Gloriosa toyed with the pet snake coiled around her arm, its tongue flicking in and out. Her captivating features radiated pure confidence.
"Guess I'm not as weak as I thought. These pirates on the island couldn't even last a few moves against me."
"Gotta blame that guy Klein…"
"He's just absurdly strong!"
From those small fry and grunts, she finally got a taste of dominating someone. It made her realize her own strength.
She turned toward Os, a proud glint in her eyes. "Hey, Os. Just how strong is Klein? And tell me more about his swordsmanship."
Gloriosa hadn't forgotten about the unusual katana hanging at Klein's waist.
That exquisite craftsmanship and design—it clearly wasn't some ordinary blade.
"How strong?" Os was momentarily stunned. He thought back to the entire journey so far—every enemy they faced had been utterly helpless against Klein.
A single burst of Conqueror's Haki that had paralyzed thousands of pirates on the spot.
Absolutely terrifying!
But not once had Klein drawn his blade. Os knew it wasn't arrogance—it was simply because the enemies weren't worth it.
After a brief pause, he gave a vague answer. "He's really, really strong. Probably only a Marine Admiral—like the strongest legends—could take him on."
He added, "As for his swordsmanship... I've never seen Mr. Klein use a sword before. But I'm sure it's amazing!"
"…" Gloriosa looked unimpressed. That was barely an answer.
She didn't know much about the Marine Admirals. After all, Klein was the first person she met upon leaving Amazon Lily.
Still, she had her own goals: 'If I master Rokushiki and strengthen my Haki, I'll surpass Klein one day. Then I'll finally take back control of my fate!'
Os turned to her, his expression bashful. "Actually… I've always been curious. You Amazons—all women—how do you even have kids?"
"We Amazons are special," Shakky answered for her. "We only give birth to girls. So when someone gets pregnant during their journey, they return to Amazon Lily to give birth."
"Sodesune—" Os nodded in sudden understanding. He'd always found it strange that the entire island was women-only.
"Isn't that… really inconvenient?"
That one sentence left Gloriosa and Shakky speechless. "..."
Seemingly oblivious, Os kept up the barrage of soul-crushing questions.
"What about their lovers?"
"Isn't that basically forcing people apart?"
"You're breaking up families! Kids without dads must grow up with all sorts of issues, right?"
"Don't you ever… long for a father's love?"
Gloriosa and Shakky remained silent, expressions darkening like storm clouds, barely containing their fury.
"It just doesn't make sense to me," Os muttered. "It's borderline unethical…"
"Shut up!" Gloriosa snapped, leaping onto the upper deck in a huff.
Os pouted. "Smart woman, but completely missing the point…"
"Amazon Lily makes no sense at all—!"
That last line felt like a stab to the heart. Both Gloriosa and Shakky looked ready to explode, and the Amazon warriors nearby stared blankly.
He… kinda had a point.
Most of them didn't even know who their fathers were, let alone understand what "fatherly love" was supposed to feel like.
A Marine soldier ran up to Os, excitement written all over his face.
"Os! You made the news! You've got a title now!"
"Me?!" Os grabbed the newspaper with trembling hands, already asking before he even looked, "Is it Black Gun?!"
"..." The Marine soldier went quiet for a beat.
A bad feeling welled up inside Os. He opened the paper—
His face darkened. "But I told them! I followed Mr. Klein's orders exactly! I said I'm Black Gun Os! Why… why is it 'Bird Sniper'?!"
He was stunned. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
"I mean, I do shoot people from afar all the time…"
Then he turned to Gloriosa. "You've got a title too. The paper's calling you 'Flame Blossom'!"
"Flame Blossom…" Gloriosa's lips curled into a smile. "That's not bad. Suits me perfectly."
In the world of pirates, it wasn't just pirates who got famous—Marines with reputation got titles too.
Like "White Hunter," "Ship-Slicing Swordsman," "Iron Fist," "Black Arm"...
And of course… the infamous "Deserter King."
At that moment, a white figure casually strolled through the streets of Devil Town—but each step covered over ten meters, as if blinking through space. His Observation Haki scanned the area.
"Looks like there aren't many pirates left. Gloriosa, Shakky, and Os did a solid job."
Soon, he reached the harbor and leapt onto the warship's deck.
There, the Marines were in training—chanting something that made Klein almost choke on air.
"We won't be Haki-fodder Navy scrubs anymore—!"
"We won't be Haki-fodder Navy scrubs anymore—!"
Every soldier was full of energy. Their motivation was off the charts.
Whose idea was that slogan? That's insane! Hospitalize them immediately!
Klein was speechless.
But maybe… he should help out, occasionally knocking them out with Conqueror's Haki to boost their resistance?
Os and Gloriosa rushed over in awe.
"Mr. Klein, did your mission go well?"
"Lord Klein, we caught so many pirates these past few days—can you teach me the rest of Rokushiki now?"
But the moment Os saw Klein's face, he froze. That was the face of a man radiating "Do Not Approach" energy.
It was obvious—Klein was in a terrible mood.
Gloriosa frowned. Her gaze drifted to the ornate chest in Klein's hands, curiosity brimming. "Lord Klein, what's in the box?"
"A secret," Klein muttered bitterly.
Inside was none other than the coveted Logia-class Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
He should've been overjoyed.
But besides the chest, he'd brought back nothing. You ask, "What about the gold?"
So Klein had tried to deposit it directly into the game.
The damn system swallowed all of it.
Now, in front of him was this:
[A groundbreaking game update is coming! Estimated time: 10 days.]
[One Piece Online will become an epic-level title!]
[A brand-new Battle Pass will launch alongside it!]
[Players, stay tuned!]
"'Stay tuned,' my ass!!"
Klein had nearly exploded when he saw the message.
He raged at the devs, called them every name imaginable. Over 200 billion Beli worth of gold—gone.
All he had left was 10 billion Beli. The remaining 190+ billion?
The game claimed it was "used for development and optimization."
He swore in every language he knew.
That's why he was in such a foul mood.
"Game optimization… and I'm the one paying for it?!" Klein was tasting the bitter injustice of life.
Sure, yeah… even if he was the only player of this game, the only one enjoying it…
If they couldn't roll out a truly satisfying update after burning 190 billion Beli?
He was going to tear the devs limb from limb.
His only consolation: the remaining 10 billion, and the priceless Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Looking at Os and Gloriosa, he declared with renewed spirit, "Set sail—we're heading for the Beautiful New World!"
Wasn't the New World just a hellscape of pirate freaks and monster seas?
Since when was it beautiful?
Then it clicked. "The pirates in the New World do have higher bounties. For Lord Klein, it really is the perfect hunting ground!" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
Gloriosa's eyes lit up with excitement. "The New World... I've heard it's the fastest place to grow stronger."