One Piece Gunslinger

Seeing that everyone was about to start discussing sending a few people in a few minutes, Li Ang quickly stopped them.

"So where does their confidence come from that they think a few people can definitely succeed by breaking in?"

This surprised the group. Long asked curiously, "Is there any problem? Can't the few of us easily deal with this rabble? Are you worried about what will happen if we make too much of a commotion? Don't worry about that, we know what we're doing and won't use any large-scale tactics."

Faced with Long's confident and assertive words, Li Ang was somewhat speechless.

Yes, among those present, there are powerful figures like Fujitora and Ryu. If they went all out, one of them could destroy an island. Facing these people is really not a problem.

Even for someone of Li Ang and Haku's skill level, cutting through a crowd seven times wouldn't be a big problem. Therefore, Long's suggestion is entirely feasible.

"So what is it that has bound my mind and made me so hesitant and timid?" Li Ang couldn't help but ask himself, reflecting on his previous actions.

"Before, lacking strength, we could only resort to petty tricks. But now, we are much stronger than before, and with many experts in our ranks, we don't need any elaborate strategies. We just need to go for it. It's laughable to have the strength of a strong person but lack the mentality of one."

What kind of world is One Piece? It's a world where the strong rule. The powerful can do whatever they want; this is a well-known truth on this planet.

Li Ang, due to the presence of many native locals and his previously weak fighting ability (which hasn't improved much since), hasn't successfully transformed the idea that "money can buy anything" into "power can buy anything." He's trapped in a fundamentally flawed problem due to the constraints of Earthling thinking.

Simply put, it means that one's imagination is limited by weakness.

This led to Li Ang not quite grasping the situation yet, having spent a long time trying to outsmart himself, until Long He and the others reminded him, which finally made him realize the truth as if struck by lightning. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed:

"What else is there to say? Let's go in under the cover of night, finish this quickly, and call it a day. Fujitora, Haku, and I will go."

Long, you shouldn't go. If you're recognized and your identities are exposed, we'll really have to kill you all. Try to recruit as many of these people as possible. After some ideological education, they can still contribute to our efforts.

You stay on the ship and command the troops. Once we give the signal, we will launch the landing operation. I will bring a signal gun.

"Kela and Sabo, you two stay by Long's side and learn a lot, especially Kela. Don't just focus on learning theoretical concepts from me; you still need to learn battlefield command and combat from Long."

Having figured things out, Li Ang didn't dwell on it any longer and directly joined the Rough Man Cult. What schemes or tricks do you need? I'll just deal with them all by force.

Overcome skill with brute force; once you've built up your strength, sometimes you don't need to overthink things.

Chapter 125 A Rash Move

Since the plan had already been formulated so simply and directly, there was no need to dwell on it further. After leaving the meeting room, Fujitora took Leon and Haku and flew straight to the island.

Of course, the Brandon and Ford brothers didn't forget about nighttime security, dispatching multiple teams for patrols and defense. They were on high alert.

So when Li Ang flew over the Chaotic Magnetic Island and observed for a while, he found the location of the control room.

"I have to say, people these days, regardless of their intelligence, can't seem to forget this flaw. They always manage to pull off some 'protesting too much' stunts, as if they're afraid people won't know that's an important location," Li Ang muttered, looking at the densely packed patrol personnel and guards standing watch in front of a certain building.

As for why Li Ang and his two companions remained undetected while floating in the sky for quite some time, it can only be said that guards have always been oblivious to the dangers of the world.

Whether they discovered it or not was no longer important, because as Li Ang spoke, he ordered Fujitora to lead the two of them over there and parachute directly to the door.

The guards standing at the door, being assigned to such important positions, must not be ordinary soldiers; at the very least, they must be elites among the soldiers.

Upon seeing the three people descend from the sky, he suppressed his bewilderment and panic and immediately sounded the alarm.

"Why did we have to make him ring the alarm?" Haku punched a guard wielding a long knife, complaining. "Wait, why didn't we just land at the entrance? Wouldn't it have been better to just sneak in?"

As for the guard who sounded the alarm earlier, he was already lying on the ground.

“What? This is what you call real infiltration (unparalleled).” Li Ang calmly took out a knife, cut down a guard, and replied with a serious face, “I’ve wanted to experience this feeling for a long time.”

That's absolutely true. For Li Ang, who had always been a coward, he had never experienced such an unparalleled feeling of exhilaration. Since he had decided to let loose today, he might as well go all the way to the top and have a blast.

Of course, Leon wasn't recklessly reckless. If he didn't create some disturbance to divert Bloodsail's attention, Dragon's landing might encounter some problems. This essentially relieved pressure on the landing forces.

So they simply landed at the entrance and then fought their way in step by step.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Brendan and Ford brothers were still soundly asleep, dreaming of easily defeating the enemy force before returning to expand their "business."

But her sweet dream was interrupted by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

"Something terrible has happened! Someone has broken into the control room!"

The two brothers were awakened by this horrifying news at almost the same time. They immediately abandoned any sweet dreams, pulled back the covers, climbed out of bed, and asked, "Who are the people who came? How many are there?"

"I don't recognize them; they're all unfamiliar faces," the guard who came to report said. "There are only three of them, but each one is highly skilled; we can't stop them at all."

Although their subordinates were utterly incompetent and inefficient, unable to be stopped even by three men, the two brothers understood that now was not the time to reprimand or criticize them. Their immediate priority was to prevent the three men from storming the control room.

Seeing the urgency of the situation, the two brothers disregarded their appearance, hastily threw on a shirt, and ran towards the control room.

The two met while running. "This area of ​​the sea is filled with strong and turbulent currents, making it impossible for ordinary people to reach the island. It seems that this person who came this time is no ordinary person."

Ford said, “Brother, there are only three people. I reckon they were sent by the ship that was trapped. I can’t think of anyone else. But doesn’t that just mean that group can only muster three capable people? This is their last stand. As long as we can take care of these three, the rest will just be meat on the chopping block.”

But Brandon shook his head: "Ford, have you ever thought about why he would rush straight to the control room?"

Ford, puzzled, paused for a moment before replying, "Of course, it's to get the control room to close those current channels and make way for the fleet."

"Yes, but there's a premise to that."

"What premise?"

“They already know the cause of this current and the secret of how we control the current switch, which is why they rushed straight to the control room,” Brandon said gravely.

This is a blind spot because, from Ford's perspective, it implicitly acknowledges the fact that the causes of ocean currents and the methods of controlling them were already known.

However, from other people's perspectives, the very first step is incredibly difficult. Under normal circumstances, no one would even imagine that the turbulence that has existed on the Chaotic Magnetic Island for so many years could actually be controlled.

You must be able to think this far before you can take the next step and break into the control room.

After Brandon's explanation, although I understood the situation, I was still a little confused: "What do you mean?"

Brandon continued, somewhat annoyed, "Think about it. They didn't know we could control the ocean currents before. They even believed the rumors we spread and attacked us during those few days, which is why we trapped them. In other words, they didn't know this secret through any intelligence beforehand; they only found out after they were trapped."

"So I realized that there must be an exceptionally intelligent person among them, or someone capable of deep-sea exploration, or both. That's how we cracked our secret and learned that we had a control room that could control the turbulence."

After hearing Brandon's words, Ford was also a little alarmed: "So that means that if there really is an exceptionally intelligent person here, then this plan to attack the control room is probably not so simple?"

Brandon nodded after listening: "That's right, it's definitely not just about attacking the control room. There must be something else going on after this move. Otherwise, why would they come here with just three people? Wouldn't that be suicide? If they could really do whatever they wanted on my turf with just three people, why would they have been trapped for two days? They would have come knocking on my door long ago."

However, if Li Ang and the others heard this, they would probably cry foul. Although they often come up with some clever ideas, this time they genuinely wanted to have a go at it, and there were no hidden agendas behind it.

As for those three, Brandon was right; they weren't there initially and only arrived tonight. Otherwise, they would have already rushed in and done whatever they wanted, instead of waiting until now.

Chapter 126 Unexpected

Ford arrived at the control room alone and saw Li Ang and the other two coming out and firing signal flares.

"You do have some skill; even with so many guards in the control room, they couldn't stop you."

Upon seeing Ford, whose attire was clearly different from the other thugs, Li Ang asked the two men with a blank expression, "Who is he?"

Li Ang didn't know the answer to this question, and neither did the other two. They had rushed here and hadn't hesitated for long on the dragon's ship before deciding to launch a night raid. They hadn't even seen any photos or portraits of Brandon and Ford.

However, Li Ang was just asking casually. He figured that this guy was either a leader or a cadre, definitely not some nobody.

However, Ford didn't want to waste words with him and rushed forward quickly.

Facing Ford, who was alone and had to make do with what he had to do, Fujitora Haku, who was standing next to Li Ang, exchanged a smile with him, reached out and pushed Li Ang out.

"Usually, the capable ones do more work, but today it's your turn to work hard, so he's handed over to you."

Li Ang hadn't expected the two to be so resolute, and at this moment, he launched a retaliatory attack. He stumbled and was caught off guard, meeting Ford's dark fist head-on.

"Damn, these two are doing this on purpose, aren't they? They're definitely doing it on purpose, trying to get me punched right from the start."

As Li Ang thought this, he quickly used his Observation Haki to observe the approach and trajectory of the fist. Ignoring all pretense of decorum, he performed a somersault to narrowly avoid the dark fist.

"Damn, he even has Armament Haki. He's no ordinary small fry. If I had been hit by that, I probably would have lost half my health on the spot," Li Ang thought with lingering fear as he quickly got up.

However, Ford's next move surprised Li Ang.

"Damn, who are you on? How come you're with those two now? Do you have to be so cooperative?" Li Ang thought to himself after dodging another punch.

It turns out that Li Ang's earlier move wasn't just randomly rolling the trophy; after it rolled away, it clearly created distance between him and Ford. In comparison, Haku and Fujitora were closer to Ford.

Li Ang's actions may well have been intended to shift the blame. After all, you two were the ones who messed with me first, so it's not wrong for me to jump in and mess with my teammates too.

However, the two men maintained a calm and observing stance, showing no intention of making a move. Li Ang was about to retort, "What good would that do?" when he watched Ford attack the two.

Surprisingly, Ford cooperated. Seeing that the two were unwilling to fight, he turned around and hit Li Ang again, for reasons unknown.

This was completely unexpected for Li Ang. Logically speaking, he should have targeted the two bystanders first, instead of going to such lengths. Besides, the three were clearly teammates. From Ford's perspective, they would all eventually be subdued. Even if Li Ang seemed like the "mastermind," he shouldn't have let the "accomplices" go.

In the end, if Li Ang really encounters a life-threatening situation and can't handle it, the two of them won't just stand by and watch; they will definitely step in to help.

Therefore, Li Ang was completely baffled by Ford's response.

But there's no time for Li Ang to think about anything else right now. Facing the relentless advance of Ford and his fist wreathed in Armament Haki, if he were to be distracted by anything else, he would be courting death.

Since you insist on fighting, then let's fight. It'll be a good opportunity to test just how much our true strength has increased since our huge gains last time. This can't be determined through mere sparring; only real combat with real swords and spears can truly test it.

So after dodging Ford's punch for the third time, Li Ang first drew his "Red Nine" and fired a shot at Ford, who was still in the middle of his attack.

It wasn't that Li Ang was holding back or not using more powerful weapons; it was just that, due to the machinations of Fujitora and Haku, Ford was now pressing closer and closer, almost constantly in a state of close combat. Every time Li Ang dodged an attack, the experienced Ford would immediately follow up with another attack.

Li Ang's other weapons are difficult to use effectively in this kind of combat; only his pistol and tactical knife are useful in close-quarters fighting.

So Li Ang didn't expect his shot to cause any damage; he just wanted to force Ford to defend himself and give him time to use his big gun.

Ford, on the other side, didn't feel anything at first in the first two hits, but became increasingly alarmed in the next two.

Throughout Ford's career, only a few formidable opponents could put up a fight against his attacks. Such individuals were rare, but not nonexistent.

Ford had never seen anyone who could dodge so easily and always manage to escape by the skin of their teeth. People who could do that were usually very strong and wouldn't need to be in such a sorry state; they could just fight head-on.

However, Li Ang's situation was rather unique. During this period, he had only been getting beaten up and hadn't even started learning how to fight back. Moreover, he hadn't even mastered how to take a beating. If it weren't for his Observation Haki, which he used to judge and dodge attacks, he would have been knocked out long ago after being hit once or twice.

Li Ang's essence hasn't changed; he's still the same gunman who relies on firearms to fight, with high attack but low defense—you can kill me in a second, and I can kill you in a second too.

So when Ford's attacks failed time and time again, he couldn't help but become wary, wondering when Li Ang might suddenly launch a sneak attack on him.

So when his attack missed and he saw a dark gun barrel pointed at him, Ford secretly sneered, "So this is what you're relying on? How ridiculous. How could a mere pistol possibly harm me?"

Meanwhile, Haku and Fujitora, who sold out Li Ang, may have been thinking of using it to test Li Ang's growing strength. In any case, given Fujitora's strength, even if Li Ang ultimately couldn't defeat Ford, he could easily suppress Ford.

Therefore, the two of them stared intently at the fight between the two.

"Here comes Li Ang's new guy. Will he be able to accomplish anything?" The two of them were thinking this with anticipation.

"boom!"

However, with the sound of a gunshot, the effect of this shot greatly exceeded the expectations of Leon, Ford, and Fujitora Haku.

"Damn, this is amazing." Looking at the bloody hole in Ford's abdomen, Li Ang couldn't help but mutter to himself, "If I had known this guy wasn't going to defend himself at all, I would have aimed for his heart."