On the coast, a burning warship slowly sank.
“Whoa!”
“Hahaha, this is what happens when you go against us.”
“The Black Cat Pirates are invincible.”
“Long live the captain!”
The pirates laughed wildly, surrounded by countless floating navy corpses.
Standing on a broken plank, Fang Bo’s face remained indifferent, not intending to blend in with the others.
【Achievement conditions met; your title has been upgraded to “Pirate Backbone”】
【Pirate III achievement unlocked: Become the captain of a pirate crew】
Pirate Backbone: Increases the efficiency of “Plunder,” greatly enhancing pirate faction reputation accumulation.
Becoming the third in command on the ship meant his “Pirate” achievement could further upgrade, but next, he needed to become the captain of the Black Cat Pirates.
It sounded extremely difficult, almost impossible to achieve at the moment.
For now, he didn’t need to consider the pirate captain title. Instead, he could focus on completing another achievement task: “Enemy of the Navy.”
This achievement required him to kill ten navy soldiers personally. The recent battle had already fulfilled this condition, granting him a new title.
【Achievement conditions met, you received the title “Enemy of the Navy”】
Enemy of the Navy: Increases damage to navy personnel, and initial faction favorability is indifferent.
【Enemy of the Navy II: Kill 3/50 Navy soldiers.】
He could switch to this title when engaging the navy faction, but normally, the Pirate Backbone title was more useful due to the “Plunder” ability after each battle.
Plundering storyline characters’ equipment and gifting it to his pirate crew.
For instance, in a recent battle, Fang Bo retrieved an excellent weapon from a navy major’s corpse.
Name: Blade of the Child Cutter (Storyline Equipment)
Grade: Epic
Type: Sword
Attack: 8-12
Durability: 80/80
Attribute Boosts: Strength +4, Agility +2, Mental +1
Usage Requirements: None
Equipment Effects: Soul Slash, Soul Steal
Origin: One Piece
Equipment Evaluation: Beware of its blade; it might slice your soul.
Soul Slash (Passive Skill): Causes true damage based on the number of kills.
Soul Steal (Passive Skill): Absorbs souls of the dead to mitigate damage taken.
Powerful attack, stunning attribute boosts, and two extremely useful passive skills.
This weapon made its wielder stronger with every battle, but reincarnation couldn’t harness its effects as a piece of storyline equipment.
Otherwise, Fang Bo might have considered switching to a melee combat path to see if it suited him.
“Master Jason.” A young man enthusiastically approached, holding a bottle of fine wine looted from the navy.
The youth’s name was Paul, who joined the Black Cat Pirates during the last recruitment.
Admiring Fang Bo’s strength, he voluntarily became the third in command’s number one follower, faithfully following orders.
More importantly, Paul had tremendous potential, making Fang Bo feel like he had struck gold.
【Paul (Swordsman), Strength 8, Constitution 14, Agility 10, Mental 6, Perception 12, Trait: Keen Eye】
The damaged goggles only provided basic information, not explaining what “Keen Eye” entailed.
However, from observation, Paul always landed killing blows, always finding the enemy’s most lethal weaknesses.
With a suitable weapon, his lethality would multiply.
Handing over the unused cursed blade, Fang Bo slightly unsheathed it, letting its eerie glow captivate Paul.
“This… this looks like a famous sword…” Paul was stunned, unable to believe what he saw.
Only after Fang Bo’s repeated gestures did he shakily take the weapon.
As Paul grasped the hilt, his trembling stopped, and his demeanor became exceptionally calm and composed—the basic skills of a swordsman.
Gently stroking the cursed blade, Paul understood the value of this gift.
It felt like starting a job and the boss immediately awarding him a huge bonus, saying he believed in his potential.
Without great self-control, Paul might have knelt to swear allegiance.
“No, I can’t burden Master Jason. This task is too dangerous.” Paul, deeply pained, bowed deeply before turning away.
Paul left in sorrow, but Fang Bo received an unexpected prompt.
【Triggered Paul’s destiny quest “Heart of Vengeance”】
【Hint: Complete the storyline character’s destiny quest to invite them to become your followers.】
“Follower?” Fang Bo was puzzled by the unfamiliar term not mentioned in the newbie guide.
The literal meaning suggested storyline characters could follow reincarnation out of the storyline world.
Otherwise, “follower” would be a joke.
Watching Paul’s departing figure, a bold idea occurred to Fang Bo.
Could reincarnators recruit major storyline characters as well?
“Forget it, let’s see what this destiny quest is about first.”
【Destiny Quest: Heart of Vengeance.】
【Step One: “Truth”: Discover the hatred and fear deep in Paul’s heart.】
This wasn’t a one-step task, requiring Fang Bo to learn the young swordsman’s past bit by bit.
Returning to the deck of the Braku, a burly man with rippling muscles suddenly blocked his path.
“Hey, isn’t it the lucky Jason?”
This nickname emerged, meant to mock him for becoming the third in command by sheer luck.
A childish taunt. Fang Bo hadn’t paid much attention to it, but now someone dared challenge him to his face.
“Think I won’t touch you because you’re backed by Sam?” Fang Bo’s cold smile made the man shiver.
But he had orders from Sam, and no matter what, he had to follow through.
“You—”
Before he could finish, a sharp blade flashed in the air.
Holding the Blade of the Child Cutter, Paul appeared, his eyes blazing with anger that could drown the burly man.
Seeing this, Fang Bo knew he didn’t need to intervene. Paul was incredibly strong and required his full effort to handle it.
The burly man was physically robust, no match for Paul, especially now with the cursed blade.
As expected, the battle ended in two minutes, with the challenger lying wounded in a pool of blood.
“Don’t let him die.” Fang Bo calmly scanned the area, his voice echoing across the deck, “Hang him up and bleed him slowly. I want to watch him die bit by bit.”
“Yes.” Paul nodded, efficiently handling the task.
This brutal method ensured no pirate underestimated the new third in command, earning him the nickname “Jason the Brutal” among the crew.
Fang Bo knocked on his subordinate’s door that night, bringing him to the deck to admire the struggling man hanging from the mast, casually chatting.
When asked about his past, Paul couldn’t hold back, recounting his tragic story word by word.
His family had been wealthy, with businesses across multiple islands. One day, a navy officer coveted their fortune.
The rest was simple: robbery and slaughter, leaving Paul’s family in ruins.
It wasn’t just wealth; the navy officer colluded with pirates to wipe out his family.
Why venture to sea?
Paul wanted to uncover the truth and find out who killed his parents.
Depending on the reincarnator’s choice, this could be investigated through the navy or by gathering information at sea.
【Destiny Quest: Step One “Truth” completed.】
【Step Two “Clues”: Find the truth, perhaps starting with the Navy’s 16th Branch.】
“Wait, the Navy’s 16th Branch?” Fang Bo recalled that a certain captain appeared in the East Blue’s Arlong arc—resembling a rat.
This captain colluded with Arlong, taking bribes and ignoring the pirates’ tyranny over 20 villages in East Blue.
Captain Nezumi was the prime suspect if anyone was the culprit, and the pirate crew attacking his family was likely Arlong’s.
With a bounty of 20 million, Arlong was a formidable early-stage boss, capable of suppressing the Straw Hat crew’s main fighters.
Before heading to Alabasta, Arlong’s crew was the strongest enemy the Straw Hats faced.
Such an enemy was far more challenging than the Krieg Pirates. Arlong, a former officer of the Sun Pirates, had formidable strength.
Given the current situation, Fang Bo couldn’t defeat Arlong yet, so the destiny quest would have to wait.
“When the time comes, I’ll help you uncover the truth.” Fang Bo began to reassure his subordinate.
His previous thoughts were mere guesses with no definite conclusions yet. The culprit might be a minor figure.
But considering Paul’s potential, the probability was low. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a “destiny quest.”
“Looks like I’ll have to challenge all the East Blue bosses.”
Lacking strength, he needed to leverage storyline forces to achieve his goals. Maybe next time, he could boldly storm Arlong’s base.
“Tomorrow is the last day of the mission; the battles ahead will be tougher.”
The space wouldn’t allow them to live peacefully in faction confrontation scenarios. He sensed he would soon face Navy reincarnators.
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