Chapter 9: The Hero of the Town

Since the entire Manxiong Pirate Group invaded the town and was wiped out by Xia Luo, everyone in this town knew they had a hero.

"Xia Luo, do you want an orange?"

As Xia Luo walked through the town, all the villagers looked at him affectionately, making Xia Luo a bit embarrassed.

"Nah, thanks!"

Xia Luo waved his hand quickly.

"Boss! Today when our Wild Wolf Gang went to collect protection fees, not a single person refused. Even those big merchants were very eager to pay!"

Ivan followed behind Xia Luo, reporting on his work.

"Oh? People are actually lining up to pay the protection fees?"

In the past, when the Wild Wolf Gang collected protection fees, the villagers would avoid them like the plague. It was really interesting that they were now paying voluntarily.

"Boss, it's all thanks to you. Since you single - handedly saved the whole town last time by defeating the Manxiong Pirate Group and maintaining the town's safety, everyone is actively seeking your protection!"

Ivan looked at Xia Luo with admiration in his eyes.

Xia Luo couldn't help but smile after hearing this.

This feeling was quite nice.

Martha and the other five maids followed behind Xia Luo, looking around with curiosity.

The so - called kingdom they came from was just a small island with a population of only over ten thousand. The island was barren, and there wasn't even a decent port, so there were no merchant ships coming to the island.

Naturally, it was not as prosperous as here!

"Mr. Xia Luo!"

"Mr. Xia Luo!"

As Xia Luo walked into the port, the people around him bowed and greeted him.

Xia Luo also nodded with a smile.

Xia Luo walked into the port where three pirate ships were parked. The pirate flags on them had been taken down.

Looking at these three somewhat shabby and very small pirate ships, only fifty meters long.

"Ivan, does our town have any shipbuilders?"

Xia Luo turned to ask Ivan.

"Boss! Our port is specifically for serving passing merchant ships. There are of course shipbuilders, but they are not top - notch ones. They can only build small boats and do some repairs."

Ivan explained.

After hearing this, Xia Luo stroked his chin. He planned to set sail at the age of seventeen or eighteen. By then, he must have a better ship. He didn't want to go to sea in a small wooden barrel like Luffy. That was not the life he wanted.

"How much money do we have in our account? How much would it cost if I want to build a ship?"

Xia Luo asked Ivan. He was still a bit unclear about the prices in the pirate world.

"Boss, it depends on how big a ship you want. For a ship less than fifty meters long, it would cost about fifty to sixty million berries. For a ship over fifty meters long, it would cost around one hundred million berries. If it's over a hundred meters, our town can't build it at present. Of course, it also depends on the materials. If the materials are good, it's normal for the price to double."

Ivan analyzed it for Xia Luo.

Xia Luo stroked his chin and listened to Ivan's analysis.

"How much protection fees do we collect in a month?"

Xia Luo asked. He found that he was still very short of money.

With only three or four years left until he set sail, he had to build a ship capable of sailing in the second half of the Grand Line within this period.

"The total protection fee collected this month is about three million berries. After deducting the expenses, there's roughly two million left. The major part of the expenses is your food expenses, Yo, Boss!"

Ivan said.

Hearing that his food cost nearly one million berries a month, Xia Luo stared at him in shock and asked him to explain.

Seeing the puzzled look in the boss's eyes, Ivan forced a smile.

"Yo, Boss! Your daily meals are either sea kings or mountain beasts. These need hunters to hunt them, and we have to buy them. It costs a huge amount of berries. Otherwise, no one would be willing to go into the sea or the mountains to hunt!"

After hearing Ivan's words, Xia Luo fell silent. He spent nearly one million berries on food each month. If he added the cost of the training equipment, there wouldn't be much left from the monthly protection fee. How could he build a ship then?

"Alright, I'll take care of my own food from now on. You don't need to buy it anymore!"

Xia Luo decided to hunt sea kings in the sea by himself. This way, he could also get some training. It would be a bit dangerous, but if he didn't do this, he would end up bankrupt because of his own appetite.

"Yes, Boss!"

Ivan nodded.

"Modify these three pirate ships. From now on, they'll be my fishing boats for hunting sea kings. Hurry up and get it done."

Xia Luo said to Ivan.

"Yes!"

Ivan bent slightly and replied.

After watching all this, Xia Luo left the port. He needed to train.

When he reached the deserted beach, Xia Luo stood in the sea with his sword in hand. Facing the rolling waves, he kept swinging his arm.

All just to cut through the barrier in his heart.

He trained like this for three months.

For these three months, Xia Luo did nothing but swing his sword at the sea.

Somehow, after swinging the sword day after day, he actually achieved something.

The sword light flashed.

Xia Luo swung out a ten - meter - long Flying Slash.

Looking at the ten - meter - long slash along the beach, Xia Luo was on the verge of tears.

After a year and a half of sword - swinging, he finally achieved something.

Am I finally at the level of a swordsman?

His strength was probably comparable to that of an ordinary vice - admiral.

Apart from not being able to use Armament Haki, Xia Luo believed that he could even fight a vice - admiral.

He had great power, the Flying Slash which was a sign of a swordsman. His Observation Haki could cover an area of thousands of miles, and it could even foresee the future and read minds. Also, he had the Conqueror's Haki. Although the Conqueror's Haki hadn't shown up again since he last released it, Xia Luo wasn't discouraged. He believed that he would master it sooner or later.

Now that he had mastered the Flying Slash, Xia Luo was extremely delighted.

Holding his long sword, he slashed at the beach wantonly.

"Wa ha ha ha ha!"

Seeing the slashes tore up the entire beach, Xia Luo couldn't hold back his inner joy and burst into wild laughter on the beach.

This scene was witnessed by five maids standing by the beach.

They all looked at Xia Luo with shining eyes, full of admiration.

After Xia Luo swung out another slash, he sheathed his sword.

He returned to the beach.

"Master!"

Five maids each held items like towels and served Xia Luo.

Xia Luo wiped the sweat off his face with a towel.

"Let's go! Head home!"

Xia Luo handed his sword to Gillian standing beside him.

"Yes! Young master!"

The five maids replied coquettishly.

After Xia Luo returned to his villa, Ivan walked up to him.

"Boss, there aren't many Sea Kings left in the kitchen. I need you to kill some more!"

Ivan said to Xia Luo.

"Alright! I got it. Over the past three months, I've almost killed all the Sea Kings near this island. I'll search deeper tomorrow."

After three months of hunting, the nearby Sea Kings had basically fallen victim to Xia Luo. These included Offshore Kings and slightly larger fish.

Dingdian Novels (a website or source of novels)