One Piece Gunslinger

After Kevin disappeared underground and left, Haku couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you afraid he'll turn on you later? You just let him go without a second thought?"

"What am I supposed to do if I don't let him go?" Jack rolled his eyes and said sullenly, "Am I supposed to ask him to stay and sleep with me?"

“This…I…” Haku was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Alright, you're worrying too much." Fujitora patted Haku on the shoulder and advised, "Jack and I can both see that Kevin is sincere, so stop worrying."

"However, what you said is easier said than done."

Fujitora slightly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of pupil-less eyes beneath two sword scars. His voice was low and deep, his right hand resting on his staff and sword, pressing against the ground so hard it cracked.

His reaction this time shows how deeply Jack's words had affected him.

Meanwhile, Haku, who was standing to the side, remembered that he had something else to do, so he took out a notebook and wrote down what had just been said.

Jack shrugged and spread his hands, saying, "Who can argue with that? If people could unite, the world would be at peace long ago. But isn't that what we're striving for? To unite the honest people in the world and then fight against the immoral ones."

Jack, realizing the topic was getting a bit heavy, changed the subject, asking, "Did you encounter any accidents on your way back? Did you get Kelra back safely?"

"Don't worry, we had no accidents and flew back smoothly. Besides, Kerla is quite sensible and understands that she can't be of much help here." Haku replied while taking notes, "Oh, right, there's also that kid Sabo, he really likes that stick, it's quite long for his age, but it'll be fine when he grows up. Our shipwrights have also confirmed that the stick was indeed cut from the Tree of Adam."

It turned out that Haku and Fujitora had set off early that morning. Fujitora used his ability to carry the three of them all the way back to headquarters. After a brief stop, they flew back.

Of course, Fujitora could have easily gone on this small matter by himself, but he didn't know the way, and Koala was also too young to know the way, so Haku had to go with him. Haku could also introduce Fujitora to the others, otherwise they might mistakenly think that an enemy was attacking.

"Oh, right, those sea stone handcuffs we used earlier were also brought by us. We thought there were a lot of ability users here, so they might come in handy, and they actually did."

“Well, as you all know, it seems we don’t have much time left,” Jack said seriously. “Kevin just told us that the Shadow is also conducting a detailed investigation into us. Moreover, quite a few people know about the existence of the Revolutionary Army. Our temporary fabricated identities simply cannot withstand a thorough investigation, and I believe we will be exposed soon.”

Haku put away his notebook and asked curiously, "But why is that so-called shadowy figure so powerful? In just a few days, it was able to investigate so much information. This intelligence network practically covers the whole world."

Jack shrugged, unconcerned, and said, "What did I say before? If there's a problem you can't figure out, just blame it on..."

"So you're trying to pin the problem on the World Government?" Haku muttered to himself. "So, that 'shadow' actually has the World Government behind it too?"

"What do you mean by having the World Government behind you? It's clearly the World Government's intelligence agency." Jack curled his lip. "To have such powerful intelligence capabilities, an intelligence network covering the whole world, and members deeply embedded in every organization, these methods are far superior to our Revolutionary Army. Only the world's number one intelligence organization, Cipher-Pol (CP for short), has such powerful energy. It has ten agencies from CP0 to CP9. I just don't know which CP the shadowy figure belongs to."

Upon hearing that it was an intelligence agency affiliated with the World Government, Fujitora asked in surprise, "Then why would the World Government's intelligence agency get involved? What's the point of helping these large and small forces gather intelligence?"

“It’s very simple, just to balance the power of the various factions, and incidentally, to make a quick buck,” Jack said. “If it were me, I would do the same. I would sell information that is unfavorable to whichever faction is strong to the others, and then the others would use that information to find ways to limit the one that is getting stronger.”

"If a major power wants to deal with a minor power, it needs to buy information about the minor power. This is equivalent to revealing its own actions to the Shadow. The Shadow can then take corresponding actions, using spies planted in various major powers to sabotage them in various ways."

Fujitora sighed and said, "Well, I didn't expect that I would have to confront the World Government so soon after I came in."

"What? There's no such thing as a direct confrontation. We're the ones who have to confront him, not the other way around," Jack laughed. "If they reveal their identities and let the whole world know that the Shadow is CP, it will create a very difficult situation to handle. After all, the World Government can't directly intervene in member states. If we get attacked, we can only endure it and at most resort to some minor tricks."

Haku nodded and said, "That's true. Although everyone knows that CP has spies all over the world, it's an open secret. But such a direct and audacious move still can't be exposed."

“Yes, that’s right. But we don’t have much time left. The World Government didn’t take us seriously before, partly because we kept a low profile and kept our whereabouts secret, and partly because our actions were too small, just like Kevin said before, and many people thought we were insignificant.” Jack stroked his beard and said, “But once they find out that we actually have designs on the Kingdom of Yutakana, it will definitely attract a lot of attention. Once we can overcome this hurdle, we will no longer be playing small-time games.”

"So, we need to speed things up?" Haku asked helplessly.

Jack, caught off guard, had no better options in such a short time. He could only say, "What's the use of worrying so much? The most urgent thing now is to take care of those two clowns, Black Bear and Hatton, and then wipe them out before the Shadow finds out our true identities, destroying our data. That way, we won't let the World Government discover our true identities, or at least we'll delay the time it takes to find them."

“Alright.” Haku got up, opened the door, and pulled Fujitora out. “Let’s go out and prepare for battle.”

Jack remained alone in the room, muttering to himself, "When in doubt, act rashly. Sending Kera back was to avoid hesitation. Although I'd like to proceed slowly, time waits for no one. Besides, if I keep resorting to petty tricks, how can I gain respect without establishing some authority?"

After saying that, he straightened his clothes, which he had just messed up, and went out the door.

Chapter 53 Peter

While it's true that when in doubt, one should act rashly, there are specific guidelines for how to act rashly.

In the past few days, both the Black Bear Society and the Red Rock Society have increased their guard and reconnaissance forces, so that the Black Bear Society can respond to any action as soon as it is taken.

"So we're deploying our troops right outside their territory, doing all this in front of others?" Haku asked, puzzled.

Jack countered, "Does anyone think we can win by doing this?"

“This…” Haku hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, “I wouldn’t say it’s 100%, but if we fight head-on like this, even if the enemy sets up some traps and ambushes, we have the advantage in numbers. Even if we suffer heavy casualties in the end, the chances of winning are still very high.”

“That’s right,” Jack laughed. “Now, if you were Black Bear, and you saw the enemy so simply and directly trying to take advantage of their numbers, disregarding casualties, and even launching a full-scale attack, what would you do?”

Haku pondered for a moment before replying, "A head-on confrontation is not advisable; that would only lead to our own demise. The only option is to lure the enemy deep into our territory, dragging us into urban warfare where we can't utilize our numerical advantage. We can then use traps and mechanisms to disrupt us along the way, even managing to divide us up in a short time. After that, our troops can split into multiple groups, lie in ambush, and wait for the right moment to attack our exposed weaknesses."

“Yes, that’s it.” Jack nodded. “So, we make it look like we’re going to launch a full-scale attack from the front, but we don’t actually attack. Instead, we use this tactic to make the Black Bear split up his troops. Then we find those scattered units and forcibly wipe them out.”

The more Haku listened, the brighter his eyes became. Finally, he asked, "It sounds feasible, but the biggest problem is how we know where those scattered troops are hiding. It's nighttime now, so it might be difficult to find them."

After the question was asked, Jack didn't answer, but simply gestured to the side with his chin. Haku looked in that direction and saw the tall Fujitora.

Fujitora noticed their movements, turned around, pretended to look at them, and asked in surprise, "Why are you all looking at me? I don't know how to lead troops into battle."

Jack quickly leaned over to Haku, covered his mouth, and whispered, "You have no idea how powerful Fujitora's Observation Haki is. He can even sense meteorites from outside planets and pull them down with gravity. The enemy's every move will definitely not escape his perception. So you have to be careful in the future, or he will know all your secrets."

Jack's soft-spoken words and thieving actions left the two speechless. Haku silently thought, "Since you say he's so powerful, isn't all of your actions being perceived by Fujitora?"

Fujitora played along, saying helplessly, "I heard everything you just said. Even if I can sense meteorites from outer space, that's only when I'm at full power; I'm not usually this strong. Besides, I'm not one to pry into other people's secrets. Even if I accidentally sense something, I'll keep it a secret or simply forget about it."

Little did Jack know that this was the moment he had been waiting for. He immediately grinned and said, "See, I told you so. Now you know how powerful I am. From now on, I'll have to keep my secrets even more well hidden."

Wow, you can play it like that? So Jack's feigned posture was actually to confirm what he said.

Just then, a gang member dressed in black stepped forward: "Report, the number of people has been assembled, totaling 1,632, and we are ready to depart at any time."

Jack nodded, thinking to himself that this gang was truly formidable. A medium-sized gang, including support staff, could have over a thousand personnel, while a large gang had at least three thousand. In terms of combat personnel alone, it was comparable to the Stone Kingdom back in the day. The armed forces of a large gang could even rival those of a small country. How could the Kingdom of Yutaka not be in such chaos?

Seeing that both of them were looking at him, Jack ordered, "Alright! All troops, move out!"

At the same time, inside the Black Bear Club.

"This is bad! The thugs of the Red Rock Society are gathering and they're about to attack."

"what!"

Upon hearing this news, Black Bear Benny slammed his fist on the table in anger. In Benny's mind, after today, Jack would die at the hands of "The Ghost," and tomorrow the Red Rock Society would be in chaos. Had "The Ghost" not yet made his move? Or had "The Ghost" failed?

Benny asked, "Is Jack here?"

"Yes, Jack is in command," the subordinate reported truthfully.

Although Black Bear Benny sensed something was wrong, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and ordered sternly, "Quickly notify all departments to prepare for battle."

After the member left, Benny immediately picked up the Den Den Mushi, intending to call Hatton, but Hatton beat him to it and called first with the Den Den Mushi.

"This is bad, Benny," was the first thing Hatton said.

"I know this is bad. Jack is leading the Red Rock Society, preparing to attack. Think of something quickly, or if I fall, you'll be in trouble," Benny roared.

"Sigh." Seeing Benny's loss of composure, Hatton sighed and said, "This is not a big problem. The big problem is that we underestimated Jack."

"You underestimated Jack?"

“My sources told me that there was a little disturbance at the Red Rock Society base a little over two hours ago, but two hours later, Jack appeared in the gang unharmed. Do you know what that means? It means that even ‘the Ghost’ couldn’t do anything to him; he could even emerge unscathed.”

Upon hearing this news, Benny exclaimed in shock, "This is impossible! How come even a 'ghost' couldn't harm him in the slightest?"

“My friend, whether you believe it or not, and no matter what strange methods Jack used, this is the truth: we underestimated him. Even if we all went to get a ‘ghost’ to help, we still couldn’t hurt him,” Hatton explained helplessly. “But the most urgent issue isn’t this problem, but how we should deal with it.”

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Benny asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, my brother. We've known each other for over a decade, how could I not help you?" Hatton said. "I can't directly help you, but the World Government can. I've already asked my superiors for help. When the war starts, the spies infiltrated into the Red Rock Society will defect, dealing a heavy blow to the Red Rock Society. And..."

"And what else? Stop keeping me in suspense." Benny was already overjoyed when he heard that there were spies within the Red Rock Society who had defected, and when he heard there was another "and," he couldn't help but ask quickly.

"They sent someone who is proficient in the 'Six Styles' to your place, and he should be arriving soon."

As soon as Hatton finished speaking, a gang member smashed through the door and flew in. Benny immediately looked outside and saw several people lying on the ground.

Then a man in a suit slowly walked in, took off his hat, and said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm a member of CP3. You can call me Peter. Your men tried to stop me from coming in, so I took them all down."

Chapter 54 On the Front Lines

"Hey, I'm saying, how come this is different from what you two just analyzed?"

Seeing the formation the other side had set up, Fujitora couldn't help but laugh at Haku and Jack.

"Are you sure this is really all the people? There's no ambush or anything?" Jack was dumbfounded. This was totally unpredictable. Even if there were no traps or ambushes, they shouldn't be lining up like they're going to have a final showdown in the square.

"Yes, I've carefully sensed it, and there's no ambush or trap. It seems they really intend for us to clash head-on in the plaza," Fujitora said confidently.

Jack was filled with questions: "Have they lost their minds? This shouldn't be happening. I was just about to go all in, but they're even more reckless than me. Something's fishy here. Is there some conspiracy going on behind my back?"

Despite their many questions, they had already come this far and couldn't very well turn back and postpone the fight. Besides, it was just a head-on confrontation; with such a significant advantage, one well-placed attack would be enough to take them all down.

Just as Jack was still struggling with his decision, Fujitora's words enlightened him.

"Didn't you always say that when you encounter a problem you can't understand, you blame it on the World Government?"

“Yes, that makes sense. They must be up to something in Europe and America that they don’t know about. We can’t just stay cowardly like this.” Jack stopped worrying about what went wrong and ordered, “Pass down the order, we’ll set up our formation and fight them.”

Of course, Jack had his reasons for doing so. Responding to all changes with constancy requires sufficient strength; otherwise, one is simply sitting still and waiting to die.

It's like if you're exceptionally powerful, extraordinary. When an earthquake or tornado strikes, you can sit calmly and continue sipping tea. But if you're just an ordinary person, you'd already be running away following the warnings when a tornado is about to make landfall.

Jack's reliance was none other than Fujitora, who was by his side.

Although Fujitora has been hiding his true strength under Jack's instructions and has never really made a move, it is because if Fujitora's true strength, which is comparable to that of a Marine Admiral, were to be revealed, other forces would inevitably unite to deal with the great enemy, and some might even go so far as to pledge allegiance to the World Government in exchange for support, just like some others have done.

To be honest, with so few people, a single meteorite could wipe them all out. This kind of nuclear weapon-like existence must be used with extreme caution.

However, showing off a little bit of skill is no problem; it's enough to handle all sorts of unexpected situations.

So the Red Rock Society also set up their formation, and the two sides were now facing each other across a square, waiting for the commander-in-chief's order to launch a heroic charge.

As is customary, before the battle begins, the commanders of both armies give a speech. Of course, regardless of how well they speak, it always follows the same pattern: criticizing the other side and encouraging their own.

Jack wasn't going to buy into that and was ready to start a fight right away, but now that the battle formation was all set up and Black Bear Benny was leading someone to the front, wouldn't it be a waste of this opportunity if he didn't go up and say a few words (or put on an act)?

Without any hesitation, Jack led Haku and Fujitora forward.

Oh right, they walked up. There wasn't even a proper horse; they just walked up. Jack felt a little embarrassed. Next time he does something like this, he'll definitely prepare a horse or some other cool entrance, otherwise the class will be lowered.

Of course, Benny and Peter on the other side also came out, and they seemed to be evenly matched, almost like two weaklings fighting each other.

Before Jack could even stand still, Benny, following his pre-arranged plan with Peter, shouted, "You, Captain Jack, are utterly unreasonable! First, you assassinated Joyce and seized control of the Red Rock Society, then you unexpectedly annexed the Ironwood Society. You've committed countless evils and used despicable methods. Your infamy is known from the port of Paqui in the south to the lighthouse of Athena in the north. But we, the Black Bear Society, are not to be trifled with! Today, I, Black Bear Benny, along with my brothers from the Black Bear Society, will rid the Kingdom of Yutakana of this scourge and uphold justice for Paqui. No one can defeat the heroes of the Black Bear Society! The Black Bear Society is invincible!"

"Oh~!" "Roar~!" The people behind Benny quickly echoed loudly.

"Tell them who I am!"

"Benny! Benny! Benny!"