No kidding, even Rocks would have to offer me a cigarette.

An unidentified ship, flying a skull and crossbones flag, slowly sailed over under the cover of night.

"Pirates, huh? That's strange. There are even some unaffiliated members who haven't been drawn into the Rocks Pirates' crew."

With a wary look in his eyes, Luo Hou stepped away from his original position and quietly observed the movements of the pirates from the darkness.

This group of pirates numbered approximately 20 to 30 people, and each of them bore some degree of bright red, bleeding wounds.

Judging from their condition, they must have been engaged in a fierce battle with other pirate forces at sea.

Just then, Luo Hou suddenly sensed something. He felt a cold gaze from among the pirates watching him, hidden in the shadows.

"It's Observation Haki!"

Luo Hou frowned. As a seasoned One Piece fan, he knew very well that he had been discovered by the pirate with Observation Haki.

However, he was not afraid at all. If these mere pirates could make him back down, then what was the point of talking about taking revenge on the Celestial Dragons?

Isn't this a joke?

The pirate who spotted him noticed that Rahu didn't flee at his sight, and then clapped his hands and revealed a cruel smile.

Snap snap snap snap snap~

"Young man, I admire your courage."

"They didn't even choose to run away from a great pirate like me with a bounty of 900 million Berries!"

"How about it? I'll give you a chance to join my pirate crew, and we'll go find the treasures of the sea together!"

Judging from the other person's attire and tone, Luo Hou realized that this person must be the captain of the pirate ship in front of him.

As for the other party's invitation to become a member of the pirate crew, Rahu was completely uninterested.

It's just a small pirate crew; it's not worth wasting his time here.

However, Rahu was still slightly interested in the fact that this pirate captain possessed Observation Haki, a type of Haki that is extremely useful in the early stages.

He planned to test his current strength against this group of pirates, and also use the opportunity to further enhance his power.

The attribute absorption system, in addition to absorbing basic attributes, is more importantly capable of absorbing the opponent's domineering aura and various combat techniques during battle.

"Joining a pirate crew? It's not impossible, but you'll at least have to prove your strength first. If you're too weak, no one will even look at you little pirates."

Seeing that his figure had been completely exposed, Rahu stopped hiding and simply stood openly in front of a group of pirates, taunting them.

With his current strength, although he might not be able to defeat the captain, it would be very easy for him to teach a lesson to the ordinary crew members who were absorbing his attributes.

However, before Rahu could finish speaking, the captain, who had been smiling, suddenly turned gloomy, as if he was angered by Rahu's words.

"Who are you calling a little pirate?"

"I'm Captain Jackman, the super-strong captain with a bounty of 900 million Berries!"

"Men, kill this arrogant brat! Let him know that pirates are not to be trifled with!!!"

The captain finished speaking.

Luo Hou was immediately surrounded by pirates, each with a smile on their face and a gleaming cleaver in their hand.

"Kid! It's not too late to apologize to our Captain Jackman now! Otherwise, watch out, this steel knife in my hand might just come out in a flash!"

A pirate holding a machete laughed.

Since it was already dark, the pirates did not see clearly that Rahu, whom they called a brat, was not actually that weak.

Luo Hou naturally didn't intend to explain anything about this situation, because at this moment he was quietly absorbing the basic attributes dropped by these pirate crew members.

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have successfully absorbed 12 points of power!]

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have successfully absorbed 14 points of power!]

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have successfully absorbed 17 points of Agility!]

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have successfully absorbed 14 points of Agility!]

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have successfully absorbed 20 stamina points!]

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have successfully absorbed 11 stamina points!]

Although these pirate members weren't particularly strong, they still managed to drop some useful attributes compared to ordinary adult males.

However, after only a few seconds, these ordinary pirates were no longer able to do anything to Rahu.

"Hey! Didn't your parents teach you to be polite? I'm talking to you!"

Because of Rahu's silence, the pirate who had been muttering to himself seemed to realize he was being ignored. In a fit of anger, he started cursing.

These words, which struck at the heart of Rahu's pain, immediately caused his face to contort in pain.

He had barely managed to hide his pain when this damned pirate exposed it once again.

"Very well! Very well! You have found a way to die!"

Rahu's eyes flashed with murderous intent. Then, with all his muscles working in unison, he instantly unleashed a powerful force, propelling his body like a cannonball into the horde of pirates.

boom!

In the blink of an eye, a muffled sound rang out as Luo Hou, relying on his superhuman agility, quickly unleashed a punch.

The incredibly lucky pirate, who had no time to react, was struck precisely in the center of Jiang Dao's eye socket by a punch. Like hitting a watermelon, his head exploded instantly, and his headless corpse flew wildly through the air, utterly dead.

"Is this all there is to it?"

"I want to take on ten of them!!!"

Luo Hou's face was indifferent, his clothes fluttering in the wind as he casually flicked the blood off his fist. He showed no discomfort whatsoever from killing for the first time.

...

Chapter 4 Vulnerable

"What?! Is this real?! This power?!"

"To blow someone's head off straight away? Only a powerful master like the captain could pull off such a scene, right?"

He watched helplessly as his companion's head was smashed open by Luo Hou's punch in less than a second, his brains splattering everywhere.

The pirates present all stared wide-eyed in shock at Rahu, who, in their eyes, was just a kid who had just come of age.

"Captain! There's something fishy about this kid!"

The pirates retreated in fear.

They are certainly not afraid of killing, but the impact of images like this, where a person's head is blown apart and scattered everywhere in an instant, is simply too great for humanity.

The headless corpse was still lying on the ground, twitching uncontrollably. How could they dare to move forward any further?

However, Jackman did not react to the pleading gazes of his crew members; instead, he gave orders in a disdainful tone.

"He's just a brat. There are almost 20 of you, and you can't even handle a greenhorn?"

"Why don't you all swarm him and kill him? Captain, I'm watching you from behind! Go and smash him to pieces! Avenge our comrade!"

Seeing his crew so useless, Jackman became furious and shouted loudly. The pirates, who had nowhere to retreat, could only swallow hard and begin to cautiously circle around, looking for a suitable angle to attack.

Compared to Rahu, they were even more afraid of Captain Jackman, who was said to have eaten the Power Fruit.

Furthermore, if a dozen or so pirates launch an attack together, taking down a kid should be quite easy.

Although their pirate crew was small, they cooperated very well.

Their specialty is swarming in and hacking any troublesome enemies to pieces.

However, when faced with the pirates who had once again surrounded him, Rahu immediately showed an excited expression.

Just now, the instant he killed that pirate, a faint burst of elemental energy actually surged out from the pirate's corpse.

According to Luo Hou's own understanding, this attribute absorption system should only be able to absorb the opponent's attribute energy to the maximum extent by completely killing the enemy.

If that's the case, then the following experiments will be much simpler.

By killing people and absorbing their attributes, one can become stronger even faster!

"Kid! You've given yourself away! Fighting so many of us, and you still dare to get distracted? You're practically asking for death!"

Just as Luo Hou was pondering more ingenious ways to use the system, the pirates who had surrounded him suddenly seemed to have taken a stimulant, shouting about the flaws and surging up like waves.

However, when faced with these pirates charging towards him, Rahu's expression did not change at all; he simply maximized his agility.

Without flinching, he strode forward, wildly swinging his fists, striking seven or eight pirates in quick succession, each blow piercing through their hearts.

With a snap, the pirates' breastbones, as if made of brittle bone, were instantly broken open on the spot.

Feeling his power rapidly increase once again, Rahu's face turned extremely rosy as he revealed a classic villainous smile.

With a series of flicks of his curved fingers, the pirates whose chests had been pierced were devoured like tender white tofu with its core ripped out. Blood splattered everywhere, and their corpses, lifeless and like trash, collapsed to their knees, meeting a gruesome end.

"Hehehe, not bad, delicious~"

Rahu let out a strange laugh.

Then suddenly he threw a punch.

With a bang, it passed right through the back of the head of a pirate who had lost the will to fight and was trying to escape. The scene was like a paper-shelled walnut exploding, with red and white fragments flying everywhere, a truly horrifying sight.

With such a speed at which he could kill a small pirate in almost a second, Rahu quickly took the lives of a dozen or twenty people.

Every time he kills an enemy without holding back and absorbs their basic attributes, his body becomes stronger and stronger, making him more and more excited to kill.

Even those pirate officers with some strength became innocent victims under his fists.

After dealing with all the pirates on the scene, Rahu turned his gaze to the pirate captain named Jackman.

But at this moment, the pirate captain was already drenched in sweat.

He swore he had never seen anyone in his life who could treat human life so cruelly and without any mercy.

Although he also killed people frequently, he was never as clean and efficient as this boy, without uttering a single unnecessary word!

"Who...who are you...?! I'm not going to be a pirate anymore, Mom...I want to go home!!!"

Jackman stared wide-eyed in terror, turned and ran, utterly lacking the courage to confront a serial killer like Rahu.

"Hmph! Want to escape?"

Seeing this, Rahu spoke with disdain, his highly agile body instantly giving chase. Then, he released his dark red Conqueror's Haki and blasted it directly at Jackman, who was trying to escape.