Chapter 17

"Looks like you lot can't do it."

"Damned brat!! All of you, get him! I refuse to believe you can handle so many of us!"

Smoyati's expression gradually twisted into something savage.

"Haaah!!!"

The pirates around Luo En picked up their weapons and charged at him in unison.

……

A moment later.

Luo En, shouldering a bloodstained long saber, sat atop a human mountain formed from the twenty-plus fallen pirates.

"Still want to continue?

*Clatter. *

The weapon slipped from Smoyati's hand and clattered onto the deck; he slumped down onto the planking, staring at that tiny figure, his whole body trembling in utter terror.

"D-demon…… ah!!!"

"Hey, hey, hey, no matter how you look at me, I've got nothing to do with the word 'demon,' right?" Luo En said with a grin.

"Out of the dozen-odd boys in the mountain lodge, I'm公认 the most handsome and cute."

He leapt down from the human mountain, walked up to Smoyati, and rested his bloodstained long saber on the man's shoulder, making him tremble all over, sweat pouring down like rain.

"From now on, this ship is mine. Wherever I tell you to go, you go. Smoyati, what do you think about that?"

"E-everything shall be as Luo En, my lord, commands!"

"That's more like it. Good. Now take me to the treasure hold."

"Eh?!!"

"Mm?"

"Y-yes! At once!"

………………

Inside the treasure hold.

Luo En gazed at the chests of treasure piled up before him and clicked his tongue.

"These pirates may be weak, but they've still managed to gather quite a haul."

"But now it's all mine. System."

【Here.】

"Scan all this treasure and store it in the system space."

【Understood.】

An invisible ray of light swept from top to bottom across the treasure-filled room.

A few seconds later.

As a system prompt of 【Scan Complete】 sounded in Luo En's ear, the treasure before him vanished in an instant.

Luo En looked at the treasure piled up in the system space and nodded in satisfaction.

The system space really is convenient.

When Luo En walked out of the treasure hold empty-handed.

Smoyati, who had been waiting at the door, glanced inside.

Upon seeing the treasure hold utterly empty—not even a single gold coin left—he was completely dumbfounded.

"How is it possible… so much treasure, all of it gone?! What on earth… did he do?!!!"

Smoyati's legs gave way; he dropped to his knees in a daze, utterly despairing.

"The money I've saved up over a dozen years… all of it gone…"

………………

【A new book sets sail, begging for all kinds of support!!! Pretty please】

!

10, Sign-in at Frost Moon Town, Great Grade Sai: One of the Twenty-One O-Wazamono — Lei Qie! (10/10)

This day.

The wind was calm, the sea was still.

On the deck, Luo En sat in the captain's chair with his legs crossed, sipping juice through a straw.

The fat, burly pirate who had been swaggering and domineering on the island earlier now stood timidly at his side, not even daring to breathe loudly.

"Where's my meat? Is it ready yet?"

Luo En spoke up.

The fat pirate shuddered all over and immediately said, "I'll go hurry them up right now!"

Not long after.

Two pirates came over carrying a large platter piled with various meat steaks and meat legs, steam rising from them.

Luo En's eyes lit up, and he immediately started eating heartily.

The pirates beside him stared, swallowing hard.

After Luo En ate and drank his fill.

He glanced at his current attributes.

【Host: Luo En.

Age: 8.

HP: 88.

Sun Breathing Method mastery: 7%】

"After a few battles, my Physique value went up a little…"

Luo En thought to himself.

He had a feeling that this 1-point increase in Physique was related to the Sun Breathing Method.

He felt that in actual combat, the Sun Breathing Method seemed to promote the circulation of his qi and blood to the greatest extent, tempering his body and thereby strengthening it.

Physique value, that is, foundational body strength, becomes harder and harder to raise the further one progresses; many people hit a bottleneck and can never break through again.

The height of this bottleneck is called a person's limit.

Only by shattering this limit can one continue to advance upward and become a powerhouse!

In this world, those who can break their own limit by themselves are few and far between.

In the Marines' recruit training camp, with its unique extreme-training method, it helps some extraordinarily talented Marines break their limits, which is why one powerhouse after another can be born.

But…

Luo En could feel it.

The Sun Breathing Method he had mastered far surpassed the Marines' cultivation method!

"Uh, Big Bro Luo En, wh-where are we headed next?"

A pirate asked in a trembling voice.

A fierce, tall, heavily-bearded pirate was calling an adorable-looking eight-year-old child "Big Bro" in a quavering voice.

If anyone else saw this scene, they would surely think they were dreaming.

Luo En came back to his senses and glanced at the system map.

"Nearby islands include Mozhenan Island, Bagasi Island, Naiya Island…"

"Hmm?"

Luo En noticed an island, and a town name marked on it caught his interest.

"Shimotsuki Village… could it be the Shimotsuki Village where that Zoro is from?"

"The island it's on, Silanka Island… southeast, 127 kilometers."

Luo En looked at the pirate and said in a childish voice, "Head southeast."

Three days later.

Luo En stepped onto Silanka Island carrying a sack of food on his back.

Behind him was a sunken pirate ship.

…………

Two days later.