One Piece Gunslinger

"It's alright, just sit here and wait for me for a bit. I'll go use the kitchen." After saying that, Li Ang turned around and walked behind the bar, then pushed the door open.

Hehe, you have to eat one bite at a time, and you have to build up goodwill little by little. Given that they've just met, the only thing Li Ang can offer right now is his cuisine, which is completely different from anything else in the world.

This is a good opportunity for Li Ang to first become familiar to Ace, so that Ace remembers him and his dish and can never forget them. They can then take the next step later when the opportunity arises, since Sabo will ultimately be the one to step in.

When Li Ang pushed open the door and walked into the back kitchen, he happened to see the boss there, squatting in a wooden tub, pretending that no one could see him.

"Hey, come out. Those people outside have already left," Li Ang reminded him.

"So fast?" Although the boss hadn't heard much noise outside, based on his experience, these kinds of things usually took a long time to resolve, so he continued to squat there. He didn't expect it to actually happen so quickly this time.

"Boss, we've dealt with those troublemakers. Do you mind using the kitchen?" Li Ang then said to the boss.

"Uh, please feel free to use it." The shopkeeper wiped his sweat; he couldn't afford to offend either side. Since Li Ang said "they" had dealt with those people, the shopkeeper readily backed down. Borrowing the kitchen wouldn't be a big problem anyway.

"Oh, right." Just as the boss was about to go out to check what damage had been done, Li Ang told him in advance, "There's a big hole in the wall, you'll have to fix it."

Upon hearing this, the boss immediately ran out, and then Li Ang heard a scream: "My wall!"

Chapter 208 Getting More Recognized

This is heartbreaking. In the past, when something like this happened, the worst that would happen after a fight was that some tables and chairs would be damaged. But this time, Ace punched a huge hole in it.

The key point is that the boss can't ask Leon and Ace for compensation; experience tells him that such an outcome would definitely not be good. He can only quietly find a craftsman and repair the wall himself.

The owner was very efficient; by the time Li Ang came out, someone was already repairing the wall. The tavern also had more customers, as if the hole didn't exist. It seems this kind of thing is quite common.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Li Ang came out carrying two plates. "I'm sure you'll like them."

Before Li Ang could finish speaking, Ace, who had smelled the aroma, had already snatched the plate away and started eating without saying a word.

Watching Ace eat, Li Ang felt as if he were seeing Luffy in Windmill Village. The two of them were doing the same thing while eating, except that Luffy could force himself to keep stuffing food into his mouth and stomach with the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit, until his stomach and mouth were bulging.

“You really like this. It seems the two brothers are the same.” Li Ang said, watching Ace wolf down his food.

Ace, after hearing Leon's words, mumbled between bites, "What? You've seen Luffy?"

“Yeah, I met him in Windmill Village. He eats way more than you. He also told me a lot about you. Let me tell you, if it weren't for Luffy's sake today, I might have already sold you for a bounty.” Li Ang thought about Luffy's appetite and felt that it was really not easy for Makino to take care of Luffy. Luffy could do the work of several people.

"Speaking of which, I should thank this younger brother. Thank you for saving my life." Ace laughed. "But I remember he's always been the most mischievous one, ever since he was little. I wonder who will be able to control him after I'm gone."

You're just like him, aren't you? You say Luffy is too much of a troublemaker, but you're exactly the same. It's like you don't cause trouble for anyone else.

Li Ang suppressed the urge to complain and said, "Well, I was quite a troublemaker back in Windmill Village, but I don't know about now." He guessed that I probably wasn't causing much trouble now. I guess I'm probably struggling with the Seastone right now. With Seastone around every day, I doubt I can cause much trouble anymore.

Li Ang didn't say the second half of his sentence. In Ace's eyes, Luffy was always a troublemaker, so let him be. Anyway, Ace just wanted to know if Luffy was doing well, so Li Ang naturally went along with Ace's thoughts.

Far away in Windmill Village in the East Blue. Just as Li Ang had expected, Luffy was doing push-ups with Seastone. What used to be an easy exercise was now incredibly difficult, each one requiring a tremendous amount of strength. It seemed he wouldn't be able to cause much trouble for quite some time.

Since Luffy was mentioned, the two started talking about him, and while they were happily discussing Luffy, another group of people approached the tavern where Ace was.

“I just asked a passerby, and he said Ace is in a tavern up ahead,” said one of the burly men carrying a giant axe.

"Good. We've finally found it after searching for a long time. Hurry up, don't let him leave here soon," said another man carrying a rifle.

Meanwhile, Leon and Ace were completely unaware that someone was heading their way. The tavern owner was also unaware that another group of people was about to arrive at his tavern.

"Sigh, it looks like it'll take a month to make up for this loss." Just as the shop owner was leaning against the counter, lamenting his bad luck today, a group of fierce-looking, burly men carrying weapons walked in.

"Found him!" One of them saw Ace, his eyes lit up, and he pointed at Ace and shouted.

The boss almost spat out a mouthful of blood. The previous group of people had just left, and now they're coming again?

Ace heard the voice and looked up: "It's you guys." Then Ace waved happily. The boss finally caught his breath; it turned out they weren't here to fight. Thank goodness.

Seeing that Ace knew these people, Li Ang asked, "Who are they?"

Before Ace could answer, the group rushed up and surrounded the two of them. One of them said, "Captain, why didn't you say goodbye before leaving? We've been looking for you here for ages."

"Hey, are they your crew members?" Li Ang was stunned. So this guy wasn't alone after all; he'd gotten lost. And he even had crew members—there were at least a dozen of them.

However, Ace said matter-of-factly, "Isn't it normal for a pirate captain to have crew members?"

Yes, it's normal for others, but not so normal for you. The fact that the captain got lost so early in the morning shows how tough the crew's lives are. Most people would avoid such a disheartening captain; whoever gets involved with him will be doomed.

However, Ace's later Spade Pirates did indeed bring him some companions. When he first left Windmill Village, he only had a small sailboat, but by the time he met Whitebeard, he already had a large ship. It seems that besides being a heartbreaking character, Ace also possessed considerable charisma; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to gather such a crew.

Thinking about it carefully, Luffy is just like that, which is really frustrating. Even Law, after teaming up with him, was driven crazy by Luffy. Yet, someone like him can still find a group of friends. Sabo, on the other hand, ignores Koala's advice and does whatever he wants on the battlefield, which also frustrates his teammates.

The synchronization rate of these three is incredibly high; they are all quite adept at causing trouble.

Looking at his crew, Li Ang guessed that Ace must have a large ship now. Just the ones he could see here numbered over a dozen; so many people were supposed to be working for Ace. And the weapons and equipment they carried weren't cheap or inferior. It seemed Ace was quite wealthy.

In that instant, Li Ang felt a sense of resentment.

Where did you get the money? You're not going to rob anyone, are you? And why do you have money while I don't?

In this situation, Li Ang couldn't help but ask, "Is your Spade Pirates very rich?"

When asked about this, Ace chuckled and said, "Hehe, I found a box of treasure on a deserted island before. I made a lot of money after selling the treasure."

Ah, so he found a chest of treasure. No wonder he had money to buy equipment and travel on big ships. I see...

Oh, so that's how it is! Who would have thought? Holy crap, you found it on a deserted island? You found it? Bucky must be crying! People work themselves to the bone, searching for treasure all day long, and you just find it for free.

Li Ang didn't know what expression to wear at this moment; even his ever-present smile seemed ineffective. He could only secretly marvel at Ace's good fortune; no wonder he had a halo, finding treasure out of thin air, like winning the lottery.

Coach, I wish I could pick up money off the ground too. Li Ang thought about how he'd only ever picked up 10 yuan on Earth before, and wondered how the difference between people could be so vast.

"Oh, right, let me introduce you. This is our new partner, his name is... uh... what's your name again?" Ace stood up, ignoring what Leon was thinking, ready to introduce Leon to the others, but then got stuck because he didn't know Leon's name.

Li Ang said helplessly, "I feel like not telling you my name was a wise decision, I almost got dragged onto your pirate ship. My name is Li Ang, but I don't intend to join the Spade Pirates there."

He had previously thought that Ace Fish's memories had forgotten to bring him into the pirate crew, but it seemed as if it were an instinct, and he naturally wanted to pull Leon back again.

Seeing Li Ang's helpless expression, the other Spade Pirates crew members nodded: "Sorry, Ace is just like that, there's no need to worry about him."

It seems this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Everyone's used to Ace's indiscriminate seduction of people, and there are even quite a few people here who went to sea in the same way without really understanding what was going on.

"Don't you really want to go on an adventure with us? The sea is so much fun." Ace was still unwilling to give up.

Li Ang really wanted to say, "I've eaten more salt than your feet, and I've been to far more places than you." But in the end, he just shook his head: "I still have a lot of things to do, or rather, I have many dreams to realize."

Ace, who set sail to become the Pirate King, understood best what a dream was. When he heard Leon talking about his dream, he didn't insist, but said regretfully, "Alas, it's a pity that I'll never be able to eat such delicious food again."

"Hey, so you only see me as a chef?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, but that really made a lasting impression."

After chatting for a while, Li Ang and Ace parted ways and went about their own business.

Ace will continue his journey, adventuring on the Grand Line, while Leon has important matters to attend to in Alabasta. For both of them, this is just a minor episode; they will eventually part ways.

However, at least Li Ang left an impression on Ace. Although it wasn't anything profound, Li Ang had done his best. One morning was simply too short; he could only plant a seed for now and let it grow and flourish later.

"Sigh, I accidentally took a little too long before setting off. The capital is still so far away. It seems I need to speed things up." After saying goodbye to Ace, Li Ang headed in the opposite direction from Ace toward the capital.

Chapter 209 Three Difficult Problems

After that, nothing more happened. Li Ang was under the scorching sun the whole way, and by the time he arrived in the capital, he was already dizzy and lightheaded.

"Damn it, this is inhuman. I almost died from the heat in the desert."

Although Li Ang possessed exceptional physical strength, it couldn't withstand the scorching heat and venomous conditions he endured along the way. If he hadn't carried so much water, he probably would have collapsed. Even so, Li Ang arrived in the capital drenched in sweat. He resolved never to do such a foolish thing again.

“Okay, the next question is to go to the palace and meet with Cobra, and bring him to the revolutionary camp.”

By the time Li Ang arrived in the capital, it was already late. He was confident he could infiltrate under cover of darkness and reach King Cobra, since the palace was mostly populated by ordinary soldiers with little advanced combat capability. If Li Ang carefully used his Observation Haki to sneak in, avoiding the only two with keen senses—Bell and Jakka—he could make his way in.

However, Li Ang did not want to do this. It would be improper to be sneaky all the time, especially since this was a grand collaboration.

The next morning, Cobra was in the palace discussing major events that had occurred in the country with a group of ministers.

"Has Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, made any moves lately?" Cobra asked about Crocodile as soon as he opened his mouth.

Cobra has been extremely concerned about Crocodile lately. Although Crocodile was recruited by the World Government, he is still a great pirate at heart, and Cobra has to be careful.

However, Cobra could only be cautious and try to monitor him; he couldn't take any further action. After all, the Seven Warlords of the Sea were still nominally "one of their own," and as long as they didn't commit any wrongdoing, or leave evidence of wrongdoing, Cobra couldn't take action against them. He could only let Crocodile remain in the country.

A guard captain with long, curly hair stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, I have had my personal guards monitoring you these past few days, but with little to show for it. It seems he hasn't made any further moves, except for the quick construction of a large casino in the rain. I haven't detected anything else."

"Building a casino? Starting a business? Could it be that after being recruited as a Shichibukai by the World Government, he has become more law-abiding and wants to leave behind his previous life of licking blood from the blade?" Cobra muttered to himself after hearing Icarus's report.

However, he quickly dismissed this hypothesis: "Impossible. Crocodile is not such a simple person. The World Government's report also said that he had conflicts with Whitebeard. He is definitely not someone who can behave himself. Icarus, continue to keep a close watch on him. If necessary, send more people and find a way to infiltrate his casino. We must be extremely vigilant against him."

Icarum responded and retreated to the back.

Although Cobra asked about Crocodile almost every day and obtained a lot of information about him from the World Government, Crocodile was too good at disguising himself. Cobra could only see what Crocodile wanted him to see. As for the deeper purpose, no matter how many people Cobra sent to monitor him, it would be useless.

After all, Crocodile didn't do many things himself; in fact, he offered himself up just to attract attention, drawing Cobra's focus so that his Baroque Works could take action. This was the most ingenious part of Crocodile's entire plan: a feint to one side while secretly plotting another.

Cobra temporarily set aside the Crocodile issue, knowing that even if there was something fishy going on, it wouldn't be easy to figure it out in a short time. Instead, he started talking about other things: "By the way, didn't we discover that another armed group had appeared in the country? Has that been investigated yet?"

The investigation was being handled by Hayabusa Bell, who, upon hearing Cobra's question, quickly stepped forward and said, "Regarding that newly emerged armed group, it is indeed true. According to our investigation, they are an organization called Baroque Works, a group suspected to be bounty hunters. They have been very active recently and have captured quite a few pirates."

The organization is large, with initial estimates suggesting over a thousand members, and even reportedly several Devil Fruit users. However, so far, no harm has been observed from them, and further observation is needed. Information regarding their specific members is also lacking; all of this will require time.

For the past few days, Falcon Bell has been flying back and forth between several port cities in China, investigating this newly emerged Baroque Works, but with little success.

Unfortunately, even those within Baroque Works didn't know who the president was. Even the higher-ups only knew that the goal was to establish an ideal kingdom. But all of this was Crocodile's deception. The true purpose, known only to him and Vice President Robin, was to obtain "Pluton" to gain immense power and re-enter the New World.

So even if Bell Hayabusa's investigation goes deep, even if he infiltrates Baroque Works' numbered executives, he still can't figure out their purpose.

That's where Crocodile's brilliance lies. No matter if you spy on him at the casino or infiltrate the upper echelons of Baroque Works, it's all utterly useless. In the end, you still can't find the truth. The key that connects the two is firmly in his own hands.

"Regardless of whether they are a bounty hunter group or not, since they have appeared in Alabasta, we cannot let our guard down. This matter is now entirely in your hands. Make sure you understand their composition and their purpose."

Cobra remained uneasy. Although the armed group of a thousand men was far inferior to his hundreds of thousands of troops, any armed group should not be underestimated. While they hadn't shown it yet, who knew what they might do in the future, threatening the entire country? Not to mention, these people possessed Devil Fruits, making their fighting power unpredictable.

Cobra knew perfectly well that bounty hunters were just people who did whatever they could to make money. He'd seen plenty of bounty hunters; most of them were two-faced. They'd capture pirates when there were pirates around, but when no one was looking, they'd transform into pirates and do their own thing.

With that matter settled, Cobra continued, "How's the situation with the rebels? Do they still want to continue?"

The rebels mentioned here are not just the revolutionary army to which Li Ang belongs, but a rebel organization native to Alabasta, led by Koza, one of Princess Vivi's childhood friends. Furthermore, most of the high-ranking members of the rebel group are also Princess Vivi's childhood friends. It's unclear whether this counts as infiltrating the enemy ranks beforehand.

Now it was Jackal Jakka's turn to speak up: "Your Majesty, after we sent envoys to talk to them last time, they still refused to surrender. When I went there again the next day, they had already moved their positions."

I suggest sending a large army to wipe them out directly. Although their numbers are small now, they pose a great threat. We shouldn't be too lenient with such people; otherwise, they will grow stronger and become even more difficult to deal with later.

Upon hearing this, Kobra sighed and waved his hand, saying, "Forget it, forget it. The drought has indeed become more severe in recent years compared to before. There's nothing we can do about it. As long as the situation improves slightly in the future, they will naturally disband."

Kobra's idea was good; in his view, Kosha was a good kid, just a bit extreme. He believed that as long as the situation in the country improved, a peaceful resolution was still possible.

However, due to Crocodile's scheme, the dancing powder obtained by Baroque Works wouldn't improve over the next two years; instead, it would get worse. People would increasingly distrust the royal family, believing they had used the dancing powder. As a result, Koza's rebel army grew stronger, nearly causing a major disaster.