One Piece Gunslinger

Last time, when we fought against the two major gangs, I admitted that I was occasionally impolite. That was because the two gangs had the advantage of terrain, and the generals' commands also required the soldiers to be able to execute them. Compared to the troops of the two major gangs, the soldiers under my command were much weaker in land warfare.

In terms of tactics and strategy, they are absolutely top-notch.

And their ability to scheme and plot? That's top-notch too.

Whether it's using the World Government's resources to acquire and abduct troops, or creating the Shadow to balance the situation, it all demonstrates that he has used his intelligence over the past few years to gain considerable benefits, power, and weaken some enemies.

Not counting the distant past, even within the timeframe since Jack arrived on the island, Hardman seems to have had a lot of success, but he also managed to acquire King Donald and orchestrate a deadly trap targeting everyone.

Despite knowing the dangers ahead, everyone had no choice but to engage in naval battle, making the most of their terrain and weaponry.

Once everyone is involved, this meat grinder will start, and whether it's Captain Jack Sparrow, who is pretending to cooperate, or any other gangs, big or small, they will all be crushed. Once this machine starts running, he will not be able to control it, and it will only stop when there are only one side in the machine.

To ensure this meat grinder could operate at its maximum efficiency, Hardman had spent considerable time studying strategic deployments and operational maps over the past few days, putting in a great deal of effort.

With such a perfect plan, Hardman couldn't imagine how he could lose. Even if Captain Jack betrayed him and turned the tables, he was confident he could crush this mischievous ant.

It was precisely because Hardman believed everything was now foolproof and he was just waiting to be crowned king that Donald criticized him as reckless. Even the smartest people Donald had ever met dared not claim absolute certainty or flawless planning.

Not to mention, Hardman doesn't even understand his own situation yet, does he really think I, Donald, am a harmless little hamster?

Chapter 81 Entering the Game

Back to Jack, he was busy making arrangements for a big move.

However, there's no need to bring anything else; we can just get whatever we need from Hadman. His weapons and equipment are far superior to this junk. Ideally, we shouldn't bring anything at all, just the people and the ship.

So when Hardman finally saw Jack and his group, he almost vomited blood.

So this group of people came empty-handed, expecting me to equip them. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't swim over without a boat, I probably would have had to get them a new one later.

This is exactly what Jack regrets; if all his men were excellent swimmers, they could have acquired a few more ships.

The meeting took place on land, but it was at sea, near that small island.

Hardman's fleet was deployed in the nearby waters and had not moved since it left Donald; it had remained on the ships without ever moving.

Jack was there to meet with Hardman, so he naturally came to the ship where Hardman was. The two had a cordial and friendly talk on the deck.

"I am very pleased to welcome Captain Jack here, as this strengthens our forces against those evil gangs."

I had long heard of Captain Jack's illustrious reputation, and indeed, seeing is believing." Hardman forced a smile as he stepped forward to greet Jack and the others.

"Not at all, it's my duty to uphold justice. Those despicable gangsters should have been wiped out long ago. This is also my contribution to justice. You are the true hero among men." Jack retorted without backing down.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two then officially began discussing the next battle plan.

“In two days, it will be the day King Donald signs the bill. I have put a lot of effort into this these past two days to ensure Donald’s personal safety and to ensure the bill is successfully amended.” Hardman pulled Jack to sit down at a table.

There were two deck chairs on either side of the table, and a large parasol was set up behind the table. There were also two bottles of juice on the table.

"Wow, this guy really knows how to enjoy himself," Jack thought to himself. "He's sunbathing on this deck. I'll get one of those someday."

After Jack sat down with Hardman, he said worriedly, "However, from what I understand, these gangs have all united. I'm afraid that when they're cornered, they might all come together to attack us."

"Captain Jack, don't worry too much. They are still very backward in terms of naval warfare, perhaps even worse than pirates. Even if they outnumber you, they won't be able to exert any advantage." After saying that, Hardman picked up the juice on the table and drank it.

Jack followed suit; it didn't take much thought—one glass for each of them. He picked up his juice and said, "Your naval combat skills are exceptional. Facing this impending attack with such composure, I wonder how you specifically planned your strategy?"

Hardman put down his cup, propped himself up with his hands, and said, "Actually, it's quite simple. It's just about using this place to get the terrain."

Hardman's arrangement, as he himself said, simply utilized the terrain.

However, this terrain is fraught with danger. If those gangs are not familiar with this area of ​​the sea, they will inevitably be like moths to a flame, and no matter how many people come, they will only be throwing their lives away.

As mentioned before, the seas surrounding the Kingdom of Yutakana are all shallow. Any large sea monsters that try to come here will be stranded.

Since it is shallow sea, there are many hidden reefs hidden beneath the surface. These reefs are particularly hard, and if an ordinary ship hits one, it will basically have a large hole, making rescue difficult and turning the ship into a sitting duck.

Hardman, too, had been planning this for some time now, keeping an eye on this terrain. He had people gradually scout out the distribution of reefs in this sea area.

It must be said that this move was ingeniously designed, taking advantage of the unexpected. No one anticipated that Hardman would choose this as the decisive battleground. And in the past two days, there hasn't been time for the gangs to gather information about the situation here. Even if they were to send out extraordinary individuals and use unimaginable methods to investigate now, it would be difficult to uncover the full picture.

So, while occupying advantageous terrain, they were unaware of the dangers beneath the sea. Before the battle even began, they had already lost half the battle. Countless ships and men would have to spend their time exploring the route and pay a heavy price for their efforts.

Hardman's side, relying on the long range of its ship cannons, could simply form an arc formation, remain stationary, and fire away to sink the ships that had run aground.

Once those gang ships have paid their dues and have a pretty good grasp of the hidden reefs in the surrounding waters, Hardman will order them to retreat a short distance, allowing the Red Fleet to regroup behind them, leaving you with no way to use your strength. You explore one area, and another one comes along. It's incredibly annoying and impossible to guard against.

"Brilliant, brilliant!" Jack couldn't help but clap his hands in approval after hearing Hardman's strategy, genuinely praising Hardman's ingenious plan.

"This plan will surely inflict a heavy loss on those wild monkeys who are clueless about naval warfare. It's brilliant to take down an enemy force that outnumbers our own with minimal losses."

To be honest, if Jack hadn't come and interfered, it would have been a foregone conclusion for Hardman to seize the opportunity to eliminate the gang's armed forces and take over the entire kingdom.

Given their current strength, it's practically impossible for those people to break through this area of ​​reefs. They can only wait to die in despair, watching helplessly as their ships are sunk one by one.

But now that Jack is around, things are completely different. Jack can easily sabotage things by using his status as an ally to help those gangs obtain valuable information and blueprints, allowing them to make reasonable arrangements to circumvent the rules.

After praising Hardman's brilliance, Jack suggested, "However, we don't know the situation in this area. If a fight breaks out and we end up stranded on a reef, wouldn't that make us a laughingstock to the enemy? And wouldn't it also reveal the location of the reef to them...?"

Upon hearing this, Hardman waved his hand and laughed heartily, "Don't worry about that, I've naturally considered it too. In a moment, go find my navigator; he has a nautical chart of this area, which details the locations of the reefs. Memorize it, and you won't have any problems later."

Jack laughed and said, "In that case, your plan is truly ingenious."

Chapter 82 Sea Chart

"Oh. By the way, although it's supposed to be foolproof, I still thought of a small problem that might arise." After laughing, Jack's expression turned cautious as he said, "What if someone in those gangs has already scouted this area beforehand, or what if they have some way of getting the maps of this area within the next two days? Wouldn't we then lose our advantage?"

“Haha, don’t worry about this. I’ve thought of that possibility too,” Hardman said. “When you want to achieve great things, there are always risks involved. If that’s the case, we’ll have no choice but to fight them head-on, but the sacrifices will be much greater. But it’s worth it to sacrifice for justice and freedom.”

“Yes!” Jack chimed in. “Who isn’t prepared to make sacrifices? Sometimes, some sacrifices are necessary.”

The two then talked for a long time on the deck, during which, of course, there was plenty of mutual flattery and Hartman's vision for Yutaka after he unified the country and wiped out the gangs. If someone unaware of the inside story were there, they would truly believe that the two were kindred spirits, having known each other for a long time.

The two didn't leave until the sun was setting. They asked for refills of that glass of juice countless times. If Jack hadn't drunk so much that he couldn't hold it in any longer, he could have talked until tomorrow.

After Jack left, Hardman's elegant and composed expression vanished. He thought with lingering fear, "Emma, ​​this Jack is the most eloquent person I've ever met. If I hadn't kept my mouth shut, I'd probably have been exposed. This guy is a talent. If he's pragmatic and doesn't have any ulterior motives during the naval battle the day after tomorrow, we might as well recruit him as a diplomat for my Kingdom of Yutaka. Bringing him along to the World Conference would be quite useful."

Meanwhile, Jack, back on his ship, spat out, "What a piece of trash. I argued with him for ages, and didn't get any useful information out of him. This guy really thinks he's some great and righteous figure, and he even tried to fool me. If I hadn't known beforehand that he was from the World Government, I probably would have fallen for his tricks too."

Haku stepped forward and teased, "Come on, is there anyone in this world who can fool you? You're lucky you don't try to fool others. I've been watching you two talk for ages. What? You've 'taken a fancy' to him again? And now you're finally willing to come back. We've been waiting here. What was your saying again? We've been waiting so long that the flowers have withered."

Fujitora also joined in the吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical commentary), saying, "I really don't know. A simple meeting can take you from noon until dinner time. Is there anything you can't do? I saw the waiters on both sides were practically numb from standing, and they had to change your drinks several times. I thought it was going to be something exciting, but when I listened, it was just a bunch of meaningless talk, with more than 90% of it being mutual flattery."

"Wow, you two have been following me around for a while now and you've even started to make sarcastic remarks? You're quite something." Jack said, feigning surprise. "I was on the edge of my seat there, walking on a tightrope, like I was on a tightrope high in the sky. And now you two are making fun of me."

"Oh? What danger? I didn't notice anything at all?" Fujitora asked. "In my perception, your emotions have been very stable, and you haven't shown any signs of life fluctuations since you came out."

When he mentioned himself, Fujitora was stunned, completely dumbfounded. He asked in confusion, "It really is true. Come to think of it, you've never shown any emotional change, not just on the deck of that ship, but it seems like you've always been like this."

Unlike others who judge emotions by facial expressions, Fujitora directly senses people's inner feelings. While he can't read people's thoughts like Enel, he can still perceive emotional fluctuations. However, since their first meeting, he hasn't sensed any change in Jack's inner state.

Jack was well aware of this; he was becoming more and more like a machine. Although sometimes he would deliberately make a fool of himself, and sometimes he would try to do stupid things and show off.

But these behaviors don't cause any inner turmoil; they just make people see me as more human, simply to avoid appearing so different.

Of course, this kind of thing can't be admitted. If it is, then all the actions and all the pretense before would be for nothing.

Jack could only continue his act: "Of course you can't see into my mind. It's to keep out people like you. After mastering Observation Haki, you can see into other people's minds every day."

"Hey, don't talk nonsense. I don't have the habit of prying into other people's minds. Besides, I'm just sensing emotions. How could I make it sound so profound?"

“Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t. I know of someone like that on some sky island. So I used my abilities to cover it up,” Jack explained matter-of-factly.

“I see,” Fujitora said. “Your abilities are truly unfathomable.”

Don't be surprised that Fujitora and Haku believed it so quickly. There are all sorts of strange abilities on the high seas, so this isn't surprising at all. There are many things even stranger than this. Even if you don't believe it, so what? You can't keep pressing them for details. If they're lying to you, it means they don't want to talk about it, so don't bother asking them.

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore." Jack quickly changed the subject, saying, "Now that I've got the nautical chart for this area, you guys organize some people to check if the chart is real. You can call it familiarizing yourself with the terrain."

After saying that, he tossed the copied nautical chart to Haku.

After receiving it, Haku responded and went out to organize the manpower.

Jack then turned to Fujitora and asked, "Um, are all the weapons and equipment arriving? Are you sure you haven't tampered with them?"

“Yes, while you and Hardman were talking, we had already obtained those weapons and equipment,” Fujitora replied. “Although they didn’t say anything, I could clearly tell from their emotions that they had some complaints. It seems that this batch of equipment is of high quality, otherwise they wouldn’t have reacted that way.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Jack nodded. “If they’d tampered with these things, they wouldn’t be reluctant to part with them; they should be secretly laughing to themselves. That’s why I said your ability to read people’s minds is really annoying.”

Fujitora shrugged: "Is it my fault?"

Well, now that these people have been following Jack for a while, they've all become corrupted by their surroundings, and the whole atmosphere feels a bit different.

Chapter Eighty-Three: Nautical Charts?

Meanwhile, Hardman returned to the ship.

Francis leaned closer and asked, "You just gave him the blueprints like that? If he takes that chart to those gangsters, won't we suffer huge losses?"

Francis was the one Jack saw that night who controlled the soil. He was the one who stormed the palace, rescued King Donald, and covered Hardman and his soldiers' retreat.

"Hahahahaha." Hardman didn't answer his question directly, but instead laughed loudly.

“Francis, you’ve been with me for so long, do you think I would risk my life and fortune on someone I don’t even know?”

Francis didn't respond; he knew Hardman would answer the question himself.

As expected, Hardman smiled and explained, "That nautical chart is fake!"

"What?!?!"

Francis was truly shocked and utterly bewildered.

“If this is fake, they’ll easily see through it. Regardless of whether they have ulterior motives, we’re still allies for now,” Francis said, puzzled. “Besides, they certainly won’t just accept the nautical chart so easily; they’ll definitely test it themselves. This…this…”

Francis hesitated for a long time before sighing, "I don't even know what to say."

Meanwhile, Haku, aboard a swift oar-powered sailboat, began meticulously exploring the reefs marked on the nautical chart. Right under Hardman's nose, he started examining the chart's authenticity.

"Report!" A soldier entered Hardman's office and happened to see the two talking. Without paying attention, he reported, "Jack's fishman has started exploring the nearby waters according to the nautical chart. When we asked him, he said he was familiarizing himself with the terrain of the battlefield in advance."

After driving away the pawn, Francis said, "I told you, they wouldn't just trust that nautical chart so easily; they'd definitely investigate it."

To everyone's surprise, Hardman remained unconcerned and confidently stated, "They may investigate, but eventually they will believe that my blueprint is genuine."

“Jack must be an idiot,” Francis said helplessly. “He can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fake.”

"That's right, that's exactly what I mean."

"Huh? Huh??!"