Pirates' Max Level System

Qin Luo didn't care about some noble ladies flirting with Olivia. As the saying goes, lilies are infinitely beautiful, but they just can't give birth.

But, the way those ladies looked at Qin Luo was too creepy, as if they were looking at an unidentified object.

"Thank you all for attending the Norez royal family's banquet tonight. Let me offer you the friendship of the Norez Kingdom." The time was almost up. From the second floor, at the innermost part of the banquet hall, a voice came. The current King of Norez, Norez XVI, appeared.

"Red Earl." The sharp-eyed Qin Luo was the first to whisper.

Behind Norez XVI were an assistant adjutant and a man in a blood-red cloak. The Red Earl, that's right, Qin Luo had met him before. And more than one person present recognized the Red Earl.

It was obvious that the Red Earl had reached some kind of agreement with the Norrez royal family.

Chapter 439: The Scam Scene

The appearance of the Red Earl still brought a great shock.

The Red Earl was one of the strongest pirates of this era. Without the presence of veterans like the Five Elders, only Pirate King Roger, Golden Lion, and Whitebeard could rival him. Even the ascendant Kaido and Big Mom Pirates were a generation behind the Red Earl.

Especially with Roger dead, the Golden Lion in hiding, and Whitebeard hiding, the Red Earl became the only legend that existed at the banquet.

Those who were invited to the banquet were basically representatives sent by major forces. Their every move represented the interests of the forces behind them. Everyone had to wonder what the Red Earl's appearance in the Norrez royal family meant. Did the Red Earl intend to directly intervene in the storm in the West Sea?

"There are two main reasons why I invited you all to the banquet today." The current king of Noretz, Noretz XVI, continued his speech.

No one was willing to pay attention to the words of an ordinary old king, and no one dared to disrespect the red earl behind the king.

The entire banquet fell silent. Despite being watched with disdain, Norez XVI remained calm and composed.

"The first thing is about Nicole Olivia. Everyone is very clear about what happened last night. There is only one thing I want to clarify. Last night's bombardment had nothing to do with the Norez royal family, and Nicole Olivia is not in the hands of the Norez royal family."

"Your Majesty Norez, last night's bombardment came from the walls of Chitose City. How can it have nothing to do with the royal family?" Torrepol, the highest-ranking official of the Don Quixote family, stood up and refuted.

With a leader, the other factions present were agitated and demanded an explanation from the Norez royal family. Everything seemed normal, and the Don Quixote family even gained a lot of goodwill due to Torrebol's fearless behavior. Only one person, Qin Luo, noticed something was amiss.

Qin Luo, who knew the Don Quixote family well, immediately noticed the strangeness. Torrebol was not someone who cared about or respected the king. A few years later, the Don Quixote family directly used trickery to frame the Riku royal family and regained control of the Dressrosa Kingdom through deception and murder.

There was something wrong with the Red Earl as well. Known as the solitary god, he showed no reaction to the questioning. Normally, shouldn't he have angrily cut Torrepol into pieces?

The whole thing had a weird atmosphere, like a well-rehearsed play.

A flash of lightning flashed through Qin Luo's mind. He knew that the Don Quixote family had probably already joined forces with the Red Earl. They pretended not to know each other, but secretly manipulated and guided the entire banquet process and the forces of all parties.

The Red Earl and the Don Quixote family were really good at this, but Qin Luo didn't intend to point it out. The stupid person would be deceived to death, and it had nothing to do with Qin Luo. There was no good bird present.

"There was someone else manning the artillery on the city wall at the time. The artillery that fired was on the section of the wall closest to your battle zone. Your interception of Nicole Olivia was random, and the royal family couldn't have prepared an artillery attack in advance. Furthermore, the entire Norrez Kingdom is currently preoccupied with its own affairs, and they dared not touch the mess Nicole Olivia is in."

Most factions understood the meaning of Norez XVI's words and believed that anyone with a sound mind would not dare to interfere in Nicole Olivia's affairs under such circumstances. As for the remaining doubts, they all looked directly at the Red Earl.

After the explosion last night, the leaders of the many forces that were there to seize Olivia neither saw her shattered body nor saw her again. It seems she was hidden in the chaos.

There are not many people who can arrange a sudden bombardment and have the strength to take Olivia away during the chaos. The Red Earl is one of them.

The Red Earl, who had been silent all this time, spoke up: "The bombardment has nothing to do with me, and Nicole Olivia is not in my hands now. I don't bother to deceive some juniors. Believe it or not, it's up to you."

Even a big shot like the Red Earl has said this, so how can the people below respond? It's like Schwarzenegger lighting a bomb and placing it on your birthday cake as a candle, and asking you if you're touched? The only answer is that you dare not move, you dare not move at all...

Under the combined efforts of the Red Earl and the Don Quixote Family, the various factions present successfully reached a consensus and shifted the conversation to the second matter: the Kingdom of Norez requested assistance from the various factions present.

The purpose, of course, is to deal with the upcoming Undead Fleet.

Asking for assistance wasn't a matter of negotiation. Which of the forces present would be willing to do so? This was a disaster for the West Sea and the Navy. Most of those present were pirates and other nations and organizations. Why would they risk their lives for such a thing? If it weren't for Nicole Olivia, they wouldn't even have returned to this dangerous Chitose Castle.

The scene fell silent again simply because these forces did not dare to refuse too directly.

"Your Majesty, there's no need to explain this. This kind of thing is of no benefit to us. Even if you talk about it in a fancy way, it won't work. Unless..."

It was a rehearsed scene. This time, the Don Quixote family took action again. As soon as Torrepol spoke, the initial thoughts of many forces changed from not planning to take action at all to that as long as the Kingdom of Norez was willing to pay a sufficient price, everyone would consider it.

Don't underestimate this; hope is the key to negotiation. As long as there's hope, it's just a matter of price. The leaders of these factions were betrayed, yet they're still grateful. The Don Quixote family bravely spoke out, seeking benefits for various factions in front of the Red Earl.

"These idiots are hopeless." Olivia's soft scolding came from Qin Luo's side. It seemed that she also saw that something was wrong.

Qin Luo pretended to look ahead, his mouth still, but he made soft sounds from his throat to communicate with Olivia. "You noticed it too. I thought I was the only one who noticed that the Red Earl, Don Quixote, and the Norez Royal Family had joined forces."

"Anyone calm enough and not too stupid can see through this kind of trick. Look at the navy representative in the left corner and the representatives of several underground forces on the right. They all saw through it."

Qin Luo looked to both sides as Olivia said. Those people were drinking and sneering secretly. As Olivia said, they all saw the clues.

Chapter 440: Secret Compartment in the Treasure Room

The Red Count and the Don Quixote family's performance was undoubtedly a success, transforming the entire banquet venue into a massive scam. With the exception of a few people, the rest were fooled and unaware of their deception.

Qin Luo had originally intended to ask Olivia what the success rate was for the three Red Earls, who were competing with each other in acting, to successfully deceive many forces to help the Kingdom of Norez repel the Undead Fleet.

As a result, the scam went extremely smoothly. Before Qin Luo even asked, a large group of people decided to take action based on the benefits promised by Norez XVI.

Looking at the representatives of those forces, who were seriously calculating the gains and losses of helping the Kingdom of Norez, Qin Luo really wanted to laugh out loud. These people who thought they were smart were basically stupid.

In the end, Norez XVI only paid 20 million berries per person, a batch of weapons, provided relevant information about Nicole Olivia, and promised to help the forces present avoid the navy's pursuit, and he obtained a large number of reinforcements.

The first two promises seemed like they would cost a fortune, but for the Kingdom of Norez, with its thriving trade at Port 19, it was merely a temporary loss, and it would be recouped in no time. This was assuming that Chitose Castle and the Norez royal family wouldn't be destroyed in this disaster.

The last two promises were a joke to Qin Luo. With Olivia right beside him, where else could the Norez royal family get their information? The navy was definitely not something the Norez royal family could contend with. Norez XVI was just writing a blank check.

It's no wonder that King Norez XVI didn't care about his own rash promises. The Red Earl and the Don Quixote family approached the Norez royal family for cooperation, and one of the conditions was likely Nicole Olivia.

The Norez royal family did have a good relationship with the local navy. King Norez XVI had directly promised to help the pirates fight the navy in front of a naval representative, who had no other expression except a sneer.

The aid agreement between the various powers present and the Norez royal family was happily concluded amidst a flurry of deception on both sides. Norez XVI, accompanied by his adjutant and the Red Earl, departed once more, and the banquet resumed.

Qin Luo and Olivia exchanged glances, then found a moment when no one was paying attention and disappeared into the banquet. King Norez had just spent quite a bit of time discussing the rescue plan with various factions. The ladies had already retreated to the back rooms, so no one paid any attention to whether Qin Luo and his servant were present.

The main purpose of Qin Luo and Olivia's visit to the palace was to find the jade talisman related to the Undead Fleet, which was probably somewhere in the palace.

After determining the direction, Qin Luo took Olivia and teleported directly to the treasure room of the palace.

"Shh." As soon as he appeared, Qin Luo made a silent gesture to Olivia. Qin Luo's reaction and perception ability were much sharper than ordinary people. As soon as he teleported over, he found that there was already someone in the treasure room before the two of them arrived.

Qin Luo and Olivia were in the innermost room of the treasure room, where the most valuable items were placed. According to Olivia, the jade talisman itself was very valuable and was likely one of the most valuable treasures in the palace. It was very likely in the innermost room of the treasure room.

"Can you tell which force captured Nicole Olivia?" The person who spoke was next to the room where Qin Luo was.

"It's hard to tell. Many of them have disguised themselves, so we can't tell their expressions or origins. Now we need these people to help the Norez royal family defend the city, and we can't use force to force others to reveal their true faces." The person who answered was slow and composed.

"I'm sorry, Red Earl, because the Kingdom of Norez has interfered with your plans. But rest assured, the Kingdom of Norez will definitely fulfill its promise to you."

Qin Luo and Olivia exchanged glances. The tone and voice were unmistakable. It was the Norez XVI King who had just appeared on the stage. The other two were Torrepol and the Red Earl. It seemed these three had come directly here after the negotiations.

"Of course, I never doubted King Norez's promise." The Red Earl waved his hand to show his understanding and trust in King Norez. But in reality, whether he believed King Norez's promise or not was probably a question of both.

Otherwise, why would the Red Earl be called the Lonely God? He still has no crewmates and is alone, largely because he never trusts others.

Afterwards, the Red Earl and the other two continued to talk about some later plans, allowing Qin Luo and Olivia to hear them clearly. When it was almost time, the Red Earl asked Norez XVI: "Your Majesty, where is the jade you mentioned? Let me take a look."

"Well, please follow me, both of you." King Norez said as he brought the Red Earl and Torrepol to the room where Qin Luo was.

Jade, could it be the jade talisman they are looking for? It can't be such a coincidence that the Red Earl can even find this. Could it be that the Red Earl's ancestral home is also O'Hara? Qin Luo and Olivia looked at each other, and both saw a hint of surprise in their eyes.

The sound of "wheel, wheel" was heard, and the door of the innermost room was slowly opening.

Damn, how could it be so fast? There was no time to explain, Qin Luo grabbed Olivia and hid in the Shenwei space.

The Red Earl and his two companions entered, and King Norre 700z knocked a few times on a book on a shelf in the room. The sound of mechanical twirling emanated again, and a hidden compartment appeared in the wall. Oh my goodness! The treasure room was already filled with hidden traps, but who would have thought that the innermost room, which required a specific key to open, contained a hidden compartment?

Qin Luo was somewhat impressed by the Norez royal family's ability to hide things. If it hadn't happened right before his eyes, Qin Luo wouldn't have thought there was a secret compartment, and naturally he wouldn't have been able to find the jade talisman.

The small secret compartment held eleven items. King Norez took one of the wooden boxes and opened it, revealing a palm-sized jade talisman. It emanated a milky, dim yet clear light, engraved with incomprehensible words and images, a mysterious and sacred quality.

If I had to describe it further, the jade talisman had a missing feeling, like a piece in a puzzle.

King Norez picked up the jade talisman and placed it in the Red Earl's hand. The moment the Red Earl took it, the jade talisman underwent a surprising change.

The originally dim light suddenly became dazzling, and a fierce white light burst out from the jade talisman. At the same time, the jade talisman seemed to become scorching hot, and the Red Earl's hand holding the jade talisman made a "hissing" sound and emitted green smoke.

The Red Earl yelled and threw the jade talisman to the ground. The strange feeling on the jade talisman disappeared again.

Chapter 441 The Earl Has Something

The changes in the jade talisman came and went as quickly as they had appeared. If it weren't for the Red Earl's wailing scream and the burn scars on his hands, the two people nearby would have thought that the fleeting dazzling white light was just an illusion.

Torrebol and King Norez looked at each other, unsure what to say. King Norez, in particular, had handed the jade talisman to the Red Earl, only to have such a mishap occur, leaving the Red Earl injured. King Norez couldn't help but worry that the Red Earl's anger would be directed at him.

"Red Earl, I really didn't know this jade would undergo such a change. I haven't seen anything like this in the past few years. I really didn't mean to hurt you."

Norrez XVI, with a pale face, struggled to explain. If it weren't for his sense of dignity as a king, he would have kneeled before the Red Earl.

The Red Earl ignored King Norez completely. He knew that even if King Norez XVI had more courage, this cowardly guy would not dare to plot against him.

The Red Earl was carefully examining the jade stone on the ground, which had returned to its original state. This jade stone wasn't made of ordinary jade, or rather, it wasn't jade at all. He had used considerable force to shake it from his hand.

Being suddenly injured by a piece of jade, even the Red Earl lost his composure. It was basically the Red Earl's instinctive full force, and the jade collided with the ground without any damage.

At this time, the jade was lying quietly on the ground, emitting a faint and bright light. The lines, graphics and words on it flashed in the dim light, giving people a sense of mystery.

Only the Red Earl himself knew best that the jade talisman hadn't burned him at all. The scars on his hands and the dull pain told him it was a sunburn. His hands were burned by the dazzling divine light. The moment he touched the jade, a sense of death rose within the Red Earl, like an alarm bell.

It was this threat of death that made him throw away the jade in advance, otherwise he would only suffer more serious injuries.

This unpleasant white light, this threat of death, reminded the Red Earl of a place. The Cathedral Church in the Saint City in the Grand Line's New World, a place he had visited once before in his youth. It was that same white light and that same palpitating feeling that made him flee from that island, never to return.

Originally, the Red Earl thought that this memory had been buried in his mind, but he didn't expect that he would think of it again and encounter the same situation on a piece of jade.

Thinking of this, he gathered his thoughts and transformed back into the confident and calm Red Earl. He held his injured hand with his other hand and activated his ability, thinking that as long as the Red Earl activated his ability, some wounds would heal quickly.

But this time it was different. The Red Earl felt that there was a strange substance on the wound that prevented him from healing and kept causing him waves of pain, like a form of punishment.

The Red Earl covered the wound with his clothes and pretended to be fine. No matter the condition of the wound or his experiences and guesses, the Red Earl would not tell anyone. These were his secrets.

"It's okay, I don't blame you. But is this what Nicole Olivia is looking for? It really is magical."

As he said this, Qin Luo, who was watching all this in the divine space, touched Olivia's arm. His playful eyes clearly said, "You are too careless. The Red Earl even found out what you are looking for." This attracted a flurry of punches from Olivia.

"Lord Red Earl, can you decipher the meaning of the text and images above? Why is Nicole Olivia looking for this jade? Could it be related to the three great weapons of ancient times?" To divert the awkwardness, Torrebol launched into a flurry of questions. Uh, no, three questions.

"I don't know. I've never seen the words or images on it before. Perhaps it's from hundreds of years ago. As for the significance of Nicole Olivia's search for this jade stone, and whether it's related to the three ancient weapons, we can only ask her after we capture her."

The Red Earl was actually hiding something. He could sense that this jade might be related to his background and bloodline. After this incident was over, the Red Earl planned to return to his family castle. He might be able to find some answers there.

"Put it away first," the Red Earl instructed, pointing at King Norez. He also wanted to keep this magical jade with him. However, thinking of the threat of death and the wound on his hand, the Red Earl gave up the idea. Carrying around a bomb that could explode at any moment would require a lot of courage.

King Norez trembled with fear as he picked up the jade and placed it back in the wooden box. He did so very slowly and carefully. The Red Earl's experience had proven that this jade was no harmless item. At least the faint smell of burning meat in the room made King Norez extremely cautious with the jade.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened during the entire process. After King Norez successfully returned the jade to its secret compartment, the jade remained calm and radiated a faint glow. King Norez wiped away a nonexistent cold sweat, feeling that he had escaped a disaster.

After the Red Earl and the other two had left for a while, Qin Luo and Olivia came out of the Shenwei Space. They both saw everything that had just happened in the room in the Shenwei Space.

Whether it is the method to open the secret compartment or the changes of the jade in the hands of the Red Earl.

In less than ten minutes, the jade stone, or the jade talisman as Olivia called it, saw the light of day again. Qin Luo and Olivia played with it in their hands without any abnormality.

"Why is there no change?" Qin Luo hinted at something, referring to the strange white light emitted by the jade when the Red Earl took it.

"I don't know, maybe it's because of the devil fruit, you're not a devil fruit user, right?" Although she said that, Olivia was basically certain that Qin Luo had too many strange abilities and didn't look like a devil fruit user. On the contrary, they both thought that the Red Earl was a devil fruit user.

"I'm not. Wait a minute, I'm going to do an experiment." After Qin Luo finished speaking, he disappeared with the jade talisman and reappeared after a few seconds.

"It has nothing to do with the devil fruit." Qin Luo thought for a moment and continued, "Could it be that the legend is true? The count has something."

"Have you thought of it too?" Olivia's eyes lit up.

"Let's talk about it together."

"it is good."

"vampire."

"Haha." Qin Luo and Olivia said the same thing three times in a row. After that, they laughed together. Maybe this is what they call fate.

Chapter 442: Gay Guy Zips Up His Pants

I don't know if this kind of thing counts as fate, but the dog food is real.

"It turns out that legends like this are not groundless. Now that the Undead Fleet has appeared, vampires are not so strange." Qin Luo felt a little guilty when Olivia mentioned the Undead Fleet.

At the same time, Qin Luo remembered the three-headed dog of hell he had seen in Moonlight Moria. It turned out that he had seen the legendary thing a long time ago, but he didn't even notice it.

"Yeah, I used to think that the Red Earl dressed like this just because his inner second-year soul erupted and he wanted to cosplay as a vampire, but I didn't expect him to be a genuine vampire." Qin Luo muttered softly.

"What?" Qin Luo's words contained many things that Olivia had never heard of. What is zhongni, and what the hell is cosplay?

"Nothing. By the way, do you recognize the words and patterns on it?" Qin Luo turned the jade talisman over and over, and finally pointed to one side and asked.