On the blue sea.
A medium-sized Battleship from the Marine Branch was sailing at full speed.
"Reporting Captain, we have discovered the fleet of the Flo pirates!"
"Is that so?"
The Marine Captain who commanded this Battleship, came to the deck and picked up the telescope and looked at a dark spot in the distance. He immediately saw Flo pirates ship stopped in the middle of the sea.
As the distance got close, he vaguely felt that something was wrong, because the Flo pirates ship was obviously broken and seemed to have just experienced a big battle.
"All staff prepare to battle, once they enter the range of cannons, immediately start the bombardment!"
Marine Captain frowned and pondered before he gave an order.
……
"Marine Battleship?"
Ross draws back from practicing his new ability, took the telescope from Robin's hand, and looked at the direction Robin was pointing, and immediately saw a Battleship coming towards them at full speed.
Robin's eyes flashed slightly, and whispered to Ross standing next to her: "Barring any surprise, they should be coming for Flo pirates."
"Hmm."
Ross nodded. Anyway, whether they were coming for Flo pirates, or for them, there is no difference now.
Just as Ross put down the telescope, a familiar and crisp system sound came from his ear.
"In view of the fact that the host's living environment has changed and the host has a unique view of darkness and justice, Talent System will carry out suboptimization. The optimized content is as follows……"
"Besides hunting pirates, Host can also receive Talent Proficiency points and Free Talent Points as a reward by defeating the Marines who came after host to kill him. Moreover, the reduction in reward is not shared with hunting pirates."
"Note: The reward is only valid for the highest-ranking military officer in the Marine who is after host, and the lowest has to Marine Rear Admiral."
Ross listened to the sound coming to his ear. After being slightly startled, his face could not help but reveal a smile. This optimization is obviously what he would like to see.
"After this optimization, the host can directly check the hunting reward range corresponding to the pirate's bounty amount, and defeating reward range corresponding to the position of a high-ranking Marine military officer in the system panel."
"Ding! The suboptimization is complete!"
The second optimization also makes Ross be startled slightly. After the final sound of the system fell, his thought moved and opened the Talent System.
In the upper right corner of the Talent System page, there is a special bonus symbol that was not available before. He looked and it opened.
Hunting Pirates:
5-8 million Berries… has hunted 3 people
8 -10 million Berries … has killed 2 people
10 - 12 million Berries … has hunted 2 people
12 - 15 million Berries … has hunted 2 people
15 - 20 million Berries … has hunted 1 person
20 - 30 million Berries … has hunted 1 person
……
Left of Hunting Pirates list, records the number of pirates that he has hunted so far, and it clearly indicates each reward interval and decreases interval, which is exactly in line with Ross's previous conjecture.
By hunting multiple pirates in the same bounty range, the Talent Proficiency reward will decrease, and the first time a pirate is hunted in the new range, Free Talent Points will be acquired.
For the bounty of more than 30 million, there are multiple intervals.
50 million is a dividing line. And after 100 million and 500 million is a dividing line. After 500 million, there are only three remaining areas, 500 million to 800 million, 800 million to 1.2 billion, and above 1.2 billion!
"It's very clear division, but the strength of many pirates in this world cannot be directly divided by their bounty."
Ross looked through from top to bottom, then turned to look to the right.
Defeated Marines:
Marine Rear Admiral… has defeated 0 people
Marine Vice-Admiral… has defeated 0 people
Admiral… has defeated 0 people
Marine Fleet Admiral… has defeated 0 people
On the right of the Defeated Marines, everything is zero as Ross has not yet defeated any Marine of Rear Admiral.
"This is a bad division, a branch's Rear Admiral and Headquarters' Rear Admiral are both Rear Admiral, but the strength disparity between them is huge."
Ross shook his head.
Not distinguishing between the branch Rear Admiral and the Headquarters Rear Admiral means that he will only get a small part of the reward, and he is not very satisfied.
After quickly reading the new query page, Ross withdraws from the Talent System.
When he looked at the sea in the distance, the Marine Battleship had already pulled a lot closer, and there was no need to use a telescope to see the outline of the Battleship.
"Wind is blowing from southeast……wind approaching from six degrees……"
"Robin, hang the full sail, let's leave here."
Ross looked at the direction of the wind and said to Robin after a little thought.
The deterrence of Marine Battleship is not a small matter. The cannons loaded are far superior to the Pirate Ship in terms of firepower. In addition, they are going against the wind. If they forcibly rushed forward, they wouldn't even get the chance to get close, before their ship will be bombed into pieces.
Marines on the Battleship would collapse at the first blow, but in the face of a medium-sized Battleship, even a Rear Admiral of the Marine Headquarters will retreat.
Most of the time.
Marine can chase pirate everywhere because the Marine Battleship's artillery fire is extremely fierce, not every pirate can block the bombs, at least the current Ross cannot.
"Yes."
Robin is also very much aware of the deterrent power of a Battleship. If Ross has not given the order, she would have already ordered the pirates to open the full sail and leave.
The five pirates also knew the horror of the Marine Battleship, and they were already prepared. When they heard the instructions from Robin, they immediately hanged on the sails.
In the distant, the marines on the Battleship saw that the Flo pirates were going to flee, and they started chasing after them. They even fired a few bombs to tentatively attempted to break the Pirate Ship's mast, but it was impossible to hit because of the distance.
Although the cannons on the warships are strong, they are too heavy. Even with the turbines installed, they can't catch up with the pirate ship when the wind reaches a certain level.
After all, the vast majority of pirates will run after they had robbed the place. Few pirates will make heavy warships to confront Marines. Flo pirates ship is a lightship.
Finally.
The battleship can only look at the Flo pirates ship getting farther and farther away, becoming a black spot on the horizon and disappearing at the end of their field of vision.
"It would have been good if I had chosen Geppō (Moonwalk)."
Ross stood at the top of the cabin and looks at the sea that stretches to the horizon then shook his head.
If he had learned Geppō (Moonwalk), he can directly traverse the sea by air, ignoring the Battleship's artillery fire, cross towards the Battleship, and then sink the Battleship.
But.
Most of the Battleship was led by a Marine Captain of a certain division. There was no reward for defeating Marine Captain. So Ross had nothing to gain or loss.
With the Talent System, it will not be long before he can ignore the Marine Battleship, and by that time if any Marine Battleship dares to chase him then they will be sunk into the sea!
Whiz!
Ross jumped from the top of the cabin and came to Robin.
"Robin, how much supply is on board?"
"There are enough supplies for a group of seven people to survive for two or three months." Robin thought slightly before answering.
Ross nodded and said, "Okay then, I need you to sort out all the information you have on the West Blue pirates, especially pirates with a bounty of more than 15 million Berries."
"No problem."
Sea calendar, 11th month of the 1508 year.
Ghost Hand Ross killed one-eyed Flo having a bounty of 27 million Berries. He captured the ship of the Flo pirates, and formally formed a pirate group called 'Ghost Hand Pirates', and added a pirate flag with skull and a skeleton hand forming a fist pointing upward.
Sea calendar, the start of the 12th month of 1508 year.
Ghost Hand Ross led the Ghost Hand Pirates, and killed the Captain of Cullo pirates with a bounty of 17 million berries in the Kingdom of Turta, and defeated the local kingdom who came to the encircle him, gradually becoming famous.
Sea calendar, at the end of 12th month of 1508.
Ghost Hand Ross led the ghost hand pirates, and killed the Captain of Blood pirates with a bounty of 25 million Berries, and defeated the West Blue T19 branch of the Marines, which made the West Blue Marines shocked and terrified. His prestige greatly rising.
Sea calendar, at the start of the 1st month of 1509.
This year is also called the eleventh year of the Great Age of Pirates.
Ghost Hand Ross successively eliminated the captain of Hammer Pirates who had a bounty of 28 million berries and Leopard Pirates with a bounty of 19 million berries in Pirate town Bagh.
Later, he also killed the widely known in the sea, Pirate Hunter 'Blood Hand' and his group, who were trying to kill him. So far, his reputation has spread far and wide and no one dared to question his bounty of up 40 million Berries.
……
It's been more than two months since he had captured the Flo pirates ship. Until now, Ross had killed 2 pirates whose bounties were between 15 to 20 million Berries and 3 pirates whose bounties were between 20 to 30 million.
Since he had hunted pirates in a certain interval repeatedly, the rewards also drastically decreased, so Ross only got 80 points of Talent Proficiency.
Fortunately.
When he had killed the Hammer Pirates with a bounty of 28 million berries, Ross got an extra Free Talent Point, which is very satisfactory for Ross.
He continues to hunt and kill the pirate below 30 million bounties but the rewards have become very low, and it is a waste of time. So, Ross has completely shifted his eyes to the pirates with more than 30 million bounty.
Kingdom of Smale.
This is a large kingdom of West Blue. It is one of the 170 countries which are under the World Government, and its king is eligible to participate in the World Council.
In a tunnel of some city, Ross is wearing a leather cap with his back against the wall. He looked at Robin, who was also wearing a hat and said:
"How is the situation inside? Is there anything wrong with the intelligence?"
Robin was using the ability to spy inside the building next to her. After observing for a while, she retracted her ability and nodded to Ross.
"There is no problem with the intelligence. In the center room on the top floor is the location of the shady transaction, and the Captain 'White Blade' of the White-Blade pirates is inside."
The White-Blade pirates' Captain is White Blade. No one knows his real name. He is only known by the name White Blade. His sword arts are very high and he was once a Pirate Hunter, but then he turned into a pirate with a bounty of 35 million Berries.
This is not the first pirate that Ross was eyeing that has a bounty of more than 30 million berries, but he was the first target that he had looked for, which took nearly half a month.
"This is the first time that I will hunt a pirate with a bounty between 30 million to 50 million berries. I will definitely get 1 Free Talent Point. In that case, I can finally put a point in the Physical Enhancement in General talent."
Ross lifted his hat slightly and stretched his body.
These days, in order to improve his stamina, he threw all the tracking and intelligence aspects to Robin, and he did his best to do physical training.
Training while putting his entire strength and energy, Ross's stamina has also grown a lot. He has already adapted to the improved power of the Distortion Fruit, and had put 30 points of proficiency on the power of distortion, which has upgraded the power of distortion.
"Wait for me here."
Ross took the 35 million Berries reward poster of the White Blade from Robin's hand, then told her to wait before turning around and raising one of his hand to the wall in front of him.
Buzz!
The power of distortion acts on the wall. Under the precise control of Ross, the wall is not collapsed, but he made enough space on the wall to climb.
Ross stamped on his foot and jumped up. While stepping on the recessed position, his hand once again grabbed the wall at a higher position and took a leap again.
Whiz! Whiz!
After two consecutive jumps while borrowing strength, Ross jumped onto the roof and disappeared.
"Being wanted by Marines, and hostile to the World Government, but he still tirelessly hunt pirates. He is really a strange Captain."
Robin stared at Ross who disappeared into the sky and muttered.
Most of the pirate are hostile to each other, especially in the Grand Line and even in the second half of New World, a fierce fight often happens when they meet by chance.
But Ross acts, not only when he accidentally encounters pirates, but also takes the initiative to hunt all the famous pirate, as if he must step on blood and bones of others, to become the most fearful existence in the West Blue.
Robin shook her head and started her ability to continue observing inside the building.
In the center room on the top floor.
It is a dark room which has all the curtain pulled and there is no place from which sunlight can come. There are oil lamps in the room. There are about twenty people in the room out of which some are standing and some are sitting.
"It took more than half a month but I finally got in touch with you."
An old man with a gray beard and a ceremonial hat sat on one of the sofas with a cane in his hands, opposite to a swordsman wearing a white jacket.
The swordsman in a white jacket is the Pirate Captain White Blade.
"I heard that you are willing to pay a high amount of money." White Blade's body leaned forward slightly, with a dangerous smile on his face.
The old man in the ceremonial hat said: "Yes, 40 million Berries, this is our compensation for the request."
"That's a lot."
The White Blade leaned back on the sofa, saying: "Let's talk, what do you want us to do?"
"I need you to destroy Capone Mafia's Underground base in the Kingdom of Smale. The development of Capone Mafia has seriously affected our organization."
The old man in the ceremonial hat showed coldness in his eyes.
When White Blade heard this, he could not help but reveal a hint of ridicule. "I see, the criminal organization that you secretly support in the Kingdom of Smale couldn't even get rid of a foreign force. It is really interesting that you ask a pirate to help you."
The old man narrowed his eyes and said: "No, they can, but it will be counterproductive. It will cause big trouble for me if my influence and power were to be discovered. So I can only deal with it secretly… then do you accept this mission or not?"
"Accept."
The White Blade was straightforward and said: "But it is very troublesome to make problems with Capone Mafia, 40 million Berries is not enough, I want 50 million Berries."
"40 million berries are already very high."
The old man looked at the White Blade with a sullen look. He didn't seem to plan to add extra money, but White Blade used a handkerchief to wipe out his scabbard, his appearance as if he didn't care.
When the situation was in a stalemate, the ceiling on the top of the crowd suddenly transmitted an odd sound.
Kāchā! Kāchā!
The White Blade and the old man simultaneously looked upward and saw that strange distortions and cracks had appeared on the entire ceiling. The cracks spread in all directions and suddenly together with the chandelier above collapsed and fell down.
"What's going on?"
Everyone present froze but White Blade reacted very quickly. Raising his sword, he split the ceiling that was falling down into two halves.
The ceiling fell down about two meters away, and the sunlight shone in from the hole above, making the somewhat dark room brighter.
"Interesting, Kingdom of Smale and pirates have made a deal, but regrettably, your deal most likely won't get to finish."
Ross's voice spread throughout the room from the hole.
Then,
Everyone saw a figure wearing a fur hat, one hand pressing down on the fur hat on his head, jumped down from the hole, and fell lightly above the ruins.
"Who?!"
"Audacious, who are you?"
The crowd present was startled. They showed a vigilant and fierce expression while staring at Ross, who had suddenly entered.
The first thought of the old man wearing the ceremonial hat was that Capone Mafia has found their secret deal and suddenly sneaked in, but when he saw Ross' appearance, his pupil immediately shrank.
"You are… Ghost Hand Ross!"
In addition to the White Blade pirates, they also tried to contact the Ghost Hand pirates in private, but because they could not find any contact information, they finally gave up on them.
He had contacted White Blade pirates with great difficulty. He didn't expect for the Ghost Hand Pirates' Captain Ghost Hand Ross to suddenly rush in uninvited.
"Ghost hand, Ross."
White Blade pirate's Captain White Blade, looked at Ross standing on the ruins, his brow slightly wrinkled and gradually revealed a dangerous look.
The name Ghost Hand Ross has spread throughout the West Blue region in recent months. Whether it is a pirate or criminal organization or Marines, he has annihilated all of them. He is a terrifying person who comes after powerful people purely for hunting.
"Are you here for me?"
White Blade's fingers gripped the hilt of his sword and asked Ross in a sinking voice.
Ghost Hand Ross suddenly appeared here, he does not think that Ross came here to play. By Ross's behavior, it appears that he is here for him.
"Yes."
Ross nodded and calmly answered White Blade's question and slowly came down from the destroyed ceiling ruins and then headed towards him.
White Blade's subordinates were completely subdued by the imposing manner that Ghost Hand Ross, this given name brings. As for the members of the criminal organization of the Kingdom of Smale, they were also shaking.
"…"
Looking at Ross approaching, White Blade's face gradually turned gloomy. Besides solemn expression in his eyes, they also had a hint of killing intent and anger.
He is a big pirate with a bounty of 35 million Berries. He has been sailing in the sea for several years, but Ross name had just become famous in the past two months. For Ross to daring to look for him, he will show him who is the prey!
"Flowing blade, behead evil!"
White Blade held the hilt of his sword and fiercely shouted. He suddenly unsheathed the sword in his hand, stepped forward, and chopped sideways towards Ross, cleaving Ross from the left abdomen to the right shoulder.
The sword seems to have cleaved Ross into two halves, but at the moment he chopped out, White Blade inwardly shouted. Not good! Because he clearly felt that his sword hit nothing!
Whiz!
Sure enough, in the next moment, from a position very close to him, a fist came towards him.
At this moment of life and death, he desperately turned around and defend with his sword. When the fist wind attacked over, he blocked it with the point of the sword.
But,
After the fist wind fiercely fell down, the sword in his hand produced a 'kāchā' sound, and suddenly distorted and broke. Together with the sword his arms, his arm also distorted into broken bones and flesh.
"Aaaahhhh!!"
White Blade screamed and covered his badly mangled arm. He stepped hard on the floor, retreating at full speed without the slightest bit of hesitation, trying to escape by knocking and breaking wall at his back.
But before he could hit the wall, Ross's figure flashed like a phantom and swept the delicate blade clenched in his hand towards him.
White Blade's head accompanied by blood soared in the sky. His face had disbelief written on his face. He didn't dare believe that he could only make two moves before he was defeated and killed by Ross.
"Phantom image… Is this his ability? Damn, his movements should have made a sound, why didn't I discover it earlier…"
White Blade sunk into darkness and completely lost consciousness.
At the same time, a familiar system's sound resounded beside his ear.
"35 million Berries bounty, Pirate Captain White Blade has been hunted.
Reward obtained, 60 Talent Proficiency points, and 1 Free Talent Point."
Listening to the sound coming beside his ear, Ross calmly looked at White Blade's body that had fallen down in a pool of blood, and slowly straightened.
With his current strength, even if White Blade can detect that he has distorted the light and created an illusory image similar to reflection in water, he will still not be his opponent.
He used Light Distortion ability just so that he can quickly finish the fight.
Because the speed of this battle is too fast, only one move decided the winner, two moves have decided the life and death, that most of the people present weren't even able to react.
"This…. this……"
"Lie, its a lie, right? How can boss lose in one move…"
White Blade pirates looked at the corpse of the fallen White Blade, and revealed incredulous look in their eyes. Their eyes also contained shock and fear.
The black ceremonial hat wearing old man from the criminal organization of the Kingdom of Smale was also a bit shocked. He didn't expect Ross's strength to be more fierce than the rumors. The 35 million Berries White Blade was defeated so quickly!
To their horror.
Ross raised his head up and calmly looked at White Blade's subordinates. He didn't want to let these people go. His body flashed and then he waved his sword to get rid of them.
Sha! Sha! Sha!
The pirates wanted to escape, but Ross was using Soru, there is no chance for them to escape. They were all killed.
Killing the last pirate, Ross stopped. With the Blade Happy Spring in his hand which was dripping with blood, he turned to the criminal organization members of the Kingdom of Smale.
"…"
The black ceremonial hat wearing old man has cold sweat dripping down on his forehead and he barely maintained his calm as he said, "The strength of Captain Ross is stronger than rumors. It is a great honor to be able to see it with my own eyes."
The scene was quiet.
Seeing that Ross still stood there and did not move, but he also did not attack them so the old man paused and carefully continued:
"I don't know if Captain Ross would like to make a deal with us. We just need you to destroy Capone Mafia's Underground power in our Kingdom of Smale. We are willing to pay 50 million Berries."
"…"
Ross stood there, watching the black ceremonial hat wearing old man calmly, letting the blood on the sword's tip drop on the exquisite woolen blanket on the ground.
He didn't spoke, so no one present dared to speak. There were only a few faintly discernible sounds around them, extremely low, but the unsteady breathing sound echoed in the surrounding.
Starting with the Flo pirates. So far, not counting the White Blade pirates, Ross had already annihilated five pirate groups. These five pirate groups have some treasures, all of which add up to around 20 million Berries.
White Blade pirates ship should also have some. If I can add 50 million Berries on top, there will be about 80 million Berries.
Flo pirates ship is transportation means for only the initial stages to him. He still needs a more powerful and faster ship. The 50 million Berries should be enough for him to find a boatman to build a new ship.
Moreover.
There is some conflict between Capone Mafia and him that cannot be resolved.
Ross was pondering in his heart. Just as he was about to make a decision, Robin suddenly came in from outside and interrupted his thoughts.
"Captain Ross!"
"The situation has changed. We are surrounded by people from Capone Mafia!"
Robin's tone was a little grave as she said to Ross.
"Unn?"
Ross was a little surprised. He glanced at the black ceremonial hat wearing old man and found that he was astonished. It seemed that he did not expect Capone Mafia to surround him.
Ross walked to the window and raised the corner of the curtain. He glanced outside and saw that the street outside was completely blocked. There were hundreds of Capone Mafia members who had surrounded this place completely.
The weapons held in the hands of the members of the Capone Mafia were not only the guns, but they also carried a lot of massive portable artillery!
A war-like scene.
Ross's gaze changed slightly. His eyes swept through the members of Capone Mafia, and soon fell on a young figure holding a cigar in his mouth who was standing in front of the crowd.
"That man is… Capone Bege?"