One Piece Gunslinger

The two Celestial Dragons had already woken up, but Hancock, seemingly reminded by Leon, had learned to use her Devil Fruit power as super glue, sealing their mouths and turning them into stone. Their bodies were also stuck to the recliners, unable to move. Hancock could only laugh bitterly as she cut flesh off their bodies. To prolong the execution, she even used petrification to seal the wounds when they bled too much. It seemed like she was going to subject them to a form of slow slicing.

If this continues, is the Empress going to turn evil?

Chapter 294 The Hero

Since it might take a few more minutes to resolve the situation inside, Li Ang had no choice but to continue providing cover, using his mouth to distract Cha Tun and the two burly men.

However, this gave Li Ang a bold idea.

Could we take this opportunity to undermine them? If we can find such an opportunity to get the vice admiral to stop and listen, then we can take the chance to wield the shovel of freedom and equality and see if we can win over the tea pigs.

Leon recruited Smoker because he had a wealth of information about him and understood his personality to effectively target him. However, Leon knew very little about Chaton, and much of what he knew came from the Revolutionary Army's intelligence network.

Even so, the thought that arose in Li Ang's mind took root and wouldn't leave. Li Ang believed he had 80% of his skill in verbal sparring, so wouldn't it be a waste not to utilize his greatest strength?

"Chaton was not selected during the change of admirals because of his personality and lack of prestige. At that time, the Fleet Admiral was Akainu, so the so-called personality reason may be Chaton's dovish style."

As Li Ang recounted his fabricated tragic experiences, his mind raced: "If he had a dove-like approach and a tough stance against Akainu, then his failure to be selected would have been inevitable. This would explain why Chaton's achievements weren't actually that great; he wasn't the kind of person who spent all his time fighting pirates. That's why he was sent to escort the Celestial Dragons, so his low reputation makes sense."

Furthermore, Chaton and Fujitora have a good relationship in the original work, which also supports this point. He is not the kind of person who indiscriminately destroys all 'evil' he sees.

Just as Fujitora wanted to abolish the Shichibukai system, if Chaton belonged to this faction, he should have endured this darkness right under his nose for a long time, but one person's power cannot change the status quo.

If we follow this line of reasoning, then there's a lot of potential in poaching talent!

Thinking of this, Li Ang quickly used his extensive experience with Amway and his previous reasoning to devise a customized plan for Cha Tun.

What if the previous deduction was wrong? Li Ang didn't suffer any loss. After all, the main quest was just to stall for time. This was a hidden quest that was triggered unintentionally. If he could complete it, he would make a big profit. If he couldn't, it wouldn't matter.

“Since that’s the case,” Li Ang’s tone changed abruptly, no longer showing any sadness, and he even raised his hand to wipe away his tears, “Could you two brothers let me in this time? I want to kill these two beasts.”

The words Li Ang had said, "I know she's a good woman, and I'd sacrifice myself to let her live," were still echoing in the minds of the three of them when the next sentence almost left them breathless.

"No way!" the two gatekeepers said in unison without even thinking.

However, this time Li Ang did not act submissively as before. Instead, he stared at them with a firm look and said, "If you want to protect those two beasts, then kill me. Anyway, I don't want to live anymore."

After saying that, he tried to force his way in.

The two gatekeepers couldn't let him in, so they quickly blocked him with their arms. Li Ang also cooperated by pretending that he was no match for the two men, and he took two steps back and fell to the ground.

Li Ang's earlier statement, "If you want to protect the beasts, then kill me," was a linguistic trap. It was precisely because he said that the two of them didn't actually get physical.

He had previously moved the two with a sad story, drawing them closer, and now he had said this. This gave them the impression that "the person who killed me was worse than an animal."

Sigh, it's all scheming. Li Ang has completely controlled the minds of the two people. The actors in this play have gone from one to three.

After Li Ang fell to the ground, he didn't cry out. Slowly, he became frightened again, and his face returned to its previous sorrowful expression.

"Honestly, you sympathize with me, but I sympathize with you too. I don't think my experience is anything special. It's your behavior that makes me feel sadder." However, the words that came out of his mouth this time were very different.

This turn of events was unexpected for the three of them. Indeed, Li Ang's touching words had stirred strong sympathy in them, but Li Ang said he felt even more sympathy for them. What did he mean by that?

However, Li Ang quickly offered an explanation: "I once read a sentence in a book that said, 'Those who are willing to be slaves do not know the power of freedom.'"

Actually, this book is the one written by Li Ang.

Of the three, one was a vice admiral, considered relatively educated, while the other two were slaves. However, none of them understood what the statement was trying to say.

So Li Ang continued, "I didn't understand what that sentence meant until just now. If someone asked us slaves if we yearn for freedom, I believe everyone would answer yes. But we yearn for freedom, yet we won't fight for it ourselves."

"Yes, if we make any unusual moves, the collars around our necks will explode, and then we won't even be alive. What freedom will we have then?"

The three men were thinking to themselves, "So you know that a collar can kill you? What else do you want to say?"

Li Ang paused, giving the others time to internally complain, before continuing, "But if I make a sacrifice for this, you must not say that I lost my life in vain."

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm completely confused."

Yes, after going in, the collar exploded right afterward. Doesn't that mean they lost their lives for nothing?

"Because I died on the way of the charge, our victory does not depend on me personally, but on our whole team."

This sounds reasonable. If we shift the concept and consider slaves and slave owners as enemies on opposite sides of the battlefield, then if someone is killed by the enemy's ranged weapons during a charge, it certainly wouldn't be considered a pointless death. Their teammates would rush in to continue the fight.

But the problem now is that Li Ang doesn't have any teammates; he's all alone.

"And you, combined, possess even greater power than the Celestial Dragons, yet you all hide in the back, afraid to launch an attack. You quietly wait for the Celestial Dragons to slowly take you down, shot by shot. That's why I pity you."

Ah, now the three understood. The man in front of them didn't consider himself a slave at all, or rather, he did consider himself a slave, but one without servility, ready to charge at any moment. It was this difference in status that made him feel sympathy.

Since Li Ang had already gone this far, he didn't want to offend them any further. Instead, as if he wanted to wake them up, he continued, "As the people who are closest to those two beasts, you two could easily break their necks. So what if all the slaves on this ship are buried with them?"

Every Celestial Dragon is accompanied by slaves. If every slave were as willing as I just described, willing to risk their lives to break their necks, wouldn't the Celestial Dragons have been wiped out by our slaves long ago? Would there still be slaves in the world then? Or rather, if the high and mighty Celestial Dragons were wiped out by our slaves, who would dare to treat us as slaves? They would be the next person we kill.

This statement left everyone speechless. If we follow Li Ang's logic, then there would be no slaves in the world. But the fact is, due to the existence of servility, people would rather be slaves together than sacrifice themselves to resist the Celestial Dragons.

Now the two finally understood the meaning of Li Ang's sympathy, and they also realized that what he had just said, "Those who are willing to be slaves do not know the power of freedom," was a satire of them, who did not know how to resist and even tried to prevent others from resisting.

The two burly men were no match for Li Ang, and there was no sympathy left for them. Having been hit where it hurt, the two men could only turn red with anger and snap at Li Ang, "So what? If you want to die, find somewhere to jump. Don't drag us down with you."

Seeing their expressions, Li Ang also mocked, "As expected, you two cowards are destined to be slaves for life, until the moment you die."

There are far too many people like this on the high seas; you can't reason with them. Their servility is so deeply ingrained that it's impossible to awaken them.

Upon hearing Li Ang's mockery, the two immediately raised their fists, each the size of a cooking pot. All their previous positive impressions of Li Ang vanished, and in their anger and embarrassment, they were ready to teach Li Ang a lesson.

"The brave are angry and draw their swords against the stronger; the cowardly are angry and draw their swords against the weaker. I saw this quote in that book."

"If you kill me, how will you explain it to your masters? This is damage to your master's property. Will you say I came to kill them? What if they think I'm too strong to do such a thing? Will you just repeat my reasoning from before?"

However, Li Ang's words were faster than their fists, and he spoke before the two even landed a punch.

Li Ang's actions shamelessly positioned him as the hero, while if the two men were to actually attack him, they would be placing themselves in the position of cowards.

In fact, this sentence was also meant for Cha Tun behind the scenes. This performance had already planted the idea in Cha Tun's mind that even slaves could bravely resist fate and become heroes.

If this message can be conveyed, then Li Ang's goal of poaching talent will be successful. Cha Tun's behavior in the Navy will also change. He may not have joined the Revolutionary Army physically, but he will have joined the Revolutionary Army ideologically and will be working for the Revolutionary Army.

"I hope you will protect your master well in the future." After saying that, Li Ang left without waiting for their reaction.

Chapter 295 Teammates

In fact, Li Ang's actions have already exceeded the expected behavior of a slave. Slaves with high awareness and progressive ideas do exist, but Li Ang's behavior is somewhat strange. Is he trying to persuade these two slaves to rebel with him? And how do you explain that drastic change in behavior?

After all, Li Ang's performance was impromptu. Although the content seemed flawless at first glance, the transitions were somewhat abrupt, and the ending felt rushed.

The discord was actually quite obvious; even Cha Tun didn't need to think much to notice it. It's just that the three of them were following Li Ang's lead, oblivious to the situation, and the warrior hadn't realized it.

Li Ang needed just that little bit of time. A few minutes later, he was gone, and his thoughts had been conveyed. Now he just had to wait for them to ferment and he could harvest the crops later.

So, Li Ang put on a resolute expression and left the area in front of everyone, then quickly headed down to the lower level. He deliberately avoided passing by Cha Tun's place to prevent him from being disturbed.

"The power of freedom? Is this what allows slaves to exude such immense power? Even those two slaves were intimidated."

Cha Tun sighed for a while, and only after Li Ang had walked far away did he still think of the purpose of this trip: "But it seems that apart from this slave, there is nothing unusual. I should be overthinking it... right?"

At this moment, Chaton extended his Observation Haki, only to find that there was no sign of any living person in the room. There were three people there just moments before. In those two minutes of distraction, they were gone.

The atmosphere wasn't quite right at the end, but that was because he didn't have time to drag it out any longer. He sensed that Hancock's emotions were gradually calming down, and the auras of the two Celestial Dragons were becoming very faint. It was finally coming to an end.

So the ending could only be a rushed one, to quickly intimidate everyone, put on a show, and then run away.

After discovering that no one was in the room, Chaton abandoned all pretense of concealing his identity and rushed into the room. Before the two people standing at the door could even react, Chaton had already kicked the door open.

The two men quickly turned back and rushed inside, intending to subdue the uninvited guest. However, the scene they encountered inside caused them to collapse to the ground. Their master was dead, and they were doomed to die as well.

The ground was littered with bits of flesh and blood, and two nearly skeletal corpses lay on the recliner, their internal organs scattered everywhere. It must be said that Hancock was ultimately not a professional executioner; she was an expert in slow slicing, so the two corpses were hardly anything special.

Hancock then restored the petrified parts, leaving no evidence. This left Chaton somewhat bewildered; how could these two Celestial Dragons have survived such torture for several minutes?

When it came to the murderer, two people simultaneously came to mind: one was the woman who should have been in the room but was nowhere to be seen, and the other was the man who had been talking loudly at the door.

Cha-tun stared at the large hole in the floorboards. If he didn't understand what had happened, he'd truly be a pig. Whether the two men were slaves or not, they had at least accomplished this right under Cha-tun's nose.

"Was the woman in charge of the actual fighting, while the man was distracting the other two from the outside? Or did he already know I was there and this was a distraction?" Regardless, even if Chaton disliked the Celestial Dragons and admired the man from before, he still had to deal with this serious incident.

He immediately pulled out a Den Den Mushi and ordered a state of emergency. On this vast ocean, it was very likely that the two of them had nowhere to run and might continue to hide on the ship.

Storoberry had only been lying down for a few minutes when he received this astonishing news, and his drowsiness instantly vanished. He quickly got up and organized a search party for the prisoner.

With two Celestial Dragons killed so tragically, he, as one of the vice admirals escorting them, is undoubtedly to blame. Now, all we can do is hope that the murderer will be caught so that we can give our superiors an explanation.

However, by this time, Li Ang and Hancock had returned to the bottom of the ship. Li Ang instructed, "I want to go out, then you go out. Finally, seal this hole again, but don't seal it too tightly, leave it a little loose."

Li Ang had also attached a grenade inside the cabin. Once the wooden template broke, the grenade's pin would be pulled, blasting a large hole in it.

Li Ang's plan was to stall for time as long as possible, as long as others didn't discover that they had slipped away from the bottom of the boat. A few minutes later, the wooden planks here would break and leak water, which would also divert attention.

This time, Hancock's composure was far superior. Perhaps it was due to her previous experience, or perhaps it was the satisfaction of revenge that had changed her mindset. This time, she completed the mission with ease. Then, as usual, she crawled onto Leon's back.

However, the navy is not without its hindsight. They hadn't expected the two to approach from underwater, but now they've analyzed it and concluded that it could only be because of the previous melee that led them to infiltrate from underwater.

Soon, many people realized this and then informed the two lieutenant generals of the idea.

This would naturally result in a large number of naval personnel standing on the deck, not daring to do anything but staring at the sea. They would eventually need to surface for air, and it's not like you can swim out of the navy's operational area by holding your breath.

Clearly, if the two hadn't gone into the water and remained on the ship, the navy could maintain this posture while sending some men to search the ships, eventually finding Li Ang and his companion. In this situation, Li Ang could only swim as far out as he could, as far as he could.

Previously, he only managed to get close enough thanks to the cover provided by the One-Eyed Pirates, but now Li Ang doesn't have such a teammate to help him. Given his abilities, it's obviously impossible for him to swim out. Li Ang is even considering whether he should prepare another diving suit when he gets back, so he won't have to go through this trouble.

This trope of having a Devil Fruit user go underwater to cause trouble could be done many more times. Before the widespread availability of various diving technologies, most people would never have thought of it.

However, the current situation was somewhat troublesome for Li Ang, but still within expectations. Having figured out how to infiltrate, he also needed to figure out how to escape. If there was no opportunity, he would create one. This highlighted the importance of the small mechanism he had left behind. Just as Li Ang swam out of the circle and was about to burst, a loud explosion instantly drew everyone's attention.

"What happened? Where did the explosion come from?" When an explosion occurs nearby, people always forget what they were doing before and focus their attention on the location of the explosion. This is something even the navy cannot avoid.

"The Celestial Dragons' ship exploded; they must have caused it."

"This is the moment." Li Ang quickly surfaced, taking a breather so he could swim out of the navy's sight next time.

"Phew, luckily I'm clever enough. You see, no one else could do this for me. Now they should think we're still near that ship."

Hancock remained silent, seemingly from the moment her wish was fulfilled, no matter how much Li Ang tried to steer the conversation towards her.

Li Ang was left with nothing but a humiliating experience. After catching his breath on the surface, he prepared to dive down again. There would be plenty of opportunities later; once he got past this hurdle, there was nothing to fear.

Just as the curtain was about to fall perfectly, the previously established FG (presumably a powerful force) came into play. Hancock behind them suddenly exuded a strong killing intent, accompanied by some Conqueror's Haki, pointing directly at a Marine standing on the mast.

"Oh no." This commotion, of course, did not escape the notice of Li Ang, who was standing nearby. Although he did not know what Hancock was up to this time, it would undoubtedly expose their presence.

"What are you doing?!" Li Ang shouted. Hancock had already caused him enough trouble along the way, and he didn't expect her to cause him any more trouble at the very end.

Perhaps hearing Li Ang's rebuke, or perhaps Hancock realized that this was a suicidal act that would come quickly but also go quickly, Hancock soon restrained herself.