At night, the Outer City revealed a side completely different from the Inner City.
Gangsters controlled the city’s darkest corners, while underground bars and casinos became lawless havens beyond the reach of the law.
27 Crow Street.
A nightclub known as the Midnight Rose.
Hailed as the largest den of pleasure in the Outer City, it was, on the surface, nothing more than a small bar owned by Valsa.
The place reeked of alcohol, jazz, and uninhibited desire.
Even policemen and politicians were frequent patrons.
Valsa’s men kept watch over every corner of the establishment.
Any threat was met with ruthless suppression.
Valsa, Adrian, and Lucas walked straight into the bar, but instead of heading toward the main hall, they followed a bodyguard’s directions toward another room.
It was only after returning here that the tension finally left Valsa’s body.
He had expected the man from the judges’ table to attack them on the way back, but apparently, the man had been able to restrain himself.
Looks like not everyone in this world is an idiot.
Valsa silently reminded himself to remain cautious.
His ability to survive in such a dark and chaotic world until now wasn’t solely due to his overwhelming strength.
Planning ahead and proceeding with caution had always been his guiding principles.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a seemingly endless flight of stairs, descending into darkness as though they led straight into the abyss.
Valsa followed the bodyguard down at an unhurried pace.
A full minute later, another metal door appeared.
Only then did the bodyguard turn around.
Dressed in a suit and wearing black sunglasses, he bowed respectfully to Valsa.
“Welcome home, Boss!”
As his words fell, the metal door groaned with the clatter of machinery and slowly swung open.
Blinding light spilled through the opening.
Immediately, a cacophony of noise came from within—loud, chaotic, and raucous.
Golden-yellow lights bathed the entire place in a warm glow.
People drank and gambled everywhere.
Cheers and shouting constantly filled the air.
This was paradise for criminals.
This was the Midnight Rose.
And this was Valsa’s true headquarters.
…
A pale light shone down upon the center of the room.
Valsa sat at the head of a long black wooden table, with a row of his subordinates seated below him.
They were all dressed in black suits, their faces hidden in the shadows beyond the reach of the light.
At a glance, they looked like a gathering of some sinister criminal organization conducting a secret negotiation.
And, in truth, that wasn’t far from reality.
They were the core members of the Midnight Rose—Valsa’s most trusted subordinates.
Not one of them spoke.
They simply waited quietly for Valsa to say something.
They had already been waiting for an hour.
Valsa leaned back in his chair, browsing the panel before him.
Yes.
Valsa was actually a transmigrator.
He had come to this world nineteen years ago, and he was indeed only nineteen years old.
It was hard to believe.
Nineteen years was a long time.
Spending all those years struggling to survive in this strange new world had caused him to forget almost everything about his previous life.
For the longest time, he had believed this was simply some ordinary Western steampunk-style world.
That changed last year.
He had been standing by the sea when he spotted a white seagull circling overhead, a newspaper clutched in its talons.
One particular headline on the front page instantly struck something buried deep within Valsa’s fading memories.
[Roger Pirates Reach the Final Island of the Grand Line, Name It Laugh Tale, and Become the Pirate King!]
The moment he read the news, Valsa’s mind went blank.
It was as if someone had smashed a hammer directly into his skull.
At the same time, a voice suddenly appeared inside his head.
[Template Activated: The Boss / Sett]
After years of being accustomed to solving problems with his own fists and living on the edge of death in this dark era, the sudden arrival of his cheat ability filled him with pleasant surprise.
Without a doubt, it would give him an even stronger foothold in this world.
And once he had power and wealth—and learned that this was the world of One Piece—his desire for overwhelming strength immediately consumed him.
[Template: The Boss / Sett]
[Progress: 30%]
[Unlocked Skills: Pit Grit, Knuckle Down, Haymaker]
Valsa stared at the template before him.
The interface was extremely simple.
The character represented by the template was someone he remembered from an incredibly popular online game in his previous life.
Once the template was unlocked, he could increase his progress simply by defeating other people.
Every 1% increase granted improvements to his basic attributes, including health, strength, speed, defense, and more.
At 10%, he had unlocked his first skill.
[Pit Grit]
Wait…
isn’t this basically a passive?
[Pit Grit]: You can attack with both your left and right fists.
Your right fist is faster and stronger, and your attacks restore health based on the amount of health you have lost.
I mean…
I could already use my left and right fists.
I don’t understand it, but I’ll respect it.
[Knuckle Down]: Your next two attacks deal additional damage based on the enemy’s maximum health.
You also gain increased speed while moving toward an enemy.
Uh…
so it’s percentage-based bonus damage and a speed boost.
Got it, got it…
As for [Haymaker], Valsa had only unlocked it today after defeating the so-called former champion—the subordinate of that old man at the judges’ table—in the underground arena.
[Haymaker]: You passively store damage taken as Grit.
When released, you unleash an attack with an enormous area of effect and tremendous damage based on the amount of Grit stored, while also gaining a shield.
Enemies caught at the center of the attack suffer true damage.
Valsa’s eyelid twitched.
Tremendous damage?
Interesting.
Valsa straightened in his chair and looked over the people seated below him.
The moment they saw their boss move, everyone immediately straightened up, ready to receive his orders.
Valsa’s gaze swept across the room before finally stopping on a towering figure.
“Adrian.
Hit me.”
The moment Adrian heard his boss call his name, he immediately stood up.
Then he heard the order.
His brain short-circuited.
“Uh…
huh?”
Seeing his expression, an inexplicable flame of anger began to burn inside Valsa.
He took a deep breath and enunciated every word.
“I said, you.
Come.
Hit.
Me.”
Adrian finally understood.
He was just about to move when he stopped again.
He stared at Valsa innocently.
“But…
Boss, I…
I can’t beat you.”
“You…”
Valsa took another deep breath.
“Forget it.
Forget it.
Quans, you do it.”
How could someone be this stupid?
Valsa gave up trying to communicate with Adrian and turned toward the man seated first on his left.
Ford Quans was the true manager of the Midnight Rose.
He had once been a pirate with a bounty of 7,000,000 Berries.
A year ago, he had faked his death while escaping a Marine capture operation and eventually made his way to the Kingdom of Lenk.
Midnight Rose had once been his own nickname.
The bar had also been established by him personally.
Unfortunately, Valsa had simply taken it over.
There wasn’t much Quans could do about it.
He couldn’t beat Valsa.
Besides, his new boss didn’t seem difficult to get along with and treated his subordinates well.
So when Valsa offered him the chance to join, Quans accepted without hesitation.
He had remained fiercely loyal ever since, handling various affairs for Valsa.
He was one of the few truly capable, versatile talents Valsa had at his disposal.
Quans was puzzled by his boss’s order.
However, out of respect for Valsa, he didn’t question it.
He simply followed the command.
Quans stood and drew the long sword at his waist.
He knew exactly how powerful his boss was, so he also knew that an ordinary attack wouldn’t do anything to Valsa.
Therefore, he went all out.
“Boss, watch out!”
Seeing Quans’s reaction, Valsa’s mood immediately improved.
This was exactly what he liked about Quans.
When dealing with an intelligent person, he never needed to explain too much.
It was comfortable.
“Whoosh!”
The blade sliced through the air with a heavy hiss.
A blindingly cold gleam flashed across the steel, sending a chill through everyone else seated at the table.
It was a powerful slash.
Of course, it meant nothing against their boss.
But if they were being honest with themselves, most of them would have a hard time taking that strike head-on.
Valsa, however, simply raised his right arm and chose to take the slash with his bare flesh.
“Slash!”
The blade cut through Valsa’s sleeve.
A clear wound appeared on his arm, and blood began to drip.
Quans’s expression instantly turned horrified.
He hadn’t known that his boss would actually take the attack with his bare body.
He hurriedly apologized.
“I’m sorry, Boss.
I thought—”
“It’s fine.”
Valsa cut him off before he could finish.