Who's the Mastermind? The Truth Is Revealed

She snatched up her quill and scribbled across her notebook as if venting her frustration. The page covered in formulas became a black mess, but that still wasn't enough. She tore the notebook to shreds, threw it on the floor, and stomped on it twice as though it were the culprit.

Not far away, the sea churned, and a figure suddenly burst from the water.

His upper body was bare, his perfectly proportioned frame gleaming black beneath the sun. A faint smile played at his lips as he held a sword, delight shining in his eyes. He was clearly in a fine mood.

He tapped the air lightly, turned, and landed on the stern deck. The black sheen faded, revealing his sharply sculpted face.

It was Dongze.

"Hey, Robin! You still haven't solved it?"

Robin's face flushed. She had passed what was considered the world's hardest archaeology exam at seven and had long been used to being called a genius.

Yet she had spent two whole days thinking over Dongze's problem before even finding a place to start. That was ridiculous. She wasn't some fool.

"Sorry, Mr. Dongze. I'm not clever enough!"

Meeting Dongze's strange gaze, Robin looked away guiltily and forced out the words.

A sly smile crossed Dongze's lips. "Really?"

He had chosen that problem with care. It required calculus and relativity. Robin could pull out every last hair on her head and still never solve it.

Come on, have a heart!

At the sight of the enormous Sea King corpse slowly rising from the water, Robin practically fled. "Sir! I'll go make dinner."

Dongze stood by the railing, gazing into the distance. His eyes grew unfocused.

On the panel, the Conqueror's Haki entry had finally changed.

Conqueror's Haki: 1200/1000000.

With no one around to practice on, Dongze had been forced to find another way. A chance discovery had led him to the perfect targets for grinding proficiency.

The sea was a wondrous place. It held fish, big fish, and vicious big fish.

That was right.

Sea Kings.

He was even planning to head straight for the Calm Belt once he had finished sweeping the East Blue.

It was a paradise for Sea Kings and the perfect place for him to grind proficiency.

Just now, deep underwater, he had finally brought down that Sea King after a grueling battle.

On land, it might not have taken so much effort. In the sea, water resistance made every strike cost more than ten times the stamina it would on land.

His speed had been limited, too. Attacks he could normally dodge with ease became desperately hard to avoid underwater.

That was why the fight had been so grueling.

He looked at the new skill on his panel.

Abdominal Breathing: 100/100000;

He could only smile bitterly.

It was the first time he had unlocked a skill involuntarily. He had nearly died back there. Luckily, his Conqueror's Haki had come through for him.

But the rewards were staggering.

His Armament Haki had risen by a full 2,000 points, as much as he would gain from forty Zoan users.

His Observation Haki had risen by only 50 points, but he understood why. Fighting a Sea King underwater wasn't a matter of failing to see its attacks. He simply couldn't dodge them.

"Sir! Dinner's ready! It's a grilled Sea King tenderloin set!"

Robin emerged from the kitchen in an apron and winked at Dongze.

His thoughts scattered, and he toppled backward off the railing.

Heat rushed through his nose, and blood streamed out.

Cosplay—and the real thing at that! She had that swimsuit on underneath. One look was enough to finish him off!

After a long while, Dongze gripped the railing and slowly got to his feet.

"Hey!"

"Robin, don't dress like that for the next few days! I'm a little anemic!"

Seeing Dongze so flustered, Robin covered her mouth and chuckled. She had thought her new employer didn't have a single weakness!

In the end, he was still a man. A perfectly normal man.

"Got it, Lord Dongze~~"

With that, she tugged at her apron and strutted back into the cabin.

Dongze immediately turned away, raising a hand and leaning forward.

Remembering those astonishing curves, he cursed inwardly. What a temptress!

Two days later, Dongze and Robin finally came across another pirate ship. A feast was underway on board.

Dongze was starting to think pirates were a rare breed. Then again, he hadn't considered why. With a monster like him around, how many people still dared put to sea?

Dongze narrowed his eyes, and his Observation Haki spread outward. In moments, he knew everything happening aboard.

She's already gone to sea at such a young age?

On the deck, a raucous crew of pirates drank and ate meat, boasting about their haul. This one job would keep them living large for three years.

"Heh, heh!"

"Boss, I don't know who tipped us off, but I really ought to thank him!"

"Those Black Merchants! They were going to pour out milk I can't even afford to drink!"

"Damn right! The bastards are unforgivable!"

"I'm going to fry them later!"

"..."

Listening to them, Dongze chuckled twice. So the captives were Black Merchants.

He loathed that sort, too.

He remembered playing a game called Toxic Milk Powder years ago. Black Merchants ran rampant in it, stirring up trouble and making him grind his teeth.

Back then, he had wanted to catch them and sit them down on a power drill, ass first.

He hadn't gotten his wish then, but payback had come around fast. He didn't care what world these Black Merchants came from. He decided to wait until the pirates had finished with them before stepping in.

"Huh? You're not going to intervene, Mr. Dongze?"

Dongze ran a hand through his hair, drank a can of ice-cold cola, and said with a straight face, "My stomach's acting up! I'll get to work later!"

Robin's eye twitched. Dongze didn't look remotely unwell, especially when she watched him happily drain the cola he had just taken from the fridge.

How could anyone with an upset stomach look like that?

She was curious, but she never could have guessed that his real reason for holding back was those captives.

Even so, Dongze hadn't left things entirely alone. His Observation Haki remained active, and Forgotten Dust was already drawn. After all, someone he knew was here.

Someone he hadn't expected to see.

The girl who carried the fate of all Cocoyasi Village on her shoulders.

The Cat Burglar, Nami!

Who Was Behind It All? The Truth Revealed

"Boss! We've spotted another single-masted ship!"

"Oh?"

"Who does it belong to?"

"Captain, it isn't flying any flag!"

"Huh?"

The conversation stopped there. The pirate captain seemed to realize something, and his swaggering expression turned deathly pale.

"A single-masted ship without a flag!"

"Could it be...?"

Only one single-masted ship sailed the East Blue without a flag: the Pirate Hunter Dongze's.

"Men! Turn us around, quick! It's Dongze—the one who leaves nothing alive!"

"Tch. I still have to do it myself in the end?"

Dongze stamped down hard, using Shave and Geppo. In the blink of an eye, he was above the pirate ship.

"Hey there, proficiency points! How are you?"

"Oops! Slip of the tongue! Hello, cuties!"

"You lot are better. I can cut you down without breaking a sweat!"

Compared with Sea Kings, pirates really were easier to cut down!

The moment he finished speaking, Dongze appeared behind the pirates.

"Hundred-Pace Flying Sword!"

His proficiency with the move had reached its maximum. Even without Haki, one strike would have been enough to slit every pirate's throat.

No—take every head. And this strike was reinforced with Haki besides.

Hundred-Pace Flying Sword ended with a horizontal slash. Given how tenaciously people in this world clung to life, Dongze had aimed to sever their heads rather than cut their throats, just to be safe.

Seeing his Armament Haki rise by 20 points on the panel, Dongze merely shook his head. It was what he had expected.

As for those in the cabin, the pirates hadn't dealt with them yet. That was no problem for him. One way or another, he wouldn't let them leave the ship alive.

There were three people in the cabin, two men and one woman. The youngest was Nami, hiding inside a barrel.

Her eyes darted about as she peered through a gap in the barrel at the other two, her thoughts impossible to read. Those two were presumably the Black Merchants.

Dongze had no sympathy for them. They were parasites who exploited others, hoarding resources and manipulating the lives of ordinary people at will.

If the Celestial Dragons were a cancer on the world, these people were its festering sores.

At the underground auctions in the Sabaody Archipelago, for instance, many of the attendees were rich merchants like them. They grew wealthy without conscience, bullied the weak, and considered themselves above everyone else. Yet the moment they met a Celestial Dragon, they turned spineless.

As the old saying went, "The perceptive hear what makes no sound; the wise see what has no form." One falling leaf foretold autumn. Even a glimpse like this revealed what was wrong with the world.

And then there were the marines. They should have protected ordinary people, but here they acted as shields for criminals.

It was enough to chill the heart.

He wondered: if the World Government had truly devoted itself to serving the people, would pirates and the Revolutionary Army ever have arisen?

Dongze's answer was no.

Ninety-nine point nine percent of people wanted stability and peace. Ambitious schemers were few.

If the conflicts in this world could have been resolved, the Revolutionary Army would never have found fertile ground. And how could mere pirates have grown strong enough to stand against those two colossal powers?

Still, he wasn't entirely selfless. He simply hoped to fulfill his own ambitions and make the world a better place along the way.

Dongze opened the cabin door and went in.

A single lamp dimly lit the cabin. Both Black Merchants were chained up and injured, their faces bruised and swollen.

The pirates hadn't started torturing them yet, but while raiding their ship, they had taken out their anger on them and nearly beaten them to death.

This was the world of pirates. In the Naruto World, a beating like that would have knocked the shit out of them.

"Hey, kid. The people outside are gone!"

"Aren't you coming out?"