The Going Meat Jr. sliced through the waves like a hungry shark, red hull gleaming under the midday sun. Luffy stood at the bow, one foot on the drumstick figurehead's giant thigh, straw hat flapping wildly in the wind. He'd been yelling questions at the sky for the last hour.

"Oi, box! Where do I go first? I need a crew! Pirate King needs nakama!"

DING!

The translucent window popped up right in front of his face.

[Recommended First Destination: Shells Town]

[Reason: High probability of recruiting a powerful swordsman. Current rumors indicate a skilled swordsmam is being held captive there. Ideal first crew member for combat strength.]

[Estimated travel time at current speed: 36–48 hours.]

Luffy's eyes exploded into stars.

"SHELLS TOWN! SHELLS TOWN! SHELLS TOWN!" He started jumping up and down on the deck, arms windmilling. "Sword guy! Sword guy! Gonna have a swordsman! Shishishi!"

He chanted it for twenty straight minutes until his throat got scratchy, then flopped onto his back and stared at the clouds, still muttering "Shells… Town…" under his breath like a prayer.

The excitement lasted until noon.

Then his stomach roared louder than the sea.

"Hungryyyyy…"

He raided the storage hold. Half the jerky, two barrels of fresh water, and most of the emergency roast Dadan's bandits had forced aboard disappeared in under thirty minutes. He was halfway through the second roast leg when

DING!

[Warning: Food reserves dropping below 50%. Cease consumption or starve later.]

Luffy froze mid-bite, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk. "Eh? But it's so good…"

The system didn't argue. It just locked the remaining crates behind a glowing blue barrier. Luffy pouted, kicked the barrier once (it didn't budge), then sighed dramatically and went back on deck to chew the last strip of jerky like it had personally betrayed him.

Day two was worse.

No islands. No birds. Just endless blue and the creak of the ship. Luffy lay on his back, hat over his eyes, gnawing jerky like it owed him money.

"Booooring… Where's the adventure? Where's the meat that fights back?"

Then the horizon sprouted black sails.

Luffy shot upright so fast his hat flew off.

"PIRATE SHIP! PIRATE SHIP! PIRATE SHIP!"

He ran to the railing, bouncing on his toes. The approaching vessel was bigger than his—tattered black flag, iron mace painted crudely on the hull. Alvida's ship.

DING!

[All pirates are enemies until recruited or broken. Prepare for battle.]

[New Quest: Bombard Alvida Pirates and Sink Their Vessel]

[Reward: +50 SP | Basic Observation Haki]

Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Battle time! Hehe…"

"Never used cannons before…" Luffy muttered, scratching his head.

[Ship cannons feature auto-correction. Load cannon → aim approximately → ignite fuse. Cannon will adjust for maximum damage.]

He bounded down the hatch into the small gun deck. Three cannons sat in three directions, barrels gleaming. He grabbed a cannonball from the rack, rammed it home with one rubbery shove, primed the fuse, then stuck his head out the gunport.

The Iron Mace was close now. Pirates lined the railing, jeering. At the center stood Alvida—iron mace resting on her shoulder, smirking like she already owned his ship.

"Prepare to be boarded, you little—" she started.

Luffy lit the fuse.

BOOM.

The cannon kicked back hard enough to make the whole ship shudder. The shot screamed across the water—straight, true, and glowing faintly blue from the auto-correction. It punched through the Iron Mace's hull just below the waterline like a hot knife through butter. Wood splintered. Men screamed. The ship listed hard to port.

[Instruction: Keep firing]

The system prompted calmly.

Luffy whooped, loaded another ball, aimed roughly at the mast this time, lit the fuse.

BOOM.

Second shot clipped the mainmast. It cracked like lightning, top half crashing down onto the deck, crushing three pirates instantly. Blood painted the planks. Alvida roared, swinging her mace.

"CANNONS! FIRE BACK!"

Too late.

Luffy's third shot hit amidships—direct. The Iron Mace's powder magazine detonated in a secondary explosion that tore the ship in half. Flames licked the sky. Screams turned to gurgles as the sea rushed in.

The ship folded like wet paper and sank in under ninety seconds.

Survivors bobbed in the water—some swimming, some clinging to debris. Among them: a skinny pink-haired boy, flailing desperately. It was Koby.

DING!

[Bonus Objective Unlocked: Eliminate All Survivors]

[Reward: +100 SP | Cannons Upgraded – Now fully automated. Voice command targeting & firing. Unlimited ammo while SP > 0.]

A small crate materialized on deck: twelve glowing red exploding shells.

Luffy stared at the crate, then at the bobbing heads in the water.

"…Do I have to?"

[Automated cannons are very cool. Unlimited ammo is cooler. Hesitation wastes potential.]

Luffy chewed his lip. Then shrugged.

"Fine. But only 'cause automated cannons and unlimited ammo are cool."

He grabbed two shells, slotted them into the bow cannon one after another.

"Fire!"

BOOM. BOOM.

Twin geysers erupted where the survivors had been. Red mist sprayed across the waves. Limbs, planks, screams—all gone in seconds. The sea turned briefly orange, then blue again.

Koby never even got to introduce himself.

DING!

[Quest Completed: Bombard Alvida Pirates and Sink Their Vessel]

[Bonus Objective Completed: No Survivors]

[Total Reward: +150 SP | Basic Observation Haki Unlocked | Cannons Upgraded to Automated Voice Command]

Luffy flopped onto his back on the deck, staring at the sky.

"Shishishi… first pirate crew sunk. Felt kinda weird… but the ship's way cooler now."

He patted the railing like it was a pet.

"Next stop—Shells Town. Time to get my swordsman!"

The Going Meat Jr. turned its drumstick figurehead toward the horizon and sailed on, leaving nothing but floating debris and silence behind.

The sea was quiet again—too quiet after the screams and the red mist and the way the water swallowed everything without apology.

Luffy sat cross-legged on the deck, back against the mast, chewing the last strip of jerky like it had personally offended him. The Going Meat Jr. rocked gently, autopilot humming, drumstick figurehead staring ahead with the same dumb grin Luffy wore.

DING!

A new chime—sharper, heavier than usual—rang through his skull.

[Title Unlocked: Annihilator]

[Effect: Boosts pirate presence. Lesser pirates & weak-willed civilians suffer -15% morale & accuracy when facing you. Marine grunts whisper your name in fear. Future annihilations will increase title effect.]

Luffy tilted his head. "Annihilator? Hehe… sounds cool. Like I annihilated those guys. Which I did."

Immediately after, the full status window bloomed in front of him—bigger, brighter, edged in faint crimson.

[Status Window]

Host: Monkey D. Luffy

Age: 17

Level: 1

SP: 260

Titles: Annihilator

Strength: 130

Speed: 80

Agility: 90

Stamina: 250

Endurance: 300

Haki: Basic Armament , Basic Observation

Skills: X-ray Vision (Lv.1)

Luffy stared at the numbers, scratching under his hat. "Whoa… I got a lot of points now."

DING!

[SP Analysis: 260 unused points detected.]

[Recommendation: Invest in physical stats for immediate combat advantage. Suggested allocation (balanced growth):]

- Strength +70

- Speed +60

- Agility +40

- Stamina +30

- Endurance +20

[Total cost: 220 SP | Remaining: 40 SP]

[Warning: Automated cannon system requires minimum 1 SP balance at all times to remain active. Ammo is unlimited and free while automation is powered.]

Luffy grinned ear to ear. "More punching power? More running? Yes please!"

He focused, mentally slamming the confirm button.

A warm rush flooded his body—like drinking hot soup mixed with lightning. Muscles twitched and swelled subtly under his skin; his heartbeat thumped harder, faster, steadier. He flexed one arm—rubber snapped taut, veins standing out sharper than before. He stood up, bounced on his toes, then blurred across the deck in a single step, wind whipping his hat back.

"Shishishi! I'm FASTER! And stronger! And—ow—" He stubbed his toe on a coil of rope and laughed through the pain. "Still hurts though. Hehe."

He had 40 SP left. Enough to keep the murder-cannons humming.

The horizon darkened—not storm clouds, but land. A small island, low buildings clustered around a bay, orange rooftops catching the late afternoon sun.

Shells Town.

Luffy leapt to the figurehead, one foot planted on the giant drumstick's thigh, arms spread wide like he was hugging the whole island already.

"SHELLS TOWN! SWORDSMAN TIME! Let's go get my first crewmate!"

The Going Meat Jr. cut through the waves faster now, hull almost humming with his new stats. The figurehead's straw hat flapped like it was cheering him on.

Somewhere on that island, a green-haired swordsman was about to meet the monster who just turned a pirate crew and a helpless pink-haired kid into chum without a second thought.

Luffy licked his lips, tasting salt and leftover jerky and the faint ghost of Makino.

"Adventure… and meat… and swords… here I come!"

Continued...

22: Sack and Balls

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