One Piece Gunslinger

“Well, alright, you guys are really smart.” Li Ang said with a feigned menacing expression, “But being smart isn’t always a good thing. You already know too much.”

"Yay~~~~" "Ah~~~~~"

The screams of the two filled the vast sea, because Li Ang took out the pale mask from his spatial bag and put it on his face.

Seemingly feeling that this wasn't exciting enough, Li Ang took out the blood-stained cleaver from inside and held it in his hand.

"Hehehe, that's right, I'm Jason, the serial killer mentioned in the news." A hoarse, terrifying voice rang in their ears.

"Oh no, oh no, I should have just pretended to be stupid. Why did I have to look so terrified?" Nami thought to herself, clutching her head and closing her eyes in fear.

"How could I be so stupid? I should have pretended not to notice at all. Why did I have to connect these clues?" Karina, just like Nami, also crouched down with her hands on her head in a defensive stance.

"Crack, snap."

"It hurts." X2

Li Ang certainly wouldn't be ruthless. His act was just to scare them. Seeing the two women crouch down with their heads in their hands, he flicked their foreheads with his finger. At Li Ang's height, that was the most he could manage—a flick to the forehead.

"Okay, stop covering your head. It makes me sound like a bloodthirsty killer."

The two slowly raised their heads, then immediately lowered them again. "Your outfit is completely unconvincing. Just standing there, you naturally exude the terrifying aura of a murderer."

"Alright, alright, I'll put this outfit away first." Seeing that the two of them were still like ostriches, Li Ang couldn't help but roll his eyes. "If I wanted to kill you, or do something to you, could you two possibly resist?"

When the two looked up again, Li Ang had indeed changed back. Without the two props, he looked like a normal person.

"Hey, it turned out to be a lucky accident. The one about Ace and the pirates couldn't make you happy, but now you've seen how inaccurate the newspaper is." Li Ang spread his hands and said helplessly.

"Are you really not a bloodthirsty serial killer?" Seeing that Li Ang had returned to his normal tone, the two were no longer so afraid.

"Hey, I've said before that you can't completely trust what's in the newspapers. After all, they're written by people, and they contain a lot of subjective elements or things that people want others to know, which may not be the truth."

Li Ang recounted how, after leaving Frostmoon Village, he encountered the tyrannical and unreasonable Axeman Morgan, and was forced to deal with these people.

"Moreover, that Colonel Morgan was a local tyrant. Although he was disguised as a naval officer, what he did was even more despicable than that of pirates. Taking him down was actually doing a good deed."

It was a complete stroke of luck; just when they thought they had reached a dead end, the person appeared out of nowhere. It was entirely beyond Li Ang's expectations.

Chapter 153 Yes, it was all planned.

After much persuasion from Li Ang, the two women reluctantly accepted this reality. After all, Li Ang had no reason to lie to them. If he were truly a bloodthirsty killer, he wouldn't have helped them along the way. Moreover, if Li Ang wanted to do something, there were countless opportunities on this vast ocean.

"Do you understand now? Don't always believe what's in the newspapers. Newspapers can indeed tell you about the outside world, but that's just what the newspapers want to tell you."

After accepting this viewpoint, Karina thoughtfully remarked, "So that's how it is. No wonder I've never seen any negative news about the Navy or the World Government in the newspapers I've been reading for so long. It turns out they've all been covered up or distorted."

However, to Leon's regret, he hadn't resolved Nami's inner conflict; the shadow cast by Arlong still lingered in her heart. After all, Leon was neither a pirate nor a fish-man.

Nami didn't reveal these dark thoughts directly, and laughed, "So what exactly is your identity? How do you have the strength to wipe out a ship of Marines? You can't keep lying to me that you're just a traveler, can you?"

“I really am just a traveler,” Li Ang said helplessly. “Why don’t you believe me when I tell the truth?” Then he added in his mind, “To hell with chief of staff. I was a traveler before I was taken back.”

Faced with Li Ang's shameless answer, the two of them didn't believe it at all. However, as Li Ang had said before, who doesn't have a little something special, or a little secret? The three of them had only spent a day together at most, and even if there were some situation similar to the suspension bridge effect or the broken ship effect, they hadn't reached any particularly intimate level.

Therefore, the two did not intend to ask any further questions. They did not even want to delve into Li Ang's magic tricks of transforming a cleaver into a mask, and simply forgot about them.

"Aren't you afraid I'll tell the Navy about you and get a hefty bounty?" Karina's ability to say such a thing shows that the terrifying image of the killer had collapsed in her mind and been replaced by Leon.

"Hey, looks like I still need to teach you a lesson. Once my terrifying voice is etched into your mind, you won't dare to do anything." With that, Li Ang's face turned fierce, and he made a move to pounce on Karina.

After some playful banter, Li Ang successfully resolved the awkwardness and suspicion that had arisen earlier, and happily resumed his role as a human motor.

A human-powered mini-motor paired with a dilapidated wooden boat—it's truly a perfect match, tailor-made for each other.

Afterward, the two women began reading the remaining newspapers. However, this time, thanks to Li Ang's earnest advice and their own experience facing a serial killer, they no longer completely believed the contents of the newspapers and learned to think critically about the reports.

Blindly believing everything in books is worse than having no books at all; this is probably the biggest lesson the two women learned on their journey.

Several more hours passed, and even with their focused and studious approach, the newspaper had been thoroughly examined. Li Ang, while rowing, would occasionally chime in to join the discussion.

And so, Xiluobu Village finally appeared before Li Ang and his companions.

"Are you sure there really is a village on this island?" Nami asked, looking at the mountain in front of her with some disbelief.

Yes, it's more like a towering mountain rising from the sea than a small island.

The reason is that as soon as you reach the shore, there is a steep slope, while the rest of the area is mostly cliffs and precipices. At the end of the road along the cliff, you can see lush forest vegetation.

This path, which appears to be the only way into the mountains, leads to no port, no dock, and not even any ships. This makes one wonder if there is actually any human habitation here.

However, Li Ang was different. After seeing the steep slope leading up the mountain, he was certain that this must be Usopp's hometown, the location of Syrup Village.

"Well, I don't know either." Of course, Li Ang couldn't tell the two of them. "I've seen the comics, and it's based on Xiluobu Village. Trust me, you won't go wrong."

He could only pretend that it was also his first time in this place, and said thoughtfully, "Perhaps the direction we landed in doesn't have this path, but it's in another part of the island. Maybe there are other places with this kind of path leading up the mountain."

Indeed, Li Ang, who had read the comics, knew that there was another path leading up the mountain on the island, and like this one, it was a large slope, making it a terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, there were indeed no ports or docks on the other side, and it seemed that the people here never went to sea. They stayed in the village all day, not like a coastal village at all, but more like an inland village. Only Usopp would come to the beach, and every day he would lie to the villagers that pirates were coming.

It's no wonder Nami doubted whether anyone actually lived in this seaside village since it never went out to sea.

Just as Li Ang pushed the small, dilapidated boat onto the beach to prevent it from being washed away by the waves, he heard a voice say, "Are they pirates?"

"Shh, I don't see they're flying any pirate flags, so they probably aren't pirates."

The first voice sounded childish and innocent, clearly belonging to a little kid, while the second voice was also somewhat immature, but Li Ang could never forget that distinctive voice.

"Who's hiding there?" Li Ang looked up and asked loudly.

Karina and Nami hadn't noticed these faint sounds before, but Leon's shout made them involuntarily look up at the cliff.

"Oh dear, we've been spotted!" Nami and Karina couldn't see the person lying on the cliff, but suddenly a child shouted and stood up, then ran into the jungle behind them.

After the first child ran off, two more children followed behind him, one of whom was carrying a strange skull and crossbones flag on his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, don't run away!" An angry voice came from above after the three mischievous kids had run off.

"I knew it, it was these few."

That's right, the young man lying on the cliff observing Li Ang and the other two is none other than the great Usopp, and the three kids who ran away are members of the Usopp Pirates who were playing a role-playing game with Usopp: Radish Head, Green Pepper Head, and Onion Head.

With no other option, Usopp could only stand on the cliff and try to scare the three kids, Leon and the others.

"Don't move! I have 80 million men under my command. Don't do anything rash. Tell me honestly who you are!"

Faced with Usopp's daily 80 million subordinates, let alone Leon and the two women, even an idiot might not be able to fool him.

With a "pfft," Karina couldn't help but laugh first. Nami followed suit, not to be outdone; if you laugh and I don't, wouldn't I be at a disadvantage?

"What's so funny, this old man..."

Just as Usopp was about to continue recounting his various classic lies, Leon interrupted him: "I just want to ask one question, who is the 80 million?"

Li Ang's question completely shut down all the words Usopp was about to say, leaving him speechless and turning his face purple with embarrassment.

Upon hearing Li Ang's question, Jiahang and Usopp reacted in an exaggerated manner, abandoning all pretense of modesty and bursting into laughter, clutching their stomachs: "I'm dying of laughter, this is the first time I've ever seen such a hilarious person."

……

After the joke, Usopp and the three became acquainted. After confirming that the three were not pirates who were causing trouble in the world, Usopp warmly invited them to a small restaurant for lunch.

"Hmm, why are you here?" Usopp asked vaguely while eating.

Let alone Karina and Nami, even Leon's posture is much more elegant than Usopp's. Usopp's eating posture is just like Luffy's; no wonder the two of them are kindred spirits.

Li Ang was still searching for commonalities between Usopp and Luffy when he heard Usopp's question. He snapped out of his reverie and said, "Well, it's nothing. I'm just wandering around this sea. You can think of me as drifting and traveling to various places. I just happened to see this island and thought it was quite unique, so I came ashore."

Nami and Carina were utterly disbelieving of Li Ang's words. What did he mean by "just wandering around"? The route was clearly marked on the map, with a few specific objectives. He dared to call it just "just wandering around"? He was spouting nonsense; how much of what he told us was actually true?

Li Ang has to lie. Is he going to tell Usopp, "I came here specifically for this island, I came here specifically for you, I came here for tourism, and I'll do some small work on the side?"

"Oh, right. We still need a boat, but I don't know where we can find one around here?" Li Ang quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on that problem any longer.

Upon hearing this question, Nami and Karina immediately perked up: "Yeah, yeah! Where can we get a boat?"

Without even thinking, Usopp said, "Almost no one here leaves the village. If anyone has a boat, it would probably be Kaya, the richest man on the island."

At this point, Usopp paused, sighed, and said, "But Kaya is seriously ill and bedridden every day. I don't know when she will get better."

This was two years before Luffy set sail. At that time, Kaya's condition was really serious, and it took two years for her to recover.

"Isn't there any other way?" Karina hurriedly asked.

"Well, as far as I know, there really isn't a way." Usopp thought for a while, then shook his head helplessly.

Upon hearing this devastating news, the two women turned deathly pale, thinking, "Holy crap, did this guy plan this all along? Are we supposed to leave this island and keep taking his boat?"

Chapter 154 The Path of the Sea Warrior

Now that Li Ang has come, just like he did with Luffy and Zoro, he can't leave empty-handed. Li Ang also needs to do some small tasks. It's like leaving a "Li Ang was here" mark.

Of course, Li Ang wasn't actually planning to find a wall in Xiluobu Village and carve "Li Ang was here" into it. That would be an uncivilized way of traveling, and Li Ang, being a civilized person, naturally had his own way of doing things.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Usopp, sporting a large belly, asked Li Ang, "So, you've come out to wander, there must be a reason, right? You didn't just suddenly decide to start drifting, did you?"

"That's right, you're absolutely right. I started wandering because of work pressure and a sudden whim." These were Li Ang's honest thoughts.

"Well, if I had to say there's a reason, there really is one," Li Ang said, feigning seriousness. "I want to see some great sea warriors on the high seas."

"Sea warrior?" Although the two women hardly believed a word Li Ang said, the obviously somewhat childish term "sea warrior" wasn't something a man nearing thirty would say. They were a little curious.

Just as the two were wondering, Usopp, who was standing to the side, had already put one foot on the chair, tilted his head back, pointed at himself with his right thumb pointing up, and said: "Then you're in luck today. I am the great warrior of the sea that you wanted to meet."

Hehe, Li Ang knew that Usopp had this kind of taste; his biggest goal in life was to become a powerful sea warrior like his father, Yasopp. This was Usopp's most important attribute, even his habit of lying had to take a backseat.

Li Ang pulled this stunt to please Usopp and lure him step by step into the trap.

"Oh? Is that so?" Li Ang asked, "I've heard that those who can be called sea warriors are all powerful and determined individuals. Are you really a sea warrior?"

Most people would probably chicken out when faced with Li Ang's questioning; after all, it's just bragging, there's no harm in it, so they might as well back down. But Usopp is no ordinary person; he resolutely jumped into the trap Li Ang had set for him.

"Of course I am the great warrior of the sea, even a goldfish the size of a small mountain is no match for me."

"Hmph, how do I know you're not lying to me?" Li Ang said with a sneer. "There are plenty of people who call themselves sea warriors, but most of them are liars."

Upon hearing Li Ang's words, Usopp immediately jumped up: "How could I possibly lie to you? My 80 million subordinates can testify that I am an absolutely upright and honorable sea warrior."

"Alright, if you really are a sea warrior, then you are definitely stronger than me. If you can beat me, then you really are a sea warrior."

"Hmph, what's so difficult about that? I'll defeat you right now and show you the strength of a sea warrior."

Usopp had no idea that those words would mean spending the next few years striving to defeat Leon and become a warrior of the sea. Leon, in turn, became a formidable obstacle in Usopp's path to becoming a warrior of the sea.