Chapter 7-8: First Bounty Hunt

Josh received the system notification with the new task: 

[Task: A new gamble on your first mission, where you are playing with your life against a group of dangerous pirates. 

Objective: Finish the mission alive. 

Rewards: 

- Mystery Box Tier two (+ Good rank) 

- Draw Points: 10 

What you are betting on: 

- Possibility of death. 

- 5 Draw Points.]

The rewards were tempting, but Josh knew the gamble came with a heavy price: his life. This wasn't the first time the system called it a gamble, and now he understood why. The missions triggered when real danger lurked, when his survival was at stake.

He and his team—Mikita, Gem, and the others, led by the current Mister Ten—were on a mission to take down the Mantis Pirates. Their ship anchored off a small island, their target a hotel in the distance, where the pirate leader, Ron (bounty: 25 million berries), and his vice (bounty: 15 million berries) were resting.

Mister Ten laid out the plan. "Your body build would be enough," Miss July said, pointing to Josh. She explained that his agility made him the best candidate to sneak into the hotel, reach the top floor, and spike the water supply with a sleeping potion. Mikita could have handled it, but they needed her strength for the fight ahead.

Josh raised a hand. "Why not just use poison instead?" he asked. He wasn't exactly keen on killing, but he figured it would be more efficient.

Mister Ten sighed. "You must realize we get the full bounty when we deliver the pirates alive. Marines want public executions."

"Oh." Josh nodded in understanding, though Mikita smirked at him. "You like to be efficient, don't you?" she teased. Josh shrugged, playing it off as curiosity, but his mind was already on the mission ahead.

-x-X-x-

As the sun set, casting an orange glow over the island, Josh paddled a small boat to the shore. Dressed in dark clothes, he moved silently, his heart racing as he approached the pirate-infested hotel. This was the real deal, a mission that could end with him dead or victorious.

'May God have mercy on my soul,' Josh prayed silently.

Pirates wandered nearby, laughing and talking, but Josh avoided them easily, using the trees for cover. He wasn't allowed to engage them in combat unless absolutely necessary. As he moved closer, he heard two pirates bickering.

"Did you hear something?" one pirate asked, turning toward Josh's hiding spot.

"I swear I saw a shadow," he added, drawing a dagger and creeping toward the tree where Josh had hidden. The pirate circled the tree but found nothing.

Josh, now perched above them on a branch, held his breath. 'Good thing I learned how to walk on walls,' he thought, silently thanking his epic-tier physical talent. With his enhanced agility and strength, moving on walls felt almost natural.

The two pirates started fighting, their tempers flaring, which gave Josh the distraction he needed. He moved stealthily, slipping past them and approaching the hotel. The Mantis Pirates, known for trading weapons, had made this island their headquarters, and now they were about to face Baroque Works' wrath.

Josh surveyed the hotel, eyeing the top floor where the water storage was located. He dashed forward, running up the wall, his body angled for momentum. His feet pressed against the surface as he pushed upward, using windows for short rests. His hands gripped the edges for balance, and within a minute, he reached the roof.

The water storage tank was right in front of him, but something unexpected caught his eye: a pirate, half-naked and bathing under the tank, locked eyes with Josh.

'For real?' Josh thought, annoyed at his bad luck.

"Who are you?" the massive pirate growled. Standing at 2.7 meters tall and rippling with muscles, he dwarfed Josh. The guy looked like something out of Fist of the North Star. 

"What type of parody bullshit is this!?", Josh exclaimed in his mind.

Josh knew a fight was inevitable. The pirate threw a punch, but Josh's epic physical talent kicked in, allowing him to quickly parry the blow. His instincts took over. Josh formed a claw with his hand and slashed at the pirate's side, drawing blood. The pirate retaliated with a vicious kick aimed at Josh's legs, but Josh, already adapting to the fight, jumped, delivering a double kick to the man's chin.

The pirate staggered, and Josh didn't waste a second. He clenched his fist and delivered a powerful punch to the pirate's face, knocking him out cold. Josh stood over the unconscious man, panting and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Ha... ha..." he breathed heavily, proud of his quick reflexes and new combat skills. His recent practice with the Kung Fu manual was already paying off.

With the pirate down, Josh climbed up to the water tank and poured the sleeping potion inside. His mission was almost complete. He walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. He hadn't practiced descending from great heights, but he figured he could manage. After all, his body was stronger than most.

"I'll just jump and grab onto the windows on the way down," he muttered to himself, mentally preparing for the risky descent.

His next step was to return to the beach and signal the rest of the team. The hard part was over, but the mission wasn't finished yet. Baroque Works still had to take down the rest of the Mantis Pirates, and Josh's gamble on his life was far from settled. But for now, he had won this round.

-x-X-x-

Josh returned to the beach, the cold moonlight reflecting off the waves as he waved a torch—his signal for the team. Shortly after, the Baroque Works' ship appeared, and his companions disembarked onto the sandy shore.

"Kyahahah, so easy for you, huh?" Mikita, floating in the air, laughed as she teased Josh. "Hope the fight's not too easy!"

Josh stared at her with mild irritation, but Mister Ten interrupted before Mikita could continue. "Report, Josh," Mister Ten ordered.

"One pirate knocked out on the roof, and the sleeping potion's in the water," Josh said casually, shrugging off the minor fight earlier.

Mister Ten, satisfied, nodded. "Good. Now we wait for the pirates to finish their dinner."

As the leader of Baroque Works strategised, he unsheathed two short swords, while Miss July, standing beside him, spun a pair of long pins in her hands. He laid out the plan: Mikita would float above the hotel and use her powers to increase her weight, crashing down like a meteor. Gem, Josh, and Mike would head straight into the battle.

-x-X-x-

Up in the air, Mikita hovered over the hotel with her umbrella. Below, most of the Mantis Pirates had already fallen asleep, their food and drink laced with Josh's potion. However, a few men, including the pirate captain, had grown suspicious.

"Captain, don't drink the water. Something's off," a hulking pirate warned as he stepped onto the first floor. Though most pirates were already knocked out, the ones who remained upright threw their water aside and stayed alert.

Mikita smiled, her excitement masking any nerves. She closed her umbrella, and in a heartbeat, her weight shifted from just one kilo to a crushing ten tons. Gravity took over, and she plummeted toward the roof of the hotel. The impact was immediate—she tore through the top floor, the building shattering beneath her weight.

The hotel crumbled as Mikita crashed through every floor, the sound of destruction echoing across the island. When she finally reached the first floor, she jumped out of the wreckage, her umbrella snapping open to let her float back up.

But she wasn't alone.

Captain Ron, a large man with metallic claws, and his whip-wielding vice-captain emerged from the rubble, along with a handful of dazed but awake pirates. Captain Ron, clearly drunk, glared at the group of six Baroque agents now approaching him.

"Who did this?" Ron roared, his slurred speech still carrying authority.

Mikita giggled, her voice dripping with mockery. "Just visitors, here for some fun," she teased.

Ron hurled a rock into the sky in rage. Mikita barely dodged it, her umbrella protecting her from being hit. "Do that again, and I'll crush you!" she snapped, preparing to drop down on him again.

"Hold back, Mikita," Mister Ten commanded, already preparing to engage. "Everyone, attack!" he shouted as he and Miss July charged forward to take on Ron and his vice-captain. The rest of the crew, including Josh, Gem, and Mike, were ordered to deal with the lesser pirates.

Josh shifted into his Kung Fu stance, the training he had been practicing already starting to feel instinctive. His legs bent in a horse stance, and his hands opened into claws, ready for combat.

The battle quickly became chaotic. Mister Ten and Miss July faced off against Captain Ron and the whip-wielding vice-captain, managing to hold their own despite the overwhelming strength of their opponents. Meanwhile, Gem, destined to become Mr. 5 in the future, fought like a human bomb. Using his explosive mucus, he shot blasts at the pirates, turning the battlefield into a deadly minefield. Anyone who got too close to him was greeted with an explosion.

Josh, for his part, found himself adapting quickly. His body, enhanced by the system's epic-tier physical talents, moved with newfound grace as he clawed at the pirates around him, sending them flying one by one.

In the sky, Mikita was wreaking havoc, her ten-ton body dropping on unsuspecting pirates like a living meteor. Her target, the vice-captain, barely managed to dodge her weight, though he wasn't quick enough to avoid getting his arm broken in the process.

Seeing the vice-captain weakened, Gem quickly extended his mucus and fired a blast at him, finishing the job. Mikita floated back up, but in doing so, she drifted too far over the sea—her one true weakness as a Devil Fruit user. "Help me!" she cried, panic in her voice as she floated helplessly above the ocean.

"Mission first. Help yourself," Gem said coldly, showing no intention of assisting her.

Josh, however, wasn't about to leave her to her fate. Dodging an enemy's attack, he ran toward the shore, quickly shedding his jacket as he dove into the water. Swimming swiftly, he caught up to Mikita, who clung to him as if her life depended on it—because it did.

"Josh, throw me back into the fight!" Mikita ordered, her voice shaking with frustration and embarrassment.

"Alright," Josh replied, lifting her surprisingly soft and light body. With all his might, he threw her back toward the battlefield. Mikita sailed through the air, her powers allowing her to float before diving back into the fray.

Back on land, the fight had turned deadly. Mister Ten and Miss July were both wounded, their bodies poisoned by Captain Ron's claws. The pirate smirked as he pointed his metallic claws at them. "These blades are poisoned. Enjoy your trip to the next life," he sneered.

But before Ron could finish the job, something heavy fell on him—a ten-ton Mikita, landing with a brutal crash. The force shattered Ron's bones, and he collapsed under her weight.

Mikita stood up, brushing the dust off her clothes, and nodded in Josh's direction, a silent acknowledgement of their teamwork.

Meanwhile, Gem had finished off the vice-captain, and the battle was over. The crew stood victorious, though battered and bruised.

"Let's get back to the ship," Mister Ten said, his face pale from the poison coursing through his veins. He and Miss July needed urgent medical attention, but Gem was focused on retrieving the pirates' heads to collect the bounties.

Josh, however, had no interest in handling the decapitated heads. "I'm done here," he muttered, walking away.

As the team regrouped, Mikita approached Josh quietly. "Thanks," she whispered, her usual bravado gone for a moment.

"You're welcome, chocolate," Josh replied with a smirk.

Mikita paused, her eyes narrowing at the nickname. "Stop calling me that. Not yet."

"Alright, Mikita," Josh said, chuckling softly. He had saved her life, but the playful tension between them remained.

As the ship sailed away, Mikita turned to Josh, breaking the silence. "So, how'd you sneak in?"

'She isn't making maniac laughter.' Josh raised his eyebrows as he looked at her. 'No crazy bitch mode.'

"Well, you see…"

Josh, eager to embellish his story, told his version of events, omitting certain details like nearly getting caught by a bathing pirate. But as he spun his tale, the familiar system notification finally rang in his mind:

[Ding! The gamble is won. Rewards are in your storage.]

Josh smiled to himself. Another victory, another step closer to mastering this dangerous world.

"By the way, how can you jump from such a high distance without harming yourself?" Josh asked her.

"Well." She put her hand on her hair. Her finger started playing with a blonde strand, rolling it.

"How I handle the impacts of the pound, is a secret. One day you may figure out, kyahahaha."

She then laughed.

Josh, as a law intern, was reading between the line.

'How to take the pound. Is that a figure of speech?'

It was easy to think so if you are talking with a hot beauty.

But soon, something unexpected happened as they almost reached their island.

Mister Ten and Ms July started puking, as their faces turned pale completely, after which they stopped breathing.

"They are dead." Gem said, adjusting his dark sunglasses as he looked at them.

"What we do now?" Mike asked.

"Obviously," Gem replied coldly. "We make a report and complete our mission. But first, we have to take out the part where we killed the pirates. Anyone has an objection?"

Josh, who was a lawyer in his previous life, stood up.

"No, your honour. "

Everyone looked at him suddenly. Josh suddenly realised he carried away and scratched his chin.

"Don't you get the joke? No one has attended a court before?"

"Oh please. who does that?" Mike rolled his eyes, just like everyone else.

Josh shook his head. "Your loss, I won't give you legal advise in the future."

People back in his world would pay good money for his services. Well, not his to be precise. They would go to his mentor who is a partner in that company. Nevertheless, he was his student, so it still counts.