Chapter 7: The King of the Near Shore
Like a seasoned hunter, Kaizen Reiya scanned the crowd for his prey. Soon, his gaze landed on a sullen-faced young man.
"Soul-Severing Blade, Han Hu!" Kaizen's eyes lit up with recognition from his past life. This was one of Higuma's lackeys. When he killed, he enjoyed chopping off hands and feet, gouging out eyes, and torturing people for pleasure. His inhuman cruelty had ended many innocent villagers in Windmill Village.
Kaizen's Swift Boots moved. His entire body became like a wisp of smoke. He weaved through the crowd, leaned in, and placed a hand on the back of the vicious bandit, Han Hu. The man's eyes rolled back, his body convulsed in pain, and all the combat power within him was drained dry. He thudded to the ground.
By the time he hit the dirt, Kaizen had already swayed away, vanishing into the crowd a hundred paces distant.
"It's Han Hu, the Soul-Severer! Heaven has eyes! This wicked bastard has fallen ill in the street!" The law enforcement team arrived quickly, recognizing the body. They saw his sunken eyes, his body like skin draped over a skeleton, and couldn't help but feel a wave of grim satisfaction.
"Fell ill?" Kaizen smiled strangely to himself. Then, he fixed his eyes on another man—middle-aged, with a scarred face and a fierce expression.
"Scarface Qiang!" Kaizen's eyes narrowed. Drawing on his past life's memories, he recognized this bandit as well. Unlike Han Hu, Scarface Qiang preferred to burn people alive. Once, he had set fire to a house in Windmill Village, burning an entire family of over twenty people alive. His ferocity surpassed even Han Hu's, and the entire village loathed him to the core.
Confirming the man's identity, Kaizen immediately approached and clapped him on the shoulder.
"What the—" The bandit barely got three words out before his body withered like a flower, all his vitality utterly drained.
Kaizen brushed past him and disappeared into the crowd in an instant. The people around noticed nothing amiss. It wasn't until he was long gone that shouts of surprise rose behind him.
The law enforcement team arrived late once more. After identifying the bandit as Scarface Qiang, they cried out again, "Heaven has opened its eyes! It's punishing these wicked men!"
Kaizen listened, a strange expression crossing his face. "Am I 'Heaven' now?"
He used the Star-Siphoning Art repeatedly, draining six bandits in total.
Ding. Congratulations to player Kaizen Reiya for advancing to a Level 2 Player.
Ding. Congratulations to player Kaizen Reiya for obtaining 30x cultivation speed.
Ding. Congratulations to player Kaizen Reiya. Treasure detection radar range increased to 30 meters.
"Broken through so soon? Doesn't that mean I can start practicing the second stage of the Glue Pistol right away?"
After draining the six bandits, Kaizen felt the power within him surging like ocean waves, immense and majestic.
He couldn't wait. He ran to a small grove next to the village and began to train.
"Let's go! It took a full hour to master the second bullet. The difficulty is much higher than the first."
Kaizen shook his head and sighed.
If any master from a clan practicing a divine sword art were present, they would likely vomit blood in despair. "You call an hour 'slow'? You mastered two fingers in an hour and you still complain? Is there any justice in the world?"
Bang! Bang! Bang! With a series of crisp reports, Kaizen raised his right hand, his fingers trembling rapidly. Glue bullets flew out, striking a small tree over twenty meters away. Sawdust flew as the trunk was riddled with holes. Throughout the process, Kaizen's finger movements were graceful, flowing like clouds and water, accomplished in one go.
If a grandmaster of a supreme sword art were to witness this, their jaw would drop in shock. In just one hour, Kaizen had reached a level of proficiency that would take them thirty years of study to achieve—the Minor Achievement realm of the Glue Pistol.
"Since the second bullet is mastered, it's time to settle accounts with the bandit leader, Higuma."
Kaizen walked out of the woods. He had just stepped onto the village road when he saw a group of Windmill Village villagers, their bodies covered in blood, faces full of despair. They looked like defeated soldiers fleeing a lost battle, having thrown away their armor and weapons.
"Uncle, what happened?" Kaizen approached a kind-looking middle-aged man and asked.
"The... the King of the Near Shore... an entire boat of people... they're dead..." The uncle spoke incoherently, horror in his eyes.
After questioning him for a while, Kaizen understood. These villagers had been sent by the Mayor to find the Marines to deal with the bandits. But not long after they set out to sea, they encountered the King of the Near Shore and were nearly wiped out. Only a few had escaped back.
The people in the village were plunged into complete despair. Bandits blocked the roads, and the brutal, bloodthirsty King of the Near Shore ruled the sea.
"The King of the Near Shore!" Kaizen's eyes lit up upon hearing this. The King of the Near Shore was a Level 100 monster. Killing it would yield a massive reward from the new One Piece world, especially the Village Founding Scroll. That scroll granted the authority to establish a power base in this world—the first step toward hegemony.
Drawing on his past life's memories, Kaizen knew this was a major opportunity. On paper, a Level 2 player trying to kill a Level 100 monster was sheer madness.
But he had learned a secret in his previous life. This Level 100 monster, the King of the Near Shore, had a "Life Gate" on its body. If he attacked that specific point, he had a chance to kill it.
Kaizen's heart grew fervent.
To kill the King of the Near Shore, he needed equipment, a large supply of healing potions, and single-use skill scrolls. Buying all that would cost a fortune—far more than Kaizen currently had.
"That's right... Higuma the bandit must have plenty. He's been looting for years, raiding many villages. Since he can rob others, I can rob him."
"If he's planning to bathe the village in blood and kidnap Makino, then he can't blame me for being ruthless."
Kaizen's expression turned cold, his eyes as sharp as blades. He was like an unsheathed sword, ready to begin his slaughter. He entered the village and headed for the bar.
He saw Makino busy behind the counter. A group of players had come to the bar, lending a bit of life to the otherwise deserted place.
Seeing Kaizen enter, Makino greeted him with a sunny smile. "Hello, sir. Do you need anything?"
Kaizen's heart trembled. Even facing the village's life-and-death calamity, this woman still treated everyone with gentleness and kindness. Just like in his previous life, every guest who came to the bar was welcomed with the warmth of returning home.
Yet, all that beauty in his past life had been brutally torn apart by the murderous bandits.
In this life, I will never let the nightmare of before happen again, Kaizen swore silently, looking at this gentle beauty.
"Sir, what are you thinking about? Have we met before?" Makino suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity. The young man in front of her seemed... known.
Before Kaizen could open his mouth to respond, Mayor Woop Slap ran over, his face panicked, his voice trembling.
"Makino! The bandits... they're here!"