Vik woke up early the next day and began exercising.
People in the Pirate King's world generally have strong Physiques, and Vik wanted to see the limits of this body first, so he could better execute his plan.
The results were in: his Physique was quite good. He ran ten kilometers, did one kilometer of frog jumps, two hundred push-ups, and five hundred sit-ups.
Everything was still within his limits. This Physique was much stronger than that of an adult on Earth.
After finishing his training, Vik returned home for a shower, then went to Rebecca's house for breakfast.
During breakfast, Vik told the Old Lady that he wanted to find a job and earn his keep, as he couldn't just eat for free; he needed to pay for his living expenses.
The Old Lady thought about it and agreed. She was an old woman and couldn't support Vik forever; he would have to rely on himself to live in the future. She asked Vik for his thoughts.
Vik planned to find a milk delivery job, which would allow him to run while delivering milk.
This would achieve his training goals and earn money, and it would only take up his morning time, leaving other time for studying other things.
"Okay, I'll help you ask around."
The Old Lady also agreed, as Vik was only ten years old and couldn't do many jobs yet. Delivering milk in the morning would leave him extra time to study.
"Vik, you should rest for a few days to recover. Don't rush into work; I'll keep an eye out for you."
The Old Lady was still a bit worried about a ten-year-old child, especially since he had just lost his parents.
Vik nodded in agreement. He wasn't in a hurry either, as he still had some money.
As Vik left the Old Lady's house, Rebecca followed him, skipping and hopping.
"Vik, what are you planning to do today?"
Vik was walking home when Rebecca's soft voice came from behind him.
"I want to buy a weapon and then find a place to train. I want to become stronger!"
"I want to come too, to see how you train, hee hee!"
"If you want to come, then come. I have something I want to tell you!"
After getting money from home, Vik and Rebecca went to the street together.
Although the street had been cleaned up for a few days, it was still very dilapidated, with dark marks everywhere.
The town was only so big, and even fewer people needed weapons.
Vik went to the only weapon shop on the street, where only a middle-aged man was dozing behind the counter.
Vik and Rebecca walked into the shop and went straight to the counter.
Vik turned to look at the weapons displayed in the shop. There were very few varieties, only bows and arrows, spears, flintlocks, and naginatas. Most were katanas, and he didn't find any broadswords with two edges.
Vik turned around and tapped the counter, waking up the dozing owner.
Seeing two children, the owner was a bit confused, wondering why the children had come to a weapon shop and disturbed his sweet dream.
He said somewhat gloomily, "I say, kids, a weapon shop isn't a place for you. Go, go, go, go play outside. There are all weapons here; don't get yourselves hurt."
Vik said calmly, "We're here to buy weapons. We'll use them ourselves. Please introduce some to us."
The owner said with a surprised laugh, "Oh, you're not buying them to kill Pirates, are you? Hahaha!"
"That's right. Because of the Pirates a few days ago, I lost my parents. I want revenge!" Vik said softly.
The owner paused, his smile fading. "Then how much money did you bring? All these weapons are new arrivals. The previous weapons were all stolen by those damned Pirates."
"I have 300,000 Berries. I plan to buy two weapons suitable for both of us. What options do you have?"
Vik reached into his pocket, pulled out the money, and placed it on the counter.
Rebecca asked in surprise, "Is there one for me too?"
"Yes, I'll buy one for you too. I'll tell you more about it later."
Hearing there were 300,000 Berries, the owner immediately said enthusiastically, "300,000 Berries can buy two ordinary flintlocks, two good quality swords, three ordinary swords..."
The owner spoke as he walked to the weapon rack, making introductions.
Vik had already decided what he wanted to buy; he was mainly looking at the prices.
Vik chose a katana. Its quality was slightly better than ordinary ones. The blade was 1.3 meters long, and the cutting edge was 1.1 meters long. The blade was black on top and white on the bottom with a hamon pattern, and the tsuba was a wide cross, very similar to Snow Stride's handguard.
Rebecca chose a double-edged slender sword, styled like an ancient Chinese sword, but with a narrower blade and a longer hilt. The blade was metallic white, 1.5 meters long in total, with a 1.3-meter cutting edge. It was very beautiful overall and suitable for a girl.
Actually, Vik didn't particularly like katanas. They evolved from the Chinese Tang Dao. A Chinese Soul would naturally be more interested in his own country's sword culture.
"This world was created by the Japanese; he doesn't understand our Chinese sword culture. For now, there's nothing I can do.
I can only wait until I have money later to find a famous swordsmith to forge one according to my wishes.
It's just for practicing the basics anyway, so I'll make do with it for now!"
Rebecca, however, was very satisfied with her sword. She held it and examined it up and down, a smile on her face. Girls truly find it hard to resist beautiful things.
After selecting the items, Vik paid, and the two children took their weapons and headed out of the shop. However, before they could leave, the owner called out to them.
"Wait for me."
He then went into a small back room behind the shop.
The two children waited for a while, somewhat confused, then saw the owner emerge with a small, dusty booklet. It was clear it hadn't been moved in a long time.
"This is the basic Dao of the sword passed down by a Grandmaster of the sword Dao whom I apprenticed with when I was young.
All the basics in our sword Dao dojo relied on this booklet.
It's just that my talent was too poor; I achieved nothing, not even learning the basics of the sword Dao.
So I could only return to this island, dejected, with this sword Dao basic, and later I opened this weapon shop."
"I just heard you want to deal with Pirates, but how easy are Pirates to deal with? I'm giving this sword Dao basic to you. Alas, I hope you can survive!"
The owner also sighed, lamenting the state of the world.
Vik took the booklet and flipped through it. It wasn't thick, only a dozen pages, and it was indeed a basic sword Dao, without any Moves or sword techniques.
"Thank you, Uncle. This is exactly what we need."
After speaking, Vik bowed slightly to the owner, then led Rebecca out of the weapon shop and headed south.
After leaving the shop, Vik didn't speak, continuing south.
"Where are you taking me?" Rebecca asked, confused.
Vik paused, still didn't speak, then continued walking.
"Is it right or wrong to bring Rebecca into this whirlpool? I can only ask Rebecca for her own thoughts later."
He was still thinking as he walked.
Rebecca saw that Vik wasn't speaking and was very confused, but she still held her sword and followed behind him.
When they reached the edge of the forest to the south, Vik finally stopped. He found a grassy clearing and sat down cross-legged.
"Rebecca, come and sit down."
After Rebecca sat down, he asked solemnly, "Rebecca, what do you want to do when you grow up? What kind of person do you want to become?"
Rebecca thought for a moment and replied, "I want to become a Marine like my Mama and Papa, who can protect Grandma and everyone else."
"Do you know that the Marine is very dangerous? Just like your parents, they could sacrifice themselves at any time!" Vik said very directly.
"But that's what I want," Rebecca said seriously. Children in this world mature somewhat early.
"Do you know, before the Pirate King was executed, he revealed information about his one piece?
From now on, this world will become even more chaotic. Blood, tears, and slaughter will continue to accompany it.
As the vanguard against Pirates, the Marine will always stand at the forefront, potentially facing death at any time. Think carefully before you answer me!"
Rebecca thought for a moment, looked at the sword Dao basic on Vik's lap, picked up her sword, brandished it, and said seriously,
"Vik, help me, help me become stronger!!!"
Vik was silent for a moment. Since Rebecca had already made her choice, their future plans would have to include one more person.
"Alright, I will train you and help you become stronger. If you want to become a Marine, you must become strong. The weak in the Marine are just cannon fodder. Can you seriously do what I tell you from now on? Can you do it?"
"Yes, I can do it!" Rebecca said firmly.
"That's good. When we go back, I'll talk to your grandmother. From now on, we'll train according to my plan."
After speaking, Vik guided Rebecca to squat in a horse stance under the shade of a tree. After correcting Rebecca's posture, he had Rebecca hold her sword horizontally with both hands, arms extended.
Returning to the grass and sitting down, Vik finally opened the sword Dao basic and began to read.
Vik intended to read it through once to understand it, then ponder how to practice it in detail.
To his surprise, after reading it once, all the content of the dozen pages was imprinted in his mind.
"This is photographic memory. Although my memory in my previous life was not bad, it was far from being able to remember everything after one read. Is this a Transmigration benefit?"
He pondered for a while and then thought it might be due to having two Souls!
Without a reference, he couldn't get an answer, but for Vik, this was a good thing; he would learn things faster in the future.