West Blue.
Augs Island.
In the middle of the dusty main street, the pirate captain Rorick stood proudly with a massive iron cleaver resting on his shoulder. His sharp eyes scanned the large treasure chest placed before him as he addressed his subordinates in a rough voice.
"Is all the treasure here?"
One of the pirates quickly nodded. "That's about it, Captain!"
"Good! Let's go!"
Rorick gave a satisfied grunt, waved his hand, and ordered his crew to lift the chest. With their plundering complete, the pirates prepared to leave the island behind.
However
Before they could even take a few steps, they suddenly noticed a young man appear at the far end of the street.
The young man was of average height, wearing a worn leather hat that shaded his calm eyes. A pistol rested at his left hip, and a short sword hung at his right. In his hand, he held a slightly yellowed piece of paper, studying it with complete focus, as though the armed pirates before him did not exist at all.
"Where did this kid come from?" Rorick muttered, narrowing his eyes.
The civilians on the island had already been robbed and terrorized into hiding. Not a single soul dared to step outside. Yet here was a lone youth casually blocking their path as if he had every right to be there.
The pirates were momentarily stunned by the strange scene, but their surprise quickly turned into sneers.
One of them scoffed, pulled out a flintlock pistol, and aimed it directly at the young man.
"Hey! Kid! If you don't want to die, get out of the way!"
With a gun pointed at him, the young man finally looked up. His expression remained completely calm. He ignored the pirate who threatened him and instead fixed his gaze directly on Rorick.
"Bounty of sixteen million Berries," the young man said slowly. "'Great Cleaver' Rorick… that's you, isn't it?"
Rorick raised his chin arrogantly.
"You've got some good eyes, kid," he replied with a sneer. "Now get lost before I lose my temper."
To pirates, a high bounty was a badge of honor. Sixteen million Berries was not an insignificant amount in the West Blue, and Rorick had always been proud of it.
The young man nodded lightly.
"Good. Then I haven't mistaken you for someone else."
He casually tossed the paper in his hand into the air.
"Which means," he continued calmly, "I'll be taking that sixteen-million-Berry head."
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
The instant his words fell, the young man moved.
In one swift motion, he drew the pistol from his waist and fired six rapid shots, emptying the chamber in the blink of an eye.
The pirates never even had time to react.
Six shots rang out—and five men collapsed.
Only a single bullet failed to find its mark. That shot had been aimed at Rorick himself, and he barely managed to block it with the thick blade of his giant cleaver.
As the echoes of gunfire faded, the piece of paper the young man had thrown earlier drifted gently to the ground.
It was a wanted poster.
And the face printed on it belonged to none other than "Great Cleaver" Rorick.
Not far away, Rorick stared in disbelief.
Although he had managed to deflect one bullet, he had been powerless to save his crew. Five of his men lay dead in the street, cut down in an instant.
Rage twisted his features.
"You… you're dead!!"
With an enraged roar, Rorick tightened his grip on his massive cleaver and charged forward. He swung the weapon down with terrifying force, the sheer power of the strike creating a fierce gust of wind.
Anyone struck by such a blow would surely be split in two.
Yet the young man showed no fear.
Calmly, he holstered his pistol and raised both hands, meeting the descending blade head-on.
Clang!
His bare palms clamped firmly around the edge of the cleaver.
"You're asking for death!" Rorick shouted with a savage grin.
His cleaver was forged from a rare and durable steel, extremely heavy and brutally sharp. Even skilled swordsmen would struggle to block it. For this boy to catch it with his bare hands was nothing short of suicidal.
Or at least it should have been.
The moment the young man's hands touched the blade, Rorick's expression changed.
A strange and invisible force suddenly enveloped the entire weapon.
Crack! Crack!!
Before the cleaver could move another inch, the thick steel began to twist unnaturally, warping like soft clay.
In the span of a heartbeat, the mighty blade was distorted into a grotesque spiral of bent metal.
The force did not stop there.
It surged upward, spreading from the weapon into Rorick's arms.
Crack!
A horrifying scream tore from the pirate captain's throat as his hands and bones were crushed and twisted beyond recognition. Blood, shattered fragments of bone, and mangled flesh splattered across the street.
"You… you…" Rorick gasped, collapsing to the ground in terror. "You're the pirate hunter… Ghost Hand Rowan!"
The young man gave a faint smile.
"You guessed right," he replied calmly. "But there's no prize."
With smooth, practiced movement, Rowan drew the short sword from his waist, stepped forward, and swung it horizontally.
In a single clean motion, a head flew into the air, trailing blood behind it.
At that exact moment
A crisp electronic sound echoed inside Rowan's mind.
"Bounty of sixteen million Berries, 'Great Cleaver' Rorick, hunt completed.
Reward: 45 points of talent proficiency, 1 free talent point."
Hearing the familiar voice, a look of satisfaction appeared on Rowan's face.
"My first hunt of a pirate with a sixteen-million-Berry bounty," he murmured. "The reward really is generous. I even got a free talent point."
Rowan had once been an ordinary intern in another world. A year ago, through circumstances he still did not understand, he had suddenly awakened in the world of One Piece.
Along with his new life came something even stranger a mysterious Talent System embedded in his mind.
By hunting wanted pirates, he could gain talent proficiency and free talent points, allowing him to grow stronger at an incredible rate.
Thanks to this system, Rowan had survived and thrived over the past year. Now, taking down pirates with bounties of sixteen million Berries was no longer a challenge.
With a thought, Rowan activated the system.
Three enormous semi-transparent trees appeared before his eyes, visible only to him.
At the top of each canopy were three categories:
Life.General.Combat.
The Life category contained everyday skills such as navigation, cooking, and music. So far, Rowan had only invested a single point into Navigation.
The General category included core physical enhancements: Strength Enhancement, Agility Enhancement, and Stamina Enhancement, along with smaller skills like Running, Jumping, and Flexibility.
Minor talents required one free talent point to activate, while major talents required two. At the moment, Rowan had only activated the major talent of Agility Enhancement.
Finally, there was the Combat category the field Rowan focused on most.
When he opened it, the tree expanded, revealing countless branches. Most were gray and inactive, while a few glowed golden yellow.
Golden yellow meant activated talents.
Currently, Rowan had unlocked only three:
Firearm Shooting: 50Melee Combat: 80Distortion Fruit: 50
Both Firearm Shooting and Melee Combat, at fifty proficiency, were at the "Mastery" level. Reaching one hundred would elevate them to "Control" level, with the maximum possible value being two hundred.
"I don't need to invest more in Firearm Shooting," Rowan muttered to himself. "Mastery level is enough for now. I'll focus on pushing Melee Combat to the Control level first."