Chapter 57: Rock-Paper-Scissors
Not just the pirates, but even the Marine soldiers in the rear were terrified by the sudden, bloody scene before them.
Five pirates had charged forward, only to fall as ten pieces. The vivid red on the scene was too much of a mental shock, causing some Marines with weaker psychological fortitude to bend over and vomit.
Even Ace felt a bit uncomfortable. He frowned as he looked at Ian, feeling that Ian at this moment was terrifying—completely different from the person he had fought earlier.
However, it wasn't over yet. The next moment, Ian actually took the initiative to move toward the Krieg Pirates!
Though his mental exhaustion prevented him from using Nen, Ian was still a swordsman who had trained for many years. Every swing of his blade came from countless repetitions, honed to perfection. Coupled with the strength and speed bonuses from his cards, he was like a bloodthirsty beast, stirring up a storm of blood and carnage among the pirates. With every movement, every flash of his blade, a pirate’s scream rang out, and splattering blood sprayed into the air!
Before Ace could even join the fight, Ian had already cut down dozens of pirates in an instant, each one killed with a single blow. The Sword Saint Longsword finally displayed its true power at this moment. Its rough and savage slashing style was fully unleashed by Ian. Every enemy daring to stand before him fell, split in half!
Blood was the prelude to slaughter, and screams were the notes of fear. At this moment, Ian was a demon walking through a sea of gore, showing no mercy whatsoever. He simply butchered every pirate that appeared in his sight—whoever they were, one slash was enough!
Ian didn’t actually want to kill. After all, he had come from a peaceful society and had spent a long time in the quiet village of Shimotsuki Village. He had always maintained his own moral boundaries. When he caught pirates, he usually just injured them and let them go. Even back then with Cabaji, Ian had held back—if he had wanted to, he could have easily split Cabaji in two.
But not wanting to kill didn’t mean he couldn’t. After seeing the tragic state of Johnny and Yosaku, Ian finally lost control and went berserk!
Yes, Johnny and Yosaku were small-time characters. To many, they were insignificant—if they hadn’t latched onto Ian, they might never have crossed paths with him at all.
Yet these two small-timers, out of loyalty, refused to reveal Ian’s information, leading to the Krieg Pirates’ brutal revenge.
Wasn’t it only natural for bounty hunters to capture pirates?
They were just holding onto their principles. What had they done wrong to deserve such treatment? Just because they were weak and the pirates were strong, did that give them the right to trample on others?
If that’s the case, then since I’m stronger than you, I don’t need to show you any mercy either!
In this pirate world, everyone has their own goal. Zoro and Kuina live for their dreams, Buggy lives for his treasure, Ace lives for his freedom. And Ian? When he first came to this world, he was lost too, unable to find his purpose. But today, at this very moment, Ian finally understood—he would live for his own strength!
When Ian snapped out of his killing spree and his thoughts, the square was already littered with corpses. Of the five hundred or so Krieg Pirates gathered here, over a hundred and forty had been cut down by Ian in such a short time!
Crimson blood flowed like a small stream across the square. And now, with the sun rising and the temperature climbing, the smell of blood in the air grew even thicker.
A few pirates lying at Ian’s feet had collapsed from sheer terror, their legs too weak to stand. They thought they were about to die, but Ian suddenly stopped. The release of tension made them unable to hold their bladders, and several of them wet their pants simultaneously.
The intense action had drained Ian’s stamina. Panting, he held his dripping longsword and swept his gaze across all the pirates.
Every pirate he looked at shuddered violently. Shocked out of their stupor by Ian’s slaughter, they finally came to their senses.
“A… a demon!!!”
The remaining pirates screamed and scattered in all directions!
Tears and snot streaming down their faces, they were pirates who lived by the blade, but they had never witnessed such a brutal massacre. No one could withstand even one blow from that demon—anyone who tried ended up as chunks of flesh. The only thought in their minds was to flee, to get as far away from that demon as possible!
But just then, a loud roar stopped their escape.
“Where do you think you’re going!?”
The Krieg Pirates were familiar with their captain’s voice. Krieg’s long-established authority made them suppress their urge to run and turn toward the sound.
From another direction in the square, the overlord of the East Blue, Krieg, appeared. He wore a gleaming golden suit of armor, followed by several of his crew’s officers, with a few hundred subordinates bringing up the rear. They came into everyone’s view.
He passed through the Marines’ encirclement, but no soldier dared to stop him. Instead, they stepped back in fear, letting Krieg pass easily.
“Captain Krieg, you’re finally here!”
The pirates who had wanted to flee earlier wept with relief, feeling that their captain’s arrival was perfectly timed. Their desire to run faded, and they shouted, “Captain, you have to avenge us! That kid is too strong!”
“Shut up!” Krieg roared again, silencing them instantly.
Standing before Ian, Krieg naturally saw the pile of corpses. His face dark and grim, he asked Ian, “Did you do this?”
He had been worried about his men clashing with the Marines, so he came to check and provide support. But when he arrived, he found his own people trying to flee.
The source of their fear was clearly this kid wearing a bear ear hat…
Ian didn’t answer. He tilted his head, looking at Krieg’s golden armor, then at his diamond-studded gauntlets, and suddenly smiled. “Your head, I want it.”
With that, Ian swung his blade directly at Krieg.
But a steel shield suddenly extended from the side, blocking Ian’s slash. Ian looked over and saw a ridiculously dressed figure step out from beside Krieg.
This man had iron shields strapped to his stomach and back, held another shield in each hand, and wore a round hat on his head. His whole appearance was bizarre, and he had a soft, effeminate air about him.
Needless to say, this was the Krieg Pirates’ officer, Iron Wall Bala!
“How dare you attack the captain!” Bala sneered, twisting his mouth. “Let me, Bala, deal with you!”
The Krieg Pirates’ underlings cheered him on, shouting Bala’s name.
Bala clashed his two shields together, producing a metallic clang, and said, “My defense is invincible! I’ve never been injured in a fight before!”
But before Ian could respond, a foot suddenly flew in from the side, kicking Bala square in the face and sending him flying.
Ian turned to see that it was Ace who had struck. Ace rubbed his nose and said to Ian, “I thought you were going to finish them all yourself, but it looks like there’s still a fight to be had!”
Bala got up from the ground, feeling a sharp pain in his cheek. He spat out a bloody tooth and froze in shock.
“B… blood!” Bala’s whole body trembled. The thing he hated most was seeing his own blood.
“Bala’s in danger! Danger!” he muttered to himself, then suddenly burst into flames, shouting at Ace, “I’ll kill you!”
Ian didn’t even bother to look at this fool. He said to Ace, “He’s yours!”
“No problem!” Ace said, hands on his hips, holding his hat. “But flames again? Am I really that fated with fire?”
As Ace began fighting Bala, Ian didn’t expect another person to step forward from behind Krieg. This man had short hair, wore a turban-like hat, and held two cross-shaped clubs with hammer heads. He looked at Ian with a bloodthirsty, excited grin.
“Ooh! It’s the Demon Man Gin! Gin is making his move!” the Krieg Pirates’ underlings cheered.
Ian naturally knew who Gin was. He looked up at the towering Krieg and said mockingly, “Are you just going to let your men come out one by one to fight for you?”
Krieg smirked and laughed. “There’s strength in numbers, isn’t there?”
As they spoke, the Demon Man Gin attacked. The heavy hammer heads of his cross clubs swung toward Ian’s chest with a whistling sound, showing that the force behind them was considerable!
Gin seemed confident in his attack, but to his surprise, Ian didn’t dodge or evade. Instead, he slashed down at the incoming clubs!
Faster and stronger than Gin, Ian’s blade cut through the weapons in one stroke. Then, with a sliding step, he moved behind Gin, swung his longsword horizontally, and sliced across Gin’s abdomen.
Gin stared in disbelief at the massive wound opened across his stomach. Ian’s movements had been so fast that he couldn’t react before being hit!
Instant kill!
As Gin collapsed, clutching his stomach, Ace also finished his fight with Bala. Bala was beaten black and blue and had passed out. Since Ace fought with fists and feet, he hadn’t killed him.
Now it was Krieg’s turn to be stunned. He never imagined that his two most capable officers couldn’t even hold out for a while!
Whether it was Ian or Ace, both were stronger than Luffy and Zoro when they set out three years later. The so-called officers of the Krieg Pirates were barely stronger than ordinary thugs in front of them. There was no way they could drag out a fight for half a day!
“Now there’s just one left. Your turn or mine? I didn’t get any real action just now…” Ace walked up to Ian and asked.
Ian thought for a moment and said, “How about we play rock-paper-scissors?”
“Good idea!” Ace gave a thumbs-up in approval.
And so, right in front of countless pirates and Marines, the two of them casually started playing rock-paper-scissors, completely disregarding Krieg, the overlord of the East Blue…