The sky gradually darkened.
It was around ten o’clock at night.
Will checked his swords, straightened his clothes, and the three of them left the inn.
Even at ten at night, this commercially prosperous city remained brightly lit.
Some drunken pedestrians staggered home with the help of their companions.
Will was extremely excited.
There was something exhilarating about this kind of night, this bustling city, and all the people around him.
For ordinary people, going out at night meant entertainment, drinking, and relaxing.
But for Will, tonight meant something entirely different.
Before long, they arrived at the entrance to the target’s estate.
His Senior Brother and Senior Sister had already disappeared to their respective positions.
Only Will remained at the front gate.
He stood before the two guards.
“Good evening, gentlemen.”
Will smiled.
“So…
please go die.”
As soon as he finished speaking those strange words, he crossed his arms and drew both swords simultaneously.
At the same time, he activated Lightning Mode and charged straight toward the guards.
The two guards at the gate hadn’t even had time to react.
They merely felt several places on their bodies go numb.
Then came a strange cool sensation.
And finally, their consciousness faded away.
Will’s shout had also served as a warning.
A large number of guards rushed out of the estate.
Will held both swords in his hands, their tips naturally hanging toward the ground.
He looked at the group charging toward him.
A silent grin spread across his face.
Then he charged.
Several guards farther away stared at Will with fear and hatred.
Yet none of them had the courage to advance any further.
Just as Will was preparing to cut down the remaining guards, he suddenly sensed danger approaching from the side.
It was a feeling he had developed after repeatedly experiencing life-and-death battles.
It was also one of the basic manifestations of Observation Haki.
Will immediately performed a backward leap at his fastest speed.
A bullet shot past his eyes at incredible speed.
“You all stay back.
I’ll deal with this guy.”
A young man in his twenties stepped forward.
“But I’ll need more money afterward.
This guy is too strong.”
The young man had short gray-white hair and stood about two meters tall.
He wore a leather jacket and a pair of trousers covered with holsters.
His legs were covered in gun holsters from above the knees all the way to his waist, with numerous pistols tucked into them.
What attracted the most attention, however, was the enormous wooden box strapped to his back.
It was roughly half a meter wide and one meter tall.
No one knew what was inside.
He was the one who had fired that shot.
Will had already experienced the firearms of the One Piece world.
Ordinary bullets here weren’t particularly fast.
But the bullet fired by this young man had been astonishingly quick.
Looking carefully at the man’s pistols, Will noticed that they were different from the ordinary flintlock pistols commonly used in the One Piece world.
Their barrels were longer.
The chambers where the gunpowder was loaded were also considerably larger, allowing a much greater quantity of gunpowder to be used.
Had he sacrificed the lifespan of the firearms in exchange for greater bullet power?
After firing once, each pistol was essentially ruined.
Having roughly understood his opponent’s equipment, Will realized that this man was probably quite strong.
He stopped underestimating him.
Will charged forward, intending to close the distance.
He had barely taken two steps when the young man fired again.
He drew two pistols from the holsters on his legs, fired both, threw them aside, and immediately drew two more.
Will felt that he could dodge the incoming bullets if he focused purely on evasion.
But if he did that, he’d lose his opportunity to close the distance.
So he relied on his reaction speed and swordsmanship instead.
With a single slash, he cut one of the bullets in half, causing it to veer off course.
He absolutely could not allow his opponent to maintain his distance. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
In less than a minute, the young man had exhausted all the pistols on his legs.
Yet he didn’t panic.
Instead, he slapped a mechanism on the wooden box strapped to his back.
The sides of the box suddenly sprang open.
More than a dozen pistols identical to the ones on his legs emerged from within.
Will stared at the man.
This guy has way too many guns.
Although Will could slash the bullets out of the air, he still had to withstand the force behind each shot.
He was already feeling the strain.
He couldn’t drag this out any longer.
Will immediately pushed Lightning Mode to its maximum intensity.
Both swords pointed straight toward the ground.
Seeing Will’s stance, the young man’s scalp suddenly tingled for no apparent reason.
He immediately slapped another mechanism on the wooden box.
This time, a long-barreled rifle emerged.
Above its stock was a strange iron sphere shaped almost like a cannonball.
It was obvious just how much gunpowder the man had stuffed into the weapon.
He placed the reinforced wooden box in front of himself and raised the rifle.
Will paid no attention to what his opponent was doing.
He simply whispered,
“Secret Sword…”
“Swallow Return.”
Everything before the young man’s eyes seemed to disappear.
His entire attention focused on what lay ahead.
Two violet sword trails appeared before him, crossing into an X-shape.
He fired without hesitation.
Bang!
The bullet left the barrel.
The bullet that had once been unstoppable, however, failed to stop the sword energy before it.
The young man couldn’t even react to the speed of the attack.
The two sword slashes first shattered the incoming bullet.
Then they struck the wooden box.
The sword energy encountered considerable resistance as it passed through the box.
But the box was ultimately split into four pieces.
The slashes continued onward.
They struck the young man’s left arm and severed it completely.
Several sword trails also tore through the left side of his chest near the shoulder, cutting straight through his body.
The young man endured the excruciating pain and desperately fought to remain conscious.
Then he fled toward the wall on one side of the estate.
Once he reached the wall, he pulled out a strange device.
It looked somewhat like a cannon.
But strangely, there was a seat attached to the rear of it.
The young man immediately activated the device.
Boom!
No cannonball was fired.
Instead, the cannon itself shot forward—with the young man sitting on it.
Will stared at the spectacle in utter disbelief.
After unleashing his ultimate technique, Will entered a period of weakness.
That was why he generally avoided using Swallow Return unless absolutely necessary.
He had originally thought that the man wouldn’t be able to get far.
He hadn’t expected him to have a contraption like this hidden away.
What an eccentric inventor.
He really does his thing and then runs.
“He’s an absolute madman when it comes to inventions.”
Will looked toward the direction in which the man had fled.
“But after suffering injuries like that, his hand and ribs were probably both severed.”
“He’s probably not going to survive.”
“And even if he does…”
“Coming after me for revenge wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”
Will didn’t pay much attention to the man’s escape.
In his opinion, most gun-wielding fighters weren’t particularly formidable in the later stages of the world.
There were only a handful who were truly powerful.
However, Will was extremely interested in the wood that had managed to withstand Swallow Return.
He picked up a piece roughly the size of two fists and examined it carefully.
There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about it.
He swung his sword at it.
Clang!
Will was startled by the resistance.
It was incredibly hard. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Even with Lightning Mode activated, he couldn’t cut through it.
Could this be Adam?
Will put the piece of wood away for later and looked toward the three-story building inside the estate.
He spotted a middle-aged man standing at a second-floor window, calmly watching him.
Will charged forward several steps and leaped directly into the room where the man was standing.
He glanced at the middle-aged man, then took out the photograph of his target and compared it with the man before him.
There was no mistake.
He was Steve Louis.
“I knew this day would come eventually.”
Steve Louis’s face was ashen.
“I wanted to quit a long time ago, but Doris refused.
She’s become obsessed with selling slaves.”
“Make me one promise, and I’ll give you all of my wealth.”
Will didn’t even bother responding.
He simply turned and walked toward the door.
Wealth?
How ridiculous.
Most of it is probably tied up in property.
What would I even do with that?
Sell it?
As for cash, I can search for it myself.
Whether I find anything or not is up to fate.
More importantly, Will simply didn’t like this man.
So he had decided to kill him.
“Spare my daughter.”
Steve Louis’s voice came from behind him.
“She doesn’t know anything.”
“She could even become your wife.
She’s beautiful.”
“Please…
let her live.”
After saying this, Steve Louis coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
He was barely holding on through sheer willpower.
“Sorry.”
Will didn’t turn around.
“The mission I received was to kill your entire family.”
“So please, rest in peace.”
“Take good care of your daughter down there.”
“I won’t be doing it for you.”
With that, Will kicked Steve Louis aside and walked toward the third floor of the estate.
“You demon!”
Steve Louis’s voice came from behind him, sounding like the howl of a vengeful ghost.
“You’ll die a horrible death!”
“Even if I go to Hell, I won’t let you off!”
“I curse you!”
“One day, you’ll suffer the same fate as me!”
“Hehehe…”
Will stopped for a moment.
Then he laughed softly.
“Hehehe…”
“Go ahead.”
“Hate me.”
“You damn swine.”
“Even if I end up suffering the same fate as you…”
“I’ll still live a glorious life.”
With that, Will turned and walked away.
Behind him, Steve Louis’s eyes had already lost their focus.
Before dying, Steve Louis looked down at the ring on his hand.
The vicious expression had disappeared from his face.
What remained was tenderness and reluctance.
It was a white-gold ring set with a green diamond, worn on his thumb.
His daughter had bought it for him on his fiftieth birthday.
She had traveled nearly an entire month by ship to reach an island famous for its gemstones just to purchase it for him.
She had even nearly been captured by pirates along the way.
Now, his daughter would probably die as well.