The corpse of the pirate Ronan had killed had yet to hit the ground.
The next instant—
Every pirate around him turned to Ronan with a sharp "swish."
It was not anger, but panic.
They had witnessed it firsthand: a companion they all acknowledged as "fairly strong" had been killed in one blow by an unfamiliar young man.
He had not even had time to react.
That kind of killing power far surpassed their petty bullying of the townspeople.
So they all retreated half a step, gripping their weapons tightly, yet not one of them dared to charge first.
—They were pirates, not idiots.
They were good at bullying commoners, but facing a truly lethal strong one?
That was another matter entirely. After all, they only had one life.
Soon, all their gazes turned in the same direction.
Toward—their captain.
He was a man built like an iron tower.
Over two meters tall, with muscles coiled around his limbs like cables, he resembled a humanoid beast.
He held a broad-backed cleaver in his hand, its blade polished bright and gleaming with cold light.
His gaze was cold and savage, filled with bloodthirsty bestiality.
The instant he spotted Ronan, a cruel curve formed at the corner of his mouth.
Like a beast that had locked onto its prey.
He raised his cleaver and pointed it at Ronan from afar.
"Hey, kid—state your name."
At that moment, every pirate fell silent.
This was not politeness, but a kind of...
Ritual the pirates performed before killing someone.
Ronan looked at them calmly, his gaze indifferent.
His eyes swept past the pirates before finally settling on their captain.
His tone was hard and cold—
"Ronan."
The pirate captain paused.
Then he looked at his first mate.
"Hey, are there any Bounty Hunters named Ronan?"
The first mate narrowed his eyes and sized Ronan up and down, his gaze carrying the pirates' distinctive cunning and chill.
"No, boss."
"He's not one of the Bounty Hunters we need to watch out for."
"Looks like... he's just an ordinary man with some skill, sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."
Hearing that, the pirate captain's formerly grave expression relaxed by half.
His tense shoulders loosened, and a vicious grin slowly spread across his face.
His eyes became excited again, like those of a venomous snake.
—Stray dogs were not dangerous.
—Which meant they could be toyed with to death.
He licked the corner of his mouth, his voice rough and violent.
"Hey, kid—meddling in other people's business gets you killed."
He swung his cleaver sharply, as if passing judgment on Ronan's fate.
"Men! Let him hear the name of the Tattered Sails Pirates!"
The pirates immediately began roaring.
"Our captain's a Great Sea pirate with a bounty of 3.2 million Belly!"
"Three million! Do you understand that, brat?!"
"You dared kill one of the Tattered Sails Pirates! You're dead!!"
"Get on your knees and beg now while you still can!"
Their clamor echoed through the small town.
Yet Ronan merely stood quietly where he was.
The wind stirred the hem of his clothes, carrying the scent of blood and scorched earth.
There was not the slightest ripple in his eyes.
It was as though all those arrogant shouts and threats could not stir even a trace of disturbance in the lake of his heart.
The power brought by the threefold Cultivation Multiplier surged through Ronan like a tide.
His bones and sinews trembled, his blood boiled, and his muscles tightened as though they had been reforged.
This sensation... was incomparably clear, incomparably real.
His strength was growing at a speed invisible to the naked eye!
Ronan's breathing became steadier and steadier, while the light in his eyes burned ever brighter.
He could barely wait.
He wanted to see exactly what kind of power this perfect body could unleash in this New World.
And these slaughter-loving pirates before him?
They were the perfect test subjects.
As for danger?
Ronan did not take it to heart at all.
The path of a warrior had always been one of life and death.
Besides—
Under his sixth sense, these pirates' auras were as weak as tattered cloth.
The only one who drew even a little of his attention was their captain.
"Then I'll start with you."
Ronan breathed the words softly and stamped his foot—
"Bang!"
Broken stones flew everywhere as he shot forth like an arrow loosed from a bow.
The wooden staff in his hand trailed behind him, his movements swift as a shadow.
One pirate widened his eyes as he saw Ronan rushing toward him, obvious terror surfacing on his face—
But before he could raise his blade.
Ronan flicked his wrist. Force snaked down from his spine, flowed through his arm, and surged into the staff.
The tip tore through the air, making it explode with a sharp "Crack!"
"Pfft!"
The wooden staff became an iron spear, piercing through the pirate's heart in an instant.
The force was so fierce that even the pirate's toes were jolted off the ground.
Ronan shook his wrist.
"Buzz—!"
The staff tore free, bringing forth a line of blood that burst forth.
The pirate's body crumpled, but he did not even have time to scream.
Before the corpse hit the ground—
Ronan's staff had already whirled like a dragon.
Force flooded into it, and the staff flourished furiously like a raging gale!
"Hah!"
The staff's shadows were like whips, like blades, like lightning cleaving through the air.
The several pirates nearby saw only a field of staff-light before their eyes.
Then—
Their throats turned cold.
"Pfft—! Pfft—!"
Blood blossomed in the air like scarlet flowers.
Several pirates clutched their necks, their eyes filled with disbelief as they collapsed to the ground.
Ronan lowered his body, tapped off with his toes, and leaped again.
Though airborne, his momentum was that of a Fierce Tiger Pounces on Prey!
He charged into the crowd.
He shook, he thrust;
He jabbed, he hooked;
Every strike was ruthless, precise, and so fast it drove people to despair.
As staff shadows crisscrossed, screams rose one after another, like a battlefield opened by the Grim Reaper.
In just a few breaths—
"Thud—!"
"Aaaah—!"
Half the pirates had fallen.
They were either severely wounded or dead on the spot.
Under the firelight, blood gathered into a narrow stream across the ground.
With blood dripping from the wooden staff in his hand, Ronan stood amid the field of corpses like a truly awakened beast.
Just as Ronan prepared to finish off the remaining pirate lackeys—
The violent aura he had been wary of all along finally moved.
The Captain of the Tattered Sails Pirates.
He had finally lost his patience.
Watching his men get slaughtered like grass, with more than half killed in an instant, the brawny man over two meters tall with knotted muscles was completely enraged.
He no longer hoped to have his men wear Ronan down. Instead, he stepped forward, his feet striking the ground with a thunderous blast like a giant beast stomping down.
"You bastard kid—die!!"
He roared as veins bulged along his arms like pythons. He swung up the cleaver, carving a terrifying black shadow through the air.
The next instant, he leaped! The cold gleam of the blade was blinding.
With the thunderous force of tearing wind, it descended from above and cleaved straight at Ronan's head!
Killing intent crashed toward him.
A sharp light flashed in Ronan's eyes.
Xing Yi Collapsing Force erupted!
The wooden staff trembled violently in his hand as force instantly surged through it.
Facing that incomparably terrifying blade-light, he drove a vicious Collapsing Force into it!
"—Crack!!"
A crisp snapping sound tore through the air.
The wooden staff in Ronan's hand was broken by the immense force at two-thirds of its length!
Yet the cleaver also let out an astonishing hum from the impact, trembling ceaselessly as though it might fly from the pirate captain's grip.
The pirate captain's expression changed drastically. The web between his thumb and forefinger went numb, and he nearly lost his grip on the hilt.
"W-What kind of strange move is that?!"
That sudden force made him even angrier, yet also stirred a faint trace of fear within him.
Ronan, too, was sent staggering back five or six steps by the immense force, broken stones rolling beneath his feet.
Blood seeped from his tiger's mouth, and his arm tingled faintly.
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