Chapter 16
"Kuro! Get out here!" My furious voice thundered across the entire village.
Everyone froze, staring up at me floating in the air.
The pirates looting treasures were stunned too—for a moment, they even forgot to spit threats.
Divine Sense Pressure!
My will materialized, crushing down from all directions on every pirate present. They dropped to their knees, completely immobilized.
At that moment, Kuro emerged from the mansion. Seeing the scene in the square shocked him beyond belief.
"May I ask who you are, sir?" Kuro cautiously probed. After all, me hovering mid-air plus a square full of kneeling pirates made it clear I wasn't someone to mess with. The cautious Kuro began thinking of retreat.
"The person who came specifically to deal with you!" With telekinesis, I knocked every pirate in the square on the head—knocking them all unconscious—then transformed into lightning and appeared in front of Kuro in an instant.
Usopp and Kaya, who had just emerged from the forest, witnessed this unforgettable scene.
Me hovering in mid-air turning into lightning and charging down from the sky, while every kneeling pirate collapsed at the same moment.
"So… amazing…" Usopp was stunned beyond words.
Kaya was speechless, staring blankly at the blue lightning streak.
Lightning Spear!
I reached Kuro and thrust a large staff at him—he barely dodged.
In the original story, Kuro's speed was extremely fast—only slightly slower than CP9's Soru. That alone was impressive.
But that was no problem for me.
Discharge! Electromagnetic Field!
Lightning shot from my hand, forming a semicircular dome that enclosed a 10-meter radius around Kuro—and began rapidly shrinking.
Sensing the danger, Kuro swung his ten long claws at me. With his intelligence, he easily realized I was the best breakthrough point. Unfortunately, physical attacks had no effect on me.
I stood calmly as his claws pierced ten holes in my body—no blood flowed. Where the claws touched, there was only electric light.
Of course I felt no pain. The elementalization of a Logia fruit was basically a bug-level ability.
"Give up. You're too weak." I clenched my fist—the electromagnetic field accelerated its contraction, quickly wrapping Kuro completely.
Forming a humanoid arc cage.
I slightly increased the current intensity—Kuro screamed and passed out from the shock.
After all, he was just a small fry—one move finished him.
Looking at the charred Kuro and the unconscious pirates scattered around, I felt a bit bored. No challenge at all.
With telekinesis, I untied all the ropes binding the villagers. They immediately burst into cheers.
Kaya hugged her parents again, crying loudly.
Not used to this kind of scene, I grabbed Kuro and flew back to the ship.
"This one is mine. Do whatever you want with the rest." I left those words as I flew away.
Back on the ship, I chained Kuro tightly to the mast. To me, this was 60 million Berries waiting to be cashed in.
I hadn't been gone long—Nojiko was still asleep. Not wanting to disturb her beauty sleep, I lounged on deck feeling bored.
Beach chair, sun umbrella, small table, red wine, snacks. Everything set up, I lay back comfortably and opened the Desire System to browse.
Haven't checked in days—Desire Points had climbed to over 23,000. Nami really made me a fortune.
What does a person do after sudden wealth? Spend, of course!
Right now I was enjoying the thrill of buying. Spent about 3,000 Desire Points on clothes and daily necessities, luxury items like cigarettes and alcohol, and all sorts of cute little gifts perfect for girls. The deck piled up with stuff.
Admittedly, shopping really makes the mind and body happy.
Then I sadly discovered my 3-cubic-meter spatial ring couldn't hold it all. Helpless, I spent more Desire Points on a 2-cubic-meter large spatial ring to store everything.
…
Looks like I need to find myself a private secretary soon…
Kalifa from CP9 would be perfect—super professional as a secretary. I absolutely can't miss her when we reach Water 7. Might as well get a good ship then—this warship doesn't suit my taste.
Thinking of CP9 reminded me of their badass Six Powers. Through constant training, they break physical limits to perform superhuman feats. Meaning as long as my body strength catches up, I can do it too.
Increasing body strength doesn't require training for me—just spend money. With that thought, I opened the long-neglected attribute panel.
Strength: Constitution: Agility: ( +99) Mental Power: Charm:
Compared to before, it looked almost the same. Except for mental power, I was still a total slacker. No good—I need to get stronger. Spending money makes me stronger!
Opened the attribute shop—each stat had a + button. I tapped the + next to Strength. Strength became , and Desire Points only dropped . So cheap?
What was I waiting for? I tapped like crazy. Soon Strength reached , then I looked at remaining Desire Points and got scared. In that short time, I was down to just over . Scary—pit dad!
I tried tapping again—prompt said insufficient Desire Points. What?
I tested Constitution—still only cost per tap. To be safe, I tapped once at a time while watching the balance.
Then I discovered: once Constitution exceeded , each tap cost . Over , it became per tap! So over would be per tap!
Bottomless pit!
Suddenly I felt incredibly poor. I spread the remaining Desire Points evenly across all stats—spent everything. Back to zero again.
After adding points, my stats became:
Strength: Constitution: Agility: 3 ( +99) Mental Power: Charm:
After exiting the shop, my body felt noticeably lighter—full of power. Just as I was about to find a place to test my new strength, I heard Nojiko's voice.
"Master…" Nojiko walked out from the cabin.
"Hey, you're up. Good morning~" I took out another beach chair and placed it beside me, beckoning Nojiko to sit.
"How about it—hungry? What do you want for breakfast? Anything you want—instant delivery." Occasional thoughtfulness made Nojiko's heart flutter.
"Mmm, anything's fine. Just something light." Nojiko obediently walked over and sat on the chair.
I noticed Nojiko's walking and sitting posture was a bit unnatural. Divine sense sweep—this little cutie had very consciously inserted the inflatable anal plug herself, and probably given herself quite a bit of enema fluid too. Looks like she was enjoying this immensely.
Since Nojiko was so calm about it, I pretended not to notice. We lounged on deck, eating and chatting, enjoying a leisurely morning.
Near noon, a large group of villagers appeared on Syrup Village's giant slope, marching toward us in a grand procession.
Leading them were Usopp, Kaya, and her parents.
Heh—heh. Here to give thanks.
I watched Kaya in the crowd with interest, waiting for them to arrive.
"Vice Admiral Lin Xiu!" Reaching the shore, Usopp shouted loudly.
I had to show my face from the ship—immediately met with cheers.
"What's up?" I floated down to the ground, exuding high-level aura. Everyone's eyes sparkled.
"We came especially to thank you for saving our village. We don't know how to repay you enough." Kaya's father spoke—polite and refined. The other villagers chimed in agreement.
"No need to be so formal. I already received sufficient reward." I pointed at Kuro chained to the mast—my gaze meaningfully fixed on Kaya.
Feeling my burning stare, Kaya lowered her head, lost in thought. Usopp was busy looking up at Kuro and didn't notice.
"That guy is a wanted criminal—worth 60 million Berries. I'm very satisfied with this reward."
I'm a wanted criminal myself—30 million Berries. Isn't this thief catching thief? I thought wryly.
Dealing with these enthusiastic villagers was incredibly tiring. After being praised and thanked for a long time, I couldn't resist their warm invitation—they dragged me into the village for a grand meal. They even said there'd be a bonfire party in the central square tonight.
Divine sense voice message to Nojiko: make dinner herself, no need to wait for me. Then I was surrounded and led into the village.
...
Spent an exhausting day.
Bored, I sat by the bonfire with some unknown bottle of alcohol, watching villagers dance and party wildly. I was bored to death.
Kaya sat near the bonfire too, smiling gently at the villagers' fun. Usopp kept busily bringing her food and drinks, telling jokes to make her laugh.
Such a sweet couple. Too bad Usopp is too timid to confess—and in the original story, he actually left such a beauty to go to sea.
I'll help you fulfill your dream. I thought evilly in my heart.
The boring party soon ended. Drunk villagers began heading home. Usopp, having drunk too much, passed out on the ground. Because this guy had low popularity in the village, no one bothered sending him home.
Kaya sat beside Usopp, looking troubled and worried.
Soon the place emptied. The bonfire was extinguished. Only the three of us remained in the darkness.
"Kaya, why didn't you drink?" I sat beside her, arm around her shoulder.
"I… I don't like the taste of alcohol…" Kaya's feelings toward me were extremely complicated. Gratitude for saving her parents twice, a hint of admiration after seeing my overwhelming power today—mixed with her original feelings for Usopp, creating an unknown emotion toward me.
But the excessive things I'd done to her filled her with fear—especially the collar around her neck, symbolizing humiliation and danger, and that terrifying suffocation feeling.
To be continued…
Liked this chapter? Support the story on P@tre0n!
Early access and extras available .
[email protected]/arthursink