The First Pot of Gold Amid the Chaos
What should I choose as my first skill?
Yang Ning didn't hesitate long. He picked the second skill—Soul Furnace.
A shield, damage, max-HP stacking…
It was practically the holy trinity for a man planning to survive murder, arson, sea travel, and whatever madness the Grand Line would throw at him. With enough health, he might even emulate Kaido's casual suicide attempts.
After learning the skill, he didn't feel any physical transformation.
But somewhere inside, a new instinct appeared—like the natural urge of a fist ready to clench and release something powerful.
He stayed low, machete in hand, creeping along the side of the cabin.
On the deck ahead, Sonic Ajax and Demon Gin were deep in their duel, both fighting with terrifying ferocity. The rest of the deck had turned into a chaotic slaughterhouse—bodies clashing, weapons ringing, blood pooling across the ancient planks.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
As Yang Ning moved, several green soul-lights broke away from dying bodies and flew straight toward him like homing birds.
His stats climbed steadily.
By the time he circled the cabin once, he had collected nearly every visible soul-light.
---
Strength: 23 → 35
Armor: 26 → 38
Passive — Hellfire Curse (35):
Harvest nearby fallen enemies' souls. Gain +1 Armor and +1 Ability Power per soul.
---
The surge in armor emboldened him. His fingers tightened on the machete.
He wasn't just tempted to fight.
He joined the fight.
His eyes locked onto a target—the cold-faced expert pirate who had chased him earlier.
The man was skilled enough to fend off three attackers at once… but that was where his luck ended. No man could survive three enemies, let alone the endless swarm behind them.
And he wasn't even beating the three in front of him.
"Keeping up" was the polite word for "barely surviving."
As the expert pirate knocked aside the hammer, knife, and sword aimed at him and tried to steady his stance, a sudden glint entered his peripheral vision—
A machete.
Yang Ning's machete.
The pirate saw it, but far too late.
The blade buried itself into his ribs with a spray of blood.
"Nice one, bro!"
The three pirates who had been fighting him shouted excitedly. They had seen Yang Ning sneaking up long ago, but as the sixth member on their side, they stayed quiet—waiting for the perfect opening.
Yang Ning didn't greedily try to withdraw his stuck blade.
He let it go and darted away immediately.
The expert pirate roared in fury, ignoring the three enemies before him as he swung a vicious counter-attack toward Yang Ning's retreating back.
But Yang Ning slipped away too fast; the strike cut only air.
The three pirates behind him weren't about to let the opportunity slip.
With the expert pirate's back exposed, they unleashed everything they had.
Blood splattered.
His eyes dimmed.
He stared at Yang Ning—unbelieving that he would die because of a mud-covered nobody from some tiny island.
Would he regret capturing Yang Ning earlier?
Maybe.
But he'd definitely regret not killing him.
Yang Ning understood that look well.
He snatched a broken blade from the ground and cleanly slit the man's throat.
The body hit the deck.
A new stack was added to the Soul Furnace.
---
HP: 130 → 134 / Max HP: 140 → 144
Skill 2 — Soul Furnace (1):
Passive: Gain +4 Max HP for each unit killed.
---
The increase was small, barely noticeable. Yang Ning couldn't help clenching his fists in frustration.
If only he had learned Feast.
One bite for +100 Max HP… compared to that, his current health was pathetic.
But fantasy was fantasy.
Reality was blood and screaming.
"Hey bro, great job! But you look kinda unfamiliar. Which team are you with?"
A few pirates surrounded him, grinning and punching his shoulder in camaraderie.
Yang Ning panicked for half a second, then pointed vaguely toward a nearby ship.
"I'm from… that one."
The pirates looked.
"Oh, Rico's crew."
Their excitement faded instantly.
Apparently their captain didn't get along with Rico.
They walked off, deflated.
Yang Ning exhaled a quiet sigh of relief.
With the taste of success still hot in his veins, he continued his poaching plan.
He didn't care which side was winning or losing.
If he saw a chance to steal a kill, he took it.
If not, he slipped away and waited for the next opportunity.
But pirates weren't stupid.
The Sonic's deck wasn't large.
It didn't take long for both sides to notice his scavenging.
Normally, the two groups would never cooperate.
But right now, both wanted Yang Ning dead.
He became a walking "kill-stealer"—and therefore a public enemy.
Thanks to the extra armor and Soul Furnace shield, he hadn't been chopped to ribbons yet, but…
His armor, now at 43, wasn't enough to safely ignore a full-force pirate slash.
Frustrated, he retreated from the melee and returned toward the bow.
There, Sonic Ajax and Gin continued their violent clash.
Ajax truly lived up to his moniker.
His body blurred like lightning; his sword flashed like flickering sparks. Yang Ning couldn't even follow him with his eyes. Half the deck was covered in distorted afterimages, sword-light slicing through them like white streaks.
Gin, the "Demon Man," fought with brutal simplicity.
His iron tonfa spun like twin steel turbines, forming a near impenetrable defense. No matter how fast Ajax moved, he couldn't break through Gin's defensive rhythm.
Every casual strike Gin released dented or shattered the deck entirely, as if struck by a heavy hammer.
Sparks flew repeatedly where sword and tonfa clashed, far more frequent than the naked eye could track.
Yang Ning couldn't help whispering:
"Monsters."
He knew Gin's original portrayal—cold, ruthless, fiercely loyal, yet capable of gratitude.
In the East Blue arc, he was powerful:
He held down Sanji, crushed Krieg's subordinates, and even sent a weakened Krieg flying with a single punch.
Judged solely by canon, Gin was the strongest member of the Krieg Pirates.
Although the East Blue era had low power levels compared to the Grand Line, Gin's real-world performance here felt even more exaggerated.
Ajax, however, was a different story.
He wasn't from canon—likely one of the many unnamed pirates in Krieg's massive fleet that got wiped out in a single line of narration.
Yet here he was, evenly matching Gin… maybe even edging him out slightly.
Yang Ning analyzed quietly.
With his current stats, even Gin's weakest casual strike would break him.
Ajax's speed would probably kill him before he even saw the sword.
He sighed.
Becoming stronger… is going to be a long, brutal road.
For now?
He just needed to survive this hell.