Chapter 10: Sudden Wealth — 1.2 Billion Berries

Although Nami and Carina knew Link was strong, having gone from a newcomer to the strongest in the East Blue in just half a year with a ridiculously impressive track record, this was the first time they had seen him in action.

Having witnessed him instantly kill the Saw-Blade Pirates, the two women were stunned. Nami finally understood how the Arlong Pirates had been killed. Carina, on the other hand, understood why Logia-types were widely recognized as the strongest of the three Devil Fruit classes.

An ability that, upon impact, would first destroy an enemy's internal organs before branching out to pierce through their body was practically an instant-kill power. Without powerful defenses, even being hit by a single small wooden splinter meant certain death.

"Carina, which ones are the officers of the Saw-Blade Pirates?"

Link's voice pulled Carina back to her senses. She quickly took out her notebook and flipped to the page on the Saw-Blade Pirates.

"Found them. These three."

Pointing to the wanted posters pasted on the page, Carina quickly identified the three officers.

The next second, her face turned slightly pale.

She watched as Link, right in front of her, used his Wood Style to create vines that wrapped around the heads of Arnold and the other three, and then twisted.

In this chaotic era, Carina had often seen dead people, but it had been a long time since she had witnessed such a gruesome scene. If she didn't know Link was a bounty hunter, seeing him do this just for the convenience of cashing in bounties, she would probably regret joining. After all, with such a ruthless captain, who knew if he might twist her head off when he got angry.

"Hold these."

Link had no idea he had frightened Carina.

After packing the four heads into two wooden boxes, Link handed the boxes directly to Carina and Nami. He then placed a stack of cash on a table and said to the trembling tavern owner, "I'm not paying their tab. You can search their bodies. Take this money as compensation."

With that, Link walked towards the door.

Nami and Carina followed closely behind.

Gazing at Link's back, Carina, who had been startled and should have been terrified of him, suddenly felt a surge of goodwill and a sense of security. Link had absolutely no need to give the man money, but he did. This kind of small, benevolent gesture often reveals a person's character.

The person that the 'Cat Burglar' chose to follow truly had his own principles and bottom line, just like her.

The three of them were... kindred spirits!

At that moment, Carina let go of her reservations and decided to actively get closer to Link, to understand the captain she would be following for a long time.

Link was still unaware that his small gesture had won the girl's favor.

With Carina leading the way and identifying the targets, Link reaped the lives of three other pirate crews, a process of absolute domination. The pirate crew with the highest bounty on this island was the Saw-Blade Pirates. If even they were instantly killed by Link, the other crews stood no chance.

In just over ten minutes, Link had wiped out the four strongest pirate crews on the island, gaining a total of 0.83% experience, not even a full 1%.

Aside from the captains and officers, the small fries from those pirate crews provided no experience for Link. This was normal; after all, they were just a bunch of well-fed sea trash, their strength not even comparable to that of systematically trained kingdom soldiers. If even kingdom soldiers couldn't provide him with experience, these pirate grunts certainly couldn't.

It seemed he would have to hunt the major players from the original story to gain substantial experience.

At this thought, Link immediately had a plan.

After packing up the heads of the four pirate captains and their officers, Link had no intention of going to a Marine branch to exchange them for bounties. He had Carina lead him to a channel that bought pirate heads, selling all of them at a reduced price.

That's right, at a reduced price.

A living pirate is a great achievement, like how Morgan rose through the ranks by arresting 'Kuro'. But a dead pirate isn't worth as much. Taking these heads to be exchanged for bounties would be a waste of time. So Link had to sacrifice a little profit for others to be willing to buy so many heads.

Even so, by selling the heads of the four pirate captains and their officers, Link still got over two hundred million Berries.

The bounties were just a small part. The real prize was the weapons and treasure on the four pirate ships. After selling all the weapons to the local black market and converting the gold and jewels into Berries, Link's total haul from this hunt was one point two billion Berries.

That's right, a full one point two billion Berries!

The reason for such an astonishing harvest was that this was the "Starting Island." Those four pirate crews had just entered the Grand Line and had made ample preparations in their home seas. Now, all those preparations had become Link's spoils of war.

"We're rich, we're rich..."

Carrying three money chests bound by vines in each hand, Carina and Nami walked with a comical, uncoordinated gait down a deserted street, their beautiful eyes having turned into '$' signs, sparkling with a brilliant golden light.

Having been thieves since they were ten, Carina and Nami, now eighteen, realized for the first time that making money could be so easy. If Link hadn't gone on a killing spree and scared off the other pirates, turning this once-bustling town into a ghost town, Nami and Carina would have urged him to continue hunting. If they had wiped out all the pirates on the island and collected all their treasure, what a terrifying income that would be?

Link didn't care about the prey that had escaped. He had bigger plans and couldn't be bothered with these small fry.

Looking at the local map in his hand, Link followed the arrow's direction and led Carina and Nami to a local navigation tool shop. Inside the shop, Link found several Eternal Poses he needed. After buying them, Link took Nami and Carina and left the island that very night.

Not only did they leave the island, but they also left that sea route.

As Link changed course, photos of his overwhelming display of power on the island that night were faxed to the World Economic Journal as news material. With no other major events happening recently, this news quickly became the headline for the next day's paper. The title was full of sensationalism:

"Logia-Type User's Dimensionality Reduction Strike! The East Blue's Strongest Hunter's Showcase: Four 'Great Pirate Crews' from the Four Seas Annihilated in Fifteen Minutes!"