Roger's Capture

Three days had passed since Buck's execution.

The open-air training ground of the Marine base lay beneath the blazing sun.

Whoosh—!

A swift blade flash carved a cold arc through the air, precisely severing a fallen leaf from the wooden post ahead while leaving the post itself utterly unmoved.

Rayne slowly sheathed his sword and exhaled a breath of stale air.

In just three days, he had fully "synchronized" the [Swordsmanship] he had exchanged from the shop.

With the system's support, each day of his progress rivaled months of grueling training for an ordinary person.

His swordsmanship had now firmly entered the [Intermediate] realm.

My shooting proficiency should reach the next level in the next couple of days.

My physique... seems close to the next realm too.

Over the past few days, Rayne had carried out [Body Inheritance] twice more by executing newly captured pirates. Though both had been tiny N-rank improvements, they had made him clearly feel that he was only one step away from the next realm.

At this rate of improvement... could the original owner of this body have actually been some buried super genius?

Rayne immediately shook his head with a self-mocking smile. Whether he was a genius or not no longer mattered before the system.

Just as he was immersed in the pleasure of steadily growing stronger—

Bzzzz—!!!

Every broadcast Den Den Mushi in the base suddenly sounded a shrill, highest-level alarm capable of piercing eardrums!

The piercing alarm rang across the skies of Loguetown.

Every Marine who had been resting, patrolling, or training abruptly stopped what they were doing and stared in astonishment toward the broadcasts.

A solemn, murderous voice announced to every soldier in the base through each loudspeaker in an impassioned tone:

"Emergency announcement! The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, has been successfully captured by the Hero of the Marines—Vice Admiral Garp!"

After a brief, deathly silence, the entire base erupted into thunderous cheers!

It's finally... here?

Several hours later, when the first wave of News Coos descended in overwhelming numbers, more detailed news spread throughout the world.

The newspaper's front-page headline was printed in the most eye-catching font—

<The Legend Ends! Marine Hero Garp Personally Brings Down the Pirate King!>

Another piece of news sent everyone in Loguetown into even greater shock and frenzy.

The World Government had decided that, three months later, Gol D. Roger would be publicly executed in Loguetown, the Pirate King's hometown!

Rayne stared at those words in the paper, his eyes burning hot.

Three months from now, I'll finally get Roger, the ultimate newbie-village gift package I've been waiting for.

As long as I swallow it, I'll soar to the heavens in a single step!

Meanwhile, in the basement of a dim tavern at Loguetown's harbor.

A group of pirates gathered around a table in a stifling atmosphere. They were the surviving remnants of Mad Shark Diego's pirate crew, whom Rayne had previously executed.

"Boss! We found out who that masked executioner is! I spent sixty thousand Beli getting the answer from a Marine!" said a pirate with a scar across his face through gritted teeth.

"Damn it!" The one-eyed leader slammed his fist onto the table. "If we can't touch those officials, can't we touch some kid who carries out executions?!"

"We have to do it! We'll use that brat's head to console the captain!" another pirate said excitedly. "The papers say that in three months, this place will be full of big shots from Marine Headquarters! By then, we'll never have another chance to avenge the captain!"

"But that kid's a loner. He barely ever leaves the base... We won't have a chance to strike at all!"

A vicious gleam flashed through the one-eyed man's eye.

"Then we sneak in! Tonight is our last chance! Kill him, then we set sail immediately!"

Late at night, in Rayne's single dormitory room.

He had just completed an execution that afternoon and was lying on his bed, preparing to look over today's gains.

Then—

Rayne's ears suddenly twitched.

After his [Physique Realm] broke through to [Intermediate], his five senses had long surpassed those of ordinary people.

In the dead silence of the night, he could clearly hear several deliberately softened footsteps approaching from the hallway outside his door. Those definitely did not belong to the night patrol.

More than that, the [Intermediate] stealth skills he had inherited from Buck had not only taught him how to hide himself, but also given him a beast-like instinct in the darkness.

Rayne could clearly sense that the concealment skills of those people outside were laughably clumsy, full of openings—and so was their undisguised, violent killing intent.

An assassination?

The thought flashed through Rayne's mind, but he immediately felt that something was off.

I'm just an executioner everyone in this base shuns. I have no power, no influence, I haven't blocked anyone's path, and I don't have any secrets worth silencing me over. Who would want to kill me?

As his thoughts raced, his gaze subconsciously swept over the execution rifle in the corner, which he had just cleaned.

...Are they here for revenge?

Rayne's eyes instantly turned cold.

Bang—!

The dormitory door was violently kicked open! Four shadows holding blades and guns rushed inside like vicious wolves, only to discover that the room was empty!

"Where is he?!" the one-eyed leader snarled in shocked disbelief.

The next second, a cold voice rose behind them like Death's whisper.

"Looking for me?"

The pirates turned around in terror, only to see that Rayne had somehow appeared behind them.

"You little bastard, die—"

The pirate closest to him roared and swung his blade down.

Rayne did not even look at him.

He merely took a step forward, turned sideways, and struck with the edge of his hand, precisely hitting the man's neck.

Crack.

There was no scream. The pirate collapsed soundlessly to the floor like a limp pile of mud.

It all happened so fast that the other three did not have time to react.

Rayne did not want to use a sword, much less a gun.

He found them dirty, especially in his own room.

With his [Intermediate] physique, Rayne's body became an afterimage darting at high speed through the cramped space.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After three dull impacts, the fight came to an abrupt end within three seconds.

Rayne looked at the unconscious invaders sprawled across the floor and frowned slightly. One by one, he dragged them out of the dormitory and threw them into a secluded corner outside the base.

Then, using one of the pirates' short swords, he gave each of them a few cuts, staging the scene as a deadly fight over an uneven division of loot. Only then did he dust off his hands, bringing everything to a perfect close.

He returned to his room and shut the door, as though he had merely gone out to take out the trash.

In his mind, a string of notifications for completed Sin Judgments rang out.

He did not immediately check the panel. Instead, he spent several quiet minutes in the darkness calming the emotions left from having just killed someone.

"Just as expected..."

Rayne murmured quietly, without the slightest hint of surprise in his voice.

"Just as I thought."

From the first day the system had bound itself to him, he had held a suspicion: the emphasis in the name [Sin Judgment] was on "sin," not on the form of "judgment."

The system had activated through executions only because he happened to be in a position that exposed him first to that method of ending sin.

Tonight's assassination was not merely a minor crisis to him, but an experiment he had long anticipated—to verify whether his system could function outside the execution ground!

Now, the experiment had produced its result.

With a thought, he opened the system's Judgment Archive.

Only when Rayne saw the four unmistakably clear new records at the top of the log did the corner of his mouth finally rise into a smile that showed everything was under control.

He glanced at the nearly one thousand Sin Points provided by the four N-rank pirates, then swept his eyes over the [Optional Rewards] that held no appeal for him whatsoever.

With a thought, Rayne chose [Body Inheritance] for all of them without hesitation.

Four weak but cumulative currents of warmth flowed into his body, making his physique—which had nearly reached its bottleneck—even more solid.