He's a pirate, but also a Pokémon Master.

The next day.

Guxin went to collect the money as agreed, but stopped in front of an alley next to the casino and habitually turned and went inside.

Looking around, the walls on both sides of the alley cast a corner of shadow under the sunlight, with a clear dividing line between light and dark.

In the shadows, a man with no expression sat on a wooden crate, carefully wiping his long-barreled gun with a handkerchief.

He was tall, wore a strange hat, had his right eye covered by an eyepatch, had a long face, and wore a black cloak and light purple striped clothes.

Van Oka, that's his name.

This name may not be well-known on the high seas today, but Guxin knew that four years later his status would be astonishingly high.

Known as "Sound Leap," he is a Paramecia-type Instant Transmission Fruit user, the personal sniper of Blackbeard, one of the Four Emperors, and also the captain of the Fifth Ship!

About a month ago, he encountered Van Augur on this island, and at first he thought a battle was inevitable.

However, the other party only observed from the shadows and did not take any substantial action.

It wasn't until ten days ago that she finally asked to play a game of fate with him.

That is, tossing a coin.

The game is divided into ten days, with one toss each day.

Neither side discussed the outcome of the match, but simply continued in a tacit agreement.

Gushin uses his superpowers to roughly read Van Augur's thoughts...

He was searching for his destiny.

Van Augur looked up at Gushin, a slight smile curving his lips, his voice deep and magnetic:

"On the tenth day of destiny, which side will you choose today?"

At the same time, he raised his long, slender fingers, a coin held between his index and middle fingers, ready to toss it at any moment.

"Frontline," Guxin replied without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Van Augur tossed a coin, which landed with a clink and bounced a few times before settling still.

Conversely, Van Auka won.

He said meaningfully, "5:5, a fateful tie..."

"Finally...a turning point in our destiny has arrived."

"final time"

Van Augur stood up, his height of over three meters giving him an imposing presence.

Guxin has grown a lot taller in the past three months, but he is only 2.4 meters tall, which is nothing in the world of One Piece where everyone is a monster.

Fortunately, he can still grow taller in the future.

"Two months ago, I found Mrs. Shirley on Mermaid Island and asked her to do a divination for me," Van Augur said to himself. "She's a very famous diviner; it's said that her predictions are 100% accurate."

"The divination she gave me indicated that, two months from now, I will find the answer I'm looking for in the food court of the Grand Line."

Van Augur stopped abruptly as he spoke, then raised his specially made spear, the "Thousand Six," and aimed it at Gushin.

"I want to save the final coin toss for later." Van Augur narrowed his eyes, a glint of fervor in them. "Before that, I want to ask you what your goal is?"

"Target?" Guxin asked in return.

"Yes, everyone has their own goals, and you are no exception," Van Augur said firmly.

In fact, after a month of observation, he had more or less guessed what Guxin's "target" was.

He believed that Guxin was a self-righteous person who was self-centered and would occasionally kill villains such as gangsters and pirates.

It also exhibited an astonishing rate of growth and an unknown, mysterious ability.

A very interesting person.

That's why he believed that Guxin was the answer to the divination.

But that was the answer from divination, not necessarily his answer.

Therefore, he still needs to be tested.

The alley was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

About half a minute later, Gu Xin's eyes shone brightly, and he said firmly:

"Live on, stand up."

It's that simple.

After witnessing this chaotic world firsthand, his mindset changed considerably.

He wanted to live, and to live with dignity.

Why are the Celestial Dragons allowed to be high above and treat the common people as playthings, while the common people are forced to submit to their fate and suffer the humiliation of their destiny?

First, he will start with himself and take control of his own destiny.

Only then are you qualified to talk about the fate of others.

Van Augur didn't react much after hearing this, but he saw the ambition hidden in Gushin's eyes... but that wasn't enough, he continued:

"That's a good goal, but do you have the resources to achieve it?"

Gu Xin's expression suddenly changed.

As soon as he finished speaking, Van Augur raised his Thousand Six and fired four shots at Guxin in an instant.

The four bullets were fired almost simultaneously, precisely targeting vital organs.

One shot was aimed at the head, one at the heart, and the remaining two were used to block movement to the left and right, forming a tight offensive.

Strangely, Guxin stood there motionless, and the four bullets seemed to have a mind of their own, stopping a meter away from him, as if an invisible barrier had blocked them.

Guxin's eyes narrowed, and he activated his superpowers. The four bullets flew back at an even faster speed, and the sound of them cutting through the air suddenly rose.

barrier?

No, it's control!

Van Augur's pupils twitched, his Observation Haki flashed a frantic warning, and he immediately raised his gun, firing four more bullets.

Van Augur hasn't eaten the teleportation fruit yet, so he can't dodge and can only solve the problem by fighting with guns.

Clang——

Every bullet hit its mark precisely.

This astonishing accuracy is truly remarkable.

Although Van Augur is not as strong as he will be four years later, he is definitely a formidable opponent.

In the original story, he was able to shoot seagulls from a distance that was invisible to the naked eye, which shows how powerful his shooting skills were.

As soon as the bullet was knocked away, Van Augur felt a chill run down his spine as his Observation Haki frantically warned him of impending danger.

Swah——

Gushin, fused with Snorlax, appeared like a ghost behind Van Augur.

His right fist was raised high, and an orange-red light ignited above it, making his punch fierce!

It stirred up layers of air currents, as if it were about to cleave the heavens with a single punch!

[Arm Hammer]!

A solid punch struck Van Auger's right waist, sending him flying backward like a cannonball, tracing a graceful arc in the air.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye; even though he was skilled in Observation Haki, he didn't have time to react.

Van Augur bit his tongue sharply to snap out of it and straighten himself to stand on the ground.

Where his heel struck the ground, a spiderweb-like crack suddenly appeared.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, grinned, and said, "What...unreasonable ability!"

He figured it out.

What Guxin did just now was not just fast speed, but real teleportation, arriving at another location in an instant.

Gushin looked at Van Auger with unusual calm, as if he had expected this outcome.

Van Augur is a sniper whose greatest strength lies in long-range shooting.

For a sniper, there are only two outcomes in a battle.

One shot is enough to kill, or to escape a thousand miles away.

Close combat was never his forte, let alone when facing someone who possessed both teleportation and close combat abilities.

In this match, Van Augsburg was unable to utilize his strengths at all.

Guxin estimates that Van Augur's current strength is around B-level.

Van Augur also noticed this, chuckled self-deprecatingly, and then flipped his right hand, magically producing a coin.

"The last choice."

"Which do you choose, heads or tails?"

Gushin looked at Van Auger quietly, then suddenly said, "I won't choose either the front or the back."

"Sometimes, the course of fate can be beyond your imagination."

Van Augur was a little taken aback, but he still gave it a flick of his thumb, sending the coin flying into the air before it fell back to the ground under the influence of gravity.

Surprisingly, the coin stood upright and didn't move at all.

The result was neither positive nor negative.

Unconsciously, Guxin used his superpowers to keep the coin upright.

Guxin opened his right hand, revealing a coin in his palm, then clenched his fist: "Rather than advocating for fate, I prefer to be the one who controls the course of fate."

Can you control... the course of fate?

Van Augur's eyes changed.

Gushin spread his arms wide, his eyes seeming to transform, and an aura of power emanated from him: "Van Augur, follow me!"

"Behind me, reach the summit!"

Suddenly, Van Augur saw two figures flash past Gushin: an elegant and noble young lady and a burly, squinty-eyed beast.

What they have in common is that their auras are far beyond that of ordinary people.

After defeating Vanilla, Snorlax and Gardevoir share the experience points equally.

Although Snorlax hasn't leveled up yet, its aura has become somewhat stronger.

Gardevoir, on the other hand, successfully rose to A- rank, its aura increased dramatically, and the effect described in its stats also changed.

[Superpower Queen: Superpower effects increased by 50%...and the efficiency of training mental abilities increases exponentially]

Gardevoir was his first A-rank Pokémon. Perhaps when each Pokémon reaches A-rank, its stats will improve accordingly.

At that moment, Van Auger was completely convinced that Gushin was the answer to his destiny!

Good and evil are not important to him.

He only cares about whether he can follow an "interesting" leader who can guide him to see a more interesting destiny.

In the original story, he chose the black beard, but now...

Suddenly, a series of chaotic footsteps sounded, and Thomas led a group of armed gangsters, about forty or fifty people, making quite a show of force.

Before they knew it, they had arrived near the entrance of the casino.

As soon as Thomas saw Gushin arrive, he led all his prepared men out to fight.

Today we're determined to teach this kid a lesson.

He refused to believe that forty or fifty armed gangsters couldn't kill a pretty boy.

As for Van Auger, he simply considered him an unlucky bystander and decided to kill him as well.

Thomas stood in the crowd, raised his flintlock pistol, aimed it at Gushin, and arrogantly declared, "You actually dared to come!"

"I let you go yesterday, but since you're so eager to die today, I'll help you out!"

Everyone simultaneously raised their guns and aimed them at the two men. It seemed that as long as Thomas gave the order, Van Auger and Gushin would be riddled with bullets.

Guxin smiled with interest, all sense of crisis vanishing from his body.

The next moment, a gunshot rang out, and the man fell.

Van Augur's expression was stern as he slowly put away the smoking Thousand Six.

Each bullet pierced through multiple people as easily as skewering candied hawthorns, leaving the ground covered in dripping blood, creating a horrifying scene of hell.

Immediately, Van Auger's gaze hardened, and he gracefully bowed in submission.

"It's an honor, my captain!"