Three hours is a period of time that is neither too long nor too short.
When the belated Marine warship finally dropped anchor at the dock, the Marines hurried ashore. They were prepared to see a horrific scene - a veritable hell on earth. And, frankly... in a way, that's exactly what they got.
Although what awaited them was not quite what they expected. The inhabitants, whom they imagined wounded or, worse, dead, were now calmly cleaning the square. And those same pirates, whom they considered bloodthirsty monsters, lay bloody on the ground, bound hand and foot, and stacked in a circle like firewood.
"What the hell happened here?" Marine Commodore Lester rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. If he hadn't known the village chief standing before him, he might have thought this was all some elaborate pirate hoax. But now...
"Hey, Lester, what kind of questions are these? Did you want us all killed?" the village elder glared at him.
Lester waved his hands in an attempt to justify himself: "No, no, Grandpa, that's not what I meant!"
"Hm!" snorted the headman, crossing his arms over his chest. "You better not mean that, or you won't think I can't beat you up just because you're a Marine Commodore."
- Hehehe, of course you can, - Lester nodded quickly. - You know me, I'm from our village. And even if you beat me up, I'll never fight back!
The elder, although he couldn't help but smile, sighed: "Okay then. So what did you say in your last conversation on Den-Den-Mushi?"
"About the Marines setting up their base in Moonlight Village," Lester reminded.
The village chief thought for a moment, then sighed heavily and said, "Ever since Gol D. Roger said his words, the world has become restless. East Blue is still considered a relatively safe place, and our village was completely hidden from view. But who would have thought that one day, even in such a remote place, pirates would show up?"
"So you agree?" Lester asked, hope in his voice.
"Give me a little time to think," the headman replied, lowering his head.
Lester didn't insist. And looking around, he asked a new question: "But still, Grandpa, I don't understand. Our uncles and aunts from the village... have they really become that strong? Looking at the wounds of these pirates, I can tell that this is the work of a swordsman. Has a swordsman really appeared in our village?"
The village chief glanced at him: "This man came to our village three years ago. A good guy. You just haven't been back to your homeland for a long time, otherwise you would know him. He's lived quietly all these years. If it weren't for those pirates, I would have thought that he was going to live here his whole life, quietly and unnoticed, like an ordinary guy. This is the first time he's shown his strength. And many of us were truly shocked by it."
Lester nodded, looking around the battlefield. Blood stains, severed limbs, all indicated a brutal battle. Then he finally asked the big question: "Where is he now?"
- I think on the western beach. Why do you need it?
But before the headman could finish speaking, Lester turned sharply and rushed towards the beach.
"I'm going to invite him to join the Marines!" he shouted as he ran.
The elder just shook his head and smiled.
- Marines, you say? But he, perhaps, won't want to...
...
On the western beach, Rogu sat on a large rock with his legs folded in the lotus position. His gaze was fixed on the setting sun. There was depth, calm, and a certain detachment in his eyes, as if he were thinking about something great or enjoying the beauty of the passing day.
But the truth was much less dramatic. Before his eyes hung not the sun, not the sea, not the sunset, but... a document.
Hunter's License.
Owner: Norlos Rogu.
Skills: Heart of the Moon, level 3. Super Strength, level 1.
Coins: 0.
Belly: 4,625,500 (available for withdrawal).
"Hm," Rogu squinted slightly, examining the numbers and text in front of him.
This message appeared immediately after he killed Marcello, and it has not disappeared since. Although it did not obstruct the view, it still aroused great curiosity.
"What kind of thing is this?" Rogu said thoughtfully, looking at the blinking text.
"Hmm… hmm… hmm…" He sat on a rock, staring intently at the virtual license that floated in his mind.
It wasn't a physical document that you could hold in your hands, but rather something that resembled an interface from a web novel. It appeared in his mind after he killed Marcello. And with this certificate, he received a new skill - Superpower Level 1.
"So what is this special reward anyway? The license itself or this skill?" he muttered, frowning.
Rogu thought for a moment, then shook his head: - Maybe it's not that important. But... by killing pirates, I get skills? What kind of strange system is this? Hm, before that, when I killed simple nameless pirates, nothing like that happened. But after Marcello - please.
He began to analyze, trying to understand what the key difference was between Marcello and the other pirates.
— Bounty on the head... and the fourth line in the description. "Can be captured."
His eyes gleamed as he began to voice his guesses, "It seems pirates with 'right to capture' give more than just a reward. When I kill one, I not only get half of his bounty in Belly, but also one of his skills? Is this a hint that I should become a walking pirate killing machine? Leave behind mountains of corpses, like in some bloody action movie?"
Rogu chuckled and shook his head, "Too loud and too obvious. That's definitely not my style."
But then his gaze returned to the reward line, and he thought: "Why do I only get half the reward? It turns out that for the murder I get less than for the arrest. Hmm...."
He frowned, realizing that he would have to find the answers to these questions.
"Okay, I'll figure it out in time," he muttered, his gaze moving to another line of the interface that had caught his attention.
— Coins… Why are there zero? If the rewards are somehow related to this Hunter License, then why didn't I get any coins for killing Marcello? Maybe it's because I killed him again? If I had caught him alive, would the coins have been credited? Besides, what are these coins for anyway?
He sighed. This was all too confusing.
"This system only appeared today," he mused out loud. "And so far I only know a few things. First, the system can identify pirates, showing their bounty and status, and the right to capture. Second, the Hunter's License allows me to see my skills and, perhaps, collect new ones. But… there was a lot that remained unclear. As always, no instructions, no explanation. Everything will have to be figured out for myself…"
- Well, be that as it may, now I am officially a time traveler with the system! - he said with a slight ironic smile.
Shuh! - Rogu suddenly raised his head. Something whistled above him, and he managed to see a huge footprint approaching his head at incredible speed!
"Damn!" he managed to think before he started to act