Chapter 14: "Kite"
Soren's mind blanked for a second upon hearing that, then raced at lightning speed.
"If I just say I'm Garp's brother, what if he holds a grudge against Garp? No, that's too risky."
"Beg for mercy? He just casually executed his own second mate. With someone that ruthless, betting on him suddenly finding a conscience is probably less likely than winning the lottery."
"No choice now. I have to gamble on it."
Soren's mouth twisted into a cold sneer. "Killing a defenseless old man is hardly sporting."
"Besides, even if I kill him, once I get on the ship, I'll just be an ordinary crew member."
Zodan raised an eyebrow.
"So what are you getting at?"
"I want to fight him."
Soren pointed at the first mate who was busy yelling at the others to move cargo.
Soren wore a vicious expression.
"If I kill him, I suppose that makes me the first mate."
"Hahahaha, kid, are you sure about that?"
Zodan burst into laughter, a wicked gleam in his eyes, as if he had stumbled upon something amusing.
Soren nodded.
"Let me give you a friendly tip."
"My first mate goes by the nickname Evil Bear, with a bounty of 5,600,000 Beli. His favorite hobby is tearing people apart with his bare hands."
"I really would hate to see you die, though. How about I give you another chance? Go kill the old man and start out as a deckhand."
"With your brains, you should be able to climb your way up pretty fast."
With that, Zodan put on a look of feigned regret, though the gleam in his eyes hadn't dimmed in the slightest.
"My life is my own, and the path is mine to choose. Whatever the outcome, I accept it."
Soren stared directly into his eyes and pressed on boldly.
"Besides, aren't you dying to watch a good show?"
Zodan's lips curved upward, and the light in his eyes flared brightly.
For the first time in a long while, he felt a surge of excitement.
"First mate, get over here."
The burly man had heard the exchange between the two. He strode up to Zodan, his face contorted with fury.
"Three minutes. Only one of you walks away from this, and no guns."
"Now then, this is your stage. Try your best to entertain me."
With that, Zodan and his men retreated to the edge of the plaza, while Hannibal, the vice captain standing beside him, let out a sigh.
"Such a waste of a young body. What fine ingredients!"
He watched the boy in the center of the ring, unconsciously licking his lips.
In the middle of the plaza, the boy and the brute stood facing each other, less than five meters apart.
"Little bastard, I'm going to shatter your bones one by one, and then rip you right down the middle like a loaf of bread."
Before his words fully faded, he charged forward like a wild boar.
Then he threw a punch straight at Soren's chest.
Soren crossed his arms defensively in front of his chest, bending his knees slightly to brace himself.
*Bang.*
Soren slid back more than three meters.
"He actually blocked it!"
A few muffled gasps rose from the sidelines.
As he slid backward, Soren began analyzing the situation in his head.
"Stiff movements, slow speed, but heavy power. Looks like he hasn't had any formal training, just pure raw talent."
He glanced down at his slightly trembling arms.
"Unless absolutely necessary, I can't take another punch like that. At that speed, I can dodge it. No problem."
"Looks like the only way to win is to kite him."
Having settled on a strategy, Soren immediately started running circles around the plaza.
From that moment on, the scene devolved into something utterly absurd.
He ran, the other chased, and the two of them hurled trash talk at each other across the arena.
"Hey, kid, stop running! Were you born to a monkey? All you know how to do is scurry around!"
However, as someone baptized by the baptism of big data, what kind of verbal sparring hadn't Soren witnessed on the internet in his past life?
The first mate's insults caused him less damage than the dust kicked up into his face while running.
Transforming instantly into a keyboard warrior, he fired off five insults a second.
"Watching you run made me achieve enlightenment. So that's how pigs run."
"After meeting you, I finally realized ugliness could manifest in such concrete forms."
"You should really stand out in the sun more. Get a tan and maybe people will stop calling you an idiot."
"Looking at you just baffles me. How could a non-biological entity like you exist in this world!"
"Oh, and you're definitely an orphan, aren't you?"
.........
The first mate lost his mind. Under the cross-world verbal bombardment of Soren's trash talk, his last shred of sanity completely shattered.
After sprinting around in circles for a while, Soren noticed the first mate's speed noticeably dropping.
"Looks like his sanity and stamina are just about burned out. Time for the next step."
Accelerating suddenly, Soren burst forward for a distance before stopping and turning to face the big man.
Seeing Soren stop, the first mate's bloodshot eyes filled with wild elation. Panting heavily, he picked up speed and charged right at him.
"Die, you little punk!"
As he closed in on Soren, he leaped into the air, raising his fist to bring it down with crushing force.
Soren timed it carefully, rolling forward just before the giant hit the ground, ending up directly behind him.
He drew his dagger and, the moment the heavy man landed, thrust it hard into his groin.
"Agh!"
Clutching his crotch with both hands, the first mate collapsed face-first into the dirt, letting out a heart-wrenching shriek of agony.
Soren seized the moment, stepping up to deliver two swift, slashing kicks to the back of the first mate's heels.
Just like that, the brute was rendered completely immobile, and the victory was basically secured.
In the blink of an eye, the tide of battle had turned. The onlookers lining the edge of the plaza stared with wide eyes, utterly bewildered.
Grandpa Doug, standing to the side, felt a profound wave of shock wash over him.
"Before I even realized it, Soren has grown to this extent."
Captain Zodan suddenly clapped his hands, his face beaming with delight.
"What a magnificent performance."
"You really have given me an enormous surprise."
With that, he pointed at the groaning first mate sprawled on the ground.
"Now, finish him off, and you'll be the first mate on my ship."
Soren looked at the man before him and didn't move.
As he turned and began walking toward Zodan, he spoke.
"He's already a cripple. Wouldn't it be better to leave him to the angry villagers? That should make quite a spectacle."
Up until this point, Soren had constantly tried to create leverage, hoping to keep as many people alive as possible.
However, this time, his calculation failed.
"Soren, watch out!"
"Die, you little rat!"
The brute lying on the ground forced his head up, fixing Soren's back with a venomous glare.
He pulled a pistol from his jacket and pulled the trigger.
Grandpa Doug, who had been keeping a close eye on the arena from the edge of the plaza, realized something was wrong the moment the big man reached inside his coat.
He lunged forward through the air, throwing himself behind Soren to block the shot.
*Bang.*
The moment before the gunshot rang out, the world around Soren turned black and white.
Without turning around, he saw the first mate behind him about to fire, and Grandpa Doug diving toward him.
Yet, despite seeing it all, his body felt extraordinarily heavy, as if encased in a suit of thick armor. He used every ounce of his strength, but managed only the slightest twitch.
"Move! Just move!"