Shooting Kuro

Three days later, the ship arrived at Tang Peach Town.

Zhou Qi didn't even disembark. He just took a look from afar, took a photo with his phone, and then opened a Space Gate to return to Loguetown with Tashigi.

Then, they followed another ship to Shimotsuki Village.

Tashigi was a bit perplexed by his actions, but she was a competent First Mate with few questions. When she wasn't needed, she buried herself in sword practice.

Tashigi had started practicing Swordsmanship at the age of 15. The first time she met Zoro, she was completely outmatched by him. However, after two years, her combat strength had become considerable, likely reaching the level of a Sword Saint.

This might be the legendary diligence compensating for lack of talent.

Zhou Qi also joined the sword practice, taking a wooden sword and doing Suburi with Tashigi every day.

He used a wooden sword, while Tashigi used a real one. As a result, he could only manage 30 Suburi, whereas Tashigi could do over a thousand.

However, he also discovered a difference in this world. On Earth, after experiencing fatigue, one would need at least half an hour to recover. But in the One Piece World, it only took about ten minutes.

If they ate the food from this world, the recovery would be even faster!

Zhou Qi suspected that this world might have some kind of spiritual energy, which is why people in this world, even without training, were stronger than professionally trained athletes on Earth just by breathing normally as they grew up.

The fish and other creatures in this world also grew up in an environment filled with spiritual energy, thus storing it within their bodies. This resulted in their meat having a potent fatigue-relieving effect.

If that were the case, then the meat of the Near Sea King would definitely be more effective than ordinary fish, and the meat of Sea Kings would be even more effective than that of Near Sea Kings.

Unfortunately, neither he nor Tashigi had the strength to hunt Sea Kings yet, so they could only make do with ordinary fish for now.

"45, 46, 47, 48, cough, I can't hold on anymore!"

He collapsed onto the ground weakly, gasping for air as he grabbed his tea and gulped it down.

"Heh heh..." Tashigi watched from the side, a smile in her eyes. She initially thought Zhou Qi was joking when he said he hadn't trained, but she didn't expect him to be genuinely so weak...

What did 45 Suburi even mean? A teenager who had just started learning swordsmanship shouldn't be at this level!

"What are you laughing at? I feel fine. I could only do 30 reps the day before yesterday, and today it's 45. I've gotten 50% stronger in two days. If I can improve like this every day, I'll be able to arm wrestle Garp in a few years!"

"It's because your foundation is too poor!" Tashigi said. "My progress was also very fast when I first started practicing swordsmanship, but now it takes a long time to feel any improvement..."

"Is that so..." Zhou Qi nodded thoughtfully. "Is it possible that your training environment is too comfortable?"

"What?" Tashigi blinked, asking.

"A person's cells have extremely strong adaptability and growth potential. No matter what harsh environment they are in, they can adapt quickly through renewal and iteration!" Zhou Qi said. "When you first started training, your cells needed to shift from a comfortable state to one that required high levels of strength and speed, so your progress was naturally very fast. But now, your body is already very strong, and you can easily complete your daily training!"

"This way, your body will think it has adapted to the harsh external environment and will stop getting stronger!"

"Huh?" Tashigi blinked. "Is, is that how it is?"

"Of course. Don't you know? Those Sword Saints don't do Suburi with swords; they directly use barbells weighing hundreds of kilograms or even tons, all to put more pressure on their bodies!" Zhou Qi said.

He was referring to Zoro from the Straw Hat Pirates.

"I see!" Tashigi nodded. She had only been practicing with a Swordsmanship textbook and had no one to guide her, so she didn't know when she had gone down the wrong path.

She hadn't expected to receive some guidance from Zhou Qi.

"I'll go try it now..." Tashigi said.

"No rush, no rush. Aren't we going to visit a great Sword Saint? It would be better to have him tailor a training method for you!" Zhou Qi said. "I was just speaking casually. What if I'm wrong? What if I injure you? Then I'd have made a huge mistake..."

"It's not that serious!" Tashigi quickly shook her head. "Your knowledge is very broad. And thanks to you, I've been eating better these past few days than I have in the past few years. I even feel a bit stronger!"

"Stop calling me 'you' and 'sir.' It makes me feel distant..." Zhou Qi quickly said. "We're going to be together for a long time. It feels strange to be so formal. Just call me Zhou Qi!"

"This..." Tashigi paused, then nodded. She didn't feel any pretense from Zhou Qi, and they got along quite comfortably.

"Then I'll call you Qi-kun..."

She didn't know that Zhou Qi lived in an environment where sycophancy was prevalent. Influenced by it, he naturally wouldn't make women feel uncomfortable.

However, just having a good personality was useless. They would complain that you were ugly, boring, had no money, no ambition, didn't care about family, weren't generous, and so on...

Compared to Tashigi, these girls instantly made Tashigi appear like a true fairy.

Of course, Zhou Qi was talking about online. The girls he met in real life were quite normal. As for why he never dated...

It was because Zhou Qi wasn't good enough.

"D-d-d-d-d-darling!" a startled shout suddenly came from below. "There are pirates!"

"Pirates? Where?" Zhou Qi immediately excitedly pulled out his telescope. His telescope was for civilian use, but it was much clearer than what the merchant ship's lookout could see. With a quick sweep, he spotted a pirate ship flying a skull flag, sails full, approaching them!

Speaking of which, this skull looked a bit artistic. Wasn't that a cat drawn there?

"Let me see!" Tashigi quickly said.

Zhou Qi handed her the telescope. Tashigi's face turned pale: "It's the Black Cat Pirates! The captain is 'Hundred Plans' Kuro, with a bounty of 16 million Belly. His First Mate is Jango, with a bounty of 9 million Belly. Crew member Buchii, bounty 7 million, and crew member Sam, bounty 7 million!"

"This is a large pirate crew with a total bounty of nearly 40 million!" Tashigi quickly turned around. "I'm no match for pirates like these. Hurry, please summon Lord Smoker!"

"Kuro?" Zhou Qi immediately took out his phone and opened another spatial rift to connect to WiFi.

Not having a phone on him was indeed inconvenient, but many apps required camera permissions. Zhou Qi came up with a solution.

He bought a phone case and covered both the front and rear cameras entirely. He also kept it connected to Bluetooth headphones, ensuring the phone's microphone couldn't pick up sounds from the One Piece World.

This way, it was safe to use. Moreover, since it was connected to his room's WiFi, the IP address even showed his home address.

"Oh, so he's been lurking at Kaya's place for three years. That means he won't infiltrate Tannis's household until next year. He's really a pirate right now..."

Kuro is quite the talent. Not only did he create a spoon technique similar to Soru, but he also successfully got hired as a butler at Kaya's house.

You have to understand, being a butler is a skilled profession. Without exceptional talent, it's impossible to just muddle through!

If it weren't for Robin, Kuro would have been a decent recruit. But compared to Robin, Kuro is nothing.

Thinking about it again, Kuro even infiltrated Kaya's household. That's his subordinate's daughter! How could he let him get in?

Since I don't plan on recruiting him, keeping him around is just disgusting. It's better to kill him!

"Hurry, Lord Zhou Qi! They haven't gotten close yet, we still have time!" Tashigi said anxiously.

"But, forty million Belly... If we call Smoker over, won't we get cut out of the reward?" Zhou Qi asked.

Tashigi felt like crying. "What time is it, and you're still thinking about the bounty? We can't deal with a pirate crew like this!"

"You do have a clear understanding of your own capabilities. Unlike some people I know, who just rush in regardless of whether they have the strength or not. If they were the protagonist, fine, but many aren't!!" Zhou Qi shook his head and then pulled out a handgun.

This was a Glock 19, 9mm caliber, with a 17-round magazine.

Because of its safe performance, powerful firepower, and large magazine capacity, this gun is extremely popular with law enforcement, civilians, and criminals alike. The practice of emptying a magazine when facing a suspect, like American police do, typically involves a Glock.

Since it's so widespread, obtaining the blueprints for the gun isn't difficult; they're all over the internet. He had Old Wang craft this for him.

"You have a gun?" Tashigi was a bit surprised. After thinking about it, she felt it was quite normal. After all, in this world, having a gun isn't a big deal.

Besides, Zhou Qi doesn't look like a poor person. Wealthier individuals have even more channels to obtain firearms.

Some people even have more than one gun. Dadi, who has children, can carry a whole arsenal.

However, people here prefer revolvers. She had never seen a gun with such a peculiar design before.

"Even if you have a gun, that's Kuro, with a bounty of 16 million Belly! How can a single handgun deal with him?" Tashigi was already regretting it. Didn't you say you'd summon Smoker if you encountered pirates? How did it come to this?

"Trust me, Tashigi, I won't joke with my own life!" Zhou Qi said seriously.

He could stand behind others for a while, but not for a lifetime. Some enemies, he had to face himself sooner or later.

Right now, facing just Kuro is a great opportunity to train himself. If he needed Smoker to deal with Kuro, how would he fight Crocodile later? How would he fight Bruno?

One is a Shichibukai, the other an operative under the World Government. Smoker wouldn't help him!

Looking at Zhou Qi's calm demeanor, Tashigi inexplicably gained some confidence.

That's right. Although he doesn't have much combat power, he's still a Devil Fruit User. He should have some chance of winning, right?

Zhou Qi quietly watched the Black Cat Pirates' ship approach, checking the gun in his hand to prevent it from jamming later.

Kuro's ship was fast and soon caught up to the merchant vessel. Then, more than ten grappling hooks attached to ropes were thrown over.

Kuro took the lead, rushing over in a few steps on the ropes. He had intended to go on a killing spree, but upon landing, he realized no one was blocking him.

The crew members were standing far away, leaving a man and a woman in front.

"Oh? Have you given up resisting?" Kuro looked at the man and woman before him, adjusted his glasses with his wrist, and a glint flashed in his eyes. "In that case, hand over all the valuables on your ship!"

"No!" Zhou Qi said resolutely.

"Nani?" Kuro was stunned and narrowed his eyes at Zhou Qi.

"The thing I, Zhou Qi, love doing most in my life is telling those arrogant people 'no'!" He raised his gun and pointed it at Kuro. "You've been a pirate for so many years, you must have earned quite a lot of money. Where have you hidden it? Hand it over, and I'll spare your life!"

"Oho, is that what gives you confidence?" Kuro chuckled.

"Wow, so he's a young master!" Jango also arrived. He wore pink heart-shaped glasses and a garish purple shirt, carrying a pendant in his hand, looking quite carefree!

Behind him, two other combatants of the Kuro Pirates, Buchii and Sam, also jumped down.

However, seeing that their captain seemed to be in the mood to play, they watched from the side in silence.

Zhou Qi smiled and said, "Actually, I'm very curious. How could anyone be willing to shelter a pirate like Jango? Someone who can hypnotize people... shouldn't they be killed on sight?"

Or perhaps Hina was hypnotized by Jango?

"Hmm?" Kuro paused, then his eyes immediately narrowed.

He already had a grand plan that utilized Jango's hypnotic abilities, and he was about to put it into motion after this job. He never expected someone to see the special nature of Jango's ability!

Since this person had the potential to leak his plan, he had to be eliminated!

Kuro chuckled softly, extended his claws, and vanished!

"Spoon!"

He had already seen the gun in Zhou Qi's hand but didn't take it seriously. My spoon technique is so fast you can't even see my shadow, so how can you hit me?

"Hya!" Tashigi quickly drew her sword. Facing a pirate with a bounty of 16 million Belly for the first time, cold sweat involuntarily seeped from her forehead.

She lacked confidence, but as a Marine, she had to stand in front of the civilians!

"Let me!" Since Zhou Qi was unwilling to open the gate, there was no point in talking further. The only path was to confront him.

Then she saw Zhou Qi move his finger and pull the trigger.

"He missed!" Tashigi thought. She couldn't see Kuro's exact position, but she knew he was to the side. Yet, this shot was clearly fired straight ahead!

I still have to rely on myself, huh?

She whipped her head around and saw a bullet suddenly appear, then drill directly into Kuro's temple at a speed of 350 meters per second.

Kuro fell to the ground.

"Hiss!" That recoil!

Zhou Qi's hand was a little sore. The Glock 19's recoil wasn't large, but Zhou Qi's strength was too weak. He quickly placed his free left hand on the gun as well, gripping it with both hands.

He wasn't just holding it randomly. His shooting technique was called the C.A.R.S. Shooting Technique, the full name being the Central Axis Heavy Lock System. It was a shooting technique specifically developed for close-quarters combat with handguns.

However, he had only learned the stance; aiming was left to the Space Gate.

"And you lot!" The muzzle of the gun, still pointed at the air, didn't move as Zhou Qi pulled the trigger, firing three shots in rapid succession.

The next second, Jango, Buchii, and Sam fell to the ground…

The pirates who jumped up behind the four froze in place!

"Whoa…" Tashigi watched the scene in amazement, immediately understanding how Zhou Qi had done it.

Opening a Space Gate at the muzzle of the gun, leading to the temples of the four, then making the bullets deviate from their normal trajectory.

How could one defend against bullets that traversed space?

Kuro's speed was fast, but Zhou Qi had memorized his appearance, so the Space Gate would definitely open next to him. Unless your speed could surpass that of a bullet, or your forehead could withstand a bullet, there was only death as an outcome.

Clearly, a spoon wasn't faster than a bullet.

There was actually this kind of tactic?

"What do they call this? Villains die from talking too much!" Zhou Qi looked at the bodies on the ground and shook his head. "If he had attacked as soon as he boarded, he might have even injured me, but he insisted on chatting with me for a bit…"

He was quite curious. Didn't people usually vomit after killing someone?

Looking at the bloodstains on the ground, he didn't feel disgusted.

Perhaps it was because he was mentally prepared, or perhaps it was because he knew he had killed scum, not ordinary people, so there was no inexplicable sense of guilt.

"This…" Tashigi thought seriously. Pirates who attacked on sight were indeed quite rare. The pirates she had encountered would basically first spout some harsh words, and then be killed or captured by Smoker…

She didn't know why…

"Now you can call Smoker!" Putting down the gun, there were still some low-level pirates in the Black Cat Pirates, but they were already scared witless, so there was no need to use the gun anymore.

After all, he didn't have many bullets left, and he had to use them sparingly until he found a way to purchase weapo