Chapter 51: A Pirate’s Boredom Breaker

The Kingdom of Sook!

This was Karl’s third target destination.

It had been over a month since they last split up.

With how unpredictable the New World’s weather could be, most of their time had been wasted just traveling.

The good news was, as soon as they conquered the Kingdom of Sook, Karl’s mission would be complete and he’d finally get to head back to Beehive Island for a well-deserved break.

Honestly, there wasn’t much entertainment at sea. Drifting aimlessly day after day made every pirate aboard restless and irritable, so Karl introduced them to card games, mahjong, chess, and even Monopoly to liven things up.

That finally made the dull and repetitive sailing a bit more enjoyable!

When he had some free time, he trained at the bottom of the ship.

He even asked one of the tech-savvy members of the Rocks Pirates to craft some special weighted bands for him. They looked like simple bracelets and anklets, but he wore them on his wrists and ankles all day.

They actually worked well. Just wearing them made him feel like he was carrying hundreds of tons everywhere he went.

At first, the adjustment was rough, but before long he got used to it and kept piling on more bands every chance he got.

“Pon!”

“Thirteen Orphans!”

“Pay up, pay up, pay up!”

They’d knocked out the walls between the second and third decks, turning them into one giant lounge.

Whenever he got bored, Karl would hang out in the lounge, watching his crew gamble over cards.

Not that it was worth playing himself. Every time he joined, he won easily—it just got boring fast.

And the crew weren’t dumb either. If the captain lost too badly, who knew what could happen to them all?

After a few rounds, Karl caught on and never bothered playing again.

“Creak!”

“Captain Karl!”

“We’ve reached the Kingdom of Sook!”

Just as the games were heating up, the door burst open and a scrawny pirate rushed in.

It was Sool, the lookout scout of the crew.

“Oh, we finally made it.”

“I’m bored out of my mind. Any more of this and I’ll go insane.”

“Well, what are you all waiting for? Move it!”

Karl glanced at Sool, then swept his eyes over everyone in the room.

The crew all understood Karl by now. He looked cold on the outside but had a warm heart. They knew he treated them well, so sometimes they’d joke around with him.

“Right away, Captain!”

“Cough up your cash, I won!”

“Thirteen Orphans, you hear me!”

The pirate who won flashed a big grin and burst out laughing.

“Go, go, out of the way already.”

“Come on, Captain gave the order. Let’s move!”

One of the losers flipped the card table and grabbed his sword before dashing out.

“You better pay up when I get back!”

Seeing everyone run off, the winner hurried after them, plotting revenge later.

He was already thinking about how to get even next time.

“Man, there’s never a moment’s peace around here.”

“This is our last target. Once we’re done, we can finally go home.”

Standing on deck, Karl squinted toward the distant Kingdom of Sook.

“Let’s get moving. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can head back.”

“Yeah, I’ve still got to show them my latest creation!”

“Then let’s go! I’m leading!”

“Splash!”

One pirate couldn’t wait and jumped off before they even reached the shore. The rest followed, racing straight for the Kingdom of Sook.

Clearly, being cooped up at sea for so long had everyone on edge. If it weren’t for the board games to blow off steam, who knows what might’ve happened.

“Ding ding ding!”

“The Rocks Pirates are attacking!”

The Kingdom of Sook had heard the rumors—the Rocks Pirates had been rampaging through New World’s allied nations lately.

Any allied nations with power waited it out, but for smaller, helpless islands like Sook, most of the people had already fled.

The only ones left behind were those unwilling or unable to leave—the old, the sick, and the weak.

The pirates landed only to find the shore lined with people kneeling in fear.

“Please, great pirates, spare us needless killing. Take whatever you want from the island, just let us live.”

A tiny, frail old man—barely five feet tall—shuffled out from the crowd.

“I’m the mayor of Hyde Town. Most of the islanders have already escaped, leaving only us—the old, weak, and sick. Please, mighty pirates, show us mercy.”

For a moment, the pirates didn’t know what to do.

They’d never seen anything like this before.

Most of the time, they’d storm a kingdom and start hacking away—not get greeted by a crowd on their knees.

It left them all hesitating, unsure if they should even attack.

“Get up, old man.”

Karl stepped forward from behind.

“Go grab all the treasure from the island, then we’ll leave. If there’s no resistance, that’s that.”

Hearing the captain’s orders, none of the pirates laid a hand on the elderly or sick. Instead, they charged toward the royal palace.

When they got there, it was completely deserted.

But at least the treasury was still packed with loot.

As for the king and his men, they must have escaped long ago.

After all, they’d been at sea for over a month, and word of the Rocks Pirates’ rampage sent everyone running.

You could honestly say now—the whole New World belonged to the pirates!

Karl unleashed a wave of Observation Haki, confirming there was no real power left on this island.

Still, after two weeks of sailing, his body felt rusty. He figured he might as well stretch his legs around town.

With no resistance, the pirates broke into homes all across the city, scavenging every bit of treasure they could.

Like a colony of ants, they hauled everything back to the ship.

Karl wandered into the city, taking in the unique prosperity of a pirate world.

As he strolled, he spotted an auction house and stepped inside, only to find it long since picked clean.

“The underworld always moves fast,” he muttered.

Brushing away the dust, Karl guessed it had been deserted for about a month.

Basically, soon after they’d set sail, the denizens of the underworld got the news and evacuated all their strongholds before the pirates could arrive.

What Karl didn’t know was, arrogant as the underworld could be, none of them dared cross the Rocks.

So once they learned why the Rocks Pirates were out at sea, they closed up shop and ran from any islands on their route, avoiding unnecessary losses until things blew over.

As Karl mused about another month gone, he realized it was time for the next lottery pull. He wondered what kind of good stuff he’d get this time.

“You have a mission to claim!”

Karl finally opened the system he’d ignored for almost a month and immediately heard the system prompt.

So, instead of drawing right away, he checked the mission tab.

“Side Mission One: Stay in the Kingdom of Sook for three days!”

Mission reward: 10,000 shop points and a normal lottery spin!”

Karl was a little stunned. Since when could the system issue quests too?

And why three days? What was so special about hanging around here?

And why only a normal lottery? What about skill draws or talent templates?

“Because the host’s interference with the One Piece World’s timeline is progressing too slowly, the system has been specially upgraded and reworked.”

“Now, the system includes main missions and side missions.”

“All draws are consolidated now, and your luck alone determines what you get.”

The explanations seemed aimed right at Karl’s questions, but also served as a simple overview of the upgrade.

Either way, Karl perked up after hearing it. Apparently, the system was just fed up with how slow he was moving.

But what choice did he have? He couldn’t exactly ignore Rocks’ orders.

“Fine, let’s use one draw right now.”

“Alright, initiating lottery for the host. Please wait…”