Chapter 8: The One Piece World Really Doesn't Care About... Physics!
"Stop!"
Morgan's voice exploded behind them.
Ralph halted his steps, slowly turning around to calmly regard the tall colonel. Koby trembled in fear, nearly collapsing to the ground.
"You two outsiders, with no sense of propriety, dare to trespass into a Marine base and attempt to falsely claim a bounty!"
Morgan pointed at them with his axe-hand, the steel on his chin glinting coldly. "Now, kneel immediately and apologize to the great Colonel Morgan! Otherwise... don't even think about stepping out of this gate!"
Kneel?
Ralph's eyes instantly turned icy.
A warrior may be killed but not humiliated—this had crossed his bottom line.
Having crossed into this world and possessing a system, if he still had to endure such indignities, wouldn't this transmigration be in vain?
Before he could speak, the pink-haired, trembling chubby boy beside him, perhaps because Morgan's actions had completely shattered his illusions about the Marines, suddenly mustered an unexpected surge of courage. Koby lifted his head, his voice still quivering but clear as he shouted, "You... someone like you doesn't deserve to be a Marine! The Marines should stand for justice!"
"What did you say?!"
Morgan's rage was completely ignited. A mere commoner, a waste in his eyes, dared to challenge his authority again and again?
"Open fire! Kill these two who have offended me!"
The Marine soldiers in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, their faces filled with struggle and reluctance.
They had joined the Marines to uphold justice, not to shoot civilians. But under Morgan's murderous glare and the threat of his axe-hand symbolizing absolute power, they slowly and reluctantly raised their rifles, the dark muzzles aimed at Ralph and Koby.
"It seems there's no room for negotiation." Ralph murmured, his gaze sharpening.
Having crossed worlds and gained cheats, could he still be bullied at gunpoint?
Just as the soldiers' fingers were about to pull the triggers, Ralph moved!
"Soru!"
His figure blurred abruptly on the spot, and in the next instant, he vanished like a ghost from everyone's sight.
"What?!"
"Where did he go?!"
Before the exclamations faded, dozens of fine blood lines suddenly erupted from Colonel Morgan standing on the steps! The sounds of slicing followed one after another, his crisp officer's uniform instantly torn to shreds, quickly soaked with blood.
Ralph's figure reappeared as if teleporting several meters behind Morgan, holding the ordinary dagger that had slain the Lord of the Coast, its blade stained with a trace of blood.
Silence!
Dead silence!
All the Marine soldiers stared wide-eyed, unable to believe the scene before them.
This young man... he actually possessed such terrifying speed!
And he had actually injured Colonel Morgan!
However, Ralph felt a twinge of embarrassment at this moment.
His consecutive slashes, executed with the speed of Soru, might have looked flashy, but in reality... they were almost entirely superficial wounds. Morgan's exaggerated muscles and physique far beyond ordinary humans, combined with Ralph's lack of swordsmanship skills and the ordinary quality of his dagger, meant the attacks couldn't inflict effective damage.
"You... bastard!!!" Morgan roared, the intense pain from his wounds—though not fatal—sending him into a complete frenzy from the humiliation. He spun around violently.
The massive axe-hand tore through the air with a piercing shriek, descending straight toward Ralph's head!
Ralph's pupils contracted as he activated Soru once more, his figure flickering as he narrowly dodged the mountain-splitting axe strike.
"Boom!" The axe blade slammed heavily into the ground, sending stone fragments flying.
I can't keep using the dagger!
A realization flashed through Ralph's mind. His greatest destructive power had never been his blade, but Soru itself! The explosive force generated by stomping the ground dozens of times in an instant!
Seeing Morgan wide open after his failed attack, Ralph's gaze sharpened.
"Thud!"
A dull impact echoed like a heavy hammer striking a leather drum. Morgan's massive body jerked backward, a clear shoe print stamped on his face as blood instantly gushed from his nose. Staggering, he crashed heavily to the ground.
"D-defeated?!"
"He defeated Colonel Morgan?!"
The marines were stunned once more, some even instinctively lowering their rifles.
Ralph panted lightly, feeling the numbness in his calves from repeatedly using Soru and the powerful kick, a surge of exhilaration washing over him at having single-handedly overcome a strong opponent. This was his first true battle since crossing over!
However, this exhilaration lasted less than two seconds.
Morgan—still lying on the ground—shook his steel-jawed head, actually propped himself up with his hands, and wobbled back to his feet! Aside from the nosebleed and shoe print on his face, he seemed... barely injured?
"???"
Ralph was dumbfounded.
What did this mean? Do non-skill attacks deal no damage? The One Piece world really doesn't follow... physics!
But then he reconsidered—in the original work, when experts used "Soru," it was purely for high-speed movement without causing significant destruction to the ground or contacted objects.
Fine! This world operates on its own rules, and he needed to adapt quickly!
"Open fire! Open fire! Kill him!!!" Morgan wiped his bloody nose, looking deranged as he brandished his axe and roared again, ordering all soldiers to shoot.
Ralph's heart tightened as he instantly assessed the situation. With Soru's speed, he might hold his own alone, but there were dozens of muskets present! He had no confidence in completely evading their simultaneous barrage. Moreover, Koby—with nearly zero combat ability—was by his side.
In a real fight, he might last a while, but Koby would certainly die! Given their current "friend" relationship and the precious Observation Haki he'd gained from him, letting Koby die here would be utterly ungrateful.
"Let's go!" Ralph decided instantly, hesitating no longer. As the marines were about to pull their triggers, he activated Soru again, his figure teleporting to Koby's side as he grabbed him by the collar.
"Whoosh—!"
Under the stunned gazes of the marine soldiers, both figures vanished from the hall like ghosts.
"They disa... disappeared again?!"
"What kind of ability is this?!"
The marines erupted into chaos, exchanging bewildered looks.
"It's... it's 'Soru' from the Six Powers!" Morgan's deputy, the officer who had earlier tried to reason, paled with terror. He whispered to Morgan, "Colonel, that's an advanced martial art only mastered by Marine Headquarters and World Government agents! This young man's background is likely extraordinary!"
"I don't care about his background!" Morgan roared, cutting off his adjutant's words with a fierce swing of his axe-hand. "Anyone who dares offend the great Morgan shall die! Issue the order immediately—search the entire base! Lock down Shells Town! We must capture those two bastards!"
He scanned the hesitant and fearful soldiers, his axe blade glinting coldly: "Anyone who disobeys my orders will be treated as a traitor and executed on the spot!"
Under Morgan's absolute threat of force, the marine soldiers fell silent, forced to carry out his commands despite their fears.
Meanwhile, Ralph and Koby, relying on the explosive speed of Soru, flashed out of the main marine base building in just a few bursts. But the moment they escaped the main line of sight, Ralph felt his legs go weak, his vision darkening as he nearly collapsed.
"Mr. Ralph!" Koby quickly supported him.
"It's nothing... just used too much energy." Ralph gasped for breath, the basic Soru technique not being suited for prolonged, long-distance travel while carrying extra weight. His desperate consecutive uses while carrying another person had nearly drained all his stamina instantly.
"Thank you! You saved me again!" Koby looked at Ralph's pale face, overwhelmed with gratitude. Without another word, the slender boy summoned surprising strength, draping Ralph's arm over his shoulder and helping him quickly leave the dangerous area.
"Let's find Lufia..." Ralph weakly indicated the direction.
However, they hadn't gone far when they spotted a familiar straw-hatted figure in the execution ground below the marine base.
Along with a man tied to a cross-shaped wooden stake.
"Ralph! Koby! You're here!" Luffy waved happily when she saw them, but then noticed Ralph's disheveled state. "What happened? You look exhausted."
Before Ralph could answer, Luffy excitedly pointed at Zoro on the execution platform and announced:
"I have great news! Zoro has agreed to become our partner!"
"What?!" Ralph jerked his head up so hard he nearly strained his neck, staring in shock at the man calmly resting with closed eyes on the execution platform.
"Wait... Zoro! You! You can't just agree so easily because Lufia's a girl! In the original story, you weren't willing to become a pirate at first!"
As if sensing Ralph's intense gaze, Zoro slightly opened one eye, glanced at him, then closed it again, as if couldn't be bothered to explain.
Luffy continued, her tone still cheerful: "But Zoro said he still has one promise to fulfill! Once that's done, he can join us and come with us!"
After hearing Lufia's explanation, Ralph finally relaxed.
Good, the main plot hadn't changed.
Morgan's son Helmeppo was an arrogant second-generation brat. His vicious wolf tried to bite a little girl, and Zoro killed it. To avoid implicating the town's residents, Zoro made a deal with Helmeppo—if he could survive being tied here for a month without dying, the matter would be settled.
Any normal person would die after just one week without food or water—even Luffy knew that common sense, right?
Looking at Zoro on the execution platform, who though somewhat haggard was clearly far from starving to death, Ralph thought to himself:
Maybe people in the One Piece world are just naturally extraordinary?
He couldn't help but think of those future monsters who would engage in battles lasting days and nights.
He hoped this stubborn attitude wasn't one of the necessary conditions for becoming stronger. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll never become a top-tier powerhouse in this lifetime...
Luffy was currently planning to find the little girl who had brought the rice balls to convey Zoro's gratitude: "The rice balls were delicious."
It was then that she remembered Ralph and Koby's unusual condition and pressed further: "By the way, weren't you two going to collect the bounty? How did you end up like this? Where's the money?"
Koby immediately recounted their experience at the base with righteous indignation, emphasizing how Morgan had been unreasonable, withheld their bounty, and even tried to shoot them.
"What?! How dare they bully my crewmates?!" Luffy's rubber fists clenched with audible cracks as she turned to charge toward the marine base. "I'm going to settle this with him!"
"Wait, Lufia!" Ralph urgently called out to her. He took a deep breath, struggling to stand upright. Though his face remained pale, his eyes regained their sharpness and determination.
"This is a score I need to settle myself!" He looked toward the marine base, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Right now, I just need to find somewhere to eat and recover my strength. Once I've recovered, I'll personally send that self-important iron-chinned bastard flying!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a convincing power. Luffy stopped in her tracks, tilting her head to look at him before breaking into a trusting smile.
"Hehe, alright! Then I'll leave it to you!"