A/N: Hi Everyone! I'll be updating 3 chapters a day after I update till chapter 30. If you enjoy my stories and want to help me keep going, please consider buying me a coffee.
(https:// ko-fi.com/sami27)
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"Damn it! What the hell is this?!"
"Let me go! If you've got guts, fight me head-on!"
A burly man dressed in a pirate captain's uniform and hat was currently enveloped in a thick cloud of white smoke, completely immobilized, thrashing and yelling in vain.
But clearly, no one was paying him any attention.
"Colonel, that's Niba—the one they call the Blood Scythe. Bounty: 13 million."
"Mud? What kind of garbage name is that?"
"No, sir. Ni-ba."
"Yeah, I heard you. Still sounds like mud to me."
The reporting marine looked speechless for a moment and gave up trying to correct him.
Fine—mud it is.
"By the way, who set that 13 million bounty?"
"This guy? Seriously? He's barely above the average grunt. Maybe one against ten at best."
Colonel Smoker scowled as he looked at Niba, now cuffed and subdued.
"And for that, he's worth 13 million berries? Whoever priced that is a damn idiot!"
Of course, Smoker could say this out loud. But the others nearby wouldn't dare agree—not openly.
After all, while bounty proposals came from the regional branches, final confirmation and pricing came from Marine Headquarters.
Which meant…
Their own colonel was trash-talking the top brass.
None of them were about to chime in.
"So, this was the last crew from our intel, right?"
"Yes, sir. That's the fifth pirate crew we've crushed in two days. Including the Arlong Pirates, who were mysteriously destroyed, that should be all of them!"
"Good. What about interrogations?"
"Well…"
The marine hesitated.
Smoker's brow furrowed.
"Speak!!!"
"A direct order came down. Due to the seriousness of the case, we're not allowed to conduct our own interrogations. Specialists will be sent to take over."
"A direct order? From where?"
The marine nodded furiously, afraid to say more.
He was just a low-ranking officer—there was no way he'd forge a command.
"The order came through Vice Admiral Val's office."
That said, Smoker instantly understood.
Everyone who'd been at HQ knew who Vice Admiral Val was.
Technically, he oversaw East Blue affairs, and the chain of command checked out. But…
This case had clearly escalated. All recent orders had come straight from the Fleet Admiral's Office.
Meaning Val no longer had jurisdiction here.
So if an order came from his office to halt interrogations, something was definitely fishy.
"Ignore it. Keep the interrogation going. Break them and get whatever intel we can!"
"But sir—"
"No buts. Follow my orders. If this blows up, I'll take responsibility."
"Understood, sir!"
---
Somewhere on an uninhabited island in the East Blue…
A News Coo suddenly stirred awake, blinking rapidly.
It remembered clearly—while flying over this deserted island, something had attacked it out of nowhere.
A net had snapped open mid-air, and then…
Blank.
Was this… a robbery?
Frantically, it checked its delivery pouch.
Phew… all the newspapers were still there. Not a single one missing.
A small blessing.
The bird exhaled in relief.
But if it wasn't a robbery, then why attack it?
That's when it noticed a document pouch on the ground nearby.
What was this?
Pecking it open, the bird pulled out a sheet of paper with its beak and skimmed it.
Its eyes widened.
Whatever it had just read—this was big.
It quickly stuffed the whole pouch into its bag.
To make room, it even tossed out every single newspaper it had!
And then, without wasting a second, it took off into the sky.
That document pouch… would land on Morgans' desk exactly one day later.
Everything was unfolding according to Luo Lan's plan.
As for Luo Lan himself…
He was in the middle of something big.
---
"Points!"
"Nice! I haven't even cleared all the loot yet, and I'm already over 30,000 points!"
"System, time to get to work!"
> [Ding! What do you need, Host?]
"Level up! Upgrade me—now!"
> [Ding! Host is currently a D-rank Builder. Upgrading to C-rank requires 30,000 points. Please confirm.]
"Confirmed!"
> [Ding! 30,000 points deducted. Remaining: 1,240. Upgrade complete.]
> [Ding! Host has received 1x C-rank Builder Upgrade Package. Open now?]
Whoa! A reward pack?
He thought only newbies got those when activating the system.
Looks like you get one every rank-up?
"Open it!"
> [Ding! C-rank Builder Pack opened. You've received the following:]
> Builder Points*
1x Standard C-Rank Construction Team (3-month contract)
1x High-Level Talent Draw Ticket
1x Assault Submarine Tuatha de Danaan (unarmed version)
So many goodies?
But… what's with this construction team?
And this Tuatha de Danaan submarine… it sounded super familiar…
Wait a second.
He remembered.
TDD-1?
Wasn't that the same sub from that anime?
But "unarmed version"... what did that mean?
Quickly, Luo Lan opened his personal storage.
Sure enough, all the items were there.
He zoomed in on the sci-fi looking sub.
The specs popped up.
And then it made sense.
"Unarmed" literally meant: no weapons.
No missiles.
No launch systems.
Even the vertical launch silos—gone.
That space had been replaced by huge cargo holds.
Torpedo tubes? Stripped out too.
In short—
The Danaan he received was a super-fast, super-spacious submarine… with zero offensive capabilities.
That's it.
A bit of a letdown, but Luo Lan had to admit:
Even unarmed, the sub was sick.
Now, about that other item—the C-rank construction team.
According to the description:
"C-rank teams can build any structure of C-rank or lower within the system."
Okay, that made sense.
But…
He was confused.
Previously, when building anything, all he had to do was purchase it in the system, and a ship would show up with builders. No need to hire anyone himself.
"System, mind explaining?"
> [Ding! As a D-rank Builder, you were in the beginner phase. All building logistics were handled for you. Now that you've ranked up, you must manage this yourself.]
Beginner phase?!
Now I'm responsible?
He looked at the small note next to the construction team.
Three-month contract.
Then checked the build module and searched "construction team."
Sure enough, it showed up.
C-rank Construction Team:
One-month short-term contract: 3,000 points
One-year long-term contract: ???? points
So expensive!!!
Luo Lan practically screamed in his heart.