Even if the breakfast tasted awful, they still had to grit their teeth and swallow it down. If they wanted the strength to keep traveling, they had no choice.
Just as they finished eating and were about to set off, a loud bang rang out. Bai Chuan's shield flared into existence on its own, and a bullet slammed into it, throwing off sparks before ricocheting away.
"What's going on, what's going on?!" Buggy yelped the moment he saw the bullet, clutching his head in panic.
All of them turned toward the direction the shot came from. Bai Chuan's expression darkened. Luckily the target had been him. If it had been Katherine Lin or Buggy, that single shot might have been fatal.
"Who's there?!" Bai Chuan barked.
"Tch. I remember my aim being pretty good. How'd I miss?" A figure strolled out as he answered, and one by one, more men emerged behind him. A dozen, then more.
Just from the way they dressed, it was obvious they were no good. Scars were plainly visible on several of them, some fresh, some old.
"Who are you?" Bai Chuan demanded again.
Buggy and Shanks had already shifted into attack stances.
Buggy might not be that strong right now, but he was still a pirate. Against people like this, he should manage.
"We're the mountain bandits here," the leader said. "If you've got any sense, hand over your money. And leave that girl too. Let us have some fun."
"Hahahaha!"
The moment he finished, his underlings burst into laughter. They looked at Bai Chuan and the others with pure contempt, and the way they stared at Katherine Lin was openly filthy.
"You bastards keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!" Katherine Lin snapped. Their gaze made her feel uncomfortable all over.
"Oh?" The leader's grin widened. "You've got a temper, huh. I like spicy ones. Conquering them feels even better. Hahaha."
As he spoke, he stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, disgusting to the extreme.
"Brothers, get them!" he ordered. "Remember, don't hurt that girl."
"Don't worry, boss, we know." His men laughed. "We're waiting for boss to have his fun, then it's our turn."
"Haha, everyone gets a share."
Hearing them talk like that, Bai Chuan's face sank even further. They did not take them seriously at all, as if Bai Chuan and the others were insects that could be crushed whenever they pleased.
"You should feel lucky," Bai Chuan said slowly.
The people who heard it all felt the air around them chill slightly.
"Lucky? What do you mean?"
"You should feel lucky you get to die by my hand."
"Hahaha!" The leader laughed. "Kid, you're about to die and you're still putting on a show. Fine, I'll leave you for last and let you experience my methods."
He had shivered a moment ago, but now he decided he'd imagined it. The other side was just a green little brat. What was there to fear?
"Buggy, Shanks." Bai Chuan's voice turned cold. "No need to hold back this time. Kill them."
"I was thinking the same," Shanks replied.
Just from their tone, it was obvious they'd killed plenty of people already. This was not the first time they'd done something like this. Shanks would never show mercy to scum like that.
As for Buggy, it was one thing to be looked down on by people stronger than him. But someone weaker daring to look down on him? That was basically asking to die.
More than a dozen bandits charged in at once. Katherine Lin also pulled two daggers from behind her waist.
"Hm? You're getting involved too?" Bai Chuan asked, surprised.
"Of course." Her gaze was firm. "No one who insults me like that gets to live."
"I thought those daggers were just decoration," Bai Chuan said. "Didn't expect you actually know how to fight."
Back when they first met, he'd noticed she carried two daggers, but he'd never seen her use them.
"Well, I am a princess. I've trained," Katherine Lin said. "Besides, you guys never gave me a chance to use force anyway."
"Fair point."
With them around, she really did not have many chances to act. The safest thing had been to stay behind them.
"Then be careful," Bai Chuan warned. "If you get hurt, I'm not taking responsibility."
"Relax. These small fry can't do anything to me."
"Pretty confident, aren't you?"
"Of course." Katherine Lin smiled, accepting the compliment without hesitation.
The two sides collided.
Bai Chuan did not move to join the brawl. Instead, his eyes stayed locked on the little boss holding the gun. For Buggy and Shanks, dodging bullets was still out of reach.
If the guy tried to sneak a shot, someone really could get hurt.
Bai Chuan watched the gunman's face turn uglier by the second, because his men were getting carved up like vegetables. Not just vegetables, absolute trash-tier ones.
No one could last even three moves against Buggy or Shanks. Even Katherine Lin had already taken down two bandits who rushed her.
He used to be the one doing this to others. Now it was being done to him.
Fear seeped into his heart.
"Monsters… you're all monsters. I'll kill you…" he muttered, then raised his gun and aimed at Buggy, trying to end it with one shot.
But how could Bai Chuan allow that?
The moment the gun lifted, Bai Chuan was already at his side. Draw the blade. Sheathe the blade. Two simple motions.
The gunman only saw a flash of white.
His gun split cleanly in half, the cut smooth as if polished.
"How is that possible… my gun!" Guns were rare around here. The only reason he could swagger around like a king was because he had one.
When the gun broke, his presence collapsed instantly, lower than even his own underlings.
"You monsters… monsters. Not human…"
He dropped onto the ground in terror, unable to hide it. There was even a damp stain spreading below him.
"Pathetic," Bai Chuan said, shaking his head. Not a hint of pity. Someone like this did not deserve any.
"No! You can't kill me!" The gunman panicked when he saw Bai Chuan raise his blade.
"Oh?" Bai Chuan's voice was calm. "Why not?"
"If you kill me, our boss won't let you off!"
"Won't let me off?" Bai Chuan's eyes turned colder. "I wasn't planning to let him off either."
He did not bother listening to any more nonsense. The blade fell. Clean and decisive.
By then, Shanks and the others had finished too.
More than a dozen mountain bandits.
Not one survived.
"I heard him calling us monsters," Shanks said as he walked up to Bai Chuan and looked at the bandit's body.
"Yeah."
"Monsters, huh." Shanks snorted. "Calling us monsters just proves how small his world is."
"That's probably because of how closed off this place is," Bai Chuan said. "They never get to see how vast the outside world really is. This island is in the latter half of the New World, and not many people make it here. So they end up like this."
"Then the people on this island are pretty miserable," Shanks sighed. For someone like him who longed for freedom, staying on one island for a lifetime was unbearable.
/-\
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