The Terror of the Pirates

"Thousand Birds..."

Alex surveyed the long knife that rested on the table.

The hilt of the knife was inscribed with a row of diamond-shaped patterns, and the color of the sheath was a ghostly blue, slender and textured, with a white pattern arranged in an unordered manner on top of the sheath.

The intertwining of blue and white gave a sense of depth at first glance alone.

After surveying for a while, Alex was instantly curious about the blade inside the sheath.

In contrast, Sunny was completely uninterested in the knife, concentrating on sweeping the bottom of the bowl, not sparing even a finely chopped scallion.

Saul inhaled a large mouthful of steaming noodles and looked sideways at Alex, "What, you want to try your hand at it?"

Alex subconsciously nodded his head and said, "Well, this knife looks textured. I wonder what it feels like to hold it."

"Hehe, come and try it out, and you'll know."

Saul had a free hand, picked up the Thousand Birds, and handed it over.

Alex was overjoyed at the sight and reached out to take the Thousand Birds.

At this time, Saul instantly converged his smile and used the knife as a stick, knocking at Alex's head.

"You have to be single-minded in everything you do. You're interested in knives when you haven't even started with guns yet?"

"..."

Alex rubbed his head and looked speechlessly at Saul, who was smiling one second and expressionless the next.

Just looking at the knife—was that really such a big deal?

Knowing full well that Saul was sensitive to this aspect, how could Alex go back on his words?

He was still thinking about writing down his second need tonight, and it coincided with Saul buying back the auction's Thousand Birds.

Therefore, he was eager to cut his teeth on the charm of the famous sword of the Pirate King world.

What did he expect? Saul refused to even let him touch the sword.

Obviously, Saul hated things related to knives, yet he was so keen on collecting famous knives.

I don't know what was going on in this old man's head.

Alex glanced at Chidori, which had been placed on the table again by Saul, and felt quite sorry for it.

But soon, he thought that this famous sword would be placed on the shelf, and Saul basically went to Flower Street every morning for morning exercise...

Without moving, he withdrew his gaze, and Alex played a small game in his heart.

At this time, however, he did not notice Saul's meaningful eyes, as if to say: Little brat, you just wait.

The next day.

Early in the morning, mist filled the air.

The air was full of salty vapor.

Alex woke up from his sleep and, after putting on his weights, ran to the store at the first opportunity.

"How could there be none?!"

Looking at the shelves that were as unchanged as yesterday, Alex, whose expectations had fallen short, was instantly disappointed.

Hearing Alex's voice, Sunny came over from the porch and looked at him suspiciously.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Alex said perfunctorily.

He didn't want to say it, but Sunny looked at the shelves and then, associating it with Alex's behavior last night, instantly guessed what was on his mind.

"Don't even think about it. How could the knives that Saul wants to collect be put on the shelves for sale? It's not like he needs these famous knives to fill up the store."

"That's true."

Alex was even more disappointed.

He was still hoping that Saul might be planning to fondle the knives for a few days before putting them on the shelves, only to have his hopes smashed to smithereens with a single sentence from Sunny.

"The overpriced knives have been put in his own room by Saul, but I advise you not to mess with them. Even if an ant has been in the room, Saul can tell."

Sunny took in the look of disappointment on Alex's face and headed towards the kitchen.

"Breakfast won't be cooked until a little later today, so clean up the store before you come over."

"Got it."

Alex responded breathlessly and then looked at the shelves again.

Although there were many long knives on the shelves, they did not have the feeling that Chidori had—the one that made his eyes light up.

There was a gap between the two that could be described as a world of difference.

After all, there was no such thing as a reputation.

As one of the Fifty Industrial-Grade Rapid Swords, not to mention the aura that the good sword itself possessed, based on its quality alone, it was not comparable to the swords on the shelves.

But in reality, the knives on the shelves weren't too bad. Although they were far inferior to the Thousand Birds, they weren't to the extent that they were worlds apart.

The reason why Alex had such a feeling was more the influence of fame.

It couldn't be helped; he was deeply influenced by the original and naturally thought that only the nearly 100 swords of the Karma system were truly good.

But this world was so vast—how could there only be nearly a hundred good swords?

Even a medium-quality long sword, as long as it is used by a sword hero skilled in Armament Haki,

Over time, through the practice of [Haki containment], can invisibly achieve the status of a fast sword.

Although he couldn't touch Chidori anymore, Alex had the idea of acquiring a sword.

Only, he would have to get it secretly and hide it in his room.

If he had nothing else to do, he could take it out and familiarize himself with the feel of it.

With this thought in mind, Alex wasn't in a hurry.

Instead, the excerpt from the [Handbook] was more important, after all, he had to return the [Handbook] to Sunny after dinner.

No longer thinking about Chidori, Alex cleaned up the store as fast as he could, and afterward asked for a new book from Sunny.

It took more than two hours for him to copy down all the intelligence.

Originally, he had an impression of the intelligence in the [Handbook], and after copying it down this time, he remembered some places even more clearly.

Alex estimated that even if he didn't need to take the bounty photo to match it, as long as he saw the person in person, he should be able to recognize the other person's identity immediately.

For most of the day, the weapon store was doing poor business as usual.

There was still not a single guest during the period.

It was only at meal time that Saul, who smelled of alcohol, came back slowly with a pot of wine.

As soon as he entered the weapon store, Saul immediately glanced at the weight on Alex's leg.

"No lunch."

He then threw down a sentence and went straight upstairs to his room.

It seemed that he had feasted outside.

After watching Saul go upstairs, Alex returned to the store and couldn't help but look at the hidden store door.

He thought to himself that Saul would not be able to wake up without a few hours of sleep.

Then, in the afternoon, without being urged by Saul to cultivate, perhaps he could go to the street to look for some prey.

As soon as he thought of it, Alex didn't plan to eat and directly went back to his room.

First, he took off his load and placed the two flintlock pistols close to his body. As for the [Usopp], he didn't bring it because the few signs of aging on the body were too conspicuous.

"About half a million beli..."

Alex counted the remaining private money, then properly placed it inside his pocket.

This money was scavenged from his prey in passing after the hunt.

After making his preparations, Alex quickly walked downstairs to the store.

"Sunny, I'm going out for a while."

Alex quickly dropped a sentence, after which she completely didn't give Sunny a chance to reply, pushing the door and closing it in one fell swoop, slipping out of sight in an instant.

Inside the counter, Sunny stared blankly at the store door, gritting her teeth after half a second.

"Alex!"

But soon, she noticed the speed at which Alex had just slipped away.

"It can't be, it's only been a few days..."

Sunny thought blankly.

Even if one's talent was amazing, it was impossible to have made such a noticeable improvement after just two days of carrying a load, right?

Sunny was puzzled.

Walking down the alleyway, Alex suddenly remembered that there were still a few [neighbors] around that he hadn't visited.

However, thinking that he could go pay a visit at any time, as well as being pressed for time, he also left the thought for another time.

"Speaking of which, this is the first time I've been out during the daytime."

Alex couldn't help but sigh, then pondered where to go.

The first place of choice was definitely the tavern.

Although there were mixed fish and dragons there, the chances of identifying suitable prey were higher.

However, Alex also quite wanted to go and stroll around Cape Lookout Street during the daytime, in addition to the other weapon stores, as well as the... ahem, where Saul often took his morning walks.

The more he thought about it, the higher Alex's excitement became, and he couldn't help but speed up his steps.

He was in high spirits, but he did not notice the staring eyes from behind him.