One Piece Gunslinger

However, Jack only used words, actions, and expressions to exert psychological pressure on the Red Rock Society members, awakening the fear in their hearts, and thus made them submit.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that he suffered a huge change in a minute, was not mentally prepared, and was not very determined.

Then, he told everyone everything he knew in detail.

While the others frowned upon hearing this, Jack burst into laughter: "That's exactly what I wanted! The more interesting it is, the more room there is for maneuver."

Chapter Thirty-Four: A Complex Situation

According to this minor leader of the Red Rock Society, the situation in the Kingdom of Yutakana is quite complicated.

On the surface, everything seems harmonious, with travelers, merchants, and pirates all coexisting in this place, but in reality, turbulent undercurrents are raging beneath the surface.

The direct cause of this situation was Roger's words before his execution, which ushered in the Great Pirate Era. Okay, when in doubt, just blame everything on Roger.

Yutakana, a country straddling the doldrums, was not only not rich, but the sea monsters that occasionally appeared on the shore made the residents on the edge of their seats, and they were very careful when they went out to fish.

It used to be called the Windless Kingdom; Yutakana was the name that was changed later.

With the advent of the Great Pirate Era, a large number of pirates, adventurers, and all sorts of other people ventured into the Grand Line from the four seas.

However, once they reached the Grand Line, the harsh and unpredictable climate and ferocious primitive creatures caused these initial brave souls to complain endlessly and regret their decision. This resulted in a large number of those without the necessary strength being quickly eliminated.

However, those who are quickly eliminated, decide to give up the adventure, and want to leave this dangerous place, are forced to face a cruel reality.

The Reverse Mountain is a one-way street, and the Calm Belt is impassable, so it was immediately trapped in the Grand Line.

And so, overnight, Yutakana became the last hope for these losers.

These losers inquired around and, upon learning of the existence of Yutakana, flocked there.

The original Windless Kingdom was a poor country, and it had never experienced such a situation before. It suffered from "indigestion" on the spot.

In particular, some shameless pirates, who cry out in despair at the harsh environment of the Grand Line, come here hoping to take advantage of the chaos and make a fortune.

While the pirates' actions are despicable, it's undeniable that they gained tangible benefits from this operation.

Wow, now everyone couldn't hold back anymore. Even some pirates and adventurers who originally wanted to continue their adventures couldn't sit still after learning about the enormous potential of Yutaka.

Wealth is a powerful motivator, especially since Yutakana is a golden goose.

A large number of ambitious individuals also flocked to Yutukana, causing the place to become a haven for crime and a chaotic state.

Ambitious individuals and pirates fought fiercely for control of this place and to become its underground emperors. Countless people died in the battles, and a large number of civilians perished in the chaos.

As for the local guards? They had already retreated into hiding during the first wave of pirate invasion. They only dared to defend the palace and dared not step out of the house.

At that time, the Navy was busy punishing the pirates who were running rampant in the Grand Line. Roger's words made the Navy so busy that they didn't even know their own names anymore, let alone care about so many other places.

This went on for a while before these ambitious individuals suddenly realized, "Damn it, this isn't working! If we keep going like this, we won't get any benefits. And when the little lambs heard about the dangerous situation here, they stopped coming."

This was certainly not the situation anyone wanted to see, so after discussing it, everyone decided that we should stop arguing and instead manage the place together, so that everyone could benefit from it.

This is a great suggestion, but in order to remain underground and avoid being retaliated against by the World Government and Navy when they realize what's happening, we can only join forces with the royal family of Yutaka and get them to recognize the legitimacy of "gangs" in Yutaka.

Then the royal family agreed.

You absolutely have to agree. If you dare refuse, just try it, and I'll shoot you dead and replace you with a new king in the blink of an eye.

With so many members of the royal family, if you don't agree, your son will, and then you'll have to pardon the gang for killing his own father.

So by the time the World Government and the Navy had caught their breath, the situation here was already settled. The gangs had legitimacy here, and they hadn't done anything wrong. They were even increasing their construction efforts here, as if they wanted to prosper and develop together with the country.

Faced with this situation, the World Government can't intervene and can only watch helplessly. Of course, this is only on the surface because the World Government cannot interfere with the agreements between member states; what happens behind the scenes is unclear.

Of course, although the old king was forced to agree to the conditions of those ambitious people, he was actually no pushover himself.

To counterbalance these bullies, the old king secretly supported other gangs. Seeing that gangs were numerous and legal, others followed suit and established even more gangs, hoping to get a share of this big pie.

The king also took advantage of the prosperous period to accumulate power, and within a few years he quietly built up an army. During the years the king was out of the public eye, in addition to gangs, other organizations also emerged, sharing the spoils of Yutakana.

Just as the king held a large army, feeling he had a significant advantage and was about to sweep away those ambitious men from the past, inexplicably, a portion of the army began to break away from the king's control.

These out-of-control troops expressed that they didn't want to work for others, but wanted to jointly manage the country and get a share of the spoils.

At this point, the country appeared to have only one king, Donald II of the Wood family. In reality, however, there were eight major powers and countless kings.

Arranged from smallest to largest, the first is the assassin organization. They take jobs from all sorts of people, operate covertly, and their membership is unknown. They profit by fighting between various major powers.

The second is the intelligence organization, which still operates covertly and makes a living by selling intelligence. It is said that there are intelligence agents planted by them in any organization, but it is unknown whether this is true or not.

Thirdly, there are passing pirates. Generally, pirates don't stay here for long and rarely cause trouble. Some stay for a while and then leave, while others simply join an organization and live here. There's not much conflict of interest, making it a replenishment point for personnel from various forces.

The first three are small forces, and the next three are medium forces.

Fourth, the royal family. Constrained by various forces, they haven't fared very well. However, they still possess considerable power, and this force is unique to them.

Fifth, the army. This refers to the part of the army that was separated from the king. Ostensibly, they were responsible for protecting the coastal areas, but in reality, many of them were also hired as henchmen for the Mafia.

Sixth, merchants. Don't be fooled by their seemingly law-abiding behavior and business dealings between the East Blue and the Grand Line. In reality, no one knows how many powerful forces each merchant is connected to behind the scenes.

The last two are the major powers, but being major also means being diverse and not actually unified internally.

Seventh, the nobility. In such a world, the nobility naturally thrived. Their overall power even far surpassed that of the royal family.

Eighth, the Mafia. In Yutaka, there are at least a hundred large and small Mafia organizations, and the Red Rock Society is one of the medium-sized ones.

Although the royal family is only ranked fourth, the organizations ranked higher than the royal family are all considered in terms of their overall strength. If we consider a single noble or a large gang, the royal family may even surpass them.

These eight major forces are intertwined with enormous interests, and even the various organizations within each force have complex and interwoven relationships.

This creates a delicate balance in Yutukana, where any powerful organization that wants to expand or swallow up weaker organizations will face joint suppression from other sectors.

However, once a ninth force or an external force emerges, these eight forces will unite to eliminate their competitors and new external enemies.

Sometimes they exploit each other, sometimes they cooperate, and sometimes they are hostile and vying for interests. This was the complex situation that Li Ang, or rather, Captain Jack Sparrow, faced when he arrived in Yutaka.

Chapter Thirty-Five Joyce

After hearing the leader's description, Jack felt relieved.

If the Kingdom of Yutakana is a unified entity, then things will be more difficult, as the interests of the eight major powers are intertwined and they are mutually restraining. A direct attack would naturally provoke a united front from the eight major powers.

However, strong fortresses are often breached from within. This complex situation is perfect for implementing strategies of alliances and counter-alliances. Jack stroked his beard, as if Su Qin and Zhang Yi had been reincarnated, and soon he had a general idea of ​​what to do.

Headquarters of the Red Rock Society.

Despite being called the headquarters, it's actually just a tavern called Blood Red Rock.

"Hey Lawrence, why are there two unfamiliar people following you?"

Just as Lawrence, the small-time boss, was about to lead Jack and Haku through the back door of the tavern, he was stopped by a guard.

"These are two brothers I met at sea today, and we got along quite well. I'm going to introduce them to Boss Joyce; maybe we'll all be brothers in the future," Lawrence said, following the lines Jack had given him.

"Hey? You don't look quite right today. Are you alright?" the guard asked, looking at Lawrence's face with a puzzled expression.

“He had a few drinks with us just now, and halfway through, he suddenly brought us here.” Jack quickly stepped forward and put his arm around Lawrence, laughing, “My name is Jack. Once I meet Boss Joyce, we’ll be brothers. May I ask how to address this brother?”

Despite Jack's smiling face, he secretly wished he could strangle Lawrence.

Henchmen are just henchmen; they can't be relied on at all. They clearly explained various ways to deal with you beforehand, but when it really came down to it, they were useless and almost gave themselves away.

The guard at the door looked Jack up and down, who was dressed strangely, and chuckled, "You're quite an interesting guy. My name is Marvin."

"Alright, you can go in now." After exchanging a few casual words with Jack, Marvin didn't see anything wrong and let Lawrence and the other two in.

"Tch, so this is how easy it is to defend? They don't even bother to ask a few questions about my background or confiscate my weapons. All that pistol and scimitar I've been carrying around is for nothing," Jack muttered under his breath as he entered.

Haku and Lawrence were speechless. They had already let him in so easily, what more did he want?

According to Jack's plan, the two weapons he displayed were meant to be confiscated. Only after the weapons were confiscated would they lower their guard.

Just as everyone lowered their guard, the Punisher was suddenly pulled out from the spatial bag and attacked, catching most people completely off guard.

But to everyone's surprise, the defense was too lax, which was not a good thing for someone as meticulous as Jack.

Jack even complained inwardly that dealing with these idiots made him feel like his IQ was being lowered.

In any case, this hurdle has been overcome. When Lawrence brought Jack and the other man there, it was only afternoon, and there wasn't a single customer in the tavern.

Lawrence led the two directly through the back door into the backstage area, and then headed to the basement.

After walking down a flight of stairs, they reached a large hall at the exit. When the three entered the hall, Joyce was already sitting in the middle seat, waiting for them.

Besides, there were many other people standing on both sides of the hall, all dressed in menacing manners. Some were holding axes, some had machetes at their waists, and others were holding pistols, pacing back and forth.

Haku and Jack were also a bit dumbfounded by the sight. To be honest, it was just recruiting two new recruits, there was no need to make such a fuss.

Lawrence was also a little scared. He had poor mental fortitude and was nervous even when facing a security guard, let alone now facing the boss directly.

He said tremblingly to Joyce, "Boss, these two..."

Joyce waved her hand, interrupting Lawrence's next words: "No need for further introductions. My idiot doorman Marvin already told me before you came down."

"Yes, yes, boss..."

Seeing Lawrence's anxious state, Jack could no longer hold back and spoke on Lawrence's behalf: "I'll be frank, I wonder if the two of us could join the Red Rock Society?"

Joyce calmly clasped his hands in front of his chest and smiled, "With your abilities, if you sincerely want to join our Red Rock Society, I would certainly welcome you."

“However,” Joyce’s smile vanished instantly, and she said to Lawrence, “Lawrence, I should have told you about the consequences of betraying me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the men standing on both sides drew their weapons and pointed them at the three people in the middle.

Jack wasn't omnipotent either. He hadn't expected Joyce to have sensed the situation beforehand and set up this formation, giving the impression that five hundred axemen were ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Lawrence, on the contrary, had a sudden flash of inspiration. He stopped trembling and stammering: "Boss, this betrayal is completely fabricated. I have never betrayed you."

"Hmph, tell me why you're the only one who came back?" Joyce sneered. "I can't control the others, but I secretly instructed Morey in your team that unless he dies, no matter what happens, he will definitely come back with you. If he doesn't come back one day, it means you betrayed me."

At this point, Joyce stood up abruptly and loudly questioned, "Are you going to tell me that you went out and met two new people, and then Morey died inexplicably?"

Lawrence was so startled by the question that he fell to the ground. Morey was, of course, dead. He had been killed by someone during the battle with Jack and his men.

Haku also looked exasperated; the plan had failed the moment he stepped inside. He might have fooled the gatekeeper, but he hadn't expected Joyce to have planted a trusted confidant next to this minor leader.

But Jack burst into laughter, praising, "As expected of Boss Joyce, you actually have such a trick up your sleeve. Impressive, I admire you. It seems I, Jack, underestimated you."

Well, just now when he fooled the guard, Jack was mocking everyone's intelligence, saying that he was constantly competing with idiots and that his own IQ had been lowered. Now he's been proven wrong in a heartbeat and completely outmaneuvered.

In such a complex situation, how could the leader of a medium-sized gang not have some cunning?

"This pace, this development, it's unbelievable," Jack thought to himself. "Everyone else is slapping others in the face as soon as they step out the door, but I'm stuck like this, getting slapped in the face as soon as I open the door. If this continues, I'll be laughed at by the other transmigrators."