York hadn't expected that he would be lucky enough to run into Bullet in his youth just by casually strolling around and testing his sword.
He had considered the possibility of a shared name.
But to share the same name, also be a child soldier, and also be betrayed by fellow child soldier teammates?
York absolutely didn't believe there could be such a coincidental coincidence in the world.
He squatted down, and after a quick examination, confirmed that Bullet wasn't actually in life-threatening danger; he was just sleepy due to significant blood loss.
Although being pierced by two bullets was an injury that, in York's previous life, would have required immediate surgery to survive—if it didn't kill outright—the vitality of people in the One Piece world was tenacious, especially for a naturally gifted existence like Bullet.
He didn't die from this in the original timeline, let alone now.
But if York did nothing because of that, wouldn't he seem incompetent?
So, he released tentacles of holy light from his hands. One end wrapped around Bullet's wrist, while the other extended into the distance, piercing straight through the bodies of several Galzburg Kingdom soldiers.
Drawing vitality from them, it was then injected into Bullet through York as a relay station.
With the injection of fresh vitality, Bullet's self-healing function kicked in.
Lost blood was regenerated, and torn wounds healed. Before long, Bullet's consciousness cleared, and he slowly climbed up from the ground.
Looking at York warily, he thanked him solemnly.
"Thank you for saving me."
"It was nothing."
York waved his hand generously.
"Now you can go get your revenge."
Bullet hesitated slightly.
He felt York must have saved him to make him do something.
But since York was letting him go for revenge now, he didn't want to overthink things. The most important thing was to reclaim the spoils that belonged to him.
"Thanks, I will definitely repay you!"
Leaving these words behind, Bullet grabbed his scimitar scattered on the ground and quickly chased in the direction the Galzburg child soldiers had left.
With a physique like an adult, he moved swiftly across the battlefield. Passing through one area, Bullet suddenly noticed the people here had died strangely.
They looked as if their blood had been drained dry; their muscles and skin were shriveled and clung tightly to their bones, like mummies.
"Is it an ability user? Hmph! Hope those bastards aren't dead yet!!"
Bullet didn't linger here. After collecting flintlocks, bullets, and explosive packs from some corpses, he continued his pursuit.
Not long after, York, who had been trailing Bullet, appeared here.
He cared even less about the mummified corpses here.
To be precise, he was the cause of these mummified corpses.
The Holy Light Absorption ability: if used only to absorb for oneself, one could basically guarantee receiving almost as much as was absorbed, with a loss of only about one percent.
But if used to heal others' injuries, the loss ratio became terrifying.
Roughly speaking, to restore a dying person to health would require draining the vitality of about 20 people.
This was why York had never shown this ability before.
The cost-performance ratio was too low, far inferior to normal medical treatment, which, although slow, at least had a small cost.
Healing Bullet this time was purely an emergency measure.
Besides, the dead were soldiers of the Galzburg Kingdom, not his, York's subordinates, so what was there to care about?
"Bullet!! You're actually not dead?!"
A cry of alarm suddenly rang out from the battlefield ahead, followed immediately by Bullet's angry roar.
"You betrayed me! Give me back my spoils!!"
"Bullshit! These are our spoils!!"
After a commotion of flintlock fire and gunpowder explosions, York arrived at the scene.
Bullet slowly pulled his sword out of a child soldier's chest.
Not far away were dumbstruck adult soldiers of the Galzburg Kingdom.
Bullet didn't care at all about the onlookers. He picked up the satchel the child soldiers used to store spoils and put the spoils that originally belonged to him back into his own satchel.
Seeing this, York's figure blurred, appearing like a ghost behind the watching Galzburg adult soldiers.
Silently drawing his long sword, a faint hum rang in the air.
Several heads rolled like balls, bodies fell to the ground, and blood sprayed from necks.
York raised his hand to glance at the silvery blade.
"Not bad! Killing without staining blood! It's a good sword! Truly worthy of being forged by my own hands!!"
Sheathing the sword, York was very satisfied with the results of this first test.
Killing was killing; he didn't have the boring pride of famous swords not cutting down nameless nobodies.
Walking back to Bullet's side, York spoke calmly: "Follow me from now on, how about it?"
"You killed these comrades today. Although they tried to kill you first, others won't investigate the reason. They only see that you killed them in the end."
Bullet fell silent for a moment, then looked up at York.
"Who are you?"
"Adolf D. York! Someone who wants to bring change to this world! As for my identity in the eyes of others now, I am a pirate!"
York looked steadily at Bullet, and Bullet stared back, head raised.
Their eyes met, and York extended his hand proactively.
Bullet shifted his gaze to the hand, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally reached out to grasp it.
"If you betray me in the end too! I will definitely kill you!!"
York smiled faintly.
"I should be the one saying that!"
"If you dare to betray me! I will definitely kill you!!"
Bullet snorted coldly, but for some reason, after hearing York say this, a bit of trust in York naturally arose in him.
Unconsciously, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and Bullet asked: "What do we do next?"
"As a pirate, are you going to rob treasure?"
"Robbing treasure is a given!"
York replied, simultaneously showing Bullet his new sword.
"But at the same time, I'm also here to test my sword by killing people!"
Bullet narrowed his eyes.
"Who is the target?"
"No target, or perhaps, you want to make a suggestion?"
Hearing this, Bullet's eyes widened in surprise first, then he gritted his teeth, the corners of his mouth curling into a ferocious smile.
"How about we wipe out the Galzburg Kingdom army?"
"They've collected almost enough treasure! There's no target here richer or more suitable for testing your sword than them!"
York looked at Bullet with a smile.
'Seems this kid suffered quite a bit in the Galzburg Kingdom usually; otherwise, he wouldn't be this ruthless.'
When Bullet cast an inquiring gaze, York gave an affirmative answer.
"As you wish!!"