where even sunlight couldn't reach, time seemed to stand still.
"Glub..."
Shano turned over, changing into a more comfortable sleeping position.
After who knows how long.
Suddenly——
"Boom!"
A muffled explosion echoed from above, waking Shano abruptly, his eyes snapped open.
Nearly a hundred meters of water filtered the sound until it was muffled and indistinct, yet he immediately determined the direction.
It was the southwest side, a ship was firing at the Endgame.
Shano frowned, his body swiftly rose upward, breaking the surface in an instant, landing on the deck.
The day was bright, the sun hung high, his companions had long been awake, and he realized he had slept for six or seven hours.
"What's going on?"
Shano glanced into the distance, casually asking.
To his surprise, the shots fired weren't from a pursuing Navy warship, but from a fleet of six black-sailed pirate ships.
"Here for a death wish, huh."
Nojiko pouted, "No grudge, yet suddenly attacking out of nowhere, they probably set their eyes on the five billion bounty on your head, big brother."
"Really."
Shano laughed heartily.
Thinking back, when they first entered the Grand Line, they encountered several ill-intentioned pirates, who weren't given the chance for close combat before being swiftly defeated.
But as the details of the battle on Thor Island were disclosed, and their bounty reached its peak in Paradise, such incidents became rare.
Now, in the first half of the Grand Line, the Endgame Adventurer Group had already gained a "notorious reputation".
Out of ten pirate ships, nine would be scared off without even daring to approach after spotting the waving white flag, hastily reversing their course to flee.
But on this vast sea, nothing is impossible.
There will always be some pirates who are exceptionally bold.