Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger? Only Idiots Did That

But after the brief joy, Rochi's brow suddenly furrowed.

He glanced at the latest status panel.

[Current Level: Level 11 (Ensign Rank)]

[Experience: 0/110 (Note: Due to the host's level increase, experience gained from killing soldier-rank pirates has now decayed to 5 points!)]

Only 5 experience points per kill, while leveling up required 110 points. That meant he had to find and kill more than twenty pirates on these seas!

Not to mention reaching Level 12, or Level 20 later on.

This experience decay would probably keep him from gaining even one level for years!

Rochi shook the blood from his fist, turned, stepped over the corpses scattered across the ground, and walked toward the warship.

He needed to go somewhere stronger!

He needed to kill monsters with bounties in the tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions!

Only the Grand Line, only Marine Headquarters, could be the battlefield he needed to set foot on next!

Just as the warship returned and docked at the branch base's pier—

A communications soldier, drenched in sweat, stumbled and crawled his way to Rochi, then snapped into an exceptionally crisp salute.

"Ro... Rochi, Ensign!"

The soldier stammered excitedly, "The lieutenant has issued an urgent order! Please proceed to the top-floor conference room in the branch headquarters immediately!"

"What happened?" Rochi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Head... Headquarters has sent people! A major, along with a high-level inspection team led by a brigadier general!" The communications soldier's voice trembled.

Headquarters? An inspection team?

A blazing fire of ambition instantly ignited in Rochi's dark eyes!

Talk about perfect timing! His ticket to the Grand Line had delivered itself right to his doorstep!

The branch headquarters' top-floor executive conference room.

The lieutenant, who normally ruled this base with an iron fist and threw his weight around, was now standing beside the desk like a fawning lapdog, bowing and scraping.

In the large executive chair sat a burly man draped in a general's Justice coat, his face covered in a thick beard.

Simply sitting there, the iron-blooded pressure radiating from him felt almost tangible, making the air throughout the room unbearably heavy.

This man was Brigadier General Carl, an influential figure from Marine Headquarters!

Beside the brigadier general stood a stern young man wearing a fitted black suit beneath a Marine officer's coat, with the rank insignia of a Headquarters major pinned to his chest.

His gaze was cold and arrogant, and he did not even spare the lieutenant a proper glance.

"Brigadier General Carl, every word in the report I submitted to Headquarters was absolutely true!"

Wiping cold sweat from his brow, the lieutenant eagerly sold Rochi's merits.

"That boy named Rochi is only fifteen years old, yet in two months, he slaughtered his way through the surrounding pirate circles! Entirely through physical strength! He's an incredibly rare monster!"

"Fifteen years old? Promoted to ensign in two months?"

Brigadier General Carl lifted his coffee and took a sip, letting out a noncommittal chuckle.

"Headquarters knows exactly what kind of trash the pirates of the East Blue are. Someone who dominates here might only be a third-rate nobody on the Grand Line."

"Still, since you recommend him so strongly, I'll make an exception and take a look."

The moment he finished speaking, the conference room's double redwood doors were flung open with a bang.

No announcement. No knock.

Rochi strode steadily into the room, his ensign's uniform reeking of gunpowder and blood, stepping directly into the chamber shrouded in overwhelming pressure.

The instant he entered, his Observation Haki automatically issued a warning!

Rochi could clearly sense that the brigadier general in the executive chair was like a sleeping tyrannosaurus, while the major beside him was like a drawn sword!

So these were the strong ones from Headquarters!

The corners of Rochi's mouth rose uncontrollably into an utterly crazed curve.

"Insolence! Who allowed you to enter without knocking?"

The Headquarters major beside Carl barked coldly, his aura as a strong man pressing directly down on Rochi.

"The lieutenant said it was urgent, so I came immediately. I didn't have time for such formalities."

Rochi met the major's gaze without yielding, his body standing as straight as a spear.

"Heh, so you're the so-called 'Grim Reaper of the East Blue,' Rochi?"

Brigadier General Carl set down his coffee cup and studied Rochi from head to toe with interest.

Her sharp gaze instantly saw the explosive power hidden beneath Rochi's lean frame, as well as the lone-wolf air of someone who showed no fear before those above him.

"Interesting. Not only was he not frightened, he's actually... excited?"

The brigadier general rose to her feet and turned her gaze toward the young officer beside her.

"Major Kuhn, take him to the training ground and test what he's made of."

"Yes, Brigadier General."

Major Kuhn gave Rochi a disdainful look. "I hope your bones are as hard as your mouth when you get beaten later."

Ten minutes later.

The branch's massive training ground had already been cleared.

More than two hundred Marine soldiers and officers held their breath as they watched from the edges.

At the center of the field, Rochi and Headquarters Major Kuhn stood ten meters apart.

"Kid, I'll give you three moves first, so no one says a Headquarters major is bullying some branch ensign."

Kuhn had one hand in his trouser pocket while the other casually crooked a finger at Rochi, his posture arrogant to the extreme.

Having read countless web novels in his previous life, Rochi sneered inwardly.

When real power and opportunities were on the line, why hide his abilities? Why play the pig to eat the tiger?

Only brain-dead idiots did that!

If he stood here today and acted like a mediocre nobody, or deliberately hid his strength only to be crushed by his opponent, these lofty Headquarters officers would forget him the moment they turned around. He would never get a ticket to Headquarters for the rest of his life!

In this Darwinian jungle, where human lives were worth less than grass, if he wanted the favor of powerful people, he had to slam his sharpest fangs and most heaven-defying talent straight into their faces without holding anything back—hurt them, shock them!

"No need to give me anything."

Rochi's voice was cold enough to contain not the slightest warmth. "Major, I advise you to go all out. Otherwise... you'll die badly."

"Arrogant!" Major Kuhn's expression darkened as he was about to lash out.

Boom—!!!

Without any warning, the granite beneath Rochi's feet collapsed with a thunderous crash!

With the terrifying explosive power of an Level 11 ensign-rank body, Rochi instantly transformed into an afterimage too fast for the naked eye to catch, appearing before Kuhn as if he had teleported!

And within the 0.01 seconds of that charge—

Rochi's eyes snapped open!

Within his dark pupils, two scarlet one-tomoe Sharingan spun madly, activating dynamic vision tracking at its highest level!

At the same time, his beginner Observation Haki operated at full power like a radar!

"What?!"

Major Kuhn's previously indifferent pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints!

Too fast!

Finger Pistol!

Driven by the combat instincts of a Headquarters elite, Kuhn changed moves in an instant.

He pressed two fingers together, turning them into the sharpest steel bullet as they shot for Rochi's heart with a piercing sonic boom!