After personally slaughtering the first pirate crew that landed on the island, Wood's name quickly spread throughout Red Leaf Island. Before long, he had become its so‑called "guardian."
Of course, guardian sounded far better than the reality. In practice, he was just a security guard… a captain, even—and an unpaid one at that.
If he had any choice in the matter, Wood truly didn't want to be famous. The Great Pirate Era had only just begun, and some pirates would do absolutely anything for notoriety.
Massacring an entire island was practically standard procedure now. After all, a pirate's bounty wasn't necessarily tied directly to their strength. As long as the crime was vicious enough, a high bounty would follow. In pirate circles, the size of the Navy's bounty was effectively a measure of popularity.
There were many ways to become famous. Beyond committing atrocities, defeating a well-known local powerhouse was one of the fastest shortcuts.
That was precisely why Wood wanted no part of fame. Fame only brought trouble. What if someone he absolutely couldn't afford to provoke showed up one day?
Now that his strength had been exposed, the islanders would certainly turn to him for help whenever pirates landed. And even if they didn't, any pirates who knew about him would inevitably target him anyway.
Taking the severity of the situation—and the long-term danger—into account, Wood didn't hesitate. He went straight home to pack his belongings, planning to take Stia and Ayn to another island to seek refuge.
If this had been when he first transmigrated, going to sea would have been a near-certain death sentence. But now, with "Iron-Cutting" level swordsmanship and six months of brutal training under his belt, Wood was confident that as long as he didn't deliberately court death, he could escort Stia and Ayn safely to another island.
Just as he was about to leave—
"Ding. New mission detected.Mission Name: Guardian of Red Leaf IslandMission Requirements: Within one year, repel or eliminate vicious pirates who land on Red Leaf Island.Before completing this mission, the host must not leave the island by any means. Otherwise, the host will permanently lose access to this system.Mission Reward: One life simulation opportunity
(P.S. Newbie Tier‑2 welfare. The reward is basically free. If you can't even deal with a bunch of nameless fodder, you might as well smash your head against a wall and die.)"
The same familiar feeling washed over him.
The system rarely spoke—but every time it did, its sarcasm was turned up to the maximum. And the timing was impeccable. He had been on the verge of running away when the long-dormant mission suddenly activated.
Wood felt thoroughly irritated.
The mission wasn't technically mandatory… but in practice, it might as well have been.
The system was his golden finger as a transmigrator. Running away meant losing his cheat entirely. And what was the difference between a transmigrator without a cheat and a salted fish?
Wood didn't consider himself exceptionally talented. Readers wanted a power fantasy—without a cheat-level boost, how was he supposed to kick the Four Emperors and punch the Five Elders in the future?
Other transmigrators were already one-shotting Admirals at fifteen or using the Four Emperors' heads as chamber pots. He was still chopping trees in the beginner village. Clearly, he was already behind at the starting line.
After some hesitation, Wood ultimately stayed on Red Leaf Island and accepted the role of its guardian.
Now, with the one-year term of guarding the island nearing its end, Wood hadn't come away empty-handed.
First, because of his close relationship with Ayn and Stia, the people of Red Leaf Island now treated the two with immense respect. Most of the time, when Stia went shopping, she didn't even need to pay—everyone knew she was the one who had taken Wood in.
Before this, after Ayn's father had been killed by pirates, leaving only a widow and her daughter, their life on the island had been incredibly difficult.
Second, over the past year, Wood had fought pirates again and again. Through countless battles, he had accumulated a wealth of real combat experience.
There was no denying it—real combat was the fastest way to grow.
The progress Wood made through half a year of closed-door training was less than thirty percent of what he gained from the latter half of the year spent fighting pirates.
Sword clashes where death loomed at every moment were nothing like monotonous solo practice. Humans weren't wooden dummies—they fought back. And when pushed to the brink, they fought with everything they had.
At first, even when facing vicious pirates he could defeat, Wood often ended the fight covered in wounds. But as the number of battles increased, he gradually grasped the rhythm of combat, and his experience continued to accumulate.
From being injured even when facing weaker opponents, to later defeating enemies of comparable strength without taking a single hit—the magnitude of his improvement was obvious.
In battle after battle, Wood slowly unleashed the sword techniques the system had once imprinted directly into his mind, using bodily memory to transform borrowed knowledge into his own.
"Aunt Stia's cooking has gotten even better. This is way better than the restaurants on the island."
As Wood ate Stia's food and watched Ayn rest her chin in her hands, smiling happily as he devoured everything, the tension that had been building from constant training finally eased.
But just as Wood was enjoying this peaceful lunch, a pirate ship flying a skull-and-crossbones flag appeared in the distance, slowly heading toward the harbor.
"Damn pirates again. Why are there so many of these sea parasites?"
The people of Red Leaf Island were no strangers to pirate ships. The moment Ayn and the others spotted it, the town's warning bells rang out.
"Ayn, hurry home. Aunt Stia must be worried sick."
Wood finished the food in the basket in a few quick bites, grabbed his coat, and slung it on. Pulling his long blade from the ground, he gave Ayn a few quick instructions before bounding toward the harbor at full speed.
At Red Leaf Island's port, a medium-sized sailing pirate ship had already claimed the entire harbor, its anchor dropped.
"Captain, this is Red Leaf Island. They say the redwood trees here are among the best shipbuilding materials around. Ever since entering the Grand Line, the climate's been unpredictable. Getting a sturdy, durable ship is our top priority right now."
Hearing the first mate's report, a towering, broad-shouldered man with a mohawk and iron armguards stepped out of the cabin, his face vicious as he surveyed the redwood forest.
"Once we land, take all the redwood that's already cut. If that's not enough, force the islanders up the mountain to chop more down.
Then find the town mayor and tell him that if he doesn't want casualties, he'd better prepare wine and food for the brothers.
And send some young girls from the town over too. The brothers need to cool off. After a month at sea, even a sow looks pretty to me right now."