Since he had decided to arm these sidekicks who had yet to grow into their own, he would have to bring out something worthwhile.
On this sea, even support personnel like Nami and Carina needed the ability to protect themselves. Otherwise, when they faced the monsters of the Grand Line in the future, they would not just be burdens, but potentially the weak links that brought the whole team down.
Before that, however, there was a very practical question.
System, Lin Xuan said silently, if I let someone else use special items redeemed from the shop, could they be stolen or lost?
This was a crucial question.
If he spent a fortune redeeming a divine weapon, only for someone to run off with it or turn it against him, he would be a complete failure as a transmigrator.
[Answer to host: all system-produced items are bound to the host by default, with the host as their sole owner with supreme authority.] [If lent to others, the host may remotely recall them by force, lock their functions, or detonate and destroy them at any time through thought. If the holder develops genuine killing intent toward the host, the item will automatically deactivate and retaliate.]
A capitalist's safety lock, huh... I like that setting.
Lin Xuan felt relieved, and the corners of his mouth relaxed a little.
With no risk of arming an enemy, there was nothing left to hesitate over.
His gaze locked onto two of today's discounted shop items, and his pupils contracted slightly.
[Modified Kar98k Sniper Rifle (Unlimited Recharge Model)] [Price: 400 points] [Description: the outdated gunpowder firing mechanism has been removed, replaced with compressed air and conversion of the user's stamina into kinetic energy. No recoil, silent, with power scaling according to the user's maximum physical capacity. Note: this is a man's romance, and a divine weapon for clearing out small fry.] [Modified 8x Optical Scope (Special Enchantment)] [Description: it does more than simply let you see farther. Though it looks like an ordinary glass tube, a certain rule-level correction has been added on top of its optical imaging. Note: you may see things you should not see.]
Exactly eight hundred.
The savings he had painstakingly accumulated were about to vanish in an instant.
Lin Xuan winced at the expense for only half a second before decisively redeeming them.
Points would not multiply just by sitting there. Turning them into immediate combat power was what mattered.
Besides, rather than letting Carina head to her death with that fire poker, this rifle would better bring out her potential as a phantom thief. Her attacks would become precise, concealed, and lethal.
His awareness returned to reality. The sea breeze was still slightly cool.
At the other end of the deck, Carina was still fiddling with her battered flintlock, seemingly pondering how to maintain it so its rusty hammer would move a little more smoothly.
Noticing Lin Xuan's gaze, she paused and asked hesitantly:
"Um... Lin Xuan, should I find a deserted island to practice shooting? Firing on the ship would make too much noise, after all, and the gunpowder smells awful. It would disturb your rest, wouldn't it?"
"Rest?"
Lin Xuan opened his eyes and rose from the pile of ropes.
At his movement, the moss-haired boy who had been dozing on the other side of the railing with three swords in his arms snapped his eyes open, his hand instinctively settling on a sword hilt.
"Zoro, don't be so nervous." Lin Xuan glanced at the wary Zoro, then casually reached into empty air with his right hand.
There were no dazzling golden special effects. But under Nami and Carina's shocked gazes, a rifle appeared out of thin air in Lin Xuan's hand. It had a long, slender shape, its body finished in premium matte black and fitted with a wooden stock.
Its lines were smooth, its bolt mechanism exquisitely crafted, and there was no visible opening in the chamber for loading gunpowder.
"This is the upgrade I'm giving you."
Holding the heavy Kar98k in one hand, Lin Xuan casually tossed it to Carina, who stood frozen in place.
"Huh?!" Carina scrambled to catch it. Its weight startled her as it landed in her hands.
As a seasoned thief, she had handled plenty of fine things, but this rifle's precision craftsmanship went completely beyond her understanding of firearms.
"This... is a gun?" Zoro came over with a frown and stared at the strange iron tube. "It doesn't even have a hammer or a match cord. How do you use it? Swing it like a fire poker and hit people?"
Nami, who was steering, said nothing, but her wide eyes were full of doubt as well.
Lin Xuan offered no explanation.
He reached out again, and a black cylindrical object appeared in his palm-the Modified 8x Optical Scope worth four hundred points.
"Watch."
Lin Xuan took the rifle back from Carina with practiced movements.
Click.
With a crisp metallic snap, the scope fitted snugly onto the rail above the rifle.
A strange sense of completeness instantly radiated from the weapon.
Its cold killing aura made even Zoro, who knew nothing about guns, instinctively retreat half a step.
"No gunpowder, no noise." Lin Xuan brushed his fingers lightly over the cold scope. The sensation felt extraordinarily real. "As long as you have enough stamina, it can fire indefinitely."
With that, Lin Xuan braced the stock against his shoulder, tilted his head slightly, and brought his right eye close to the seemingly deep eyepiece.
He merely wanted to test the clarity of this Modified 8x Optical Scope and show these inexperienced people what professionalism looked like.
The muzzle pointed casually toward the stern. Nami held the wheel with both hands, the sea breeze tousling her short orange hair and pressing her thin T-shirt tightly against her body.
But just as Lin Xuan's... froze.
Lin Xuan even forgot to breathe, his pupils contracting sharply within that small field of view as though he had seen something incredible.
"...Holy crap."
Lin Xuan abruptly pulled his head away from the scope, looking as though he had seen a ghost. He looked at the rifle in his hands, then up at the oblivious Nami in the distance, swallowing with a dry throat.
Was this what the system description meant by... "things you should not see"?
Hadn't the modifications to this thing gone a little too far off course?
Chapter 41: Could the Overlord of the East Blue Withstand This Shot?
This was no 8x scope at all. It was a treasure every man wanted.
Lin Xuan jerked his head up, then quickly pressed his eye back to the eyepiece, his heart pounding twice.
The instant he had focused just now, his gaze had pierced through the wheel behind Nami and the thick deck, clearly revealing a wooden barrel in a dark corner at the bottom of the hold-it contained fresh water, and he could even see the water level shifting with perfect clarity.
This was rule-based visual analysis.
A line of faint blue system text appeared at the edge of his vision just then:
[Detected that the host possesses rudimentary Observation Haki. The Modified 8x Optical Scope has automatically loaded the Qi Lock-On and Structural Insight modules. Note: as long as your mind is sufficiently focused, nothing can obstruct your gaze as you explore the truth.]
Lin Xuan sucked in a breath of salty sea air and looked at the pitch-black rifle in his hands, his expression turning somewhat strange.
This thing was downright uncanny.
In his previous life, it would have been the embodiment of moral depravity.
But... since this was for the sake of exploring the truth...
Lin Xuan's Adam's apple bobbed. Once that bold thought arose, he could no longer suppress it.
He took a deep breath and did his utmost to maintain a serious expression, as though performing precise ballistic calculations. The muzzle shifted naturally and slowly, finally locking onto the orange-haired figure at the wheel and the purple-haired figure wiping down her flintlock nearby.
Observation Haki ran at full power.
Yet the scene he had imagined did not appear.
Through the eyepiece, Nami and Carina did not become completely exposed.
Instead, a hazy glow seemed to shroud them. The system's damned Censorship Mechanism was taking effect.
Apart from the faint paths of blood and vital energy flowing through their bodies and skeletal diagrams showing how their muscles exerted force, there were no details that could inspire any indecent thoughts.
At that moment, the two girls were nothing but walking red-and-blue 3D anatomy teaching models in his eyes.
"...Tch."
Lin Xuan pulled his eye away from the scope and sighed, losing most of his earlier enthusiasm.
This system was not just a crooked merchant, but a stuffy old scholar too. It knew nothing about spicing up life.
"What's wrong?" Nami keenly noticed what was happening on Lin Xuan's side. That regretful sigh in particular sent an inexplicable chill down her back, and she turned around suspiciously. "Did that weird gun of yours malfunction?"
"No, I'm just adjusting the parameters." Without a change in expression, Lin Xuan lowered the muzzle, instantly putting away his disappointment and regaining his calm. "I wanted to find a target to test it on, but there's nothing on this vast sea except gulls and clouds. Not even a living target."
No sooner had he spoken than, as though to prove the rule that protagonists always ran into trouble, Carina's clear voice suddenly rang out from the lookout atop the mast.
"Captain, your living targets are here!"
Carina did not scream like an ordinary girl. There was even a trace of calm anticipation in her voice, as though she were watching a show.
On the simple crossbeam, the purple-haired girl gripped a rope with one hand and pointed toward the horizon ahead with the other. "Eleven o'clock. A fleet is approaching at full speed. That flag... if I'm not mistaken, those are the Krieg Pirates, the overlords of the East Blue."
Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow and lifted the Kar98k in his hands. This time, he used it purely as a telescope.
Through the Modified 8x Optical Scope's terrifying clarity, the scene several thousand meters away instantly zoomed into view.
It was an enormous ship, one that stood out even on this sea.
Its massive hull resembled a moving fortress, and the distinctive black panther figurehead at its bow looked ferocious.
Several slightly smaller escort ships guarded the flagship. Though they looked somewhat damaged, as if they had been through a battle, their immense size still carried an overwhelming sense of pressure.
"Hey! You on that wreck up ahead!"
From far away, a bellow amplified by a megaphone rolled toward them on the sea breeze, seemingly making even the calm sea ripple.
On the deck of the flagship named the Delidano, a burly man clad in heavy golden armor held a megaphone and laughed with unrestrained arrogance.
Even from several thousand meters away, Lin Xuan could see through the scope the look of utter disregard for human life on his face.
"I am Don Krieg! I don't care who you are. Lower your sails immediately and hand over all your food and fresh water! Otherwise, I'll crush you to pieces with this invincible battleship! Hahahaha!"
His laughter brimmed with pent-up brutality.
Clearly, having just fled the Grand Line in disgrace, they urgently needed to reclaim some of their dignity as overlords from these weak "prey."
"Tch. He certainly has a loud voice."
On the other side of the deck, Zoro slowly straightened.
His left eye, which had remained half closed, opened slightly. His right hand was already resting on the three sword hilts at his waist, his thumb gently pushing against Wado Ichimonji's guard to reveal a gleaming stretch of blade.
"A guy who only knows how to shout will do nicely as the first blood for my new move." A battle-hungry grin curled across the moss-haired boy's lips, his aura rising with excitement. "Lin Xuan, you just got that new weapon. You still need to get used to it. I'll take this fight."
As Zoro saw it, since that man called Krieg was known as the overlord of the East Blue, even if it was only a title, he ought to withstand a few more slashes than those small-fry Marines.
Yet just as he was about to stride toward the bow, a hand stretched across his chest.
Hadn't the modifications to this thing gone a little too far off course?!
The complaints were still flooding Lin Xuan's mind, but his movements did not stop.
He extended his hand, firmly blocking Moss Head as he prepared to charge.
"Don't rush to your death, and don't rush to steal my kill."
Lin Xuan tipped a mouthful from the glass bottle of cheap rum into his mouth. The fiery liquid burned its way down his throat, completely washing away his lingering embarrassment.
He rubbed his thumb over the Kar98k's stock, a playful smile curling his lips. "Let's test the waters with this hunk of iron. If it can't even crack that ship's shell, you can go slash it afterward."
Forced to stop, Zoro curled his lip and slid Wado Ichimonji back into place at his waist. His eyes swept over the pitch-black rifle, his face full of doubt, as though saying, "Can that fire poker work better than my swords?"
Still, he stepped back half a pace and leaned against the mast with his arms folded, adopting a posture that said, "I'll just quietly watch you perform."
"Then you'd better aim well." The swordsman's voice was low, carrying his distinctive pride.
Lin Xuan did not reply. He merely tilted his head slightly.
In the corner of his eye, Nami's fingers were clenched tightly around her long staff, while Carina pressed close to the railing, holding her dagger in a reverse grip. Though their bodies trembled slightly, neither showed any intention of backing down.
Not bad. They were starting to look a little like a pirate crew.
Before you continue