The Island's Young Guardian

After personally killing the pirate crew that had landed on the island for the first time, Wood's name spread throughout the island, and he became the Guardian of Maple Leaf Island.

Of course, Guardian sounded nice, but in reality, he was basically a security... captain. And an unpaid one at that.

If possible, Wood truly did not want to become famous. After all, this was the Great Pirate Era, and some pirates would do anything for fame.

Massacring an entire island was practically basic procedure. After all, a pirate's bounty was not necessarily directly tied to their strength.

As long as they committed deeds vile enough, they could still earn a high bounty. Among pirates, the size of the bounty issued by the Marines was equivalent to their popularity.

There were many ways to become famous. Besides committing every evil imaginable, defeating a well-known local powerhouse was also an extremely fast way to gain fame.

So if possible, Wood truly did not want to become famous, because it would only bring more trouble. What if someone he could not afford to provoke showed up one day?

Now that he had exposed his strength, the islanders would definitely turn to him whenever pirates landed on the island.

Even if the islanders did not ask him for help, any pirates landing on the island would surely target him once they learned there was a thorn like him here.

Considering the severity of the situation and the possible threat it could pose in the future, Wood went home almost without hesitation to pack his things, intending to take Stia and Aine to another island to seek refuge.

If it had been when he had first transmigrated, going to sea would undoubtedly have meant certain death. But now, with swordsmanship at the Cutting Steel level, coupled with half a year of intense training, as long as he did not deliberately court death, Wood was confident he could take Nina and her mother to live on another island.

"Ding, new mission discovered.

Mission Name: Guardian of Maple Leaf Island

Mission Requirements: Within one year, repel or eliminate the vicious pirates who land on Maple Leaf Island.

Before this mission is completed, the host may not leave the island by any means. Otherwise, the host will lose lifelong access to this system.

Mission Reward: One Life Simulation Opportunity

(P.S.: Novice Second Gear Benefit. This reward is practically free. If you cannot even handle a bunch of Small Fry not worthy of having names, then a transmigrator like you might as well bash his head into a block of tofu and die.)"

It was still the same familiar feeling. The system rarely popped up to speak, but every time it did, its sharp tongue seemed to be maxed out! Its timing was also impeccable—he had just been about to run away when this long-dormant mission was triggered.

Wood felt utterly screwed over by the sudden mission. The mission was not mandatory, but it was basically no different from one that was.

The system was his cheat as a transmigrator. Running away meant losing his cheat, and what difference was there between a transmigrator without a cheat and a salted fish?

Wood did not think he was exceptionally gifted. The readers wanted a power fantasy—without a cheat that could boost his strength like outright cheating, how could he kick the Four Emperors and punch the Five Elders in the future?

Other transmigrators were either already beating admirals one-handed at fifteen or using the heads of the Four Emperors as chamber pots. Meanwhile, he was still chopping trees in the beginner village. He had clearly already lost at the starting line.

So after hesitating for a while, Wood ultimately stayed on Maple Leaf Island and took up the duty of its guardian.

Now that the one-year period of protecting Maple Leaf Island was nearly over, Wood had not come away empty-handed.

First of all, because Wood was close to Aine and the others, the people of Maple Leaf Island now held Aine and Stia in great respect.

Most of the time, Stia did not even need to pay when she went shopping in town, because everyone knew she was the one who had taken Wood in.

Before this, after Aine's father had been killed by pirates, life on the island had been extremely difficult for the mother and daughter, who had been left alone.

Besides that, Wood had spent the past year constantly fighting the pirates who landed on the island, accumulating a great deal of combat experience through repeated battles.

It had to be said that actual combat truly was the fastest way for a person to grow.

The gains Wood had made from burying himself in training during the first half of the year were not even thirty percent of what he gained from fighting pirates in the latter half.

The clash of swords when death could strike at any moment was a completely different experience from the dull practice of swinging a sword by himself.

Humans were not blocks of wood. They would fight back, and at the brink of despair, they would also risk everything in a desperate counterattack.

At first, when facing some vicious pirates, Wood could ultimately win, but he would often end up covered in wounds.

However, as the number of battles increased, Wood gradually began to grasp the rhythm of combat, while his fighting experience continued to accumulate.

From initially being injured even when facing enemies weaker than himself, to later being able to defeat opponents roughly equal to him without injury, it was clear just how much Wood had improved.

Through constant battle, Wood gradually used the swordsmanship that the system had directly imprinted into his mind one technique at a time. Through the sensation of muscle memory, he completely turned what had existed in his memories into something that was truly his own.

"Aunt Stia's cooking has gotten even better. This tastes far better than the restaurants on the island."

As he ate Stia's cooking and watched Aine, who was propping up her cheeks with both hands and happily watching him devour his food, the tension in Wood's mind from all his training eased considerably.

However, just as Wood was enjoying this leisurely lunchtime, a Pirate Ship flying a skull flag appeared in the distance within the sight of Wood and Aine, slowly sailing toward the harbor.

"Damn pirates again! Why are there so many of these parasites of the sea?"

The people of Maple Leaf Island were no longer unfamiliar with Pirate Ships. Thus, when Aine and the others spotted it, warning bells immediately rang through the island town.

"Aine, hurry home. Aunt Stia must be worried sick right now."

Wood wolfed down the food in the basket, then picked up the outer garment hanging nearby and put it on. He drew the long blade planted in the ground, gave Aine a few instructions, and then rushed toward the harbor in a few rapid leaps.

At Maple Leaf Island's harbor, a medium-sized sailing Pirate Ship had already taken up the entire port, and its crew had dropped anchor.

"Captain, this is Maple Leaf Island. They say the redwood here is one of the best materials for building ships.

After entering the Grand Line, the weather has become increasingly unpredictable. Replacing our ship with a sturdy, durable one is indeed our top priority now."

Hearing his Vice Captain's words, a burly man with a fierce face stepped out of the cabin. His hair was styled into a Mohawk, and Arm Gauntlets covered both his hands. Looking out at the red maple forest on Maple Leaf Island, he directly issued orders to the pirates aboard the ship.

"Once we get ashore, take all the ready-made redwood we can find. If there isn't enough, force those islanders to go up the mountain and chop more down.

Then find the mayor of the town on this island. Tell him that if he doesn't want anyone getting hurt, he'd better arrange wine and food for the brothers.

And send over some young women from town so the brothers can blow off some steam. We've been sailing at sea for over a month—I'd think even a sow was pretty by now."