Chapter 149: Smoker: Poison?

"Master, there are nearly five thousand people who are holders of the Contract Fruit or official players who have already completed a contract."

Aboard the merchant ship named 【Lunhui Youxi Hao】,

A Fu sensed the pirates gathering around the Trial Tower; he had not expected there to be so many, exceeding his imagination.

Moreover, the source contained within these people as a whole was slightly stronger than that of the ninja world back then.

"The one thing the Pirate World does not lack is people chasing power."

Fang Yi could also sense it.

During his time at the Baratie Restaurant, hundreds of people had already completed contracts and were purchasing destiny goods inside the Game House according to the prompts.

Among them, Buggy and Luffy had consumed the most source.

Especially Buggy; his pirate spirit of not abiding by contracts and his personality of wanting to default on debts directly made him fearless, leading him to sign for a sky-high debt of fifty thousand Reward Points.

The destiny goods he redeemed were also very effective.

The Munitions Expert's job-transfer core item, 【Duozhong Danjia】, could carry the explosive energy of special bullets, speed up ammunition manufacturing and reloading, and enhance ammunition power.

The Lv. 15 Purple weapon 【Azure Dragon Rifle】 could enhance bullet rapid-fire speed and provide 15 points of intelligence attribute.

As well as 【Aerial Fire】, which allowed for brief hovering, and 【Freezing Bullet】, which could imbue bullets with ice-attribute attacks.

Even if placed in the Heavenly Realm now, Buggy could be considered a Sharpshooter who barely reached the passing line.

Fang Yi thought: "Having redeemed too much source, will Buggy's luck decline?"

Just like Uzumaki Naruto,

Buggy's good luck relied on the source granted by the Pirate World; if the source were to be exhausted, it would be hard to imagine whether Buggy could still rely on his astonishing luck to sit on the throne of the Four Emperors.

The remaining new players all signed source debts.

They were willing to take the ethereal source in exchange for visible power.

The overall strength of the pirates in the East Blue had suddenly risen by a notch; even if placed in the countries of the first half of the Grand Line, they would be at the level of a guard captain.

Regrettably,

The Lv. levels of the new players were too low, and seeing that some powerful equipment could not be worn, they could only temporarily place them in their backpack slots and find ways to level up first.

"Now, the event is about to begin."

Fang Yi stood up, and his figure disappeared within the ship's cabin.

……

East Blue, Trial Tower area.

The giant black tower radiated a solemn aura, isolating all life from approaching it.

The Navy attempted to send a News Coo to investigate, but as soon as the News Coo approached the black tower, it was as if it had crashed into clear lake water, causing faint ripples before disappearing.

The next second, it appeared on the other side of the black tower, outside the perimeter.

At the edge of the black tower,

"Black Crow Pirate Crew, I didn't expect to run into you. It's time for a conclusion regarding the matter of you breaking my pirate ship's mast last time."

"Die! Look at my Burning Wood Blade Technique!"

"Five Luo Light Smoke Palm!"

Two pirate ships erupted into a fierce conflict.

Both captains were Contractors, brawling together with powerful skills rewarded by the Samsara Game.

During this time,

Scenes like this of enemies meeting were frequently seen; in the vast East Blue, it was difficult for pirates to run into each other even if they held grudges.

However, the upcoming mysterious event had gathered all the ambitious pirates together; although they were all trying their best to restrain themselves, there were always pirates or Navy members with deep-seated hatred who would clash.

"Colonel Smoker."

The area around the warship from Loguetown was intentionally avoided by the pirates; no one wanted to get too close.

Clearly, they had all heard of the name White Hunter.

"To think that palms can actually burn, fighting just like a weapon."

Tashigi revealed a look of astonishment.

Both pirate captains had fallen into the sea, yet their abilities were completely unaffected, which meant that neither of them were Devil Fruit users at all.

Was it the power granted to them by that Contract Fruit?

Smoker smoked his cigar, smoke swirling around him, and asked: "What does Marine Headquarters say?"

In normal times, he certainly would not have allowed pirates to loiter in front of him while he remained indifferent.

But now, the pirates gathered by the black tower and the mysterious event numbered several thousand pirate crews.

Although there were not many pirate crews with bounties in the tens of millions, even ants could bite an elephant to death; there were too many pirate crews with million-level bounties, causing the Loguetown Navy to not dare act rashly.

It was easy to poke a hornet's nest.

Tashigi pushed up her glasses and said: "Marine Headquarters says that we must dispatch a Navy team to participate in the game event, with Den Den Mushi recording the entire process."

"They have also never heard of the existence of a user with a Projection Fruit-like ability, and they hope the East Blue Navy can investigate more details; they are currently deliberating."

"Deliberating?"

Smoker's face was full of disdain, mixed with a trace of annoyance, and he cursed: "A mysterious event gathering tens of thousands of heinous pirates, and they want me to dispatch a Navy team to participate in the game—is that sending them to their deaths?"

Several warships were equipped with the latest mechanical weapons researched by the great scientist Vegapunk.

They could easily destroy the ordinary sailing ships of pirates.

This was a major reason why, despite the pirates being numerous and detesting the Navy, they did not dare to make a move directly.

If he truly followed orders and dispatched Navy members to wait for the game event to start and enter the black tower,

It would be hard to guarantee they wouldn't be hunted down by the tidal wave of pirates.

After thinking for a moment, Smoker said: "Tashigi, bring the Contract Fruit to me."

The Loguetown Navy had collected several Contract Fruits, but none of them had rashly completed a Contract.

Tashigi took out a Contract Fruit, but suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "Eh! Colonel Smoker, are you intending to enter the Black Giant Tower yourself?"

She was also well aware that the situation was extremely unfavorable for the Navy.

She had intended to persuade Smoker to abandon the operation and not make a pointless sacrifice, but she had not expected the Colonel to take the risk himself.

"The mysterious person behind the scenes who can gather tens of thousands of Pirates is a very dangerous existence, and this time it is in the remote Orange Town of the East Blue..."

"What if next time, the Black Giant Tower appears in Loguetown, or at Marine Headquarters?"

He could not sit idly by in the face of such an unstable and dangerous factor.

Smoker picked up the Contract Fruit, took a bite, and a light screen suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

【Contract Task (1/5)】

Task Content: Defeat the Captain of the Black Crow Pirate crew.

Task Reward: Poison Attack Mastery Lv. 1 (White)

"Poison?"

Smoker felt a slight disdain.

Although he had captured several Contract Fruit possessors and knew that Contract rewards could grant special abilities.

However, these rewards varied in strength; there were weapons that could Reinforcement the physique, armor that enhanced defense, and special skills like those used by the two Pirate Captains fighting just now.

In his heart,

aside from the Warden of the underwater prison and the poison ability after eating the Poison-Poison Fruit, all other poisonous gases and Poison were just low-class tricks used by Pirates who couldn't make it to the big stage.

"It seems my luck is bad; so be it, I'll just treat it as a ticket to enter the Black Giant Tower."

Smoker was not interested in the task reward and indifferently drew the jitte from his back.

White Smoke Launcher!

His sturdy body suddenly turned into smoke, and in an instant, the thrust generated by the jet sent him into the middle of the two Pirate crews currently fighting.

Baise Yaya!

The smoke took shape, turning into teeth resembling those of a vicious wolf, biting into the Black Crow Captain who had no time to react.

The Black Crow Captain was originally just a small-time Pirate with a bounty of two million Beli; after completing two Contract Tasks and receiving the Contract rewards, his strength had increased, but he was simply no match for Smoker.

The gap was too large.

【Task completed, reward has been issued】

(End of this chapter)