This was more than just an eight-power scope—it was every man's dream!
Zaraki jerked his head up, then quickly pressed his eye back against the lens as his heart pounded.
Just a moment ago, his focused vision had pierced right through the ship's wheel and the thick wooden deck behind Nami, clearly revealing a wooden barrel resting in a dark corner of the hold.
He could even spot the tiny ripples on the water's surface in perfect detail!
This scope ran on some kind of insane, rule-bending visual analysis.
A faint blue line of System text popped up at the edge of his vision:
[Host's Kenbunshoku Haki detected. Modified eight-power scope has automatically loaded the target-locking and structural insight module.]
[Note: As long as your mind is sufficiently focused, nothing can block your gaze from seeking the truth.]
Zaraki took a deep breath of the salty sea air, staring at the pitch-black rifle in his hands with a wildly mixed expression.
This thing was just too bizarre, and back in his old world, a tool like this would be the ultimate creep's dream!
'But... if it's for the pursuit of truth...'
Zaraki swallowed hard, and once that bold idea took root, he simply couldn't hold it back.
He slapped on a serious face, pretending to run precise ballistic math while shifting the muzzle slow and natural until it locked onto the orange-haired girl at the wheel and the purple-haired girl polishing her flintlock nearby.
Kenbunshoku Haki, running at full blast!
However, the scene he pictured never showed up.
The scope didn't strip Nami and Carina bare; instead, they were covered in a hazy, blurry aura because the damn System had thrown up a massive censorship wall!
He could see the faint flow of energy in their bodies and a skeletal map of their moving muscles, yet zero details popped up to fuel any dirty thoughts.
Right now, the two girls looked like nothing more than walking, red-and-blue 3D science class models.
"Tch."
Zaraki pulled his eye away from the scope and let out a heavy sigh, losing every ounce of his earlier hype.
The System wasn't just a cheapskate, it was a rigid old prude with zero understanding of life's little pleasures!
"What's wrong?" Nami picked up on Zaraki's movement, and that regretful sigh sent a random chill down her spine as she turned her head with a suspicious glare.
"Did your weird gun break?"
"No, just calibrating the specs," Zaraki replied with a deadpan face, lowering the barrel to mask his disappointment right away.
"I wanted to find a target to test this out, but out on this open sea, we only have seagulls and clouds. I need a real, living target."
Right on cue, Carina's clear voice rang out from the crow's nest.
"Zaraki-san! Your living target just arrived!"
Carina didn't scream in a panic—her voice actually carried a thrilling hint of calm amusement.
Standing on the simple crossbeam, the purple-haired girl grabbed a rope with one hand and pointed straight ahead with the other.
"Eleven o'clock, and a fleet is charging our way at top speed! Looking at that flag... I bet that's the so-called overlord of the East Blue, the Krieg Pirates!"
Zaraki raised an eyebrow and lifted the Kar98k, using it as a regular telescope this time.
The crazy clear lens of the modified eight-power scope brought the scene thousands of meters away right to his eye in an instant.
A massive ship dominated the open water, its giant hull looking like a moving fortress with a fierce black panther head statue sitting right on the bow.
Several smaller escort ships surrounded the Dreadnaught Sabre, and though they looked banged up like they had just limped out of a brutal warzone, their sheer size still brought a heavy, crushing presence.
"Hey! You on that broken-down ship!" A loud voice boomed from a megaphone far away, the sound rolling across the sea breeze and rippling the calm water.
A huge man covered in heavy golden armor stood on the main deck, holding a megaphone and laughing like an absolute maniac.
Even from kilometers out, Zaraki could clearly see the guy's face through the scope—he had the look of a man who treated human lives like cheap dirt.
"I am Don Krieg! Whoever you are, drop your sails right now and hand over all your food and fresh water! Do it, or I'll crush you to pieces with my invincible warship! Hahahaha!"
The laugh carried a savage, venting cruelty.
They had just run away from the Grand Line like beaten dogs, and now they desperately needed to flex their muscles on some weak prey to feel strong again.
"Tch. He's got a loud mouth, at least."
On the other side of the deck, Zoro stood up straight, opening his half-closed left eye.
He rested his right hand on the three hilts at his waist, his thumb pushing open the guard of the Wado Ichimonji to show a sharp gleam of the blade.
"A guy who only knows how to yell makes a great target to test my new move," the green-haired swordsman smirked, his battle aura rising hot.
"Zaraki, leave this fight to me."
In Zoro's head, this Krieg guy held the title of the East Blue's strongest, and even if it was an empty title, the man had to be tougher than those weak Marines!
But right as Zoro got ready to charge the bow, a hand shot out and blocked his chest.
Zaraki firmly stopped the green-haired swordsman in his tracks.
"Don't rush to your death, and don't try to steal my kill."
Zaraki took a swig of cheap rum, letting the burning liquid wash away his lingering annoyance over the scope.
He rubbed the stock of the rifle with his thumb and let out a playful smirk.
"Let's use this hunk of iron as a test target. If I can't crack his shell, then you can go up there and hack away."
Zoro stopped and pressed his lips together, sheathing the Wado Ichimonji.
His eyes swept over the dark, long rifle with heavy doubt, looking ready to ask if that fire poker could really beat his swords.
However, he still took half a step back, crossed his arms, and leaned against the mast to watch the show.
"You better aim well," Zoro muttered, keeping his usual arrogant tone.
Zaraki didn't bother to reply, he just tilted his head.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nami gripping her wooden staff tight while Carina pressed against the ship's rail holding her dagger in a reverse grip.
Their bodies shook a little, yet neither girl backed down.
'Not bad....'
"Huff—"
Zaraki breathed out stale air mixed with rum, and his casual vibe vanished in a flash.
He planted one boot on the ship's rail, his body finding a perfect balance point with the rocking waves, and pressed his right eye against the scope he now both loved and hated.
The view stretched out instantly!
The blurry horizon zoomed in sharp through the lens, the howling wind fading away to leave the world quiet and crystal clear.
"Hey, Zaraki-san..." Carina watched Zaraki hold the gun barrel at a flat angle and couldn't help but speak up, sounding confused and panicked.
"At this distance... that's thousands of meters away! Even the best snipers couldn't land a direct shot from here—"
"Shh."
Zaraki kept his eyes on the target and just raised a finger. "That's common sense, but out on this sea full of monsters, common sense is meant to be broken."
In the crosshairs, Krieg stood on the massive black panther bow, looking like a rich fool wearing flashy gold armor.
Thanks to the scope's structural insight, Zaraki clearly saw the ugly muscle lines underneath Krieg's gold armor, with red dots lighting up the weak points right at the joints of the metal plates.
The annoying broadcast blared across the sea breeze again.
"You little brat! Are you frozen in fear?! Huh?!"
Krieg had clearly spotted them through his own spyglass, his rough face twisting into a nasty sneer as he puffed out his chest on purpose and slapped his custom alloy armor to make it ring loud.
"I'm Pirate Admiral Don Krieg, commander of the strongest fleet in the East Blue! My armor is made of indestructible Wootz steel! You plan to fight me with a toy that doesn't even count as a cannon? Are you trying to make me die of laughter?! Let me see what you can—"
Before he could even finish the sentence, Zaraki's index finger pulled the trigger.
The gun made no deafening roar of gunpowder, and no thick smoke burst from the muzzle.
There was only a tight, compressed thrum, almost too quiet to catch.
The rifle barely shivered in Zaraki's hands as a nearly invisible projectile tore through the air.
A straight vacuum trail ripped open over the ocean.
The pressure along its path split the seawater into two towering curtains of mist, and the violent speed behind the shot made the air whine a split second later.
In the scope, Krieg's cocky smile didn't even have time to freeze before his pupils shrank down to tiny dots.
Fear took over, and in a fraction of a second, he threw his arms up to guard his chest.
The shot arrived a split second later.
BOOM!!
A massive impact hammered into the black panther bow, and the kinetic force shoved the entire Dreadnaught Sabre backward, making the giant ship sink down into the waves for a second!
The pirates on the deck went flying in pure chaos, their terrified screams completely wiping out their earlier tough-guy act.
Zaraki narrowed his eyes, looking through the heat haze rising from the barrel to watch the dust cloud bloom in the scope.
"Looks like... I didn't miss."
The sea breeze blew the dust away, and through the fading spray, the lens showed a brutal result.
The solid Wootz steel armor, supposedly tough enough to tank artillery shells, now had a fist-sized hole punched straight through the chest plate!
The impact had driven the metal inward, and the edges of the shattered armor were warped and glowing hot from the friction as cracks spread out from the hole like a spiderweb.
Crack—
Even from miles away, Zaraki could practically hear the brittle metal breaking apart.
The heavy chest plate finally gave out, shattering into dozens of pieces of scrap metal that fell from Krieg's chest and hammered scorch marks into the wood.
Krieg's face twisted in pure agony.
There was blood this time, but the wound looked half-seared from the violent heat created by the compressed impact.
He looked like an invisible giant hand had pinned him straight to his main mast, his huge body shaking uncontrollably.
'This firepower...'
Zaraki felt a faint numbness spread through his shoulder and down his fingers as he lowered the Kar98k slightly.
This was no ordinary sniper rifle. It was a long-range killing weapon that converted his stamina directly into terrifying kinetic force.
Through the scope, the Pirate Admiral who had been bragging a minute ago finally snapped back to reality.
The pain hit his brain, and Krieg shoved aside the crewmen trying to help him, his eyes turning completely bloodshot and looking ready to burst.
"You bastard! You damn bastard!"
Krieg grabbed the busted megaphone, his voice cracking and scraping like a broken machine.
"You damn brat! What kind of trick did you use?! That was my armor! The toughest armor in the world!"
He slapped his exposed chest in a panic, the skin burning red and swollen.
The shot hadn't pierced straight through, but the massive hit had definitely wrecked his insides.
"Fire! All of you, shoot! Blow him to pieces! I'll skin him and hang him from the bow! I'll kill him!"
His furious roar echoed over the sea.
Zaraki curled his lip and worked the bolt with a casual flick.
That one shot had drained a large chunk of his stamina, and while it packed crazy power, using it repeatedly at this level was clearly impossible unless he wanted to exhaust himself dry.
He lifted the still-hot rifle and checked the chamber with a completely relaxed look, like he was just cycling a basic hunting rifle.
Pulling his eye away from the scope, Zaraki turned around to face his crew, and a stunned silence greeted him.