Thanks to Noyer's 〔Supreme King Constitution〕, his Supreme King Haki had been advancing rapidly. He could now activate and use it at will.
The Supreme King Haki rippled through the crowd. Everyone it touched rolled their eyes back and collapsed. Like cutting wheat, the aggressive mob was wiped out instantly. A perfect AOE skill for clearing out small fries — no need to waste time on pointless battles.
Having dealt with the enemies, Noyer was yawning and about to sleep when his Observation Haki suddenly warned him again.
His gaze fixed on the distance. More enemies?
At the town entrance, a man and woman had just arrived when they were swept by the aftershock of the Supreme King Haki. Their bodies trembled slightly from the pressure.
The man wore sunglasses and looked like a rock singer. He frowned and said, "What is this power? Why am I suddenly afraid?"
The woman held an umbrella and wore a hat and short skirt with lemon patterns. Her entire outfit was in lemon yellow tones.
"Me too. Did something happen in the town?" She smiled, but fear was mixed in, making her expression look odd.
These two were the Baroque Works senior agents sent by Crocodile to monitor Noyer — Gem of the Border, or 'Mr. 5' and his partner Mikita, codename 'Miss Valentine'.
"Let's go check it out." Mr. 5 took the lead, and the two walked into the town.
They had barely taken two steps when they saw people lying all over the ground.
Miss Valentine kicked aside someone at her feet and pointed to a house in the distance, "These people all collapsed with that house as the center."
Mr. 5 rushed over with a serious expression. As they approached, a young man with an upright figure appeared in their line of sight.
Noyer sized up the two. Their appearance seemed somewhat familiar.
Mr. 5 lowered his voice in a cool manner and asked, "Hey kid, who are you?"
Noyer couldn't stand this type of person who wore sunglasses and acted cool, so he cursed, "Piece of shit!"
{T/N: He spoke in English.}
Mr. 5 was stunned by the insult. What language was that? But no matter how he thought about it, those words weren't anything good.
He said with a dark expression, "Kid, don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Tell me honestly, what exactly happened here?"
Noyer stared at him in surprise, "Isn't it obvious? I knocked them all out!"
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were stunned, then burst into contemptuous laughter, "Just you? Some greenhorn who appeared out of nowhere?"
The mocking laughter didn't affect Noyer at all. He just looked at them as if they were idiots.
Perhaps this was the classic case of courting death?
Noyer said nothing. His sword flashed from its sheath, the blade piercing straight through the solid ground.
◇ Haki Kenbu: Ichiren ⥤ Haki Swordsmanship: First Ripple ◇
The hard ground shattered instantly. A sword wave carried the upward-surging rubble toward Mr. 5 and his partner.
Startled, they quickly jumped to either side. Mr. 5 dodged cleanly, but Miss Valentine took flying stones hard to the stomach, gasping in pain.
"Damn brat!" Her pretty face twisted as she spun her umbrella and leaped above Noyer's head.
"Weight Change!" She floated above him like a piece of paper, introducing herself triumphantly, "I'm a Kiro Kiro no Mi user who can change my weight. Kid, surrender now, or you'll be crushed into a meat patty!"
While listening to her threats, Noyer put on an act of facing a formidable enemy — quietly enjoying the view.
Almost… just a little more…
Oh~
Noyer let out a sigh of relief, pointed upward confidently, and shouted at Miss Valentine floating above him in a skirt, "Yellow stripes!"
Miss Valentine froze. Then she realized what he meant. Her face turned red with embarrassment as she shouted angrily, "Go to hell!"
◆ Kiro Kiro no Mi: 10,000 Kilo Press ◆
Her weight suddenly increased. Like a meteor, she crashed toward Noyer's head.
But he remained unhurried. Just as she was about to reach him, he executed a bicycle kick, sending the heavy girl flying through the air. The technique, the force — anyone who saw it would be left speechless.
Miss Valentine screamed as she was kicked flying. Mr. 5 stared in disbelief at his partner, defeated in one move.
Why did she wear yellow stripes today… Wait, no. She was actually taken down instantly by this brat?
He immediately entered combat mode. The guy actually dug boogers out of his nose, extended his finger toward Noyer, and flicked them.
◆ Bomu Bomu no Mi: Nose Fancy Cannon ◆
Noyer twisted his body to dodge the disgusting booger. A small explosion erupted behind him.
Boom!
His face darkened. He remembered now.
This guy was a Bomb-Bomb Fruit user — a Bomb Human whose body parts could become explosives, including boogers. But this booger man dared to throw such a disgusting thing at him. He was truly tired of living!
Seeing Noyer dodge his attack, Mr. 5 produced more boogers. Before he could prepare, a foot came flying into his line of sight.
Bam!
Noyer's shoe sole made intimate contact with Gem's face, sending his body flying just like his partner.
But Noyer wasn't about to let it go. He raised his fist and chased after him with a combo of punches, cursing:
"That's for picking your nose! That's for throwing it at me! That's for acting cool!"
Under this full treatment of "return-the-favor punches", the physically pathetic man passed out before he could even activate his ability. He was truly a disgrace to the Devil Fruit he ate.
Noyer released him contemptuously, then shouted at the terrified Miss Valentine in the distance, "Take your partner and get lost! And tell your boss that if he wants to recruit me, he'd better offer a suitable position."
Hearing this, Miss Valentine finally remembered.
The purpose of their trip was precisely this young man. The boss had instructed that if he didn't join them, Mr. 5 and she should eliminate him personally.
But in the current situation… Whether he joins or not, we can't beat him anyway…
She thought bitterly that she didn't know how the boss would punish them when they returned. But she didn't dare stay here any longer. She ran over, helped up Mr. 5, and fled with her tail between her legs.
The two fled in a panic, beaten so badly by Noyer they didn't dare make a peep.
After dealing with the two senior agents from Baroque Works, he finally stepped over the heaps of unconscious people and returned to the house. Lying comfortably on the large bed, he couldn't help but let out a moan.
"Ahh~"
Just entering the Grand Line and he already had a big house to live in — not bad at all.
Normally, Noyer would only need to stay here a few days to let the Log Pose store enough magnetism. Then he could simply follow its direction to the next island.
But what gave him a headache was that according to the original story, the next destination after Whisky Peak was Little Garden.
On that prehistoric island, two giants fought all year round. Worse, due to its unique geography, the Log Pose would need at least a year to store enough magnetism before pointing to the next island.
Noyer didn't have that much time to wait. The best solution would be to find an Eternal Pose and change course — just like the Straw Hat crew did in the original story.
An Eternal Pose was different from a Log Pose. It permanently pointed toward a single island. Some of the senior agents from Baroque Works should have one.
He very much hoped Crocodile would be persistent and send more people to Whisky Peak to kill or recruit him.
Best if he came personally — then Noyer could go directly to Arabasta with him. The previous Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were like paupers. They didn't even have an Eternal Pose to Arabasta on them.
This made sense though. That "Desert King" ran Baroque Works using only the identity of Mr. 0. His subordinates would never imagine that the boss of a criminal organization was actually the Warlord of the Sea far away in Arabasta.
For now, Noyer decided to settle down at Whisky Peak. On one hand, he'd wait for Crocodile to keep sending cannon fodder. On the other, he'd wait for the system to upgrade.
The Copy Cards the system had rewarded couldn't quite keep up with his progress anymore. He hoped it would be more useful after the upgrade.
Here, Noyer lay comfortably on the big bed, taking a lazy nap.
◇◆◈◆◇
Meanwhile, the unfortunate Mr. 5 reported the mission failure and Noyer's information to his superiors through a Den Den Mushi.
In Rain Dinners, the luxurious grand casino in Arabasta, a Den Den Mushi wearing sunglasses wore a mournful expression as it chattered endlessly. After quite a while, a slender, fair hand gently hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Robin propped her chin with the back of her hand, deep in thought.
The mission had failed — this was somewhat beyond her expectations. Although Mr. 5's explanation was embellished with exaggerations and cover-ups, she still read between the lines.
The rookie who had just entered the Grand Line seemed to have dealt with Gem effortlessly. Among Crocodile's subordinates, while many were stronger than Mr. 5, only two could dispatch him so easily.
Interesting…
A smile crossed Robin's face as she strode toward the resplendent casino hall.
At the front of the hall, Crocodile held a glass of red wine, chatting and laughing with guests in a dignified manner.
Robin walked to his side and said quietly, "Boss, there's been a change in the mission."
Crocodile's gaze sharpened. He smiled and exchanged a few words with the guests, then turned and returned to his office.
"What happened?" He lit a cigar and spoke calmly.
Robin replied evenly, "Mr. 9 acted on his own and tried to kill the rookie, but was counter-killed instead."
Anger flashed in Crocodile's eyes, "More trouble than he's worth — how dare he defy my orders!"
Robin continued, "When Mr. 5 arrived, he didn't identify the rookie, so he moved to deal with him."
Crocodile frowned, "He moved to deal with him?… Forget it. If he's dead, he's dead. He's just an East Blue rookie. We can find another recruit."
Robin shook her head, "No. Mr. 5 was also defeated."
Crocodile took a deep drag of his cigar, "He defeated Mr. 5?"
"Yes." Robin nodded, "After learning it was Baroque Works recruiting him, he was dissatisfied with the position you offered."
"Interesting." Crocodile began to ponder.
If he could defeat Mr. 5, the Mr. 9 position he'd offered was indeed too low. Perhaps Mr. 5's position would be more appropriate?
And Mr. 9… that waste who dared defy his orders must be dealt with!
Seeing Crocodile hesitate, Robin added, "The rookie still had strength to spare against Mr. 5. Why not test his full capabilities first?"
Crocodile nodded thoughtfully, "Mr. 2 has finished his mission. Send him."
As Robin acknowledged and turned to leave, he added one more thing.
"Go with him. If Mr. 2 is no match either, bring the rookie to me personally. I'll have a chat with him."
Robin froze for a moment, then pressed down her cowboy hat, "Understood."
◇◆◈◆◇
At Whisky Peak, Noyer lived like a king.
After the bounty hunters awoke from his Supreme King Haki, they treated him with complete respect, acting like obedient servants.
They seemed to have received instructions from someone. They all treated him as their direct superior, serving him lavish food and drink all day long.
As for Mr. 9, who had tried to kill him — when Noyer woke up the next day, the man had vanished. It seemed Baroque Works had dealt with him internally.
His replacement was a tall, thin agent with a crown on his head and the number 10 written twice on his face. On the day of his promotion, he changed the numbers to 9.
Noyer didn't understand the point of that.
After thinking carefully, he realized this was Princess Vivi's future partner when she infiltrated Baroque Works.
Under the new Mr. 9's service, Noyer spent several days enjoying the good life. Finally, on the third day, the system awakened from its long dormancy.
Having waited so long, Noyer asked impatiently, "System, what are the new functions after the upgrade?"
The system's cold voice returned after its long absence.
「 The system has fixed issues with the Talent Copy Cards and opened new permissions. 」
「 First, the host's Talent Slots have increased from 7 to 10. 」
「 Second, the system has opened the Codex Collection feature. 」
「 Third, Talents have unlocked the Fusion feature. 」
◈◈◈
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
If you want more chapters of this novel or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)