Muscle Bat King

"Dear old friend, Editor-in-Chief Pompeid:

My name is Cliff Rebel. Twelve years ago, I was an idle young nobleman. Now I'm a gang boss with two underlings and two streets.

Twelve years ago, while traveling the four seas aboard a merchant ship, I was shipwrecked and washed up in the unfamiliar city where I now stand-

the Harriet Kingdom in the North Blue, a small, impoverished place.

The old residents of Cook Street in Happiness Town took me in when I was gravely wounded and on the verge of death.

So, when the gang thugs from Martin Street bullied them, I made the most important decision of my life: I would wield a heavy bat and become a gangster to protect them, just like the hero of a novel!

Repaying kindness is an important part of a man's code of honor!

We fought the Martin Family all those years, until three years ago, when the whole family suddenly disappeared overnight.

It's a little embarrassing to say, and you may think I'm trying to take credit for someone else's work, Editor-in-Chief Pompeid, but I've always felt that it happened because of me...

As you know, besides my work as a gangster, I'm also a writer who does it for fun.

I'm very sorry that my insistence on working four days and taking three off caused you so much trouble.

Cook Street is my bestselling work.

But the characters in the book weren't based on me. They were based on my enemies, the Martin Family. Their rigid, hyena-like, old-fashioned family style fascinated me even as I loathed it.

But one day, three years ago, the Martin Family vanished off the face of the earth. There were no witnesses, no survivors, and not a single drop of blood left behind.

In fact, three days before it happened, a rather tall man in a white suit and mask came to see me. He asked if I was Muscle Bat King.

I thought he was a fan of my books. Having someone dig up your identity and call you by your pen name in real life is actually pretty embarrassing.

But he raised his hand and slapped me, then took out a slip of paper and read it aloud, clearly imitating someone else's tone:

'Muscle Bat King, if you can't write, then don't! Are your ancestors buried on Cook Street or something?!'

I stood there, stunned and unable to react, but the masked man suddenly vanished from right in front of me.

The sea is vast, and the temperaments of the strong are hard to fathom. I'm just a frog at the bottom of a well, and I'm deeply ashamed of my lack of imagination.

Afterward, I took over Martin Street and became a gang boss with two streets. Still shaken, I brought the Cook Street series to an end.

Editor-in-Chief Pompeid, I hope you'll forgive me for writing to you so suddenly today. I'd like you to say goodbye to my dear readers for me...

I'm about to face an unbeatable opponent, and I'm afraid I'll meet the same end as the Martin Family. But a gangster's code of honor won't let me back down!

I'm terribly sorry! I'm terribly sorry! I'm terribly sorry!

My story is about to end, and the story I wrote will never reach its conclusion."

A man sat at a desk, pen in hand, sobbing uncontrollably. His black hair stood straight up like steel needles, and he wore a tight black tank top that exposed his muscular arms.

"Boss Rebel, we've spotted the Giant Lion Pirates' flag!"

An urgent shout rang out from below the attic.

It was Hess, a gang underling and the son of the owner of Cook Street's bakery.

"Let's go, boss! We'll fight them to the end!"

Another shout rang out.

It was Amber, a gang underling and the son of the owner of Cook Street's fish shop.

"You idiots! Of course we will!"

Rebel quickly wiped his eyes, pulled the sunglasses down from his forehead, grabbed the tattered black suit from the coat rack and threw it over his shoulders. He picked up the solid metal bat by his bed, stood imposingly at the window, and shouted:

"Once we've taken protection money, we'll protect them even if it costs us our lives! That's a gangster's code of honor!"

Hess and Amber clung to each other, tears streaming down their faces.

"That's our boss for you! We're so scared we're about to piss ourselves!"

The nearby residents quietly wiped away their tears too.

The Harriet Kingdom was not one of the World Government Member States. With Rebel's help, Cook Street had repeatedly fought off local gangs, slave ships, and small groups of pirates.

But just two days ago, they had received a notice from one of the overlords of the North Blue-

the Giant Lion Pirates:

In two days, Happiness Town was to have one hundred million Beli and a hundred young women and children ready, or face the pirates' overwhelming wrath.

Happiness Town had three streets. The most prosperous one was the territory of a noble of the kingdom.

Rebel had visited several times over the past two days, but every time he had been turned away at the door.

The kingdom's guards were being gathered in the area, but they were stationed only inside the noble's towering castle.

Everyone knew the kingdom's guards were there to protect the noble. Even the pirates knew it.

As for Cook Street and Martin Street, the impoverished residents couldn't scrape together even one million Beli, much less one hundred million.

At a slave market, that was only the price of an ordinary girl.

"Goodbye, my dear readers!"

Rebel folded the letter, tucked it into an envelope, and carried his bat down from the attic.

The sea lay at the end of Cook Street. Sea and sky were the same dull gray, and the towering masts and pitch-black pirate flag were already visible to the naked eye.

Rebel shouted for the residents to take shelter on the noble's street, while he led Hess and Amber to stand proudly on the dock.

A short while later, the pirate ship entered the harbor.

The great pirate Giant Lion Vancarlo, who had a bounty of twelve million Beli, leaped straight over the side of the ship.

His enormous, four-meter-tall frame and the terrifying spiked club on his back filled people with despair.

A cigarette between his lips, Rebel took a deep drag and stepped forward. "Captain, these two streets you've set your sights on are under my protection..."

Bang!

Before he could finish, the enormous spiked club whistled through the air and blasted Rebel dozens of meters away, collapsing a house into ruins along with him.

"You bastard! How dare you hit our boss!"

Hess and Amber rushed into the ruins.

Vancarlo swung his bloodstained spiked club, a cruel smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"Have you got the money ready for me? Or would you rather I slaughter everyone in town and take it myself?"

Hundreds of pirates followed behind him, each carrying a blade, with brown bandannas on their heads and fierce looks on their faces.

"Pirates really don't have any code of honor, do they? Can't you show a little basic courtesy when you come onto someone else's turf...?"

With his two underlings supporting him, Rebel stood upright among the ruins, thick blood dripping slowly from his forehead.

Rebel held a World Bank check for two million Beli between his fingers. He raised it shakily over his head and waved it gently.

A small portion had been pooled by the residents; the rest was everything he had earned from writing books over the years.

"This is all we have. Please, I'm begging you to stop! This isn't an Affiliated Nation. We can't even afford the Heavenly Tribute, so how could you possibly squeeze a hundred million Beli out of us?"

"He's got a point, Captain!"

The vice captain, who looked like a beast tamer with a whip in his hand, a steel helmet on his head, and a vacant look in his eyes, rubbed his chin as he spoke.

"Idiot! If we didn't ask for more, how could we get them to cough up all their money?"

Vancarlo jabbed his vice captain hard in the head with his spiked club.

"You've got a point too, Captain."

The vice captain finally understood, his less-than-bright eyes full of admiration.

"If I've got a point, why aren't you going over there to get the money?!"

Vancarlo kicked the vice captain over to Rebel.

Wearing a strange expression, the vice captain covered his backside with one hand, snatched the check from Rebel with the other, and stuffed it into his steel helmet.

"Two million Beli isn't a small sum, but even if you don't have money, you must have women and children."

Vancarlo licked his lips. "As long as there are one or two top-quality ones, we might be able to trade them for a big ship in the Sabaody Archipelago."

The vice captain tapped his helmet. "You've got a point, Captain. Then we can go to Fish-Man Island. I want to try a Fish-Man too..."

Vancarlo smiled wickedly. "Yeah, a beautiful woman with no legs must be wonderful..."

The vice captain waved his whip excitedly. "Add plenty of spices to get rid of the fishy smell, and she'll be delicious!"

Vancarlo jabbed his vice captain hard in the head with his spiked club again. The pirates watched their captain put on his comedy act and roared with unrestrained laughter.

Just as the Giant Lion Pirates were making merry, a determined shout suddenly rang out.

"Sorry! You can have all the money, but you can't have the people. Happiness Town is free, and we're not slaves!"

Rebel stood in the ruins with his metal bat in hand, biting his lip.

The pirates fell silent.