Both time-traveled characters ended up as villainous henchmen.

The world of One Piece is a world full of romance and fantasy.

Beneath this fairytale-like, dazzling exterior lies a profound darkness.

Pirates do not engage in production; they commit all kinds of evil deeds, such as burning, killing, and looting. Nobles look down on commoners and the poor, and arbitrarily exploit and oppress them.

This statement is somewhat absolute, but basically, most pirates and nobles in the One Piece world are no different from the stereotype.

Although the World Government and the Navy maintain a facade of civilization and order, they are actually organizations that serve the Celestial Dragons behind the scenes.

Moreover, above the Celestial Dragons, there is a demon sitting on the throne.

He Nian understood all of this and had a deep understanding of it, after all, he had also escaped from a pirate ship with great difficulty.

Based on the global climate, the quarry on Irit Island and the Derek family's residence are highly suspicious.

It is highly likely that it adopted extremely inhumane mining practices, resulting in the deaths of a large number of civilians.

"No wonder they wanted me to go to the quarry; they probably didn't want to mess with the people they knew on the island..."

The fact that they don't want to target acquaintances suggests they don't want to be exposed, implying that there are likely other secrets hidden within the quarry.

After all, if it were just ordinary exploitation and oppression, Mayor Derek wouldn't need to hide it at all.

"I can explore the quarry. There might be many similar wronged souls inside, which could stimulate the hidden special power within me."

Soon, He Nian decided to find time to explore Derek's family's quarry.

Now that he has settled down in Edmund's household, the power he shared is constantly being transformed into tangible strength through physical training.

The only hidden, unknown power within his body was that he could sense but could not mobilize or use at all.

It was like scratching an itch through a boot, making him unbearably itchy.

Now that he saw a glimmer of hope in the vengeful spirit attached to the stone statue, he naturally didn't want to let it go.

"Perfect, I can take this opportunity to test just how strong I am now."

Blindly practicing without real combat has indeed left He Nian with no concept of his current strength.

Three days later, late at night.

Dressed in black, He Nian tiptoed near Derek's quarry.

Then, familiar with the route, they climbed up a low peak and made their way to a stone fortress on it.

Relying on his superhuman physique, he had already scouted out the quarry's terrain and topography in the previous two nights, and had also roughly figured out the distribution of personnel.

As He Nian guessed, the quarry's personnel were strictly distributed, and many security personnel were equipped with high-powered guns, which was in stark contrast to the guns carried by the town's security team.

Even the pirate crews he had previously served in were somewhat inferior in terms of their sidearms.

It's really unreasonable to use such combat power only to protect an ordinary quarry.

Moreover, he could sense from afar the intense, deathly aura emanating from the depths of the mine.

However, due to the tight security at the mine entrance, he did not risk entering. Instead, he planned to look for other clues in the stone fortress where the mine managers lived.

He didn't intend to venture deep into the mine tonight; he just wanted to gain something from the trip and learn more about the quarry.

As soon as He Nian tiptoed up to the third floor of the stone fortress, he heard an unusual conversation.

"How was it? The manpower you provided last time was pretty good, wasn't it?"

"Excellent! These pirates are incredibly fit, especially that big guy in the middle; he can do the work of seven or eight people!"

Pirates?

He frowned upon hearing this, and since he recognized one of the people's accents, he moved closer to the window.

Holding her breath, He Nian quietly peeked through the window and, sure enough, saw a familiar figure.

Patrick Keegan, the first mate of the pirate crew he used to serve on!

Surprisingly, this guy also survived.

The opportunity for He Nian to escape from the original pirate crew was when the original pirate crew clashed with another, more powerful pirate crew. In the chaos, He Nian successfully escaped.

Based on He Nian's understanding of Patrick, he was able to survive because he most likely joined another pirate crew.

Just as He Nian was surprised to see his old friend again, Patrick and the quarry foreman in the room suddenly started arguing.

It wasn't exactly a dispute, but rather that when the foreman turned around to get some wine, Patrick pulled out a dagger and decisively killed him.

Seeing this, He Nian did not make any move, but continued watching.

After killing the foreman, Patrick's face was filled with excitement and relief. He quickly took out a Den Den Mushi, dialed the number, and said urgently, "Lord Dylan! I've killed Pierce as you requested. I will now contact Derek in his place. As soon as morning comes, you can lead your men to the island!"

"Well done, Patrick!" Den Den Mushi grinned, his tone somewhat nonchalant.

"Lord Dylan, could the poison in my body be...?"

"No problem, but the plan has changed. I'm going to go to the island now. Since you're so loyal, then please stop Derek for me again!"

"I'll personally go to the quarry to pick you up and detoxify you!"

After saying that, he hung up the Den Den Mushi, leaving Patrick stunned and motionless for a long time, as if petrified.

He Nian, perched on the stone wall outside the window, watched this grand spectacle with awe and wonder.

Pirates really can't be trusted.

Just then, several searchlights suddenly lit up in the quarry that had been shrouded in darkness, followed by shouts of battle.

This commotion finally woke up the petrified Patrick.

"Could it be... that we've been discovered...? That makes sense, how could Dylan let me live so easily? He must have informed Derek as well..."

Patrick's expression remained blank, and he muttered to himself without making any movement, as if he had given up hope of living.

He Nian's expression changed drastically at this moment, because one of the searchlights shining in the quarry spotted him.

"not good!"

He Nian quickly bent down, stomped heavily on the stone wall, and shot off into the darkness like an arrow.

Almost the instant He Nian left the outer wall of the stone fortress, a series of bullets struck the spot where he had been standing.

In a fleeting glance, He Nian also saw Mayor Derek, who was leading the team to order them to shoot at him.

His face was extremely gloomy, clearly indicating that he had gone mad with anger.

He Nian was dressed in black and had his face concealed, so Derek did not recognize him.

At that moment, Patrick's screams echoed from inside the stone fortress, which had been riddled with bullets on Derek's orders in his extreme rage.

On the other side, as soon as He Nian landed, he was about to continue his escape under the cover of darkness when he discovered that the remaining searchlights had already locked onto his location.

Under the bright light, He Nian calmed down instead.

After his physical fitness improved significantly, the effects of bright light and darkness on his vision became almost negligible.

He stared intently at the muzzle of the gun aimed at him in the distance, his mind highly focused.

Although a gun is faster than seven paces away, the trajectory of a bullet is predictable, and with He Nian's current physical condition, he is more than capable of reacting to the actions of those quarry security personnel pulling the trigger!

The next instant, a dense hail of bullets whistled through the air, but He Nian was one step ahead of the bullets, twisting his body and sprinting away at top speed.

The target was Derek, who was positioned behind the security personnel!