Valsa had no time to pay attention to anything else.
He could only feel a surge of power coursing through his body.
The others naturally noticed the strange phenomenon as well.
A golden light flickered around their boss, creating an incredibly bizarre sight.
“Hahahaha!”
Valsa grinned.
“Everyone, back away!”
The moment the words left his mouth, everyone below felt a chill run down their spines, as though something extraordinarily dangerous was about to happen.
They hurriedly got to their feet and scattered.
Valsa slipped the golden brass knuckles onto his hands, turned around, and drew back his arm.
He settled into a stance, gathering strength for the punch.
Then he unleashed a straight punch.
The next instant, it was as though the world had been muted.
In reality, the sheer force of the impact had slammed into everyone’s eardrums, leaving them temporarily unable to hear anything.
A colossal blast of air erupted from Valsa’s fist and swept across everything in front of him.
The long black wooden table instantly exploded into dust.
The doorway and the wall surrounding it vanished in an instant.
The gale generated by the punch was so violent that everyone nearby had to lean forward and lower their center of gravity just to keep themselves from being blown away.
By then, their eyes were already vacant.
The sheer terror of what they had just witnessed was beyond the limits of their understanding.
Even the people in the main hall outside stopped what they were doing.
Some ducked for cover.
Others scrambled out of the way.
All of them stared in horror at the inexplicable wall that had simply disappeared.
None of them had the slightest idea what had happened.
Ford Quans was the first to recover.
He was well traveled and had seen enough of the world to know that the sea was home to all sorts of unbelievable powers.
Suppressing the fear in his heart, he turned toward the people outside.
“Our boss is punishing one of our men for betraying us.
There’s no need to make a fuss.
Drink if you want to drink, and get back to whatever you were doing.”
The others took a while to recover.
Then they gradually returned to normal.
“Oh!
Someone actually dared to betray Boss?
He must have a death wish!”
“Exactly!
Just like Boss!
With strength like that, even the kingdom’s Royal Guard probably couldn’t compete with him!”
Everyone chimed in enthusiastically.
If not for the cold sweat pouring down their faces, one might actually have believed they weren’t scared at all.
“Hahahaha!
Keep playing cards!
Keep playing cards!”
They all claimed that they didn’t care, yet their bodies were unconsciously edging toward the exit.
They were terrified that if the boss lost his temper, he might reduce them all to ashes.
As for Valsa, the man responsible for all of this, he had only one feeling.
Amazing!
As for the skill’s additional shield, he could feel an invisible current of energy surrounding his body.
That was probably the shield.
And judging from the sensation, it seemed to possess an extremely powerful defensive capability.
It felt incredible.
That single punch had released all the fear, repression, scheming, and constant anxiety he had endured during his nineteen years in this world.
The Valsa of the past was gone.
The gloom that had always lingered on his face had disappeared, replaced by boundless confidence, boldness, and arrogance.
He had finally developed the heart of a true powerhouse.
At the same time, an indescribable energy had begun to stir within his body.
Perhaps, before long, it would reveal its true brilliance.
Valsa waved his hand, dismissing everyone.
The subordinates hurriedly filed out.
In an instant, only a handful of the Midnight Rose’s core members remained.
Even if the boss told them to leave, could they really just walk away?
“Have someone come clean this up tomorrow.”
With that, Valsa turned and headed toward his quarters.
“Yes, Boss!”
Quans hurriedly answered.
The moment Valsa left, however, Quans summoned some workers to clean up the wreckage.
There was no need to wait until tomorrow.
…
The Kingdom of Lenk was located in the South Blue.
According to Quans, it occupied an extremely remote corner of the sea.
The island of Lenk didn’t even appear on many nautical charts.
Even Quans himself had only reached the place by drifting there by accident.
Even the news cooing birds of the World Economy News Paper rarely managed to reach the island.
The reason was that the main sea route connecting Lenk Island to the other major islands was blocked by a curved countercurrent.
Ordinary ships simply couldn’t pass through it.
Anyone who wanted to leave had to take a huge detour around the back of the island.
And along the way, there was a very real chance of accidentally entering the Calm Belt.
The route was so difficult to navigate that even the Celestial Dragons had no interest in collecting Heavenly Tribute from this place.
As a result, the Kingdom of Lenk was not affiliated with the World Government.
There was no Marine base here either.
In terms of lawlessness, a kingdom like this could even rival some of the pirate islands scattered across the seas.
An environment like this had shaped Valsa’s personality.
He was destined to have nothing to do with the Marines.
There was no way he could smile and work alongside those hypocritical, self-righteous bastards.
Valsa had decided to set sail in roughly a month, leave the Kingdom of Lenk behind, and become a pirate.
As for why he had chosen one month from now…
Because that was when he would have just turned twenty.
Some people didn’t prepare to set sail until they were twenty.
Others became one of the Four Emperors before they even reached twenty.
Valsa had grown up in the criminal underworld.
His mother had died in childbirth, and his father had been killed in a gang conflict when Valsa was six.
For the next ten years, he drifted between various gangs.
Thanks to his exceptional social skills, he managed to survive the most dangerous years of his life without incident.
The Valsa of the past had been weak and powerless.
But from the moment he obtained the system panel, weakness was no longer one of his problems.
In less than two years, he had unified a third of the gangs in the Outer City, seized Crow Street—the longest street in the entire Outer City—and established connections with numerous politicians and nobles in the Inner City.
His transformation had been so drastic that it was almost impossible to connect the man he was now with the person he had once been.
He had gone from a boy barely 1.7 meters tall to a towering, muscular man standing 2.1 meters tall in just two years.
As a result, no one knew anything about his past.
The Valsa of the past was already dead.
In his place stood a far stronger Valsa.
Passionate music rang throughout the main hall as Valsa sat on the elevated seat, drinking alongside his men.
Laughter and merriment filled the entire Midnight Rose.
Midnight was when the crimson rose truly bloomed.
The main doors opened.
Quans entered with two bodyguards and walked directly toward Valsa.
At that moment, Valsa was competing with Lucas to see who could hold their liquor better.
Neither man had gained the upper hand.
Several of the younger members had even started taking bets.
The atmosphere was lively.
“Boss, we’ve got business.”
Quans bowed respectfully.
Valsa tilted his head back and drained an entire bottle of rum in one go before letting out a long breath.
“What is it?
Just handle some trivial matter yourself.”
“Boss.”
Quans raised his head.
He didn’t say anything else.
Instead, his eyes carried a strange meaning as he made a slitting motion across his throat.
The corners of Valsa’s mouth curled upward.
He rolled his neck and stood.
“Now that’s interesting.
Where’s the client?”
“He’s waiting in the reception room.”
“Lead the way.”
…
The dimly lit reception room was silent.
Valsa sat casually in the main seat, looking over the documents in his hands.
Sitting opposite him was a man dressed in a black formal suit.
He wore a black top hat, while a silver-white cane adorned with a blue gemstone rested against the side of his chair.
A small mustache sat beneath his nose.
His hands were clasped together on the table, while his legs trembled nonstop beneath it.
His nervousness was obvious.
After all, sitting across from him was the leader of the largest criminal organization in the entire Outer City.
“You’re saying one man wiped out an entire factory of yours without suffering a single injury?”
Valsa’s fingers tapped repeatedly against the tabletop.
The client, Merck, had no idea what kind of personality this underworld kingpin possessed.
All he could do was grit his teeth and answer,
“Yes.”
Valsa tossed the documents onto the table and looked at Merck.
The man’s heart jumped.
For some reason, he felt as though a wild beast were staring directly at him.
Merck hurriedly brought out his offer.
“I’ll pay 800,000 Berries.”
Valsa shook his head and held up one finger.
“One million Berries?
That price is already—”
“Ten million Berries.”
Merck’s expression froze.
“That’s a huge amount of money.
But for someone like you, scraping it together shouldn’t be a problem.”
Merck adjusted the hat on his head, suppressing his anger as he spoke in a measured tone.
“Mr.
Valsa, please don’t joke with me like this.”
“You think I’m joking?”
Valsa raised an eyebrow, a smile spreading across his face.
“What do you think we are?
We’re gangsters!”
“Hahahahaha!”
Valsa threw his head back and laughed.
The men around him immediately joined in, their eyes filled with disdain as they looked at Merck.
“If you can’t come up with those ten million Berries, then…”
Valsa waved his hand.
Lucas and Adrian, both enormous men, stepped forward from the side and stared menacingly at Merck.
Under Valsa’s overwhelming intimidation, Merck could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
He pulled a briefcase from beside him.
“There are 2,000,000 Berries here.
That’s the down payment.
Once the job is finished, I’ll come back and pay the remaining 8,000,000.”
Quans carefully searched Merck and checked that he wasn’t secretly carrying any additional money.
Only after confirming that he nodded at Valsa.
He picked up the briefcase from the table and stepped back.
“Very well, Mr.
Merck.
We have a deal.
I trust your character, and I’m sure you wouldn’t dream of breaking your word.”
Merck forced a smile.
“Of course!
This is the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship!”
At the same time, he was cursing furiously in his heart.
I’ll go straight back and mobilize the Royal Guard to wipe out your entire gang!
How dare you threaten me like this!
You’re nothing but a petty gang leader!
“Someone, see our guest out.
Mr.
Merck, take care.”
Valsa issued his dismissal.
Merck didn’t dare look into Valsa’s eyes again.
He lowered his head and hurriedly turned to leave.