Mountain Bandit

Although this breakfast didn't taste great, they had to grit their teeth and eat it to keep up their strength for the journey ahead.

Just as they finished eating and were about to set off, a bang rang out—Bai Chuan's shield automatically materialized as a bullet collided with it, sparks flying as it ricocheted off course.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Hearing the sound and spotting the bullet, Buggy was startled, clutching his head as he asked.

Everyone looked toward the direction the bullet had come from. Bai Chuan's expression was extremely grim. Fortunately, the bullet had been aimed at him; if it had been Kaiser Lynn or Buggy, that shot might have been fatal.

"Who's there?" Bai Chuan barked loudly.

"Tch, I thought my aim was pretty good—how did I miss?" In response to Bai Chuan's shout, a figure stepped out, followed by a dozen or so more people emerging one after another behind him.

Judging by their outfits and demeanor, they were clearly no good sorts. Several of them bore visible scars—some fresh, some long-healed.

"Who are you people?" Bai Chuan demanded again, while Buggy and Shanks had already tensed into attack stances.

Though Buggy's strength wasn't much to speak of now, he was still a pirate after all. Dealing with these guys shouldn't be a problem.

"We're the mountain bandits around here. If you know what's good for you, hand over all your valuables, and leave that woman behind for us to have some fun with."

"HAHAHAHA!" When the leader finished speaking, his underlings burst into raucous laughter, their gazes at Bai Chuan and the others dripping with contempt, while their eyes on Kaiser Lynn were filled with lecherous intent.

"You bastards, keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!" Kaiser Lynn's skin crawled under their gaze.

"Oho, this little lady's got some fire. But that's just how I like 'em—nothing like taming a spitfire for that thrill, haha!"

As he said this, the leader even stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, looking utterly disgusting.

"Boys, get 'em! And remember—don't hurt the girl."

"Don't worry, boss, we remember. We're waiting for you to have your fun before we get ours too!"

"Haha, everyone gets a share!"

Hearing their self-indulgent chatter, Bai Chuan's face darkened considerably. They hadn't been taken seriously at all—as if Bai Chuan and his group were mere ants, ready to be crushed at any moment.

"You should be grateful." The words drifted slowly from Bai Chuan's mouth, but everyone who heard them felt the temperature around them drop a few degrees.

"What do you mean?"

"You should be grateful that you get to die by my hand."

"Haha, you little brat, still putting on airs when death's at your door. I'll save you for last and show you what I'm really capable of."

The leader had shivered too, but now he figured he was overthinking it. This was just some green kid—what was there to fear?

"Buggy, Shanks, no need to hold back this time. Just kill them all."

"I was thinking the same thing," Shanks replied.

From their tone, it was clear these bandits had killed plenty before and done this countless times. For scum this heinous, Shanks wouldn't show an ounce of mercy.

As for Buggy—he could tolerate disdain from those stronger than him, but weaker people looking down on him? That was practically asking to learn how to spell "death."

The dozen or so mountain bandits charged all at once. Kaiser Lynn pulled two daggers from behind her waist.

"What? You want in on this too?" Bai Chuan asked, puzzled.

"Of course. No one who insults me like that gets to live," Kaiser Lynn said, her gaze resolute.

"I thought those daggers of yours were just decorations. Didn't expect you actually had some fighting skill."

He'd noticed she carried two daggers when they first met, but she'd never used them.

"Well, I am a princess, after all—I've had training. Besides, you never gave me a chance to fight."

"Yeah, that's true."

With them around, Kaiser Lynn never even got an opening to act. As long as she stayed safely behind them, she was fine.

"Then you'd better be careful. If you get hurt, don't blame me."

"Relax. These small fry can't do anything to me."

"Didn't know you were so confident."

"Of course I am." Kaiser Lynn smiled confidently, accepting Bai Chuan's compliment without hesitation.

The two sides clashed. Bai Chuan didn't join the fray—he kept his eyes fixed on the gun-wielding minor leader. As for Buggy and Shanks, they still couldn't dodge bullets at their current level.

If the enemy tried a sneak attack, any of them could get hurt.

Bai Chuan noticed the leader's expression growing uglier by the second. His men were being cut down like vegetables—and not even decent vegetables at that.

Not a single one could last three moves against Buggy or Shanks. Even Kaiser Lynn had already taken out two bandits who'd surrounded her.

He was used to dishing this out to others. Now that the tables had turned, fear crept into his heart.

"Monsters... you're all monsters. I'll kill you!" he muttered under his breath, raising his gun and aiming at Buggy for a fatal shot.

But Bai Chuan wasn't about to give him that chance. The moment the gun came up, Bai Chuan was already at his side—drawing his blade and sheathing it in two simple motions.

The man only saw a flash of white light before his prized gun snapped in two, the cut smooth as glass.

"How... how is that possible? My gun!" Guns were rare around here; his whole swagger depended on that one weapon.

The moment the gun broke, Bai Chuan felt the man's aura plummet to rock bottom—even lower than his now-dead underlings.

"You monsters... monsters... you're not human."

The man collapsed to the ground, speaking in terror, the fear on his face impossible to hide, even a faint wet stain already spreading below his waist.

"Truly pathetic." Shirakawa shook his head, but he felt no sympathy—people like this didn't deserve it.

"No, you can't kill me." Seeing Shirakawa raise his blade, the man stammered in panic.

"Oh, why?"

"If you kill me, our boss won't let you get away with it."

"Won't let me get away? I'm not planning to let him off either." Shirakawa didn't bother listening to any more of his nonsense; with a clean swing of his blade, it was over.

Meanwhile, Shanks and the others had already finished their fight—over a dozen Mountain Bandits, not a single survivor.

"I heard him say we were monsters just now." Shanks walked over to Shirakawa, looking down at the bandit's corpse.

"Yeah."

"Monsters? If we count as monsters, then he really hasn't seen much."

"It's probably because of their isolated environment—they'll never know how vast the outside world is. And since this place is in the latter half of the New World, very few people make it here, so that's led to this situation."

"Then the people on this island are truly pitiful." Shanks sighed. For someone like him, who craved freedom, spending a lifetime trapped on one island was absolutely unbearable.