(T/N: There is now a p.atreon for this work. Check it out for an early release of up to 30 chapters edited smoothly.
https://www.p.atreon.com/INeedRest)
Ps: Leave reviews and comments, thank you
****************
With nothing else to occupy his time, Kyoma sat on the ground and conducted extensive research on his newfound fire abilities.
After his previous two releases, he'd sensed something crucial and fundamental: the fire he produced wasn't generated by his body.
Instead, he needed to concentrate his mind to provoke the Pyro elemental energy that already existed in the air, guide it outward, and gather it on his body's surface.
Because he controlled elemental energy rather than fire itself, he couldn't produce massive bursts of flame from his body like Ace, nor could he become immune to outside fire damage.
Most importantly, he couldn't elementalize his body.
However, compared to the Mera Mera no Mi, his ability possessed another distinct advantage besides immunity to seawater.
He could ignite flames in midair. As opposed to ace who can only generate it from his body or an already existing source of flames.
Within the range of Kyoma's mental coverage, roughly ten meters, as long as he could perceive the Pyro elemental energy anywhere within his line of sight, he could make it condense into flames and burn.
This naturally included an enemy's body.
The thought of facing an opponent, glancing at them, and watching them burst into flames and burn to ash sent a thrill of excitement through Kyoma.
Although it sounded cruel, if he encountered a particularly formidable enemy or one difficult to attack directly, this could become a trump card that might secure victory through surprise.
However, Kyoma abandoned this idea shortly after beginning his experiments.
He'd discovered that the farther away from his body, the slower he could guide the Pyro elemental energy. The guidance time nearly doubled for every meter of distance.
Condensing a fireball in his palm took approximately one second.
A few meters from his body, creating a flame from nothing required nearly half a minute.
More than ten meters away, at the very limit of his mental coverage, the time needed became even more exaggerated, a full five minutes.
Which enemy in battle would stand perfectly still and grant him nearly five minutes to complete his technique?
Kyoma sighed deeply and ceased his in-depth study, turning his attention instead to his summoning ability.
[3 days until next summoning (summoning condition: 80 million Berry)]
[Host's remaining property: 479 million Berry]
The summoning cooldown remained only three days, but the summoning cost had jumped dramatically to 80 million Berry.
For a moment, Kyoma didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The good news was that the summoning time was shorter than he'd expected, meaning that during the month-long shipbuilding period, he could summon more companions.
Having more allies would provide greater security when they finally set sail.
The bad news? He didn't have enough money.
This time the cost had increased from 30 million Berry to 80 million Berry.
By that logic, the next summoning would require at least 200 million Berry, and the one after that might reach 600 or 700 million Berry.
The numbers felt absolutely crushing.
More importantly, if he spent all his savings on summoning, their living expenses would become a serious problem.
Kagura alone ate as much as dozens of normal people.
Setting aside Klee and himself for the moment, the real concern was the third companion arriving in three days.
Since they'd be summoned using a dragon scale, Kyoma knew the newcomer would likely be a dragon-related species or might actually be a full-blown dragon.
And a dragon's appetite would undoubtedly exceed Kagura's or match it in the best-case scenario.
By then, he'd be spending over a million Berry daily just on food, not counting other living expenses.
'It seems I can't spend all my time training Haki this month,' Kyoma thought with resignation.
'I'll need to find time to make money somehow.'
He could already imagine his miserable life over the next month.
'But where should I start?'
Pirate bounties?
The first half of the Grand Line had plenty of pirates with bounties exceeding 10 million Berry, but he didn't even have a ship yet.
Even with it… Without any navigation knowledge, how could he find targets and capture them across the vast ocean?
Business? He had even less confidence in that approach. Although he possessed knowledge from another world, he'd been an ordinary person before transmigrating. He'd never run a business and wasn't like those protagonists who invented stuff like gunpowder and cannons.
Honestly, robbery seemed more feasible than entrepreneurship.
That actually seemed like the fastest and most suitable method for making money. After all, his first fortune in this world had been obtained by robbing with Rayleigh's help.
So who could he rob in the Sabaody Archipelago now?
Nobles? Celestial Dragons?
Kyoma fell into deep thought.
He leaned against the tree behind him, sitting casually on the ground, his gaze drifting toward the view beyond the yard.
His eyes gradually grew unfocused.
The sunset painted the sky, the setting sun providing natural embellishment.
The dimming skies formed an ink painting with the distant ocean.
Kyoma stared somewhat dazedly at the scene.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd simply sat and admired a sunset like this. In the past, at this hour, he'd probably still be trapped in an office building, working overtime.
Only after transmigrating could he experience this relative freedom.
This made him all the more grateful for rejecting both Kizaru's and Luffy's offers days ago. If he'd followed Kizaru and joined the Marines, he'd probably be stuck in Marineford right now, pressed into service as a laborer. He might even get dragged into the war at the top in a few days, forced to fight the Whitebeard Pirates.
And if he'd joined Luffy back then, he'd probably have been slapped away to some random island by Kuma.
Whether that would be a blessing or a curse remained unknown, but it certainly wouldn't be as comfortable as his current situation.
Just as Kyoma was immersed in these thoughts, two figures suddenly broke into his field of vision.
Their eyes were innocent and bright… And a bit guilty…
And their entire bodies seemingly were soaked with water…
'Guilty…'
'Wait. Soaked?'
Kyoma noticed something was wrong. He snapped out of his reverie and carefully examined the two girls who hadn't returned since leaving in the morning.
His brows gradually furrowed.
They were completely drenched, their hair drooping, with several strands plastered against their foreheads.
The sight made both girls look thoroughly disheveled.
"Weren't you two going to blow up fish? Why do you look like you got dragged underwater by the fish instead?"
He stood up, patted the dust from his body, and walked into the yard.
"Kyo-chan."
"Kyoma-ni."
The little girls seemed to have found their guardian.
They cried out simultaneously, their voices filled with relief.
The excitement in their tones gave Kyoma a sinking feeling.
"Did you two get into trouble?"
He slowly approached them, focusing his gaze on Kagura.
Having spent many days with her, he could usually tell from her expression alone whether she'd caused problems again.