"It seems to have come running from the direction of the tavern, too."
"GOOGLE search TWKAN"
"Could it have seen what happened earlier, then chased after us to express its gratitude?"
"Are the animals in this pirate world all this intelligent?"
A thoughtful look flashed in Will's eyes.
But this clearly wasn't something he could figure out in a short time.
So he couldn't be bothered to think about it any further. "Come on. Leave it be."
"When the townspeople realize the pirates have gone quiet, they'll come back and take care of the aftermath."
After saying that, he seemed to remember something. He reached into the huge bundle slung over his shoulder, pulled out two sausages, and tossed them toward the puppy.
Then Will didn't linger. He strode on toward the harbor.
Watching Will's tall figure, Nami and Carina exchanged a glance, then smiled and hurried after him together.
Woof! Woof!
The puppy looked at the two sausages that had landed in front of it but didn't eat them right away. It gave Will two more little barks, then lowered its head and picked them up to eat.
After finishing them in a few bites,
a lively glint flashed in its eyes. It turned and ran back toward the town.
Some time later,
the townspeople hurried to the harbor, led by the puppy Xiu Xiu and the mayor, Buttel, whose hair was styled like a poodle's.
But by then, Will and the other two had already sailed away from the harbor.
The townspeople had actually heard the commotion in town earlier.
But they hadn't dared to go over and investigate.
Only after the town's puppy, Xiu Xiu, suddenly ran over barking loudly did Mayor Buttel realize something was up.
So Mayor Buttel promptly led the townspeople back into town, where they discovered that the Buggy Pirates had all been defeated.
Even the terrifying Clown Buggy had disappeared without a trace.
Then Xiu Xiu led the mayor and the townspeople to the harbor, hoping to find the benefactors who had saved the town.
Unfortunately, they were still too late.
"Hm?"
While Mayor Buttel felt regret, he was surprised to discover a large bundle left at the harbor.
He walked over and opened it, then stared in shock.
It was full of gold and silver treasures, shining brilliantly in the sunlight.
"Huh? What's this?"
Just then, Mayor Buttel noticed a book resting on top of the treasure. It didn't look particularly valuable.
But thinking that it might have been left behind by their benefactor,
Mayor Buttel didn't dismiss it. Instead, he carefully picked it up and opened it.
Looking at the simple, easy-to-understand words on the page, he read them aloud, one by one:
"People must rely on themselves."
"Six Powers?"
"You're so kind, Captain Will."
Carina rested her chin on her hand, looking at Will as he sat quietly drinking on a large chair nearby. She smiled and sighed:
"After taking care of those pirates for the townspeople, you even left them a bag of treasure."
"Honestly, I've never met anyone like you."
"Even the so-called Marines never share their spoils with the common people after defeating pirates."
Nami steered the ship. Although she still felt a little pained about that bag of treasure, she agreed with Will's actions:
"I think Will did the right thing. The Buggy Pirates didn't go around destroying the town,"
"but they must have taken all the townspeople's money. Leaving them some treasure will help the town recover faster."
"Mm-hmm." Carina smiled at Nami and couldn't resist teasing her:
"I don't mind. What I enjoy most is the process of getting treasure."
"But I remember a certain someone looking pretty reluctant when she saw the treasure left at the harbor."
"Uh..." Nami's expression stiffened at that.
But she had no intention of defending herself. She snorted and ignored that wicked, scheming fox woman.
Then Nami seemed to remember something. She turned to Will and asked curiously:
"By the way, Will,"
"I saw you put a book in that bag of treasure. What did you write in it?"
The corner of Will's mouth lifted slightly. He replied meaningfully:
"Nothing much. Just a little ability for those who are weak to protect themselves."
"An ability to protect themselves?" Carina and Nami exchanged confused looks, unsure what to make of that.
Will didn't explain further. He turned to watch the waves outside the ship and continued quietly drinking the wine in his hand.
At the same time, he shifted his attention to the system panel.
[Obtained 1800 Purity Points]
[Purity Points: 25200]
Will was fairly satisfied with what he had gained from the battle.
After thinking it over, he chose to spend 10000 Purity Points on a long-overdue ten-draw talent skill pull.
[Obtained one slight increase to Constitution, one slight increase to Mental Strength]
[Obtained skill: Explosive Clothes Amplification]
[Explosive Clothes Amplification: After the user's clothes are blown off, their aura and overall strength will receive a certain boost.]
"I actually got a skill. It looks pretty good."
Will was a little surprised. After all, this was the first time he had ever drawn a skill.
"I didn't know blowing off your clothes could become a skill, too."
"Looks like these talents and skills don't always follow common sense."
"I'll find a chance to try it later."
As he felt the slight increases to his Constitution and Mental Strength, Will picked up the sherry in his hand and took a long drink. A flash of anticipation crossed his eyes.
Meanwhile,
while Will was resting and chatting with Nami and Carina aboard the ship, things were much worse for Clown Buggy.
After flying out of town and plunging into the sea,
the non-swimmer Buggy quickly came to his senses, then started choking on seawater before losing consciousness again.
When he woke up once more,
he found himself washed up on an unfamiliar island, his belly swollen to several times its normal size.
Pfft—!
Buggy pressed down on his belly with one hand and spewed out the seawater like a fountain. Then he stood up wearily and looked around in confusion.
"Damn it... Where did this thing wash me up?"
"Why isn't there a single person around?"
Buggy walked over to the jungle ahead and looked carefully left and right across the sea, searching for anyone else.
But just then,
Buggy suddenly noticed a huge shadow looming in front of him, engulfing his entire body. He froze on the spot.
He quickly turned around.
He immediately saw a gigantic, strange creature with a tiger's head and a bear's body. It was drooling as it opened its enormous jaws and lunged to bite him!
Crunch—!
"Yaaah! Help me!"
With a sharp clack of teeth,
just as the creature was about to bite him, Buggy's body suddenly split in two, letting him dodge. Tears filled his eyes as he screamed at the top of his lungs!
The food that should have gone straight into its mouth had split into two pieces, then joined back together and run off.
The Tiger-Headed Bear froze in place, its eyes filled with pure confusion.
Roar!
But it didn't think about it for long. It dropped to all fours and charged after Buggy, roaring as it ran!
"Yaaah! Don't chase me!"
Buggy glanced back at the terrifying sight and shrieked in terror. Tears shot from his eyes, and his legs moved even faster.
And so, man and beast, one chasing and the other fleeing, plunged into the jungle together.
A contest of speed and stamina began.
Before you continue