One Piece Gunslinger

When Li Ang initially opted for Plan Two and abandoned the decapitation operation, he had already given up much hope of personally eliminating Charlie. After all, Charlie was the local resident, and once he realized the situation was dire and was determined to escape, he would be virtually impossible to catch.

As long as you're not the type to give up until you're faced with dire consequences, and you're not too unlucky, you can usually escape.

Leon, with the mindset that completing the mission would be a win-win situation if Charlie didn't find anything, and a huge profit if he did, led Haku straight to the study. As for the rust on the lamp, Leon didn't even notice it and just pointed to a lamp randomly.

Charlie was really unlucky, and Li Ang found his secret passage by using a strategy guide from a martial arts novel.

This was an unexpected and delightful surprise for Li Ang; he made a killing this time and was thrilled.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and chase after them!" Li Ang quickly recovered from his daze and called Haku to hurry up and chase after them.

The secret passage was long and narrow, with no torches or lights on either side. If someone with claustrophobia came here, they would be utterly overwhelmed.

Fortunately, neither of them had this problem. There was no time to find any lighting equipment, so Li Ang took out his pistol and used the laser sight to guide them. Although they couldn't see, at least they knew where the road and the walls were. Li Ang led Haku on a frantic run for over ten minutes before they finally saw a faint light ahead.

The exit was just ahead, and the two people standing in front of it were none other than Charlie and Andrew.

Upon seeing this, Li Ang immediately shouted, "You two can't escape now, so hurry up and surrender!"

Charlie and Andrew were carrying large bags and bundles, which slowed their pace. Hearing a sound coming from the passage behind them, Charlie jumped in fright and dropped his torch: "How did they discover this secret passage?"

"Your Majesty, this is not the time to dwell on this. Escaping for our lives is the most important thing."

Since the two of them hadn't brought any lighting equipment and had only relied on the laser pointers to run, Andrew had no idea who their pursuers were or how many were chasing them.

Along the way, even Li Ang himself felt that running after the laser for more than ten minutes was like something a cat would do. Only a cat would chase after a laser pointer.

Charlie and Andrew ignored the pursuers and started loading things onto the ship.

The exit is a cave by the sea. The first thing you see when you come out of the cave is the small boat that Charlie had hidden there beforehand.

By the time Li Ang chased after him out of the cave, Charlie had already finished moving his things and was preparing to set sail.

When Andrew saw Haku, who had rushed out with Leon, his eyes narrowed, sensing that the situation was not optimistic.

"Your Majesty, you should leave first. They have a powerful merman. If we don't deal with him here, he can easily destroy our small boat at sea." Andrew informed Charlie, then jumped off the boat and rushed towards the two men.

Seeing Andrew jump off the boat, Haku also went to greet him: "Leon, hurry up and catch Charlie, don't let him get away."

"Alright!" Without saying much, Li Ang took advantage of the standoff between the two, caught up with Charlie's small boat that had not yet left the shore, and jumped aboard.

Chapter Nineteen: Charlie's Outburst

Hearing the sounds of battle pounding behind him, Li Ang thought to himself, "That was close! Luckily, Haku was there, otherwise the veteran driver would have really capsized here."

"Are you the one who started this whole thing?" Charlie asked Li Ang, his face dark with anger.

Upon hearing Charlie's words, Leon asked in confusion, "Oh? Why do you think I'm the mastermind, and not that fishman Haku over there?"

“It’s very simple. The person in charge of this series of plans, who was able to catch me off guard in just a few hours, must be a brilliant strategist,” Charlie explained slowly. “And those fishmen over there don’t seem to be full of wisdom at all.”

"Oh? So wisdom can also be observed with the naked eye?" Leon wasn't in a hurry to start a fight with Charlie, and asked further. Leon seemed to have forgotten the adage that villains die from talking too much.

"Haha, that's simple. When I built this secret passage, I only placed a torch at the entrance to the study. Once we take that torch, even if others discover the passage, they will have to spend some time finding something to light it. That little bit of time is crucial. By the time they catch up, I will have already made my escape."

If Leon wasn't in a hurry, then Charlie was even less so, and began to explain slowly and methodically.

“You’ve already walked through it once, so you probably know that this secret passage I built isn’t a straight line, but rather winding and undulating. If an ordinary person were to rush in without thinking, they would definitely not come out unscathed. At best, they would end up with bruises and a black eye along the way, and at worst, they would lose their way and get trapped inside. As for trying to feel their way forward, it would be better to find something to light the way before coming in, as that would only waste more time.”

"So, what's the result?" Hearing this, Li Ang realized that the king wasn't entirely useless; at least in terms of wisdom, he wasn't as incompetent as Li Ang had previously thought. So how did such a clever king end up like this? Li Ang couldn't help but become even more curious.

Hey! Li Ang still doesn't understand. Curiosity killed the cat. The best way is to meet and deal with the opponent without saying a word. Only villains would talk for a long time with an opponent in dire straits.

"So, when you were yelling at me in the tunnel, I was quite startled. I never expected that someone would catch up with me, even though I had planned everything perfectly." Charlie chuckled. "No matter what method you used, the fact that you managed to catch up means that someone has cracked my carefully designed escape plan. And it's easy to identify who that person is."

At this point, Charlie stared intently at Li Ang and said, word by word, "That person is most likely the one who was leading the way."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang unconsciously clapped his hands and then laughed heartily, "Excellent reasoning, very well said. That's right, I am the one who orchestrated everything. Let me introduce myself, I am Li Ang, the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army."

Wow! Not only is he praising the enemy, but he's also introducing himself. It's like he's a villain saying, "Since you're already dead, I'll let you die knowing why." Is this really okay?

"Revolutionary Army? I've never heard of that organization," Charlie asked.

"It's alright to tell you. The ultimate goal of the Revolutionary Army is to overthrow the World Government and save the people of the world from suffering. After your actions were detected by our intelligence agents, we have also included you in our strike range."

Leon still seemed to be in a daze, while the villainous Flagl had already stood tall and was talking to Charlie about the glorious history and bright future of the revolutionary army.

"That's really amazing!" Charlie exclaimed in surprise. "I never imagined there was such an organization in the world."

"However, I'm a little curious. Can you tell me how you found the secret passage and how you moved through it so quickly?"

When Li Ang heard this question, he was also helpless. He spread his hands and said, "Would you believe me if I said I was just lucky? I just happened to find the secret passage, and I just happened to find that I had a tool that could allow me to move through the secret passage." As he spoke, he took out the laser sight on his pistol and shone a red dot on the ship.

Looking at the sight in Li Ang's hand, he forced a smile: "Ha, luck? Is this fate? Is fate going to make me die in this place?"

Huh? Huh~? Now not only is Li Ang starting to show signs of villainy, but Charlie is also giving off the feeling of being driven to the brink by the boss and then helplessly lamenting the injustice of fate. If this continues, things will get very bad.

Li Ang shrugged: "Well, I don't want to refute your point of view. If you think it's fate playing tricks on us, then it is fate."

"But now that I've answered your question, can you tell me what made you decide to take such a risk instead of using your intelligence to govern the country well?" After talking with Charlie for a while, Leon finally asked the question he had wanted to ask from the beginning.

"To this question, all I can say is..." Charlie's face darkened with anger, and he shouted, "To hell with fate!"

Then he shot out, his right fist clenched, and swung directly at Li Ang's not-so-handsome face.

As it turned out, Flagg finally snapped. The villain talked for a while, giving the protagonist a brief respite. In the end, he was defeated by the protagonist's sudden outburst of "Friendship-Breaking Punch."

Li Ang, you've been doing nothing all day but showing off and courting death. Now look what's happened! The protagonist and villain have switched places. With the protagonist's halo, won't Charlie be able to turn the tables and kill Li Ang?

If one had to describe Li Ang's feelings at this moment, it would be simply, "Holy crap!"

Although Leon was talking to Charlie while remaining on guard against a sudden attack, he was caught off guard when Charlie actually launched his attack.

Li Ang dodged the attack with a backflip, then smoothly raised his right hand and pulled the trigger of his pistol at Charlie.

But Charlie jumped back two steps and dodged the bullet fired by Leon.

Li Ang couldn't care less about his image and quickly stood up, asking, "Wow, when did you become so fast? If you were this fast, you could have escaped long ago."

Charlie's punch just now was incredibly fast. If Li Ang hadn't reacted quickly, it would have knocked him down. And Charlie's final move of dodging the bullets almost made Li Ang's eyes pop out of their sockets.

It's important to understand that Charlie used a lot of force in that punch. Since it didn't hit Li Ang, it left a huge opening, which is what we often call "using the same old moves."

Generally speaking, it's very difficult for a normal person to suddenly stop their attack and dodge backward in that situation. But Charlie did it anyway. It's not just a matter of speed; did he even lack inertia?

Chapter Twenty: Beyond Limits

Seeing that his attack had failed, Charlie flashed back to his original spot.

"Why am I so fast? Don't you have any self-awareness?" Charlie chuckled, dusting himself off.

"Well, I do have a slight idea, but I wasn't so sure until you said it." Li Ang maintained his composure and straightened his leather jacket.

Li Ang continued, "However, you don't have complete control over the Devil Fruit yet, do you? Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have been met with your storm of attacks just now."

At this point, Li Ang stroked his non-existent beard and answered his own question: "Why can the speed become so fast, and why can the attack be stopped suddenly? This can also be explained. The Acceleration Fruit can speed up the flow of time within a spatial range, which can of course also affect the space in which it is located."

“Yes, that’s right. The speed-up fruit’s power is like an invisible shield. In the years since I got the fruit, I’ve kept that shield over the shipyard, and I haven’t put it anywhere else for a single moment.” Charlie confirmed Leon’s guess.

Li Ang nodded: "So, in the past few years, you haven't made any further development of the Devil Fruit. It wasn't until the moment I jumped onto the ship just now that you started desperately stalling for time under this pressure so that the speed-up fruit's power could be applied to you."

Charlie wasn't in a hurry, of course; he wanted to stall for as long as possible. Since Leon was willing to talk to him a little more, he couldn't find a reason to refuse and began to explain.

"I have to say, this Devil Fruit is really a bit difficult to control. As I just mentioned, the flow of time inside the shield increases. If the shield is made too big, then not only will I speed up, but everyone else will too. If both sides are accelerated, it's the same as no acceleration at all. So in order to avoid such an awkward situation, the shield has to be made small enough."

Following up on the conversation, Li Ang guessed, "Oh? So you must have put in a lot of effort to make the cover fit your body perfectly, without any excess, right?"

"That's right. Only in this way can it be truly small enough to turn speed into lethality. If there is even a tiny gap between my body and the shield, then when my fist strikes you, the part that is struck will also enter the shield and be accelerated. For that part that is struck, the speed of my fist will not be so terrifying; it will still be a normal speed. Apart from this Devil Fruit ability, I am actually just an ordinary person, so this punch naturally has no lethality."

“Mm!” Li Ang nodded. “So when you missed your punch, you did pause for a moment, but at 10 times the speed of time, that pause is negligible. And you see me like I’m watching slow motion. The moment I raised my gun, you had already reacted and dodged backward.”

Charlie practiced controlling his abilities while saying, "Of course, these aren't really the difficult parts. The difficulty is that once I step out of the shield, I lose the speed boost it provides. This means I have to constantly be distracted to control the shield's movement and deformation, ensuring that no matter where I go or what actions I take, the shield stays close to my body. And this isn't something you can learn in just a few minutes."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang shrugged and said, "Hey! So that's probably why you didn't press your advantage and launch a fierce attack on me back then."

Charlie asked in confusion, "But I don't quite understand. Since you know that I've been gradually improving and mastering my abilities while we're talking, why did you continue talking to me? You should have attacked me a few sentences earlier. Also, you should have noticed something before I threw that punch at you, since I hadn't adapted to the changes my abilities brought about."

Li Ang curled his lips and said, "There are some clues. When I first jumped onto the boat, you were stiff and motionless, and your voice was sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Looking back now, I'm afraid you were trying to control that shield at that time."

"As for why we didn't attack directly, don't you think it would be particularly boring if I opened fire the moment I jumped onto the ship? It would be much more exciting once you're familiar with the Devil Fruit's abilities. However, I still want to know, with your intelligence and talent, and your ability to quickly adapt to the Devil Fruit's power, why can't you be a wise ruler?"

Charlie sneered and said, "You really are a madman, but I'm sorry I don't want to answer the last question. If you want to know the answer, then defeat me first."

“Well, there’s really nothing I can do about that.” Li Ang quickly raised his pistol, aimed it at Charlie, and said regretfully, “I can’t guarantee that you’ll still be alive after I supposedly ‘defeat’ you.”

"Whether I can hit him or not is another matter." Charlie watched as Leon raised his gun and aimed, then quickly stepped to the side to dodge the deadly red laser beam.

Charlie dared not be careless. If it were a regular flintlock rifle, he could dodge it after the gunman fired the slow-moving bullets.

But Charlie had witnessed firsthand the power of Leon's pistol from that previous shot; it was far superior to ordinary pistols. The bullet's velocity was much faster.

If we assume the velocity of a Leon pistol bullet is 300 m/s, and Charlie perceives the outside world's speed as only one-tenth of that, that's 30 m/s, or 108 km/h. That's roughly the fastest speed you can travel on a highway. If you wait until the bullet leaves the barrel before trying to dodge, you're doomed.

Charlie understood this, and so did Leon. It wasn't that Charlie could dodge bullets, but that Charlie could dodge Leon's aim. Firing blindly without aiming would only lead to missed opportunities and put oneself in a disadvantageous position.

Therefore, the problem facing Li Ang now is how to aim at a fast-moving object. Furthermore, this fast-moving target can evade and react accordingly to Li Ang's aiming.

However, just constantly glancing around won't do. Charlie isn't stupid; if you glance at me, I'll dodge left or right, then take a step forward. If you glance at me again, I'll continue dodging in various ways, then take another step forward.

Charlie's goal was to dodge the bright red laser and get closer to Li Ang step by step.

For humans, aiming at such a goal has already exceeded the limits.

In this urgent situation, even Li Ang's "calm" heart began to waver slightly.

"Is this the limit of humanity? If I can't even handle an ordinary person who has just mastered a Devil Fruit, then what ambitions and ideals do I have left on this ocean?"

Leon's mind raced. Suddenly, he sensed that Charlie's speed seemed to have slowed slightly. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't just Charlie; Andrew and Haku, who were fighting behind him, and even the seagulls flying overhead had all slowed down considerably.

Chapter Twenty-One: Charlie's End

"Could this feeling be...?" Li Ang thought to himself, "Yes, it must be. Including Haku and Andrew behind me, I didn't just see them, I felt them."

Li Ang steadied himself, his eyes narrowed, and he stared intently at Charlie.

Charlie's gaze towards Li Ang now seemed to have transformed, as if he were a completely different person. Startled, Charlie paused involuntarily.

Li Ang immediately seized the opportunity, quickly moving the gun barrel and aiming the red line at Charlie's chest.

Charlie thought to himself, "This is bad," and quickly bent down to lie down. However, Li Ang was faster. Just as Charlie was about to lie down, he pulled the trigger.

The 9mm bullet hurtled rapidly through the air toward Charlie. Even though Charlie reacted quickly enough to avoid a fatal blow, he was still hit in the shoulder as he lay down.