A Desperate Last Stand

Zovi was an unsuccessful newspaper reporter.

At twenty-seven or twenty-eight, he had nothing to show for himself and could only scrape by at the newspaper office in the port town.

Fortunately, his parents were friendly people with good relations throughout the town, allowing him to live off old favors.

As a third-rate reporter, Zovi had never produced any news worth mentioning. The biggest story he had ever covered was the embarrassing affair of a shop owner across the street.

But a newspaper office was no stable place. There, news was everything.

Yet what major events could possibly happen in a little port town? After muddling through for three or four years, Zovi had naturally found himself on the verge of being fired.

"If you can't come up with any decent news, pack your things and get out. I've supported you for three or four years. That's enough to repay the debt I owe your parents."

Thinking back on the fat boss's words from not long ago, Zovi curled his lip. Though his face held resentment, there was nothing he could do.

Only those who had received favors knew whether they were a burden or a blessing. Even the greatest favor would eventually wear away.

The cold wind lashed across the deck beneath the overcast sky. Zovi tightened the collar of his trench coat and cursed under his breath. Raindrops as large as beans struck his body, leaving him with an indescribable discomfort.

This was a Marine patrol ship, and its captain was a friend he drank with.

While he and the Marine lieutenant were passing the time in a tavern, a Marine soldier came to find them. Several villagers from Guya Village had requested aid; pirates were attacking their village.

At first, Zovi was startled and looked at the Marine lieutenant with concern. But after another thought, he was overjoyed, even sobering up by more than half.

For Zovi, this was tremendous news. He had been worrying over the lack of a story, only for one to come knocking at his door. If he could turn things around with this incident and keep his job, why would he need to drown his sorrows in a tavern every day?

"Will, my good brother, you have to take me with you on this one. You know, my work—"

His eyes darting about, Zovi slipped several bills into the Marine lieutenant's pocket without leaving a trace.

The Marine lieutenant named Will narrowed his eyes, seemingly weighing military discipline against the money. But it did not take long before he burst into laughter, reeking of alcohol as he waved a broad hand.

"Come on, my good brother. I'll show you the might of the Marines!"

Naturally, Zovi was overjoyed. He grabbed the tool of his trade, put on his trench coat, and boarded the patrol ship docked at the harbor with Will.

Dark clouds filled the sky, and the cold wind howled.

Not long after the warship set sail, Zovi and the others ran into a heavy rainstorm. The weather made the Marines, already unwilling to go on this mission, even more irritated, and they began cursing one after another.

"Damn it, this is the only valuable thing I own. Don't you dare break."

Shielding his camera with his trench coat, Zovi cursed as he looked toward the coastline ahead. Their destination, Guya Village, lay there.

"My good brother, why aren't you in the cabin? What are you doing getting rained on out here?"

Will, draped in his lieutenant's coat, staggered out of the cabin and immediately spotted Zovi standing in the rain on deck. The smell of alcohol had yet to fade from him completely, but Zovi did not mind.

"Hehe, of course I'm looking for news. If I let something slip past right under my nose, wouldn't that be a disservice to my 'fare'?"

Zovi chuckled and made a half-serious joke.

"Haha."

Will did not mind Zovi's teasing. He merely shook his head and said to him,

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Guya Village isn't close to our town. Those villagers will need at least an hour to get there. And factoring in the time we've spent at sea, those pirates have probably already fled clean away. With an hour and a half, those sea locusts can take anything worth taking."

As he spoke to Zovi, Will lit himself a cigarette. He was certain this mission was just for show. As for actual fighting, there was no way they would run into any.

"Then I'll just write about the miserable state of the village after it was plundered by pirates."

There was some disappointment on Zovi's face. At first, he had truly hoped to land a major scoop, but after being drenched by the rain, he had gradually calmed down. Better not to encounter pirates if they could avoid it.

The aftermath of a raid was still a decent story, wasn't it?

Will took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke into the damp air. Just as he was about to offer Zovi a few perfunctory words of comfort, his eyes suddenly widened as if he had seen a ghost.

"The one-eyed skull flag! It's Belik!"

One-Eyed Belik's vicious reputation had spread far and wide. Especially recently, he had become a name that inspired terror.

Having absorbed two pirate crews, the Belik Fleet was an unignorable force in the North Blue, far beyond what a single patrol ship like theirs could handle.

"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

Will showed none of the bearing of a Marine lieutenant. To him, status and military discipline were nothing compared to his own life. Without three or four warships and several times as many soldiers as the enemy, who in the North Blue would dare claim they could take down Belik?

But before Will's retreat order could spread across the patrol ship, the Marine soldier responsible for observing the enemy through binoculars hurriedly shouted.

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant Will! Wait!"

At once, Will's fury surged from his chest. Leaving the trembling Zovi behind, he crossed the deck in several strides, grabbed the observer by the collar, and roared.

"Wait my ass! You little bastard, are you trying to make us die with you? If you want to stay, I don't care. I'm leaving."

The observer was cowed by Will and could not form a complete sentence for a moment. Two or three seconds later, the poor man finally explained to Will with a flushed face.

"Lieutenant, I don't mean that! Look! The Belik Pirates are all dead! The shoal is covered in corpses!"

Will's first reaction was that the observer was playing a trick on him. Yet no matter how much his reason refused to believe the soldier's words, the faint hope deep in his heart still made him pick up the binoculars.

After carefully confirming again and again that the corpses on the shore were not a trap, Will lowered the binoculars in a daze, his expression blank.

"Who wiped out the Belik Pirates?"

Hearing Will's mutter, Zovi recovered from his panic as well. He rubbed the camera beneath his trench coat and squinted through the curtain of rain at the nearby shoal.

Though he could not see the situation on shore clearly, a reporter's instinct had caught the scent of a major scoop.

"I'm alive. I won."

Those simple words declared the victor of the battle. Relying on the extraordinary recovery ability of a Zoan Devil Fruit, Belik had ultimately endured the final desperate clash and become the last victor.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."

After a violent fit of coughing, Long Yi laboriously pushed himself up from the ground. Rainwater streamed down his cheeks. His face was pale, and his eyes were filled with intense unwillingness.

He had lost.

"What a complete defeat. Even with the [Expert Contract], I still couldn't beat him?"

Feeling his strength drain from his body bit by bit, Long Yi lowered his head in despair.

The scroll he had drawn in his sea of consciousness had been an item called [Expert Contract (Deluxe Edition)], which allowed him to learn skills ten levels higher than his own. That was why Long Yi, despite having only just changed classes, could use sword techniques such as Asura Evil Light Slash and Ghost Seal Orb.

But items had time limits after all. Just moments ago, Long Yi had received the notification in his mind that the item had expired.

Misfortunes never came alone. That perfectly described Long Yi's current predicament.

"Truly impressive. If I gave you a few more years to train, I definitely wouldn't be your match."

Belik wore an expression of absolute confidence, completely unconcerned that Long Yi might have some hidden trump card left. He had seen it clearly: that astonishing sword energy just now had been the kid's final desperate move.

"Hehe."

Long Yi did not answer, only giving a bitter smile. Yet the defiance between his brows had not diminished.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you're sent off properly."

The situation had reached the point of no return. Belik did not waste time exchanging hypocritical pleasantries with Long Yi. Instead, he grinned viciously and transformed into Owl Form once more, flying slowly toward Long Yi.

Though Belik was far less agile than before, it was more than enough to deal with Long Yi in his current state.

First, he snapped the katana Long Yi had dropped on the ground with one claw. Then he reached for Long Yi, hooking his sharp talons into his battered body. With a spread of his wings, he shot into the sky with Long Yi in tow.

"I'll drop you to your death alive. Let's see just how hard your bones are!"

A flash of pleasure passed through his single eye. No matter what, Belik was the final victor.

"Your body doesn't seem as tough as it was before. If you fall from this height, you'll die too."

Carried high into the air, Long Yi spoke calmly without a trace of panic. He merely looked quietly at Belik, whose breathing had grown ragged, and secretly connected to his sea of consciousness to retrieve an item.

This was not the trump card he had prepared, yet it had now become what he would rely on to turn defeat into victory.

"Be on your way, Belik."

Long Yi's icy voice reached his ears. Belik was horrified and instinctively tried to release his talons and drop Long Yi, but it was already too late.

"How is this possible?! Where did you get that?!"

Firelight reflected in his single eye, and a shrill cry tore through the sky. Belik's heart pounded wildly as despair consumed him.