One Piece Gunslinger

"You flatter me, you flatter me," Qiaoster laughed. "It's just some experience and lessons learned from being a gang leader for many years."

Li Ang steeled himself; if soft tactics didn't work, he'd resort to hard ones—he had to get back at least some face. Otherwise, if this whole act of bravado turned out to be that of an idiot, it would be a huge loss.

“I’ll be frank, I do want to join the Red Rock Society, but I want to be the leader.” Jack stared at Joyce. “I wonder if you would be willing to part with that position, sir?”

Chapter Thirty-Six Cooperation

"Interesting. If you want my position, take it with your strength." Joyce said in a deep voice, "Attack!"

At Joyce's command, the members who had been waiting around charged forward, brandishing their weapons and yelling.

Captain Jack Sparrow was no slouch either; the moment the negotiations broke down, he drew his bolt-action pistol from his waist.

As the saying goes, to catch the thief, you must first catch the king. Once Joyce is dealt with, everything will be fine.

The two weren't far apart, and with Jack's current marksmanship, it was impossible for him to miss.

But to Jack and Haku's surprise, the bullet that was fired hit Joyce with a crisp "clang" as if it had hit a metal plate.

"Stop!" Joyce was shot squarely by Jack, but she spoke as if nothing had happened, "You all step back, I want to play with them myself."

As he spoke, a layer of dark armor appeared on Joyce's body, tearing through his clothes, and a pair of huge pincers appeared on his shoulders.

Do you think guns will work on me?

Joyce looked like a giant humanoid beetle, his entire body covered in a dark carapace.

"Didn't that idiot Lawrence tell you that I'm a Bug-Bug Fruit user, a Stag Beetle in Stag Beetle form?" Joyce said smugly.

"Tch, this damn gun really doesn't work." Jack muttered to himself, then silently put the gun back in.

This gun is also wronged, okay? Jack didn't give it a kind look the whole way, showing it a lot of disdain. This shot hit Joyce's hard shell directly, and even the Punisher produced by the system couldn't do anything to it.

As for Lawrence, he had told Li Ang about Joyce's Devil Fruit ability. According to the original plan, if he drew his gun and fired without warning, he might be able to take Joyce down with one shot before Joyce could react.

However, Joyce was clearly on guard from the moment she entered the room, and she would immediately transform whenever she saw Jack make any unusual movements.

"Let me use these big pincers to cut you in half," Joyce said, bending over and lowering her head as she approached with the pincers in her hand.

Haku and Jack knew that being caught in the middle was no joke, and since they didn't have any "hardening" skills, they quickly dodged to the sides.

Lawrence, who was standing next to the two, wasn't so lucky. No one helped him when they moved aside; he was caught red-handed.

“You’re the first one, Lawrence.” Joyce held Lawrence up with his large pincers and said menacingly, “How ugly you are, Lawrence. It’s time to keep my word.”

"No, no!" Lawrence struggled wildly on the pliers. "Lord Joyce, I was coerced too! Please let me go!"

Joyce completely ignored Lawrence's pleas and cut him in half.

A large amount of blood gushed out, spraying onto the dark carapace, and some internal organs mixed with bits of flesh also landed on Joyce. But he didn't care at all; on the contrary, he thoroughly enjoyed this "baptism."

Jack did try to find gaps or weaknesses in the carapace during this time, but the eyes remained the weakest point.

But Joyce couldn't possibly be unaware of this; he took meticulous precautions to protect his eyes.

There's always a hand hovering near the eyes, ready to cover them at any time.

"Emma, ​​this is tricky. I wonder if Haku's strength can penetrate a layer of armor." This was the first time Jack had encountered a turtle-shell type of enemy, and for a moment he really felt at a loss.

Fortunately, this armor granted Joyce immense strength and defensive capabilities. However, his speed was lacking, allowing the two to engage in prolonged combat with him.

During this time, Jack also tried to cut Joyce's joints, heels, and back of the neck with his curved sword, but found it had little effect. Perhaps even though joints are relatively weak, a curved sword is not enough to cut through them.

Haku was obviously much stronger than Jack. Joyce wasn't stupid; he could turn his back on Jack, but not on Haku. So Haku's attacks often hit the hardest parts of his chest and arm armor, but to no avail. Instead, they made Joyce's hands ache and even left some cuts on his fists.

"Hey, so these cosplay props are really useless. We still need to pull out our ultimate weapon." Jack also understood that dragging this out would be seriously disadvantageous to his side, so he threw the scimitar aside and pulled out a shotgun from his inventory.

At this moment, Jack felt a little regretful. If he had saved some money instead of spending it all at once, he could have bought a rocket launcher, which would have been the most suitable weapon against such a slow-moving and highly defensive target.

But that's just wishful thinking. For now, we can only try using a shotgun to see if we can blast it open. If we don't have enough firepower, we'll make up for it with skillful maneuvering.

When Haku saw Jack pull out a shotgun, he knew how powerful it was. He deliberately shouted and punched Joyce hard in the head, forcing Joyce to cross her arms and raise them in front of her.

Jack understood that Haku was creating an opportunity for him, and without saying a word, he went up close to Joyce's popliteal fossa (the area behind the knee, the joint between the thigh and calf) and tried to snatch it.

The shot was fired at a distance of less than 10 centimeters, and Joyce's popliteal fossa was hit squarely. Although it did not break the joint, it still made Joyce stagger.

Joyce's right leg sank, and she almost fell to her knees, thinking to herself, "This is bad."

Sure enough, Haku, who had just punched Joyce's carapace, also endured the excruciating pain in his hand and seized the opportunity presented by Joyce's opening. He assumed a fighting stance and roared, "Four Thousand Tier Straight Punch!"

Joyce had no time to react this time and could only quickly close her eyes.

Although his eyelids and face were covered with carapace, that thin layer was no match for Haku's full-force attack.

The punch shattered the carapace on his face, sending his head flying backward.

If an ordinary person were hit like that, their head would be smashed. But although Joyce's carapace was shattered, the damage was also reduced considerably, and he remained conscious.

However, Jack, that old rogue, didn't give him a chance to turn the tables. As Joyte knelt and leaned back, Jack was already waiting there with his shotgun.

As Li Ang pulled the trigger, Joyte's last memory was of that dark gun barrel.

This final play was executed extremely smoothly. If Haku or Jack had missed even the slightest detail, they wouldn't have been able to achieve such a cool effect.

Once Joyte recovered from his shock and realized that this wasn't so easy to fake, he started calling on his men to gang up on the two men, which made things difficult.

So Joyce taught us a lesson with his life: the less you show off, the longer you live; the less you act recklessly, the less likely you are to be proven wrong.

“Now…” Jack didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down in the spot where Joyte had just been sitting, and said, “Is there anyone else who disagrees?”

The audience was completely silent; everything had happened so fast that they hadn't even had time to process it yet.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Soft and Hard

"What? What did you say? Our Red Rock Society doesn't even have a single casino?" Jack was now sitting in Joyce's former seat, gradually taking over the Red Rock Society's affairs.

The subordinate standing below was sweating profusely. He had witnessed Captain Jack's bloodthirstiness and brutality firsthand. He cautiously said, "Our Red Rock Gang mainly operates most of the taverns in this city of Quepa. As for the casinos, they are divided between the other two gangs in Quepa, the Black Bear Gang and the Ironwood Gang."

"Tch, the casinos are all controlled by the Black Bear Society and the Ironwood Society. I don't know how Joyce manages to run them. He gave up the most profitable projects," Jack complained.

"Alright, you can go now. Tell the others that they shouldn't be doing any more bluffing, intimidation, or robbing of those small boats at sea. Who knows when they'll run into a brick wall? Understand?" Jack ordered sternly.

"Understood, Lord Jack. Don't worry, I'll take care of it right away."

"What sir? You need to hand over Captain Jack, understand? Captain Jack!" Jack slammed his hand on the chair, stood up, and glared at him.

The man could only nod and bow repeatedly, agreeing with everything.

After watching the man leave, Jack turned to Chris and asked, "Am I that scary?"

Chris didn't answer, but Haku answered first: "It must be terrifying. Anyone who sees such a scene would be terrified."

It turns out that after Jack took that position, some people were dissatisfied with him and wanted to kill him under the guise of avenging Boss Joyce.

However, Jack simply sat there and fired three shots, killing the three clueless bastards, and the dissenting voices disappeared.

It's worth mentioning that although Jack could have used those "cosplay props" to deal with them, he used a powerful shotgun to establish his authority, and those who were hit died horribly.

One of the faster runners was even hit at point-blank range, his internal organs splattering out from his back. Jack, however, didn't seem to care about the blood splattered on him.

To others, he was even more bloodthirsty and brutal than the previous leader, Joyte.

The original meaning of the Red Rock Society was that Joyce likened his armor to an indestructible rock, and that his attack method of cutting a person in half would inevitably result in the armor being drenched in blood. So that's how it relates to the Red Rock Society.

Jack's long gun is now much more powerful than the big pliers; it doesn't seem like a firearm at all, but rather like a portable cannon.

“Okay, I can’t help it if you put it that way,” Jack said, shrugging. “But the problem is, our target will be here in two days. What should we do?”

It's fine if we don't bring up this issue, but as soon as we do, everyone's faces start to look worried.

The so-called target was Yi Xiao, whom Jack had guessed. Yi Xiao came from Apple Island by large ship, which would take two days longer than the light sailboat that Jack and the others were on.

Jack had originally planned to take down the Red Rock Society, then use its resources to intercept Yi Xiao and lure him into the Red Rock Society's casino for further contact.

To their surprise, the Red Rock Society did not have any casinos at all; instead, nightclubs and taverns were basically all owned by the Red Rock Society.

Haku asked, "Can we take down the Black Bear Society and the Ironwood Society within two days? If we take down these two, won't we have a casino? Just like when we took over the Red Rock Society, we can just use force."

Jack shook his head and said, "No, this country already has three large gangs. No one else will stand by and watch a fourth large gang appear. Even the two in the capital and the Wolf Fang Gang in Asia City, these three large gangs are happy to see their power increase, and other forces will also try to obstruct them. Even if we take down the other two quickly before they can react, we will still have to face their suppression and counterattack."

The Kingdom of Yutaka has a total of 3 cities. The first is Quipa City, where Jack and his group are located, which is built on the Grand Line side. The other is Athena City, where the Wolf Fang Gang is located, on the East Blue side.

In the middle lies the royal capital, Gran, the most fiercely contested and prosperous region among the major powers. This is because regardless of whether one enters the Grand Line from the East Blue or exits from within it, whether by foot or by sea along the coastal routes...

All of them have to pass through the capital's territory, unlike the other two sides, where you're not sure if people coming here are going to cross the Calm Belt or are just passing through, brushing past it.

Therefore, whether it's collecting tolls or buying and selling local specialties, it all takes place in the capital city, so the capital city of Gran generates the most profits.

The two small towns on the side could generate much less profit, so Pakku only had three medium-sized gangs and a few small gangs.

Even so, it's impossible that this place only has the power of gangs; there are also noble forces, merchant forces, military forces, and other forces.

If the Red Rock Society were to forcibly annex the other two, the enormous vested interests involved would make the Red Rock Society a target of public criticism.

“What if we open a new casino? That way we won’t have to go head-to-head with them.” Johnny, not wanting to be left out, also made a suggestion, “With our current capabilities, it seems like opening a casino in two days shouldn’t be a problem.”

"Are you serious?" Jack remained silent, so Chris could only say in his childish voice, "Let's not even talk about how we, with just one casino, can compare to the dozen or so casinos on both sides combined."

"If we open a casino, it will inevitably affect the interests of the other two gangs. They might even think that we want to get involved in this business as well. The three of us don't affect each other now because we operate in various fields and don't interfere with each other. Once we set up a casino, we will immediately face a joint attack from the other two. In that case, it seems better to have made the first suggestion."

Jack's face lit up with a smug look. He thought to himself, "Chris truly lives up to his reputation as my smartest little... uh, little handyman." What the heck is "little handyman"?! What happened to the promised apprentice?

"Cough." Jack feigned a cough to attract the attention of the others.

“If hard tactics don’t work, let’s try soft ones. Since neither hard nor soft tactics are working, let’s just try something that’s neither hard nor soft, or rather, a combination of both.” Jack stroked his fake mustache.

Everyone was completely bewildered. What the heck? One minute it's soft, the next it's hard. This topic feels so strange, a little subtle.

Jack looked at the bewildered crowd and chuckled, "Hey, it's okay if you don't understand. Just follow the instructions now. Listen to me this time."

"What do you mean by 'hint-and-answer operation'? And when have we ever listened to you? It's like we didn't listen to you the last few times." Everyone was thinking to themselves.

Actually, everyone thinks that having such a scheming chief of staff, or rather, a captain, is a real headache.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Storm is Brewing

It's actually quite complicated, but if you think about it deeply, there are really only two main obstacles to annexing the other two gangs.

One is the armed forces of the two gangs. There's no good way to deal with that; we can only resort to force.

The second obstacle is other conflicting forces. We can take a softer approach: we can win over some of them first, and then use those people to win over others, and so on.