Chapter 32: Soul Runes

"To think you'd capsize the boat with us on it, you damn bastard, how are you going to compensate us?"

The one speaking was a tall, thin man wearing cat-claw-like sleeves.

Beside him was a cat-man who also had cat-claw sleeves, but with a bloated physique and a black birthmark covering half his face.

They were the Combat Captains of the Black Cat Pirates.

Behind the two stood a curly-haired man wearing cherry-red lenses and a shirt with a dazzling pattern.

"Oh no, it's the Black Cat Pirates!"

An employee of the Noble Outlook merchant ship, a boatman, recognized the members of the pirate crew and let out a cry of terror.

"Huh? Haven't the Black Cat Pirates already been destroyed? Even their captain was thrown into prison by Colonel Morgan..."

"The Black Cat Pirates, a terrifying pirate crew where everyone is worth nearly 20 million Beli, I don't want to die!"

"Perhaps they're just inferior pirates posing as them, everyone don't be afraid."

The merchant ship's guard squad, a burly middle-aged man, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said this to those around him, while also trying to comfort himself.

Don't let his burly physique fool you; reality had long since taught him a brutal lesson.

In the Pirate World, there are all sorts of ways to train the body, as well as combat techniques and even various Devil Fruit abilities; physique is not the deciding factor.

If it really were the Black Cat Pirates, he would definitely give up resistance and surrender with both hands raised.

"I only earn 300,000 Beli a month, I can't throw my life away for this!"

The guard captain, who had assumed a combat stance, thought to himself while appearing calm on the surface.

Noble Outlook tried his best to hide behind everyone else, avoiding being targeted by the vicious pirate crew.

Although he was arrogant and treated all commoners as trash, he was not a fool.

If he were caught by the Black Cat Pirates, while he wouldn't die, he would definitely be demanded a huge ransom, and it would damage his noble reputation.

He valued his noble reputation very highly.

Back then, even when he broke ties with his own son Sabo, he insisted on burning down the trash heap to welcome the Celestial Dragon, and when he watched Sabo's boat get sunk by the Celestial Dragon's cannon fire, he felt not a shred of heartache, but rather relief that Sabo's identity as his son had not been discovered by the Celestial Dragon.

"Sham, go pick out the nobles, let their families pay the ransom to release them."

"What about the others?"

"They're useless, just let them all go."

Buchi wore a helpless smile and waved his cat claws, facing the guard captain's defensive stance as if inspecting a laughable ant trying to resist.

He said this, but secretly gave a signal to Sham.

This was just to make this flock of lambs lower their guard; their goal was to kill everyone present.

Since they had recognized the Black Cat Pirates, they couldn't leave any witnesses alive, otherwise, it would easily ruin the Captain's plan to lurk in Syrup Village; once the Captain's plan failed, they would all be killed.

The nobles could be killed after the ransom was received.

Just as the scene was at its most chaotic and a slaughter was about to break out, waves of air currents suddenly spread out.

Regardless of strength, everyone present felt a sense of oppression.

The Pirate World does not have chakra, but it does have Three-Color Haki; the rarest of these, Conqueror's Haki, is a type of outward-spreading force field similar to aura, formed by mixing terrifying physical energy and spiritual energy.

Once activated, it can unleash pressure and easily intimidate enemies weaker than oneself.

Fang Yi had not Awakened Haki, but the Energy Golden Body he had condensed contained energy far stronger than Haki; he deliberately restrained it, releasing only a sliver of aura to break the tense atmosphere.

"Lucky players, welcome to the Samsara Game."

Fang Yi spread his arms, feeling a sense of satisfaction akin to an old farmer seeing a new crop of leeks.

His terrifying body, which even the Giant Race could not compare to, hovered in mid-air; this sight alone scared everyone into immobility.

"My lord, please save us, I am willing to offer up my treasures, I swear it on the honor of the Outlook family."

Outlook, who had been hiding in the back, suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

The mysterious giant that had suddenly appeared did not look like a pirate by his attire, nor did he attack immediately; it seemed he could be reasoned with.

He did not believe the nonsense the Black Cat Pirates said about letting them go.

He spoke up to muddy the waters; even if he couldn't hire this mysterious giant, he had to find a way to provoke a conflict between him and the Black Cat Pirates so he could escape in the chaos.

"I have no interest in your treasures."

Fang Yi glanced at the shouting Outlook and laughed: "If I wanted such things, I could fill the entire world with them."

As soon as he finished speaking,

The entire gravel beach began to shake, and countless black pebbles underwent a strange transformation, turning into dazzling gold fragments in the blink of an eye.

Bright and glittering, golden and brilliant.

The orange-haired girl who had been hiding in the corner playing dead squinted her eyes and surreptitiously slipped two pieces into her pocket.

Outlook said in surprise: "You are a Devil Fruit user!"

As a noble, he was naturally well-informed and knew of the existence of Devil Fruits.

Being able to turn things into gold instantly, could the giant before him be a Gold-Gold Fruit user?

Even knowing he was still in danger, Outlook could not help but feel greed welling up inside him.

"Respected giant, we had no intention of disturbing you, we hope you can let us leave..."

The hypnotist Jango said with a lack of confidence.

He was also very panicked now; although it is said that physique and strength are not necessarily related, that applies to normal situations where both sides are human.

The giant that had suddenly appeared before them had already transcended the scope of ordinary humans; he could probably stomp the entire Black Cat Pirates to death with one foot.

Even their captain, who had a bounty of 16 million, would probably be stomped into meat paste if he came.

"Leaving?"

Fang Yi unhurriedly took out a glowing Rune, merged it into the Game Tower, and sized up this batch of players.

【Pirate Jango (Blue)】, 【Pirate Buchi (Green)】, 【Pirate Sham (Green)】, 【Pirate Pulu (White)】, 【Noble Outlook (Green)】, 【Thief Nami (Silver)】...

This is a Soul Rune he newly created, capable of detecting a player's general world data and Soul Potential.

It costs 50,000 Reward Points.

This can help Fang Yi quickly screen for players worth observing closely.

Most ordinary people have White Soul Potential, meaning their talent, luck, and the origin contained within their bodies are all extremely low.

They are cannon fodder.

Green-level Soul Potential is slightly superior to ordinary people; perhaps they have decent talent in some aspect, or maybe they have better luck, or contain more origin.

Moving up from there is Blue Potential, which is considered quite top-tier in the Pirate World; as a Pirate, their bounty could exceed ten million, and as a Navy member, they could reach the rank of officer.

In the Huoying Shijie, they could at least become a Chunin.

"I didn't expect such good luck; I recruited a player with Silver Soul Potential as soon as I arrived in the Pirate World."

Fang Yi's gaze landed beside a black rock on the seashore.

A corpse that looked like it had drowned in the sea was wrapped in seaweed, with mud and sand covering its face, leaving only two nostrils for breathing.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Nami quietly pretended to be a drowned ship worker.

(End of this chapter)