CHAPTER 15:
Naval Battle
"Drop anchor!"
John commanded as the G.O.A.T entered the docks of Shells Town. The crew descended down the gangway all wearing their leather armor, including Silk, who was wearing the complete set except the helmet. The captain of the ship descended last, pulling along a pirate by the name of Crescent Moon Gally, a wanted man with a bounty of 5,000,000 berries.
"I'll take this guy to the marine base. You guys sell the loot." John said. "After that, you can go do whatever you want."
Vien and Baba were from Shells Town so they will probably go and visit their families while Broll, who was from Goat island, will most likely return to watch the ship. Silk, their newest member decided to tag along with John, the only one in the group with a Bounty Hunter's Licence.
During the walk, John told the young swordswoman about his time in Shells Town, where he had fought the former captain of the base together with two pirates.
"You fought together with pirates?!" Silk asked in bewilderment. "Aren't they our enemies?"
The bounty hunter chuckled as he answered her question. "You know that not all pirates are bad right?"
"I…know that." Silk replied sulkily, knowing who her captain was referring to.
"Anyway, those two are a good bunch; I wonder what they're doing right now?" He asked as they entered the marine base.
Meanwhile, out on the seas, Luffy, Zoro and a young woman with orange hair were about to land on a village in Gecko Island, where they would meet a certain long-nosed boy.
—
John pocketed the bag of money he recieved from the claims officer. The lady was surprised that not even a month has passed and he was already back with another bounty. She congratulated him as she wrote his name on a board labeled 'East Blue's Top Hunters'. His name was currently at number 10.
"Wait, how am I already number ten? This is only my second bounty." John confusedly asked.
"Haha, this is the East Blue kid, the weakest of the four seas." The officer laughed merrily. "Most pirates here don't even have a bounty, much less those with a million or more. Bagging two pirates with five million berry bounties puts you among the top hunters in East Blue." Ironically, East Blue was the birthplace of the most famous pirate of all time, Gold Roger. The officer then asked for his badge, which she took and put a small sticker with the number '10' on.
He was surprised but accepted the accolade, after all it's not everyday that you get to be among the top ten in anything. Looking atvthe list, he was surprised to see a familiar name, Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter. He was currently the number one bounty hunter in East Blue. The fact that he was still listed as the top hunter means that the marines haven't classified him as a pirate yet.
I think he only became known as a pirate after the events of Arlong park. John thought as he went back to the list.
Occupying the 5th and 6th spot were the names Johnny and Yosaku, another two familiar names. He remembered that these two were also renowned bounty hunters, but also being a bit weak compared to Zoro and Luffy. Seeing them in the list confirmed how strong Luffy and Zoro truly were in the East Blue.
After he left the bounty office, he looked for the receptionist and asked him if Coby was still in the base.
"You just missed them. He and Helmeppo joined Commander Ripper in escorting former captain Morgan to Impel down. They won't be back for at least a month." The receptionist told him.
John sighed and thanked him. He knew that it would be a long time before he can meet Coby again. They had probably already ran into Vice Admiral Garp, who will eventually take the two youngsters in as his students.
He then left the marine base and walked into town, Silk following behind him. John checked out the shops and looked for some items. He bought a cooking book, some bullets, a hip holster and a brand new pistol. He asked around for some dynamite or any explosives but unfortunately, they didn't have any. After he finished, they returned to the ship, where everyone was already waiting for them.
"Did you already say hello to your families?" John asked as he walked up the gangway.
"We already did." Vien replied and Baba nodded in confirmation. "We haven't been gone for that long anyway, so there wasn't much to catch up on."
After that, John told them about the bounty hunter rankings and agreed with them that it was very surprising. He then asked them how much they got from selling the loot. Unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing because they barely got a million for it. Because of this, John decided to handle the sales from that point on, thinking he can get a barter skill that can improve the sales they get from future loot. He then combined the bounty and the money from the loot and divided it equally into six parts. Five parts were given to him and each of his crewmates and the remaining part was put into the ship's fund, which was for the food, ship's maintenance, etc.
"Are you sure about giving this to us?" Baba asked. "This is more than I've ever earned in my years as a sailor." She said as she counted her share. It was almost a million berries.
"Yeah, aren't captains supposed to be the one to get most of the money?" Broll wondered. He was holding the money away from him like it was going to attack him.
Vien sighed and returned his share back into John's hand. "I don't think I should be getting payed at all. All I did was get beaten up in the last fight." He said with a bit of disappointment.
"Um, I wasn't even part of the crew yet when you defeated Gally." Silk said and attempted to return her share as well.
John held up a hand to stop them and gave Vien his money back. "Look, just take it, okay? While you are a member of this crew, we're gonna split any money that we get. If you happen to defeat a pirate by yourself and got a bounty, you would have to split it with everyone as well." He said, looking at everyone seriously. He then pocketed his own money and hid his hands behind him. "And you aren't just getting this money for no reason. I expect you to give it your all everytime. Do your best to protect each other but remember, DO NOT RISK YOUR LIFE!" He said. "If any of you die on my watch, I will kill you again in the afterlife!" He said while pointing at each of them. Vien, Broll and Silk looked at each other, confused at John's words but Baba just chuckled at the absurdity of it.
—
"Here, take this." John said as he handed Silk the brand new pistol he bought earlier along with a hip holster.
She looked at it before saying, "I don't need this, I'm a swordswoman."
"Each crew member gets one." Broll chimed in with a smile as he showed his own pistol. The others also pointed out their work-issued weapons.
"You can also attach your saber on that holster, so you don't have to carry that sword in your hand everytime." John added. "It's a requirement to be in my crew." He said jokingly.
"Fine." The swordswoman relented as she strapped the holster on her hip and attached the weapons.
John chuckled before shouting. "Okay! Get ready to set sail!...after we eat lunch of course!"
—
After eating, John stood at the helm and looked at the physical map nailed on the wall while his [World Map] was opened in front of him. He looked at the islands near them and saw that Orange town was close by. They could definitely check it out but he wasn't sure if Luffy and his crew had driven the deranged clown out of the town yet. So, he opted to steer towards another island nearby that he wanted to check out.
"Set course to our next destination!" John shouted as he called Broll and handed him the wheel. When he got there, John showed him the direction they were heading to on the compass. The young deckhand was used to this by now and wasn't worried at all, because for some reason his captain knew when the ship was steering off course. He took the wheel and sailed ahead while munching on an apple.
John headed down to the training room to train and saw that Silk was already there, doing some pull ups. Their combatant had taken it upon herself to train everyday, wanting to become stronger to protect her new crew. Thankfully, they haven't encountered any pirates in the seas yet, so she was yet to put her training to work.
An hour later, John was doing calisthenics while Silk was practicing her sword moves when a loud explosion rocked the ship, causing the two to drop to the floor. The bounty hunter locked eyes with his combatant as a loud shout rang from the deck.
"Pirate attack!"
Silk grabbed her saber and quickly wore her armor before running up the deck while John ran to the captain's quarters. He wordlessly equipped his armor and weapons from his inventory before running to the helm, quickly steering the ship so that its side was facing the enemy ship.
"Man the cannons!" He commanded, shouting at the top of his lungs. He swiped the spyglass off of the wall and peered at the offenders. His eyes were immediately drawn to the black flag waving from their mast. A pirate flag depicting a rat coming out of a broken skull.
"SURRENDER NOW! IF YOU DON'T SURRENDER, NONE OF YOU WILL BE LEFT ALIVE!" A shout coming from the enemy ship warned.
Who are these fuckers?! John thought as he scanned the ship. Just then, he saw that a cannonball was coming towards him. He quickly dropped the spyglass and jumped down to the deck as the cannonball struck, chipping off the top part of wheel.
"Ready to fire!" Was the shout coming from below deck.
John immediately commanded them. "Fire at will!"
Two cannon balls flew from the G.O.A.T and struck the enemy ship, disrupting their offensive. Quickly, John grabbed his rifle and ran to the railings. Although he could barely make out the figures on the pirate ship, he still shot at them several times, eventually taking one of them down.
20 exp!
He looked back at his crew. Silk was standing at the bow and was unsure about what to do. Baba was coming down from the lookout to help out. Another cannon ball struck their ship as John racked his brains for a startegy.
"Cannons are ready!" He heard again from below.
"Aim for their mast!" He shouted as he ran back to the helm. Their shots missed but it struck the enemy ship's deck, causing the pirates standing on it to lose balance and fall. John quickly steered the ship away from cannonfire and circled towards the enemy ship.
"Are we boarding them?" Baba asked as she landed on the deck. She unsheathed her scimitar and remove her pistol from its holster. Silk ran towards them with her saber out as well. "I'm ready to fight!" She exclaimed while looking at John's eyes with determination.
Vien and Broll emerged from below deck and looked to their captain for directions. "Full speed ahead!" John yelled as he kept his eyes on the enemy ship. It seems they were also planning on a direct confrontation.
As they got closer, John was able to discern the number of enemies on the pirate ship. There were about 18 of them left and all were standing at the deck ready to board them. He wordlessly instructed Vien and Broll to go below deck as he quickly steered the ship so the cannons were facing the enemy ship again.
"Ready to fire!" A loud shout came from below. It was loud enough that even the enemies heard it, causing them to panic.
"Fire at them!" John commanded as two cannonballs impacted the middle of the enemy ship, taking a couple of the pirates out.
10 exp!
10 exp!
10 exp!
The enemy captain hurriedly barked orders as he instructed his navigator to steer the ship away from the cannons. Even though they were out of range, John saw that the enemy ship was heading directly towards them, still intending to board.
"Everyone on deck! Get ready to fight!" John commanded as he positioned the G.O.A.T a few meters away from the enemy ship. The pirates started throwing hooks at their ship and swinging across on ropes as John and his crew prepared to meet them.
He started shooting at a couple of the pirates swinging towards them and managed to bring down two of them.
20 exp!
20 exp!
Suddenly a pirate dropped down in front of him and swung his sword at his midsection. He tried to dodge the slash but the sword already reached him, resulting in a shallow cut on his stomach. Thankfully, his armor reduced the damage.
-23 HP
"Damnit!" John swore as he grabbed the barrel of his rifle. He held it with two hands and swung it like a baseball bat across the enemy's face. SMACK! The pirate flew backwards and hit his head on the mast, knocking him out.
SKILL UNLOCKED!
Gun Smash lvl 1 - Deals 32 damage (20base plus 1.2 str.) Has a 25% knockback chance. Costs 10 AP.
96 damage!
John wasn't surprised by the massive increase in damage because he knew that attacks to the head dealt 3x damage while attacks to the body deals 1.5x damage.
20 exp!
"ARGH!"
John turned towards the sound and saw Silk slash a pirates' torso, spraying blood in the air.
10 exp!
He then started looking around for his crewmates when he spotted Vien getting pinned down by two pirates. He quickly lined up a shot and took one of the pirates down. Vien was surprised but took the opportunity to unholster his pistol and shoot the other pirate in the stomach. He then finished him off with his scimitar.
10 exp!
CLANG! Broll blocked a pirate's attack with his sword and shot the enemy in the chest with his pistol.
10 exp!
Meanwhile, Baba was trying to climb up the mast to get to the lookout again, when a hand grabbed her ankle. "Haha! You're not getting away old hag!" Laughed one of the pirates. Baba's eyes darkened and she put her pistol directly on the man's forehead.
BANG!
10 exp!
"Goddamnit! You bastards can't do anything right!" Shouted the pirate captain watching from his ship. He was a tall man with red hair and a scar over his left eye. He wore a black cloak over a white shirt and black pants. The man jumped over a fair bit of distance from his ship to the G.O.A.T's wooden deck, landing with a crack. "I'll take care of them myself!" The pirate captain said as he pulled out a sword from his hip with only his right hand, the wind somehow blowing his cloak up. That's when John noticed that the man only had one arm.
Who is that?! John thought as he took aim at the newcomer. "Captain!" The pirates shouted. All of them stopped fighting and gathered behind their captain, wanting to watch their captain fight.
"I'll fight him!" Silk volunteered as she stepped up to the enemy captain, brandishing her saber.
"My blade does not discriminate so be prepared, woman!" The captain replied. He went into a stance, holding his blade horizontally across his body. John pulled up the enemy's status as he waited for the fight to start.
'Red-haired' Chunks
Lvl. 23
Age 30
HP - 270
AP - 54
"The fuck?" John swore, his voice heard by everyone on the ship. The pirate captain heard him and smirked. "It's only natural that your captain would fear me." He said as he flipped his red hair. "After all, I am one of the Great pirates, an Emperor of the Sea! The one known as 'Red-haired Shanks!"
'Shanks'' crew cheered. "You're all done now!" One of them shouted. "You should have surrendered earlier, our captain is one of the strongest pirates in the world!" Another pirate jeered. "That's right. I am a merciful emperor! Surrender all your treasure and I'll let you live!" The fraud added.
For some reason, John's face was currently obscured by shadows, but his deckhands, Broll and Baba felt a familiar chill.
"Silk."
The young swordswoman looked towards her captain, and gulped when she saw the expression on his face.
"Shut him up."
"Yes!" She replied as she nodded and ran towards the red-haired pirate, yelling as she swung her saber downwards. "Hiyaa!!"
Chunks lowered his stance and slashed horizontally with surprising speed, his blade meeting Silk's saber mid swing. "Rraagghh!!" With incredible force, he followed through with his counter, swinging his blade in a full arc. The force sent the swordswoman flying, hitting the ship's railing with a crack and breaking the wood.
"Hell yeah! Captain Shanks!" The crewmates cheered as Chunks grinned. Vien and Broll became worried and looked to John for directions. However, their captain only had a stone-faced expression as he watched the fight. They looked back towards their combatant, who stood up and dusted herself off. She wiped the blood from her mouth and charged at him again, this time aiming low. Chunks raised his blade over his head and forcefully slammed it down on Silk's saber before she was even able to swing it. While she struggled to remove her weapon from under his blade, Chunks kicked her in the face hard, sending her scrambling on the deck.
"Hahaha! You're no match for our captain!" The pirates cheered. Meanwhile, Silk stood up one more time and caught her breath, looking at her enemy with focused eyes. "Still wanna fight?" Chunks asked while he rested his blade on his shoulder. Unlike her previous attempts, Silk didn't charge right away. Instead, she now wore a more serious expression as she studied her opponent. "One more!" She shouted, getting ready to attack again. Silk lowered her stance and held her saber below her waist with both hands. She breathed deeply before running towards him again. Chunks settled on the same stance from before, getting ready to counter her attack once again. She swung her saber at him, targeting the tip of his blade. The red-haired captain grinned as he watched the trajectory of her sword, knowing that a single clean hit on the right place can disrupt her balance and leave her defenseless. He saw the sword's weak spot and gripped his sword tightly to deliver a devastating blow. However, as his blade touched her sword, her saber suddenly appeared to curve inward.
"Crescent Slash!"
Chunk's blade encountered no resistance as he saw her sword somehow turn into a crescent, the tip of her saber about to stab into his right eye. Reacting quickly, he moved his head away to avoid losing his eye but recieved a long gash on his face instead.
"Gaahh!" The one-armed pirate jumped backwards to get some space away from his opponent. What kinda technique is that?! He thought as he held up a defensive stance. The whole ship was silent as they watched the battle with baited breath.
"Way to go Silk!" Broll cheered. His sudden interruption broke the silence as the pirates started to boo them. Vien jogged to John's side and asked if he thinks their combatant can handle the enemy captain.
"Hmm..that guy's definitely more experienced." John said as he crossed his arms and stroked his chin. "I thought he was just some weak guy pretending to be shanks."
"Then, i-is that the real Red-haired Shanks?" Vien asked with a frightened look.
"Definitely not."
The red-haired fraud relaxed his stance and laughed. "Haha! I admit, you're not half-bad. But you will never defeat me, a man who defeated a sea king with only a stare!" He then charged at her and swung his blade forcefully against her saber, pushing her a few inches. He was pushing, trying to drop her to the ground when suddenly, the resistance to his sword suddenly vanished, causing him to stumbled forward.
"Moonlight Parry!"
As if made of water, Silk's saber slid around the pirate's blade while she spun around and delivered a long slash to his side.
"Aarghh!" Blood splattered on the deck as the red-haired pirate fell to his knees. "Captain Shanks!" The pirates shouted. Chunks stood up and clicked his tongue, unable to believe that he just lost. "Kill them!" He commanded and the pirates converged on the enemy closest to them, Silk. Broll and Vien immediately ran towards them as John activated Bullet Time and took down the pirates one by one.
—
John and his crew stood over the tied up pirates. Most of them surprisingly still alive after the naval battle. They were currently awaiting the bounty hunter's verdict.
"He's not on the list." John said as he flipped through the pages of his bounty notebook. He couldn't find Chunks' face nor his name in it. Must be a newbie pirate. He thought.
"What do you mean I'm not in there?! I'm Red-haired Shanks! I have a 4 billion bounty on my head!" The fraud interjected. "The fourth highest active bounty, and the fifth highest of all time!"
This guy must be a real fan of shanks. John thought. But he doesn't know how dangerous it is to impersonate a yonko.
"So you want me to bring you to the marines?" He asked the rookie pirate captain.
"Of course! You'll become famous for capturing such a big-time pirate like me!" Chunks beamed, obviously loving the attention.
John fought the urge to punch him. "Yeah, and since you are so famous, they'll probably execute you right away."
"What?!" Chunks exclaimed. "I'm uh…listen, this might surprise you, but I'm actually not-"
Getting tired of the man's antics, John just punched him in the face and knocked him unconscious. "Alright, confiscate all their weapons and return them to their ship!" He commanded.
As the crew were disarming the pirates, Silk walked up to him. "Wait, why are we just letting them go? What if they attack a village after this?" She asked with a confused look.
"That's why we're taking their weapons, so they won't be able to do that. Or, are you telling me you want to kill all of them instead?" He asked, unsheating a blade in front of the pirates. Upon seeing this, they paled and started to plead for their lives. "Don't kill us! We'll go home and go back to being farmers! Please!" Silk squirmed and felt uncomfortable. "I don't mean that…"
"Oh, you want to cut off all their limbs?" John smiled as he grabbed a pirate's arm and raised the blade, making the pirate scream in fear. "No, no! Forget it!" Silk shouted as she waved her hands around, panic on her face.
"Oh, take all their cannon balls as well…and everything of value…" John added sinisterly. They looted the enemy ship of everything except their food and went on their way.
—
LEVEL UP! Level 10 (146/1000)
Gained 1 Stat point
Gained 1 Perk point
Plus 5 max HP
Plus 1 max AP
BATTLE REWARDS:
Gained 1 Perception (7=8)
Bullet Time level up (4=5)
John was doing crunches as he looked at the after battle screen. He was intrigued by the new reward he got, a perk point. Do I get a perk point every ten levels? If so, then that's not gonna be a lot, only ten if the max level is one hundred, if it even reached that. He mentally put the stat point he got into perception, getting it up to nine. The next time he gets a point in it, he will get a new perk. I wonder what kind of perks will Perception give?
As for the perk point, he decided to hold onto it for the time being. He wanted to unlock more perks first before he puts a point in one. "98, 99, 100!" He finished his last rep and got up to dry himself.
Gained 1 Endurance (10=11)
Nice!
—
A few days later
The crew members were laying down on some beach chairs on the deck. It was pleasantly warm and the winds were gentle, a perfect day to relax. Thankfully, they hadn't encountered any more pirates on the way to next island, though Silk still stood at the bow with her saber in hand. Meanwhile, John was holding a fishing rod while he sat on a chair, wearing only a bucket hat and shorts when a shout came from the lookout.
"Land Ho!"
John stood up and saw an island in the distance.
Location Discovered!
Shimotsuki Village
10 exp!
—
Patch Notes:
Renamed 'Tunnel Vision' to 'Bullet Time'