The answer was somewhat surprising.
From the moment Nao stepped into the tavern, his white Marine uniform drawing attention, and then the conflict erupted—more than half an hour had passed, and he still hadn't finished the fight.
Those small-fry officers with bounties in the tens of millions, and the nameless grunts? They were no issue. Most didn't even see the flash of his blade before they dropped dead.
The problem still lay with "Mad Transparent Man" Max himself.
This guy's Devil Fruit was the Clear-Clear Fruit. Nao wasn't surprised by this; he had anticipated it the moment he heard the nickname. But what did catch him off guard were two things:
First, this guy had developed his Devil Fruit ability quite well. After turning invisible, even Nao's Observation Haki couldn't detect him. He could only slightly sense him in the split second he made a close-range attack.
Second, the guy was from the Longleg Tribe—five meters tall, with legs that made up 3.8 of them. When he ran, those lanky limbs spun like flaming wheels, giving him ridiculous speed and evasion.
Time after time, Nao's strikes missed. Despite the clear gap in power, he couldn't land a finishing blow.
Oh—and the guy's weapon?
A giant iron ladle.
With its long reach and a supremely annoying hit-and-run style, Max wielded it like a troll's dream come true: sneak up invisible, circle Nao for half a minute, then—BANG!—smack him hard in the back of the head before vanishing again.
Any normal person would have probably been knocked unconscious and confused by his repeated blows…
But Nao's defense was remarkably high, bolstered by the damage reduction of "Iron Head" and "Thick Skin." He had been hit over a hundred times and still stood there as if nothing had happened.
"So damn annoying…"
"Though he wasn't really hurt, being struck so many times by a contemptible, sneaky opponent whose strength was inferior to his own started to annoy Nao, no matter how good-natured he was."
"Go on, keep hitting me. I'd like to see if your legs go numb first, or if I collapse first…"
However, he was only slightly irritated.
But Max, still swinging that iron ladle from a distance, was already gasping for breath. His arms were numb and sore from the recoil.
He naturally didn't know about the effect of "Thorn Armor." Looking at Nao, who was perfectly fine, his expression was utterly pained:
"Where the hell did this monster come from?! Why the hell won't he leave me alone?!"
Just a second ago, he and his brothers were drinking fine wine and singing songs.
Then the swinging doors opened, and next thing he knew, his several-hundred-man crew got steamrolled by a single Marine.
Who was he supposed to complain to about that?!
Another agonizing ten-odd minutes passed.
Max, still unable to inflict any substantial damage on Nao, finally couldn't take it anymore. After delivering one more fierce blow to Nao's head from behind, he hoisted his giant iron spoon and prepared to make a run for it.
This kid was probably a reincarnated turtle in his past life, as hard as a rock. Only a fool would stay here and waste more time with him!
And it was precisely at this moment that Nao, growing increasingly impatient, finally abandoned the idea of wearing his opponent down and instead opened his inventory.
In the instant Max finished his strike and before he could retreat further, Nao suddenly activated the "Forced Volume Adjuster" on him.
[Forced Volume Adjuster]
[Type: Consumable]
[Description: Freely controls the volume of a sound source within a ten-meter radius. Maximum effect duration is 30 seconds.]
[Note: Current uses available: 5/5]
This was one of those random impulse buys Nao made in his first week, spending a measly 100 points for what looked like a piece of junk. It had been sitting in his inventory collecting dust.
He never thought it would finally find its purpose today!
A virtual volume bar appeared before Nao, default set at 10. Without hesitation, he cranked it to the max—100.
And in that instant—
As Max sprinted into the street, something felt… off.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Each step of his freakishly long legs now echoed like an earthquake, shaking nearby buildings and knocking loose dust and debris. The sounds traveled for hundreds of meters.
Shit.
Max's face drastically changed. Just as he tried to stop, a figure already blocked his path. Nao looked up at a seemingly empty space in his vision and smiled slightly:
"Found you."
...
Meanwhile—
In another tavern on the northeast side of the town.
Whoosh!
A spinning knife pierced the chest of the pirate captain "Demon Man" Maji, who had a bounty of 17 million. With a pained cry, he finally collapsed.
"Tough bastard lasted longer than expected…"
Jim Carrey walked forward, skillfully severed the bounty target's head, then lit a cigarette and muttered:
"It's all because of that freak from the G-2 Branch, making me go so long without work. I'm rusty now."
"Indeed."
Sammy walked over, carrying the heads of two other bounty targets. She frowned. "I messed up several times taking down this guy's two subordinates. They were just small fry, eight or nine million Berries each. It wasted a lot of time."
"Still, we bagged them before they got tipped off,"
Jim Carrey grinned slyly. "A 17 million Berry head, plus two bonus ones worth a few million Berries each. Once we exchange them at the Marines, it'll be enough for us to live it up for a while."
"Live it up? Humph, easy for you to say."
Sammy retorted angrily, "You'll be lucky if you even leave a few million Berries for yourself, won't you? Most of it, you'll still have to send back to the East Blue, to that old flame of yours, Dadan?"
"She's an old lover, please don't use such an unpleasant term."
Jim Carrey corrected her. "Even though we broke up almost two years ago, she did me a great kindness back then. What's wrong with me sending her some money back every year?"
"Besides…"
He trailed off here, but then shrugged and continued, "She apparently adopted a kid last year, and her expenses have grown much larger. It's only right that I send more money over…"
I just don't know where that kid came from. When I asked Dadan on the phone, she was evasive and wouldn't say.
Damn it, could it be that she secretly got pregnant when she was still with me?
Or… Jim Carrey pinched his thick chin, deep in thought. Could it be my kid, and Dadan just doesn't want to meet me again and get entangled because of the child, which is why she's being so secretive and won't say outright?
Darn, the more I think about it, the more possible it seems. Why didn't I consider this before?
"What do you mean 'it's only right that you send more'?" Sammy's eyebrows furrowed, displeased. "Three heads, adding up to 33 million Berries. You're not planning to send 30 million, are you?"
"What? No way! I'd never send that much!" Jim Carrey gave a dry laugh, his eyes darting around before he asked, "What do you think of 28 million? Is that acceptable?"
"Get lost!"
He was kicked in the backside by Sammy, crying out in pain as he flew out of the tavern door. He groaned, dragging himself up as she walked out stone-faced, still fuming.
It was morning, and a thick fog had rolled in outside. A light rain was still falling, making visibility poor.
"Let's get out of here soon. This place is a pirate town, after all. There's no telling when some bigshot might show up."
After walking for a while, Jim Carrey rubbed his backside and reminded her, "Also, we need to turn left at the next intersection and bypass that section of the road ahead. Mad Max and his crew are drinking at the tavern on that street. If they notice us, we're dead."
"Mm, I know."
Sami nodded, expression grim. As a veteran bounty hunter, she'd heard of Max Mad.
He was a Great Pirate with a bounty as high as 85 million Berries, with nearly a thousand subordinates. They simply couldn't afford to provoke him.
They reached a crossroads and started turning left toward the port—only to stop.
A gust of wind blew past.
The smell of blood hit them hard, and instinctively, they turned around.
What they saw next stunned them.
Dozens of meters down the street, the aftermath of a massacre unfolded. Rubble and corpses littered the road—pirates dead in all directions, many of them easily recognizable.
"Giant Beast Burgess, 52 million Berry bounty, vice-captain of the Max Pirates…"
"Raptor Annie, 54 million Berry bounty, captain of the Raptor Pirates, Max's ally and lover…"
What in the world?!
Jim Carrey and Sammy exchanged glances, both seeing the horror in each other's eyes. These were infamous pirates with deep ties to Max.
Now they were all dead, piled up like trash in the street.
Had the Marines launched a surprise fleet attack?
But for all that time, neither of them had heard any cannon fire, and there were no Marine soldiers to be seen on the street either…
Wait, there actually is one!
From afar, almost simultaneously, they both saw a tall figure in a white Marine uniform leisurely strolling over from the end of the street, dragging a massive corpse that looked very familiar.
Mad Max himself!
The two stared at the huge, five-meter-plus corpse, their pupils shrinking in shock. As their gaze moved up, finally piercing through the thick fog to clearly see the Marine's appearance, their jaws dropped in astonishment, their mouths wide enough to fit two dinosaur eggs…
The black-haired, black-eyed youth, his face impossibly handsome… wasn't that the guy they had been chatting idly with on the boat earlier?!
"Eh?"
Nao also noticed Jim Carrey at this moment. He waved a greeting, an unexpected smile on his face. "What a coincidence, you two just finished killing people too?"
… Shiryu's Diary …
Day 34 at G-6 Branch, heavy rain.
The girl finally returned today.
But when I saw her at the dock, I noticed her looking depressed, and she even secretly shed tears when she was alone…
What happened?
I've decided to go back, brush my teeth, buy some chewing gum, and then go ask her tonight.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin