Brain Storage Space >>>
“Brat, what did you say?
You want to join my Roger Pirates?”
Above the ruins, the wind blew fiercely.
Roger rested his long sword on his shoulder, looking down at the young man below.
He had just finished his duel with Rocks, and his face was full of exhaustion.
“Yeah,” Ron nodded slightly.
He had crossed over into this Old Era timeline a year ago and had now grown into a somewhat famous pirate.
The Roger Pirates were the most ideal and secure destination he had chosen after careful consideration.
Of course, he had also considered the Rocks Pirates.
However, based on what he knew from Earth, that place was full of infighting and schemes.
With his current strength, it would be too easy to end up as a sacrifice.
The Roger Pirates were different.
The crew treated each other with honesty and deep trust.
Their voyages were filled with loud laughter as well as hands that helped without hesitation in times of danger.
The atmosphere on the ship was free yet disciplined, open but not reckless.
It was a fertile ground for someone to settle down and hone their strength.
As for his direction, stance, or path after growing fully strong…
Ron had not thought that far ahead, nor was he in a hurry.
He only wanted to step onto the ship first, see for himself, experience it, and then decide from his heart.
“Hahahahaha!” Roger looked at Ron and suddenly threw his head back in loud laughter.
“You’re the ‘Demon Butcher’ they’ve been talking about across the sea recently, aren’t you?”
Pausing, Roger added, “A person like you who kills the innocent—even if I agreed to let you on board, my crew wouldn’t accept it.”
Ron froze for a moment.
His pupils contracted slightly, his eyebrows lifted, and a look of disbelief flashed across his eyes.
He had expected that Roger might reject him.
After all, Roger had high standards and was strict about choosing friends.
But…
he had never expected that, as a fellow pirate, Roger would reject him for this reason.
Ron did not think of himself as a saint who cared for the world, nor did he intend to act kind.
Every life he took had a clear reason behind it.
Those he killed were not good people, and all had proof of their guilt.
Yet out of Roger’s mouth, he had become a “bastard who treats human life like trash”?
“Isn’t being a pirate about living on the edge of a blade?” Ron paused, explaining in a calm voice.
“The ones I killed were just people who deserved to die.”
Roger’s expression suddenly grew serious.
His lips moved, and he said in a heavy voice, “Are you saying…
every single villager in Belun Village deserved to die?”
Roger was referring to what had happened to Ron a few months ago.
A gang of bandits with a bounty of 50 million Berries had taken over the mountains of Belun Village.
To remove this threat, the villagers secretly looked for capable people to solve the problem.
Ron felt he could earn system rewards while also taking the villagers’ payment—a plan that killed two birds with one stone.
However, the plan leaked out.
To appease the bandits, the villagers chose to offer Ron up as a sacrifice.
What a joke.
Did he train so hard just to become their sacrifice?
Fortunately, Ron was kind enough to continue helping the villagers wipe out the bandits.
But later, he discovered that those vile bandits had actually possessed the villagers.
Sticking to his principles, Ron simply wiped them all out together.
After the news agency exaggerated the story with sensational titles and misleading pictures, Ron became known overnight as a “cold-blooded butcher” and a “demon who disregards life,” gaining widespread infamy.
Ron stared straight at Roger, no longer caring to explain.
He already knew that he and Roger walked different paths.
“Actually, I would have preferred if you just rejected me directly,” Ron said, suddenly letting out an easy smile.
After all, as pirates, who was truly better than who?
In the original story, Ron remembered that because an army insulted Roger’s crew, Roger went and slaughtered that entire army down to the last man.
The only difference was that Ron swung his blade at unarmed villagers.
Roger, on the other hand, drew his sword against fully armed imperial troops ready for war.
The two seemed worlds apart, but in Ron’s eyes, there was no real difference.
In fact, he felt the villagers deserved death even more.
Without waiting for Roger to say another word, Ron took a step back and gave a slight nod.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
With that, Ron turned and walked away, and Roger said nothing more.
Tap, tap, tap, tap…
Before he had walked far, Ron heard hurried footsteps behind him.
Immediately after came a series of out-of-breath voices, full of blame yet deeply concerned.
“Hey, Roger!
You went too far this time!”
“Are you hurt?
Is your arm still bleeding?”
“You madman, you’re completely out of control.”
“Hahahahaha!” Roger laughed toward the sky.
“Rocks and I just had a little duel.
As expected…
right now, I’m still a long way from him, aren’t I?”
“Who was that guy?” Rayleigh narrowed his eyes, looking at Ron’s retreating figure in the distance, and asked in a low voice.
“A brat who wanted to join us.
But I turned him down.” Roger’s gaze fell back on Ron, his expression calm and his tone flat.
“Why?” Rayleigh turned his head, his brows furrowing slightly with genuine curiosity.
“I don’t want a bloodthirsty crewmate on my ship.
Hahahahaha.”
“I see.” Rayleigh nodded, but thought to himself, ‘Roger is rejecting people based on his gut feeling again.
Still…
that young man’s back doesn’t look like someone who was just rejected and felt crushed.’
…
“Hahaha—”
A rough laugh suddenly burst into Ron’s ears.
On a ruined corner filled with charred beams and broken bricks, a figure as large as a mountain came into view.
It was Rocks, who had just finished his duel with Roger and had not yet left.
He sat casually on a thick, tilted wooden log, his foot resting on a cracked stone slab.
His long sword was stabbed deep into the split ground.
He bared a mouthful of white teeth, facing Ron’s direction, laughing openly.
“Brat, didn’t get accepted by Roger?”
When Ron had stepped forward to ask Roger after the duel, Rocks had stopped out of curiosity and listened for a moment.
There was no look of disappointment on Ron’s face.
He merely lifted his eyes slightly to meet the sharp gaze, then let out a very soft laugh.
“My reputation is too bad.
I don’t fit.”
“Hahahahaha!” Rocks laughed loudly once again.
He slowly stood up, grabbed his sword hilt with his right hand, and pulled the blade out with a hum.
He swung the sword onto his left shoulder.
“Bad reputation?
A ship of hypocrites like that isn’t worth boarding anyway!
On my ship, I never ask how you kill, only if you can kill!
If you’re ruthless enough!
If you’re crazy enough!”
Ron fell silent.
The most important part of his plan had failed, leaving him a bit lost on what to do next.
“Hehehehe hahahaha!” Rocks’s laughter rose sharply.
He turned around abruptly and strode forward, his black cloak flapping in the wind.
“When the destined day arrives!”
“Whether you follow me or not is up to you!”
“If your mind is made up, then keep up!”
“I will show you the view from the top of the world!”