One Piece Gunslinger

Upon seeing these three options, Li Ang finally understood what was going on: Level 10 in physical fitness was the foundation for unlocking and enhancing domineering aura.

This aligns with the established setting, as the use of Haki is extremely taxing on physical and mental strength. When Li Ang first awakened his Observation Haki, he almost fainted because of it.

However, cultivating domineering power requires a certain level of strength; otherwise, it can be dangerous.

In this system, a certain level is quantified as a physical fitness level of ten. Only by enhancing physical fitness to level ten will the option related to domineering aura appear.

The interface clearly states that Li Ang has awakened Observation Haki, and through years of continuous use and training, he has reached level three. Everything else is still nonexistent.

What's there to think about now? Haki is something Li Ang has always dreamed of. Let's put the butterfly aside for now and master Haki first. Haki represents the pinnacle of combat power in the One Piece world. Anyone who doesn't possess Haki, no matter how much they achieve, will always be looked down upon and will never be considered a top-tier fighter.

Just like those supernovas, they were quite powerful in the first half of the Grand Line, a place where Haki was almost nowhere to be seen, but once they came to the New World, any famous one could easily defeat them.

Most importantly, the ability to wield Haki is largely a matter of talent; not everyone can awaken it. Especially Conqueror's Haki, which requires an exceptionally rare, kingly quality to awaken.

So now that the system is helping him take shortcuts, Li Ang doesn't need any talent or kingly traits. He can become stronger as long as he spends money. How could Li Ang not be overjoyed?

Li Ang quickly focused on enhancing his domineering aura. The shop interface showed that regardless of the level, each level of domineering aura cost 50,000. This was much more cost-effective than the progressively increasing price of his physical attributes.

He immediately prepared to pour all 500,000 yen into Armament Haki, then he could chase after Sabo and beat him up, huh? After surpassing Sabo in combat power, he would be second only to Dragon and Fujitora.

Unexpectedly, Observation Haki was prevented from being strengthened at all, and Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki were only strengthened by one level before they could not be strengthened any further.

Li Ang was immediately unhappy. He had only spent 100,000, and there were still 400,000 left: "What the hell? Why can't I continue after only one level of enhancement? System, can you say something? What's going on?"

Other systems would proactively provide notifications, but his own crappy system wouldn't even bother to say a word unless he actively sought it out. This sometimes made Li Ang forget the system even existed.

"If you want to continue to upgrade your domineering aura, your physical fitness must also keep up. After level ten, you can only upgrade your domineering aura by one level for every level you improve your physical fitness."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang thought, "Since that's the case, what's there to hesitate about? Let's get started on strengthening my body. Ah, it seems that the body really is the most fundamental thing."

"Wow, it smells so good! It smells so good!"

The unyielding Li Ang quickly forgot what he had said before, and no one knew who had just resolved never to invest in physical fitness again. As a result, he soon found it surprisingly effective and went on to enhance his physical fitness by two more levels, spending another 230,000.

He then used 100,000 to raise his Armament Haki to level 3, and 50,000 to raise his Conqueror's Haki to level 2. He had 20,000 left unused, so he had to save it.

Therefore, Li Ang's current domineering level is 233.

He had originally planned to upgrade his firearms, but he didn't have enough money and ended up spending it all without realizing it. Li Ang almost couldn't resist selling the Stone Fruits he had saved up.

"Forget it, let's leave it at that. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Devil Fruits will be everywhere. The World Government, the Four Emperors, underground forces, and Devil Fruit users will be everywhere."

Chapter 274 They Came to My Door

That being said, it's really unlikely that we can take action against those forces in the short term, especially in the last two years. Dealing with the World Government alone is already very difficult, so there's no point in even thinking about opening up new battlefields.

Therefore, Li Ang's strength growth will likely be rather slow for a long time, and he will hardly have another opportunity for such a sudden and explosive evolution.

The same applies to the entire revolutionary army. This explosive growth will take a long time to digest, and it will also make it difficult to conquer new territories in the future. At least, it will be difficult to rely on sending troops to attack cities, and development will also fall into a bottleneck period.

"So we must put this plan back on the agenda, and I've set the best time to implement it as two years from now," Li Ang said, seemingly having made up his mind.

On the other hand, Long, upon hearing this news, was devastated. He remained unmoved by Li Ang's persuasion and said in a deep voice, "But in doing so... we have already lost an important friend—Ku—in our previous plans targeting the Naval Science Force and Vegapunk. I don't want to lose any more friends now, so I still firmly oppose this plan."

Long had heard of this audacious plan long ago, but he and Fujitora rejected it at the time, and it wasn't feasible for Li Ang to continue advocating it alone. Now, Long didn't understand why Li Ang was bringing it up again.

He then turned to look at Fujitora, who was slacking off to the side: "You should also give him a good talking to. This plan is too risky, and even if it succeeds in the end, many unpredictable new problems will arise."

The issue being discussed concerned the future development and direction of the entire Revolutionary Army, making it a crucial decision. However, only the three of them—the core trio of the Revolutionary Army—were present in the room. Even those close to the center, such as Sabo and Koala, were absent from this "small" meeting.

This was also for secrecy reasons, to ensure the plan could be implemented without being affected or interfered with. It was not only about keeping it secret from the enemy, but also from our own people.

Fujitora sighed. When he heard that Leon wanted to restart the plan, he had already foreseen that the two would disagree. He shouldn't have spoken up back in Dressrosa. Now, one person was strongly insisting on implementation, while the other was unyieldingly disagreeing, leaving him with the problem.

"Well, well, I think..." Before Fujitora could even express his opinion, Leon and Ryu had already guessed it. The two said in unison, "Neutral abstention is prohibited."

Well, this forces Fujitora to take a stand and support one side. Fujitora struggled for a long time, but finally decided to stand on Li Ang's side: "Revolution is something that is difficult to achieve in a way that satisfies everyone. When we embark on this path, we should understand that sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good, and sometimes we can even sacrifice ourselves, just like Bartholomew Kuma before."

Now it's two votes to one. Long let out a sigh of relief, resigned to the outcome.

"However, I'm not entirely without a backup plan for this project. If we can win over more allies or make more preparations, then it's not impossible for something bad to happen." Although Li Ang had Fujitora's support, he wasn't particularly happy about it. Instead, he comforted Ryu.

"I hope so," Long shook his head and said. "Just tell us what preparations are needed. With the Revolutionary Army's current resources and strength, there shouldn't be many requests that we can't fulfill."

After speaking, Long walked out, thus ending the three-person meeting in a simple manner.

Long hadn't had much free time lately either. He had finally finished dealing with all the recent matters and returned to headquarters, only to learn of Li Ang's determination. He was physically exhausted, but mentally exhausted as well.

Fujitora then expressed his helplessness, sighed, and followed Ryu away.

It seems that after deciding whether or not to proceed with this matter, the two of them left all the remaining specific steps and actions to Li Ang to decide, entrusting him with full responsibility.

After the two of them, it was announced that Li Ang had received the approval to begin implementing the plan, although Li Ang hadn't expected it to be rejected. From his previous conversation with Fujitora, it was clear that Fujitora was somewhat skeptical of Li Ang's opinion, perhaps having been persuaded by him.

However, this plan only has a general direction; the specific details still need to be filled in by Li Ang himself. In any case, it's always good to have more allies.

Other tasks require a certain amount of time to prepare, and may even need to wait until a specific time before they can be launched, but improving diplomatic relations with other forces, and even obtaining some additional support, can be prepared from now on.

"Get the ship ready. I need to go on a mission tomorrow. The timing is uncertain, so please prepare as many supplies as possible." After gathering his thoughts, Li Ang began preparing for his voyage.

This time, Li Ang still planned to do what he had done before: quietly row away in his small, dilapidated boat. He wouldn't do something so suicidal, openly operating under the nose of the World Government.

However, before tomorrow even arrived, other people acted faster than him and came knocking on his door first.

Just as Li Ang was giving instructions to others in the staff, a guard rushed up to him.

"Report, Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, requests an audience."

Li Ang was initially surprised that Jinbe had come to him. He had been struggling with how to find Jinbe, but the man had come to him on his own, saving him a lot of trouble. Was this some kind of divine intervention?

As for what Jinbe is here for, it's no longer important. As long as Li Ang comes up with a plan, he can easily trick... I mean, persuade him to join the Revolutionary Army's camp.

However, Li Ang noticed a detail and asked curiously, "Oh? How did he get in?"

Although the Revolutionary Army has become much more high-profile than before, Baltigue is no longer a secret. Even if the world doesn't know its exact location, it's not difficult to estimate its approximate sea area. If someone really wants to find it, they certainly can.

However, to be fair, ships that aren't part of the Revolutionary Army usually attract attention once they enter the Revolutionary Army's territory. It's unlikely that someone like a Shichibukai would only be reported after they've gotten very close. If they were discovered, news should have reached Li Ang from a great distance.

Unless one manages to evade the revolutionary army's spies and bypass layers of guards, avoiding everyone's sight, it would be impossible to arrive here without anyone knowing.

So Li Ang became curious. Logically speaking, even if one knew the Revolutionary Army's movements, such an extreme operation would be difficult to carry out.

"Well, they emerged from underwater and went straight to our port."

The answer was so simple that Li Ang was speechless. They were fish-men, and their ship was a fish-man ship, so of course it could travel underwater. They didn't even need to use Sabaody Archipelago's special coating.

“Alright, take him to the reception room, I’ll be right there.” Li Ang had no objections and immediately prepared to meet this representative of the merfolk.

"Wait a minute, I've been with the Revolutionary Army for several years, how come I've never heard of a meeting room at headquarters?" Koala said with a look of surprise.

The soldier was equally bewildered, staring at Li Ang. "You want me to take Jinbe to the reception room? I don't even know where that is! Seriously, does such a place even exist?"

Li Ang thought about it carefully and realized that there really wasn't such a place planned. A reception room? That didn't exist.

In its early years, it kept a low profile, and no one came knocking on its door; in fact, very few people even knew that the revolutionary army existed. Even later, when it became more discreet, it never received envoys from other forces; everyone was just going about their own business.

This is because all the major powers consider the Revolutionary Army to be a force to be reckoned with. Not only are they formidable, but they also wield considerable power, even comparable to the Four Emperors. Therefore, before fully understanding the Revolutionary Army's character, none of them are willing to send envoys to provoke them.

As people gradually figured out the true nature of the Revolutionary Army and what they did—even things they didn't know before, like the Dressrosa incident—they were even less inclined to establish diplomatic relations with the Revolutionary Army. The Revolutionary Army's actions conflicted with those of the major powers, and not only would there be no benefit, but they might also become enemies in the future. Moreover, this would greatly offend the World Government.

So the revolutionary army was like an ugly child who was neither loved by his maternal grandmother nor his paternal uncle; no one wanted to play with him.

So Jinbe was indeed the first person to visit; the Revolutionary Army didn't even have a reception room before.

"Ahem, ahem... it seems there really isn't any." Li Ang was also a little embarrassed. He hadn't expected this turn of events at all. Jinbe had come to him himself, and he hadn't prepared at all.

However, this was no problem for Li Ang. He immediately came up with a solution: "Alright then. To show my respect for him, I've decided to go to his ship to see her myself, so he won't have to come all the way here."

It was clearly an emergency measure, but how did it sound so different coming from Li Ang? It made it seem like he did it specifically for Jinbe.

This once again drew disdainful glances from others.

However, Li Ang didn't care about any of that. He was used to being looked down upon by this group of people. He turned around and said to the others, "You guys stay here. To avoid making others wonder, I'll go alone." Then he followed the Revolutionary Army soldier to the port where Jinbe was docked.

Chapter 275 Duke Zhou's generosity wins the hearts of the people

And just like that, Li Ang cleverly defused this fatal problem.

When the Revolutionary Army soldiers brought Leon to the port and walked to the foot of Jinbe's ship, the fish-men of the Sun Pirates were still in shock. They were wondering why they had brought someone whose clothes and appearance were so different from the others. What did this mean?

The rest of the revolutionary army were also puzzled as to why the chief of staff had come out from inside in person. Was he going to command the battle?

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder. The Revolutionary Army members were naturally startled when another ship of unknown purpose suddenly emerged from the sea and sprang to the side of their headquarters. The fact that they didn't fire a shot was a testament to their discipline. If it were any other force, Jinbe's actions would have been met with a barrage of cannon fire the moment he stepped out.

It's like someone driving an armored vehicle of unknown origin to the gate of a military camp, with a heavy machine gun mounted on it. You can imagine how nervous the soldiers are; they're all pointing their guns at you.

Upon learning the identity of the newcomer, the Revolutionary Army dared not relax their guard. This was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a member of the World Government, a rival power. Who knew what he was up to? So they quickly surrounded him, ready to attack at any moment should there be any unusual movement.

Even after Jinbe later stated that he meant no harm and was merely visiting to speak with the person in charge, the Revolutionary Army soldiers did not relax their efforts. They simply sent someone back to find Leon.

While the Revolutionary Army was on the verge of conflict, the Sun Pirates were also highly tense. It was only because Captain Jinbe upheld his beliefs and used the significance of the Sun Pirates' flag to persuade everyone that they insisted on coming to the Revolutionary Army's territory that they ventured alone into such a dangerous place.

Upon seeing the Revolutionary Army members draw their weapons, the Sun Pirates instinctively tried to draw their weapons as well. However, Jinbe noticed in time and quickly intervened to stop them; otherwise, the situation might have become even more tense, or even escalated into a conflict.

But this did not ease the emotions of the Sun Pirates; on the contrary, it made the others even more uneasy. Who knows what the Revolutionary Army is really like? Who knows how the Revolutionary Army views them? If they wait and wait and all they get is an order to attack them, then they are doomed.

Jinbe's choice of this method of visit was out of necessity. If it were a formal process, he could have greeted the Revolutionary Army when he entered the country from afar and then formally entered through the usual route.

So the news of Jinbe's meeting with the Revolutionary Army the next day would be printed in the newspapers and spread all over the world. This kind of thing can't be kept secret, especially since the Revolutionary Army had recently dealt a blow to the World Government, eliminating one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. And now, another Seven Warlord position would be vacant. Only this time, it was due to the World Government stripping Jinbe of his Seven Warlord title.

There was no other way; to prevent the matter from becoming widely known and to avoid arousing suspicion from the World Government, which could lead to the revocation of his Shichibukai title, Jinbe had to resort to this method. It's similar to how Leon always discreetly travels in a small boat whenever he goes out.

The anxiety brought about by the standoff between the two armies lingered with them. While the guards went back to report, some paced back and forth on the deck, while others stood still without moving.

Now that Li Ang has arrived, he speaks first, saying, "I am Li Ang, the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army. I wonder if Boss Jinbe could let me aboard the ship to meet you."

After saying that, he ordered the rest of the revolutionary army: "The rest of you, put away your weapons and don't frighten our fishman friends. I believe they're not here to fight."

Upon hearing Li Ang's order, the revolutionaries quickly put away their weapons without a word. However, even after putting away their weapons, they still kept a wary eye on the suddenly appearing fish-man.

This confirms Li Ang's identity. The Sun Pirates are also impressed by the Revolutionary Army's discipline; their ability to execute orders so efficiently is comparable to that of the Marines at Marine Headquarters.

Jinbe was also on deck, waiting for the old man to take him inside to meet someone in charge of the Revolutionary Army. Before he even disembarked, he met the legendary Chief of Staff. Hearing Li Ang's words, he was momentarily stunned, a strange emotion rising within him.

Moreover, the relationship was instantly reversed. Jinbe, who had come uninvited to the Revolutionary Army headquarters to seek an audience, was now the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff seeking an audience with him.

Wow, this job was really done perfectly. Li Ang also took advantage of the fact that there was no reception room, which not only helped him forgive the Sun Pirates for their uninvited intrusion into the Revolutionary Army headquarters, but also relieved their tension and anxiety, reduced their wariness, and even improved their relationship.

It's not that you've come to request an audience; our relationship isn't like that. It doesn't mean that our Revolutionary Army is superior to your Seven Warlords of the Sea, nor does it mean that we are enemies. We should be equals and live in harmony.

This is what was conveyed through Li Ang's actions.

Jinbe quickly regained his senses, hurriedly pushed down the boarding ramp, and ran off the ship to greet him, saying, "Not at all, I am Jinbe of the Sun Pirates. I'm not much of a leader, just an ordinary fish-man wandering the seas. I can't compare to the Revolutionary Army's reputation in the world. It's an honor that you could come to our ship in person."