One Piece Gunslinger

It all felt so dreamlike, so unreal, like a dream come true. I'd always dreamt of a vast lake, of an inexhaustible supply of fresh water, and now it was actually happening.

At Cobra's instruction, Shunzi Belle transformed into a bird, flew to the water outlet of the pipe, filled a bowl with water, and flew back to hand it to Cobra.

Kobra took the bowl, brought it directly to his lips, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp. The others watched as Kobra drank the water delivered from the factory, quietly waiting for him to announce the result.

Cobra raised the bowl high with one hand and, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, shouted three words:

"It's fresh water!"

These three words seemed to be a switch, completely igniting everyone's emotions. People cheered for this historic moment, and whether they knew each other or not, they embraced one another.

Fujitora, also draped in a dark cloak to cover himself, stood amidst the crowd. Though he could not see, he could hear and sense the emotions of the people.

"Am I happy? Excited? Or surprised? No, although it's similar, it's still slightly different. I can't quite describe what kind of emotion it is. Everyone feels this way, but it's an emotion I've never seen before."

"Huh? Are they crying? They really are crying. Huh? More and more people are shedding tears, crying along with them, and some are even wailing. Is this sad? No, I've seen many deaths of loved ones and partings of friends, but this is completely different. Everyone is radiating a bright glow."

Ah, I never imagined that in all my decades of life, this would be the first time I'd encountered such emotions, the first time I'd known such brilliance existed in the world. Li Ang, it seems that joining the revolutionary army with you was an absolutely correct decision.

Chapter 214 Cutting Off the Fire from Under the Blade

Alabasta's recent comeback quickly became big news and spread far and wide.

Aside from its impact on Alabasta, this also made the whole world aware of one thing: technology changes lives.

Previously, people generally didn't value science and technology. After all, developing science and technology was extremely expensive, and there was no guarantee that the money would produce anything useful; it felt like a lottery. Only wealthy entities like the World Government, or those like Germa 66 that originated in science and technology, would invest in scientific research. Moreover, even when they did invest in science and technology, it was almost always for military purposes, not for civilian use.

Now the Grandet Consortium has taught everyone a lesson: even when it comes to technology, especially civilian technology, it can have a huge impact, enabling a country to rise, while the Grandet Consortium can also reap enormous profits.

So, in countries with all sorts of flaws, any king who wanted to govern well began to get creative. "If I could solve the problems of constant floods, barren land, glaciers, frequent earthquakes, and devastating typhoons, wouldn't my country also rise to power?"

Every country faces its own challenges; not every place enjoys a perpetually spring-like climate and lush vegetation. Various factors constrain a nation's development. If a country could overcome its difficulties like Alabasta did, national prosperity would be just around the corner.

Those difficulties that were once considered unsolvable now seem less so. Everyone is turning to technology, hoping it will provide solutions.

Even after the Alabasta incident, two other countries immediately approached the Grandet consortium, offering various generous terms in hopes of establishing a desalination plant in their countries as well.

It would be foolish not to make money, so the Grandet Consortium had to agree. The only problem was that the Alabasta order was a pre-made product; all that was needed was to assemble it. Now, the new order required making all the parts from scratch.

However, none of these technological matters can be accomplished in just a few days. So let's put aside the topic of technology for now and return to Alabasta, the day after Leon and Cobra reached an agreement. Leon had already arrived in Rain Country.

Rainlands is one of the most prosperous cities in Alabasta, built on an oasis. Here, at least people don't die of thirst like in other places, so naturally, the population grows, and with more people comes more urban development, which gradually leads to prosperity.

That's why Crocodile chose this place to open a luxury casino; it would have been impossible to do so in a remote, impoverished area.

"Great, I just need to defeat the boss once today and I can go back. I wonder how many people are thinking of me."

Hmm, thinking about it now, that makes sense. All that's left is to fight Crocodile again. But if you really treat him like a boss, things become much simpler. That's what Leon said, but he's not here to beat Crocodile to death. Not killing him is always much harder than killing him.

"But how am I supposed to find him now? Go straight to the casino? I don't have any money on me, otherwise I could have gambled a couple of times because of my domineering attitude. Sigh, just thinking about it makes me feel awful." Li Ang walked aimlessly down the street, pondering how to meet him.

However, as Li Ang walked, he found himself surrounded by a group of people.

Who are you? What do you want?

In fact, Li Ang had already noticed that someone was following him, so he simply walked boldly in the middle of the road, letting them follow him at will. Then he deliberately moved away from crowded areas and started walking towards secluded places.

So when Li Ang walked into a small alley, the group of people following him could no longer hold back and jumped out to surround him.

In fact, Li Ang's question was a rhetorical one. The only person who could gather a group of people in this place was Crocodile, or rather, the Baroque Works below.

Whether Crocodile personally instructed him or his subordinates acted on their own, Leon had somehow made contact with him. He was just wondering how to find Crocodile, and this came to him effortlessly.

"Stop talking nonsense, if you know what's good for you, come with us." An elderly man with a bad temper pointed a gun at Li Ang and said.

Although this old-fashioned tactic of threatening is generally ineffective, and almost no one would fall for it, Leon did it anyway in order to see Crocodile.

"Hmph, you rats of unknown origin. Fine, let's go. I want to see what you're up to." Li Ang said, gesturing for the elder to lead the way.

Of course, it's not that the "elder" is actually old; it's just that all the low-level henchmen in their Baroque Works are called "elders." The lower-ranking ones are called "million-elders," and the higher-ranking ones are called "billion-elders." In other words, as long as they're not high-ranking agents with numerical designations, they're all called "elders."

Yes, it's definitely not violence, don't misunderstand.

So Li Ang simply sat back and followed the guide until they arrived at a secluded tavern. The tavern was practically empty; or rather, given its remote location and the fact that it wasn't mealtime, it would be strange if it had any customers at all.

However, business prosperity is not important; the fewer people the better. It is just a cover, but in reality, it is the base of the Baroque Works.

Li Ang immediately recognized the group of people sitting in the tavern as several high-ranking members of the Baroque Works: Mr. 4, Mr. 5, Miss Christmas, and Miss Valentine—four people in two teams.

"The person has been brought here!" the elder said after leading Li Ang into the tavern.

"Tch, just four punks. I thought it would be Robin or Crocodile. And this is what I get," Li Ang thought to himself.

That's right. Although these four people have very low numbers, they still don't understand Baroque Works. Even though they're ranked higher than the lowly soldiers, they're still on the fringes. The true core members are at least number three, or even number one or higher.

But despite his inner grumbling, what came out of his mouth was: "Oh? So you're the ones looking for me. Who are you?"

"Hehe, kid." Mr. 5, sporting an afro, said, "It's not that I'm lying to you, it's just that we don't know why we asked you to come here. Anyway, someone from above will be looking for you in a bit."

Well, they really are just four nobodys. They're not really in charge, and you can't really order them around. It seems the only people who really need to find Li Ang are probably the president or vice president of Baroque Works.

However, Li Ang didn't want to continue pretending to be a good boy, nor could he. Who was Li Ang? He was the CEO of the Grandet Group, a super conglomerate with a global reputation, active in dozens of countries, and poised to aggressively expand into Alabasta. How could he possibly be a coward?

At this point, Li Ang could only get into character and start acting, temporarily setting aside his identity as the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army and taking on the role of CEO.

Li Ang's reason for acting was simple: he entered the room to extract information to decide how to proceed. Mr. 5's response revealed far too much.

Li Ang had already sorted everything out while walking with the elder on the road. There were only two things that could have attracted the attention of the Baroque Works.

The first point is that he first met the elder of Baroque Works in the seaside port city. If that group of thugs hadn't scattered and fled, but instead continued to monitor Ace, then they would have seen Leon subdue Ace and point a gun at his head.

If you missed this part, it's possible that afterwards, he gathered another group to settle scores with Ace again, but gave up because Ace's Spade Pirates, numbering over a dozen, gathered. If that's the case, then you'd see Leon and Ace chatting and laughing. But in the end, they parted ways.

If it's based on the first point, then those who approached him were definitely low-level henchmen, at most Mr. 4 or Mr. 5. No more than that. Their motives were either that they hadn't given up and wanted to continue targeting Ace, forcing him to reveal how to defeat Ace; or that they wanted to use him as leverage to set a trap for Ace; or they wanted to recruit him, giving Leon a numerical designation.

Crocodile and Robin don't even need to get involved; their subordinates can handle it all.

Mr. 5's words told Li Ang that Baroque Works had brought him in based on the second point: he was the CEO of the Grandet Group.

Baroque Works was a group founded by Crocodile as a cover. Its stated purpose was to establish an ideal nation—this was Crocodile's ostensible belief, used to deceive others.

But there were quite a few people who actually believed it. Although Baroque Works accepted all comers, a significant number of those who joined were indeed drawn by this belief.

Especially Mr. 1, the strongest fighter besides Crocodile, and the user of the Quick-Slash Fruit. His dream is to become a hero, okay? He joined Baroque Works without knowing Crocodile's true motives.

So when Crocodile saw the newspaper early this morning that a desalination plant was about to be built here, and that the Alabasta royal family was going to cooperate closely with the Grandet consortium, he couldn't sit still any longer.

If this happens, then according to the Baroque Works' creed, they can no longer stay in this country, because this country has become an ideal nation, and their plan to overthrow Alabasta and establish an ideal nation has officially failed. They can move on to another place.

This is the effect of Leon's approach of addressing the root cause rather than just the symptoms; it dealt a heavy blow to Baroque Works from the ground up, leaving Crocodile completely disoriented.

Therefore, based on this, Crocodile will undoubtedly place great importance on Leon, and will certainly try to capture him as soon as he arrives. He'll also try to find a way to sabotage this cooperation.

Chapter 125 Chickens Fighting

So Leon appeared in Rainfield, Baroque Works' headquarters, and brazenly jumped right into Crocodile's face. To Crocodile, this was tantamount to walking into a trap.

Was Crocodile's aim there to terminate the project by coercing or killing Leon? That's certainly impossible.

Crocodile understood that in a large corporation, even a high-ranking individual like Leon could be sacrificed for the sake of enormous profits. On this high seas, there was no room for sentimentality; only self-interest mattered.

Crocodile didn't know that Leon was a member of the Revolutionary Army, nor did he understand the Revolutionary Army at all, still viewing the world through the lens of pirates. In any case, this was naturally a huge win for Leon; the information asymmetry between the two created room for maneuver.

Therefore, Crocodile can only learn about the desalination device's transport route, or its weaknesses, through Leon. The former can be intercepted en route, while the latter can be exposed and destroyed.

In short, if Crocodile is convinced, based on the second point, that Leon is indeed the CEO of the Grandet Group, then he certainly won't harm Leon's life; at most, he'll subject him to severe torture. Anyway, if he causes trouble, Leon is finished. Not only must this cooperation not be ruined, but the Grandet Group and Cobra must also be alerted, increasing security measures and maintaining a tight watch.

So when Mr. 5 told him that someone higher up was looking for him, and that someone had ordered them to arrest Li Ang, Li Ang was already preparing to take action, ready to show his prowess and confidence.

Once Li Ang understood this, he naturally went all out. "Come on! Let's fight! I have an invincibility cheat, come and hit me if you dare. Anyway, you can't kill me outright, so what can you possibly do if you hold back?"

So, before any of the four men could react, Li Ang swiftly drew his gun from behind and skillfully cocked it to aim.

"This guy's got a death wish. Does he really think he can take on all four of us officers by himself? We're all Devil Fruit users." That was the first thought that crossed the minds of the four men the moment Li Ang raised his gun.

(Mr. 4 is not, but his pet dog is a gun that ate the Dachshund Fruit.)

To be fair, even without being waterproof, Li Ang could easily defeat them. It's just that Li Ang himself is holding back right now, and needs to maintain a facade.

"Looks like I have to teach you a lesson. Do it!" Mr. 5 quickly dodged to the side, his face turning ashen, and said.

However, Mr. 5's dodge might be useful to an ordinary person, but it was completely useless to Li Ang. With a "bang", a stream of blood splattered from Mr. 5's right arm.

"what?"

Hey, he was just saying he was going to teach him a lesson, and then he got shot in the right arm by Li Ang. Any normal person would be furious.

Although Mr. 5 has temporarily lost his dominant right hand, it doesn't matter, he still has his left arm to use. Mr. 5 reached into his nostril with his left hand and pulled out a booger, preparing to flick this booger bomb at Li Ang.

Leon's initial target was Mr. 5, not because his Devil Fruit ability was troublesome, nor because he feared the power of his bombs. He simply found the guy disgusting. Just thinking about it made him realize that even if he dodged the blast radius, Leon couldn't stand the feeling of the air filled with bits of boogers.

There's no way around it; this thing is disgusting. After all, it can only turn a part of its body into a bomb. Without using these detachable secretions or parts, it's practically a suicidal ability.

One use and you lose an arm; another and you lose a leg. If it's used at full power, the person is gone. Perhaps some extreme terrorist organization needs this kind of incredible ability.

Hair is too light; if you pluck a hair and throw it forward, you might not even know where it lands. Only parts like boogers, which are easy to store and remove and can be easily ejected to injure enemies, are suitable for him.

So after successfully crippling his right hand with the first shot, Li Ang pressed his advantage, determined to cripple the guy first. He didn't believe that once he couldn't use his snot, the guy would actually become a human bomb like some organizations. So he prepared to shoot him in the left hand again.

The others weren't wooden either, and Li Ang wasn't fighting a 1v1 arena battle. Just before Li Ang fired his first shot, Miss. Merry Christmas had already burrowed into the ground, preparing to launch an attack from underground, while Miss Valentine leaped high into the air, floating towards Li Ang's head. Mr. 4's pet dog also spat out a bomb.

Therefore, Li Ang was now facing a triple attack from the ground, from the air, and from the front. Although everyone was holding back and not using their full strength, being hit by any of them would undoubtedly result in serious injury.

It's better to break one finger than to injure all ten. Li Ang saw the other people's attacks, but he wasn't going to bother with them. He wanted to take care of this most annoying Mr. 5 first.

Despite facing a triple attack, Li Ang remained calm and fired his shot, successfully disabling Mr. 5's other hand. Within seconds of the battle beginning, one of the four had been eliminated, forcing them to withdraw from the fight.

To be honest, if Leon hadn't wanted to spare his life and given the possibility of future cooperation with Crocodile, the first shot could have been a fatal blow. They might already be down two men by now.

While Li Ang ignored everyone else and relentlessly beat up Mr. 4, he was immediately met with an attack from Miss Valentine—a leg strike that came crashing down from the sky.

Miss Valentine's Devil Fruit ability allows her to freely change her weight (so envious!), from one kilogram to ten thousand kilograms. Her common attack method is to first transform herself into one kilogram and float into the air, then transform into ten thousand kilograms and stomp down on the enemy.

Li Ang is now facing such an attack, but Miss Valentine is not holding back, influenced by the order not to kill Li Ang. Instead of launching a full-scale attack, she only used one-tenth, one thousand kilograms, to press down.

Clearly, a ton of weight isn't much in the world of One Piece; many of the elders of Baroque Works could easily handle it. But Leon is a gunslinger, dressed as a hunter. He only displayed this fighting style throughout the entire series. Perhaps Miss Valentine's Day used only 1000 kilograms because of this.

Despite all that explanation, Li Ang still hesitated to accept the challenge. Whether she used 1,000 kilograms or 10,000 kilograms, only she knew the answer. What if it was 10,000 kilograms? Li Ang could catch it, but wouldn't that reveal his true strength?

However, when Li Ang heard the cry of "One thousand kilograms of pressure!", he realized that this kind of idiotic habit had once again come to his aid.

"Damn it, that's why this kind of behavior—always revealing your moves and information to your opponent during a fight—is absolutely unacceptable," Li Ang thought to himself as he tossed aside his rifle and boldly jumped up. Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed Miss Valentine's long leg as she stepped down.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Miss Valentine's Day had stomped on many people with her long legs, but she had never seen anyone come up and grab her thighs. This was the first time she'd encountered such a situation, and she panicked, unsure how to react.