Targeting the Flock

Chapter 2: Targeting the Flock

Loguetown

This town marked both the beginning and end. It was where the legendary Pirate King Roger was born and died. The Marines also had a presence here. The Captain stationed in this town hailed from the Marien Headquarters and was known for his tremendous power.

If one were to inquire casually, they would say that the newcomer far surpassed the previous corrupt branch captain who had conspired with pirates.

A ship appeared on the horizon, catching the attention of the marine soldiers stationed at the port. They swiftly brought out their binoculars. If it were pirates, they would need to report immediately. However, what they saw was a familiar sight.

A pirate's corpse hung from the bow, and behind it stood a clean-cut man with a group of terrified pirates trembling before him. They were clearly frightened by the handsome man.

"It's Rodney. He's here to claim the bounties again," a marine soldier breathed a sigh of relief. Rodney was a rising star among pirate hunters and had a reputation for apprehending entire crews.

"Summon someone right away and prepare to receive the pirates."

"Yes, sir."

Shortly after, the ship belonging to the Hacksaw Pirates docked, and a group of marines dispersed the crowd, apprehending all the pirates.

Leading the team was a graceful woman with glasses and a long knife at her waist, Master Chief Petty Office Tashigi.

"Mr. Rodney," Tashigi approached and greeted Rodney with utmost politeness.

"Hello, Tashigi. The Hacksaw Pirates are here. How much bounty can be collected?" Rodney inquired.

Tashigi smiled and replied, "Please wait a moment. We need to calculate, but I assure you it won't be any less." She regarded Rodney with respect, acknowledging his contribution to the seas.

"Okay," Rodney nodded. He trusted Tashigi to be honest and was not afraid of any deceitful enrichment on Smoker's part. If he were to do the same, it would jeopardize the Marine's integrity.

Soon, four stacks of banknotes fell into Rodney's hands, with one stack being relatively small. The entire Hacksaw Pirates crew had a total bounty of 5.63 million bellies. Rodney used 3 million bellies to purchase Explosive Tag and ten thousand bellies for shurikens and kunai blades, utilizing his savings.

He found a hotel to rest and bought Explosive Tags, shurikens, Senbon(1), steel wires, and kunai from the system's marketplace.

The system marketplace offered not only these items but also ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Bloodline Limits, and more. However, acquiring them required mission points.

The Eight Gates, White Light Chakra Sabre, Chakra Extraction Technique, and his own Chakra were all granted by the system's gift package.

Rodney could currently open only one gate of the Eight Gates, so he needed to continually train and strengthen his body to unlock more gates.

The mission points and bellies in the marketplace were akin to points and diamonds in a game. The contrast was striking and felt somewhat familiar. However, this time, spending money was not an easy option.

He placed a stack of Explosive Tags in his waist bag, along with a small collection of ninja tools. The waist bag had a cubic space, similar to a storage scroll, but the storage scrolls in the marketplace were too expensive and offered limited space.

"I'm broke again."

[Ding! A mission has been released.]

Just as he lamented his poverty, a new mission appeared. Rodney opened the mission details.

[Mission: Eliminate the Hundred Crows.]

Mission Level: C

Mission: Kill Kuro

[Reward: Permanent Chakra Fruit, 150 Mission Points.]

Chakra Fruit? That was a valuable item. The Chakra Fruit was not the one consumed by Kaguya Otsutsuki but a weaker variant. It came in two types: permanent and explosive.

The permanent Chakra Fruit could increase one's chakra to a certain extent and expand their chakra capacity. On the other hand, the explosive Chakra Fruit provided a greater chakra boost than the permanent fruit, but its effects were temporary, disappearing after a certain duration.

Dealing with Kuro wouldn't be an easy task.

And was it too reckless to jump from a 4.5 million to 16 million bounties all at once?

Kuro is a master strategist who has never once before failed in his village raids, he was the captain of the Black Cat Pirates. He feigned death to escape and infiltrated the wealthy merchants in Syrup Village trying to seize their properties.

He was an incredibly intelligent individual, but unfortunately, he crossed paths with the great Usopp and Straw Hat Luffy.

The current year in the Sea Calendar was the latter half of 1517, and he had spent nearly half a year in Kaya's house.

"That cunning fellow will pose some difficulties." It was inconvenient dealing with someone so intelligent, but not impossible.

...

Rodney embarked on a new journey, following a merchant ship. Without sufficient navigation knowledge at sea, one could easily get lost in calm zones or encounter natural disasters.

Unaware of these dangers, Rodney naturally trailed the merchant ship. The ship will pass through Syrup Village and also requires protection.

The merchant ship made several stops for buying and selling goods, and the journey proceeded relatively smoothly. After receiving 50,000 bellies from the merchant ship's captain, Rodney sailed the boat toward Syrup Village.

As the merchant ship could not dock directly, Rodney had to take a small boat north of Syrup Village.

Syrup Village was a peaceful place, home to Yasopp, the sniper of the Red-Haired Pirates, and the father of Usopp, the sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"Trouble! Pirates are coming! Pirates are coming!" Shouts echoed through the village, and the voice belonged to a young boy. Did they mistake him for a pirate?

A cloud of dust appeared in the distance. Rodney focused his gaze and discovered a boy wearing a turban, boasting a long nose and an afro, frantically running ahead. Behind him, a group of adults brandished brooms and sticks, chasing after the boy with anger etched on their faces.

Usopp?

The future sniper quickly slipped past Rodney, while the pursuing adults persisted. Rodney grabbed one of the adults and said, "He's just a child. Can't you let him be?"

"This happens every day, once or twice. It's really irritating. He truly takes after his pirate father!" The villagers despised Usopp for his daily lies. It was one thing to scare them with tales, but doing it every day was plain annoying. Combined with Usopp's resentment towards his father becoming a pirate, such behavior was understandable.

In the eyes of many, pirates were villains.

Usopp's father, Yasopp, had accepted the invitation of the renowned Red-Haired Shanks to become a pirate. From the village's perspective, Yasopp was a scoundrel who had abandoned his wife and children, especially after his wife's death.

The villagers despised him and never wanted to see him again. To comfort his mother, Usopp began using the lie "the pirates are coming" every day when she fell ill, giving her hope.

After his mother's passing, Usopp developed the habit of proclaiming "The pirates are coming" every day. He became known as a big liar, someone everyone disliked.

"Oh? Really? By the way, where is the wealthiest family in this village?" Rodney inquired.

The man pointed to a mansion atop the hill and asked, "That's it. Wait, why do you ask?"

Rodney's appearance wasn't exactly that of a virtuous individual.

"I am a pirate hunter, and there's a pirate lurking in this village."

"Isn't that the brat from earlier? His father is a pirate too."

"No, that man isn't the pirate. Thank you." Rodney infused chakra into his legs and sprinted towards the hilltop villa, moving at a speed far surpassing that of an ordinary person. He vanished from sight in an instant.

"Could it be that the boy was a pirate?" The man scratched his head, pondered for a moment, and asked a few people to follow.

But how could they keep up with Rodney's speed?

The distance wasn't far, so Rodney arrived at the backyard of the mansion and quietly slipped inside.

This was the wealthiest family in Syrup Village and also the hiding place of Baiji Keluo.

Having realized the allure of being a pirate, Kuro faked his death and escaped, using one of his crew members as a decoy. With the help of the hypnotist Jango the Turncoat, he had his subordinates believe that he was Klahadore.

He then orchestrated a situation where he was surrounded by the Marines and eliminated all the witnesses, leaving only a subordinate and a marine officer to clear his name.

Upon arriving in Syrup Village, he pretended to be a crew member expelled by the fleet and was taken in by this wealthy family, all while wearing a hypocritical mask that deceived everyone in the village.

As a cunning and smart pirate, Kuro's actions were commendable, and his schemes were incredibly intricate. Rodney entered the garden adorned with flowers and plants, leaping onto a tree and concealing himself among the leaves.

The mansion of a wealthy family was vast, making it a bit troublesome to find Kuro. Therefore, Rodney chose to observe from a distance.

Ratoon's Note:

Senbon- are metal needles with a point at both ends