Chapter 228: Arrival at Whiskey Peak

Richie the lion wobbled across the deck, his eyes vacant, feeling no different from a kitten that had just undergone a neutering surgery.

"Pfft, hahahahaha! What kind of look is that?! Did Richie turn into a lioness? But even lionesses have fur on their necks!"

Usopp laughed out loud at the pitiful lion; he couldn't help it, as Usopp had been at the very bottom of the food chain on this ship, and even Richie the lion would often intimidate him.

Now that he saw this lion having such bad luck, it would be strange if Usopp didn't laugh.

Seeming to hear Usopp's laughter, Richie the lion turned his head, looked at this long-nosed poop-scooper, bared his sharp teeth, and bit down without a word.

Usopp had plenty of experience being bitten along the way; seeing Richie the lion's expression change, he immediately turned and ran, but the lion let out a roar, a pair of wings instantly sprouted from his back, and he flew into the sky, while his original lion head transformed into a sharp bird head.

"A griffin?! This... this... what is going on?"

Usopp let out a miserable scream, having already been grabbed by the collar by the flying lion; the lion's original paws had turned into eagle talons, gripping Usopp so hard he rolled his eyes back.

Nami on the deck ignored the screaming Usopp in the sky, let her gaze sweep over the molting griffin, and looked at Uchiha Feiyu:

"Feiyu, what is going on? How did this lion suddenly turn into this? Is it because of that Devil Fruit Ability user?"

As she spoke, Nami glanced at the wooden barrel filled with seawater; the Vulture-Vulture Fruit user who had been soaking in the barrel had long since turned into a Dried Corpse and been thrown into the sea by Uchiha Feiyu.

"Correct, I extracted the Devil Fruit Ability from that Devil Fruit Ability user and gave it to this lion, which is why he was able to evolve into a griffin."

Uchiha Feiyu nodded and said, looking up at the griffin in the sky with a somewhat strange expression on his face:

"However... I never expected that this lion would have a neck that molts like a vulture... Theoretically, a Zoan Devil Fruit shouldn't have any effect without transforming, right?"

For example, Chopper the little reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit; although he is bizarre when he transforms into his human form, he is actually no different from an ordinary reindeer in his reindeer form, except for having a blue nose—which is also his natural defect and has nothing to do with the Devil Fruit.

Uchiha Feiyu had truly never seen a Devil Fruit image that could actually affect the original body like this.

According to Uchiha Feiyu's guess, it was likely because this Devil Fruit Ability was extracted directly from the user's body rather than obtained by eating a Devil Fruit.

But it didn't matter; he would know the results after doing a few more experiments later. Devil Fruits were hard to find on the Grand Line, but Devil Fruit Ability users were a dime a dozen.

Not counting the unlucky Usopp and Richie the lion, who didn't know whether to be sad or happy, the Going Merry was fast, and in less than a day, Whiskey Peak, commonly known as Cactus Island, the lair of the Bounty Hunters, appeared in the distance.

When the Going Merry appeared, quite a few Bounty Hunters were gathered on Cactus Island, singing and dancing with fine wine and food, looking as if they were welcoming them, but once the Going Merry got closer, the group of Bounty Hunters realized there was no Pirate flag hanging on the ship at all, and they all cursed their bad luck.

These Bounty Hunters were not very strong and didn't dare to truly arrest Pirates with blades and guns, so they always blocked the entrance to the Grand Line to deceive some rookie Pirate crews who had just entered the Grand Line.

If a rookie Pirate crew was slightly more vigilant, they would be plied with alcohol and become their prey.

Seeing that the other party was not some Pirate crew, this group of Bounty Hunters naturally felt a bit annoyed, but some Bounty Hunters had their eyes darting around, seeing that the people on the ship didn't seem very strong, and they had some crooked ideas.

After all, there was no clear dividing line between Bounty Hunters and Pirates, and even some Bounty Hunters who had been at it for a long time would often moonlight in the Pirate profession.

However, one of the leaders among these Bounty Hunters, Igaram, who wore a large curly wig and looked like a Great Ape, never left the pier and even stopped the group of Bounty Hunters:

"You idiots, the people on that ship are our companions from Baroque Works! Didn't you see that's Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday?"

Actually, that group of Bounty Hunters really hadn't noticed... Princess Vivi had let her hair down and was no longer dressed like a delinquent girl, and as for Mr. 9, his crown had been split in two; without this biggest feature, this guy looked quite unremarkable.

People in the One Piece World all had some degree of face blindness; Luffy belonged to the type with a very severe case, but others were also more or less face-blind, so there was nothing to say about not recognizing them.

"It really is... where is the crown on that guy Mr. 9's head?"

"Miss Wednesday is actually so pretty; you couldn't tell at all with that old hairstyle."

While the Bounty Hunters here were still discussing, Uchiha Feiyu had already jumped off the ship and looked at the curly-haired man:

"Are you all Bounty Hunters from Baroque Works?"

The curly-haired Igaram was a bit impatient, thinking, who are you? How dare you talk to me like that? But Princess Vivi, who had also jumped off the ship, hurriedly gave him a look, which made him act more respectfully:

"Correct, this entire Whiskey Peak is a stronghold of Baroque Works, and everyone here is a Bounty Hunter..."

"Alright, I understand. In that case, you pick out a few who aren't completely loyal to Baroque Works, and leave the rest to me!"

"Uh... wh... what do you mean? Who exactly are you? What do you want to do?"

"Mr. Uchiha Feiyu, do you want to help us deal with Baroque Works?"

A look of pleasant surprise suddenly appeared on Vivi's face as she looked at Uchiha Feiyu. Although she didn't know if Uchiha Feiyu's strength could handle that Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Desert King, she knew he was definitely the strongest person she had ever met in her life.

If there were someone like this to help Alabasta, at least the chances of dealing with that Seven Warlords of the Sea would be higher.

"No, I just need some test subjects, and to put it bluntly, these Bounty Hunters are just the periphery of Baroque Works; even if they were all killed, that Desert King wouldn't necessarily care."

"If you want me to help you solve your country's problems, you at least need to be prepared to pay a reward!"

Upon hearing Uchiha Feiyu directly ask for a reward, the smile on Princess Vivi's face stiffened. Honestly, Alabasta was indeed one of the top major powers on the entire Grand Line, with a standing army of 600,000 alone; logically, they shouldn't be short of money.

However, the royal family of Alabasta didn't actually have much money themselves; in recent years, the royal private treasury had all been used to subsidize the commoners, leaving them even more strapped for cash.

In the past, the national treasury was quite full, and at worst, they could take some money from the treasury as a reward; after all, this money was originally intended for the country, but the severe drought caused by the Dance Powder in recent years had left the treasury dry.

In this situation, Princess Vivi herself couldn't be sure that Alabasta could provide a reward that would satisfy the other party.

"Um... how many Belly do you want?"

"How much money can your Alabasta have?"

"This... I'm not quite sure, probably a few hundred million Belly..."

Very well, a country with a standing army of 600,000 only has a few hundred million Belly; you have to say, even the slightly famous Pirates in the New World have bounties of several hundred million!

Uchiha Feiyu didn't know whether to say Alabasta was too poor or if that King Cobra was truly that selfless, but the speechless expression on his face clearly expressed his meaning, making Vivi blush.

"Um... Alabasta has had some difficulties these years, but as long as we defeat Crocodile, I believe the whole country will get better soon."

That's not necessarily true... Alabasta's current predicament certainly has a lot to do with Crocodile, but the country itself probably has quite a few deep-seated problems—you have to know that this desert country has lasted for 800 years; any system that has been running for 800 years is bound to be riddled with problems and difficult to reform.

Perhaps because of the personalities of the people in the One Piece World, and because it is a supernatural world, it is slightly better than the real world, but it probably isn't much better; the people at the bottom are just barely able to survive, let alone talk about the quality of life.

This kind of thing is not a problem that can be solved just by a king being benevolent and loving the people like his own children. The Chongzhen Emperor worked 18 hours a day, ate only four dishes, and had patches on his clothes; can you say he wasn't diligent and frugal? Can you say he had no feelings for the country? But in the end, the Ming Dynasty still collapsed when it was time to collapse.

The torrent of the era cannot be changed by individuals; even the World Government actually shows such signs today. The so-called Great Pirate Era is no different from a peasant uprising.

"Forget it... we'll talk about Alabasta's affairs later; I'll deal with the Bounty Hunters here first."

"Uh, wait a moment, let me go call one of my companions over first!"

Mr. 9 said, then ran over. A moment later, he was seen dragging a muscular woman over:

"I only have this one companion... the rest of the Bounty Hunters aren't very familiar with me..."

After Mr. 9 finished speaking, he started whispering to the muscular woman. Although that muscular woman looked like a tough guy, her temper was actually quite good. After listening to a few words from Mr. 9, she nodded and stopped talking, as if betraying Baroque Works was not a big deal at all.

As for Princess Vivi, besides the curly-haired one, she also brought over a Running Duck; as for the rest of the people, she indicated she was not familiar with them.

Come to think of it, there was only that companion Mr. 9 who was with Princess Vivi all the time, and their relationship was decent enough; as for those other Bounty Hunters, what kind of rotten tomatoes and spoiled melons were they to be worthy of associating with a princess of a country?

"Very well, then leave these Bounty Hunters to me."

Uchiha Feiyu nodded, his gaze turning toward that group of still-bewildered Bounty Hunters, and he spoke indifferently:

"Does anyone among you want to quit Baroque Works and turn over a new leaf?"

Quit Baroque Works? The group of Bounty Hunters looked at each other in dismay, then suddenly burst into loud laughter:

"Where did a fool like you come from, daring to provoke our Baroque Works!"

"Heh, you probably don't know the power of Baroque Works! A mere guy who came from the Four Seas..."

There were also some Bounty Hunters who looked at Princess Vivi and the others with cold eyes:

"It seems you have betrayed Baroque Works! Have you forgotten the terror of Baroque Works?"

"You are just a bunch of low-level Agents; soon the organization will send experts to finish you off!"

Very good, Uchiha Feiyu nodded; he was actually afraid that this bunch of Bounty Hunters would surrender directly, after all, opportunities for a massacre were not easy to find, and he did not really want to slaughter ordinary civilians; now that these people were so firm, they were truly doing him a great favor.

"Very good, I don't know if Baroque Works will send experts to avenge you, but I know—you will definitely not live to see that day!!"

A blade flash flickered instantly, and Sandai Kitetsu had already pierced into the heart of a Bounty Hunter; the mutated Armament Haki and Blood Scripture were activated simultaneously, and the Bounty Hunter was sucked into a Dried Corpse in almost an instant.

Without waiting for the other Bounty Hunters to react, Uchiha Feiyu gave a shake, and the corpse was already severed into two pieces; the blade light circled, and the several Bounty Hunters standing near him were cut in half at the waist before they could even speak, their blood instantly extracted, merged into Sandai Kitetsu, and then transmitted into Uchiha Feiyu's body.

The Dharma Power of the Blood Scripture appeared in Uchiha Feiyu's body once again, and this time the speed of dissipation was a little slower; Uchiha Feiyu immediately activated the Dharma Power of the Blood Scripture and began to construct his own Asura Body.

The blood began to refine, the heart became more vigorous, the internal organs seemed to ignite, and the shape of scales could vaguely be seen on the skin...

This was a thorough change to his original physique; with the Dharma Power of the Blood Scripture, in this world, it would originally have been impossible to do such a thing—unless one kept killing to practice, extracting blood energy!

And Uchiha Feiyu was now doing exactly that: constantly killing, constantly extracting blood energy!

Several Bounty Hunters picked up the firearms in their hands and fired a barrage at Uchiha Feiyu, yet Uchiha Feiyu did not dodge or evade; a blade flash flickered, heads fell to the ground, and the corpses turned into Dried Corpses.

A Bounty Hunter took out a rocket launcher and fired at Uchiha Feiyu, yet the rocket was split in two directly; the shrill blade light pierced through his brow, and another new shriveled corpse appeared.

Ten, twenty, thirty... more and more Bounty Hunters turned into withered bones under that terrifying blade light; the courage that this group of Bounty Hunters had originally gathered by relying on their numbers finally collapsed completely, and Bounty Hunters began to drop their weapons and flee. This situation spread like a contagion, and very soon all the Bounty Hunters began to run for their lives.

"Monster... a monster!"

"We can't win, damn it, this is simply not the level of a Pirate from the Four Seas!"

(End of this chapter)