On the beach of Roger Island.
The once-golden sands were now splattered with blood, the metallic tang mixing with the salty sea breeze, exuding a nauseating stench.
Nearly a hundred headless corpses lay in heaps, their blood staining the colorful pirate uniforms, forming a grisly tableau.
Not all had been decapitated some had been blown to pieces by cannon fire but all the bodies that could be identified had been dragged here and beheaded.
Normally, the heads would be bagged individually, but today there were too many; they had to be stuffed en masse into coarse burlap sacks, leaving it to the unfortunate villagers to sort them later.
Every body counted waste was not allowed.
As Dragon's Marines combed the battlefield, several wary faces peeked out from the coconut grove further up the beach.
"Villagers! Come out!"
Dragon waved at the trees and shouted.
"Ah!"
They recoiled in fear, but upon seeing the crisp white uniforms of the Marines and the undeniable authority radiating from them, two young men stepped forward, shielding an elderly man with white hair, forcing back their terror.
The closer they approached, the more gruesome the pirate corpses appeared; a shiver ran through them, but so did a sense of relief.
The Marines had eliminated the pirates outside the village no further explanation was needed.
The pirates had clearly come to plunder. Had the fleet not arrived in time, this village would have been reduced to ashes.
"Sir… what can we do for you?" the old man asked, his voice trembling with gratitude.
The pirates' cruelty was terrifying, but Marines demanding bribes had long been another plague.
This officer had saved them; it was reasonable to offer a reward, yet their poor village had little to give.
"Keep the bodies and weapons," Dragon said.
"Burn the corpses for fertilizer or hang them at the docks as a warning. Keep the blades for defense, or sell them your choice."
"If you like, you can dredge the bay might find some treasure."
He gestured first to the heap of corpses, then to the site of the sunken pirate ship.
He had originally intended to douse everything in fuel and burn it, but seeing the villagers, he decided to let them salvage what they could.
The Marines had already taken the bulk of the spoils; the leftovers were not worth their time.
"Sir… are you serious?" stammered the elder, while the two young men gawked.
They had been calculating how many sacks of vegetables or salted fish they'd need to show their thanks. Instead, this officer asked for nothing and offered them even more.
A true hero what a remarkable man!
Perhaps he was a little merciless burning bodies for fertilizer or hanging them as warnings but the pirates had come to slaughter and plunder; if they had succeeded, the villagers might have turned on each other.
"Handle it properly," Dragon said, patting the elder on the shoulder.
He waved, and the beach team regrouped, falling in line to return to the ship, Dragon the last to board.
Bang, bang, bang!
It wasn't until the ship became a white streak on the horizon that the elder and the young men finally exhaled.
"Village chief… what just happened?" one of the youths whispered.
They had never seen Marines who walked without airs.
They had left behind mountains of spoils and sailed away.
"A good man," the chief murmured, his eyes moist.
Memory may fade with age, but he would never forget that sailor.
The youths eagerly nodded, then rushed to the corpses to see which pirates had almost attacked them.
Seeing the tattered shirts emblazoned with the Tiger Shark skull flag, their knees buckled they fell to the ground.
The Tiger Shark Pirates infamous in these waters, often reported leveling entire villages.
"Did the Tiger Sharks come for us?"
"The Marines wiped them all out!"
At that moment, a deep admiration for the young officer ignited within them; they hurried back to spread the news, determined to follow his instructions and distribute every coin and weapon accordingly.
On the returning ship
Four large chests filled with dripping treasure were arranged on the deck, the gold, silver, and jewels glittering in the sunlight.
Dragon sat on an intricately carved mahogany chair, lost in thought.
He was not looking at wealth, but at something a hundred, a thousand, even ten thousand times more valuable than treasure.
Loyalty points +47… +59… +67… +79… +73… +89… streams of loyalty values flickered on his internal panel, visible only to him.
Around three hundred entries in total an astonishing amount.
Each person had a maximum of 100 points; absolute loyalty had its limit.
Through his natural authority and the camaraderie of the past weeks, his fifty elite Marines averaged around seventy points each trust already deeply established.
From them, he had accumulated 3,567 loyalty points.
This unexpected windfall nearly equaled all he had painstakingly earned before.
The rest had come from the villagers.
Thus, loyalty was not limited to subordinates.
It made sense in his previous life, a nation with three suns existed, each sun deserving endless gratitude; everyone loyal to him!
A brand-new door opened before him, and Dragon felt exhilarated.
In the adult game Power and Authority, loyalty points could be exchanged for wonders.
With sailors' and Roger Island villagers' contributions, and various miscellaneous income, his balance now exceeded thirty thousand.
He opened the panel to browse.
Welcome to the world of Power and Authority. The loyalty system is at your service.
Host: Monkey D. Dragon
Trait: Heaven rewards diligence with 100× experience
Strength: S-
Constitution: S
Speed: S-
Skills: Rokujin Advanced; Busoshoku Haki Advanced; Kenbunshoku Haki Advanced; Haoshoku Haki Advanced; Swordsmanship Advanced (Swordmaster); Fist Series Advanced; Hunting Advanced; Cooking Advanced…
Loyalty Points: 30,000+
Ranks D, C, B, A, S correspond to junior officer, field officer, brigadier, rear admiral, admiral.
or – denotes finer gradations within each rank.
S- marks a candidate for Rear Admiral: far below Admiral, yet far above elite Vice Admirals.
S+ represents Admiral and Emperor-level traits power and resilience of Kaido or Big Mom, speed of Kizaru, and so on.
Two years ago, before awakening the "Heaven rewards diligence 100× experience" trait, he had been nothing more than a physically strong field officer.
Now, his physique reached true admiral-level, his strength and speed matching a Rear Admiral candidate.
As for that long skills list he had honed each to Advanced level, the third stage of five: Low, Medium, High, Top, Extraordinary.
Being at the top meant being world-class elite an Admiral or Emperor.
Advanced roughly equated to a senior commander or Rear Admiral candidate.
Dragon admired his perfect hexagonal attributes, then opened the loyalty shop's monthly catalog.