One Piece: Global improvement system

August 20, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle

Orion opened a door in the air and exited his Pocket Dimension.

He was now back in the huts at the mine where Lucky Roux worked, who had just finished his day's hard work and was returning to the surface.

While waiting for him, Orion practiced his Paper Arts technique, which was the most difficult of the Six Techniques for him. Since he had been able to maintain his adult form for long periods, the speed at which his physical abilities had advanced was incomparable to the speed when he was restricted by his child body.

Right now, only Kami-e and Rokuogan remained at level 0, and the rest were at higher levels. Soru, whose level had been increased using SP, was at Level 3; Geppo had naturally increased to Level 2; and the remaining three skills had reached Level 1.

Orion trained daily, and whenever he had free time, he took advantage of it to train a little more, since he knew he needed to continually to increase his power. If there was one thing that had always been on his mind since he was reborn in this world, it was the desire to become stronger.

He trained in silence for half an hour until the scrawny boy finally walked through the entrance of the dilapidated shack.

Lucky Roux looked exactly the same as the last time he had seen him: with his somewhat sickly complexion, his eyes damaged by malnutrition and the darkness, and his characteristic seriousness, which seemed to be perpetually etched on his face.

"You're finally back. How were your meetings with the rebels?" Roux asked as he sat down on the ground.

Orion opened a door directly in the ground, and Roux fell into his Pocket Dimension. Then he also dove in and closed the door behind him.

"Do you need to ask? Weren't you watching me these past few days?" Orion asked curiously, knowing that with his monstrous Observation Haki, the boy could observe practically every corner of this kingdom.

"My perception isn't as good as you imagine. It's true that I could see that you had arrived a few days ago, and that you had begun meeting with the rebels, but I can't precisely pinpoint the details," Roux said without much emotion.

"In that case, let me tell you that everything went well. Quite well, actually. We're now ready to launch the operation. That's why I came to see you."

"You want me to participate in the battle, don't you?" Roux asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Well, you can refuse if you want, but I figured you'd want to participate. After all, you don't want to leave your fate in other people's hands anymore, right?" Orion said, smiling.

Roux nodded slightly, and to Orion's surprise, he showed a small, almost imperceptible smile.

"I guess I can't keep running away. It's time for me to face my fears." Roux paused briefly, then added:

"Thank you for giving me the chance to choose."

Orion shook his head slightly.

"No one can give or take away the chance to choose, Sixth. Even in this dark mine, or in the most beautiful palace, the decisions will always be yours and no one else's. No one will ever be able to touch that freedom."

"I understand what you're saying, but I still want to thank you, because if it hadn't been for your sudden arrival here, I might never have been able to take the step forward to change things."

Orion didn't continue arguing with him; there was no need to turn their conversation into a philosophical debate about freedom and the human condition.

The important thing was that Roux felt grateful to him for orchestrating the scenario so he could make a definitive decision about his future, and Orion was happy to accept his gratitude.

He had come into contact with all sorts of Named Characters so far, but there was something about Roux that was different, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He felt that this scrawny young man, who had lost his vision in the darkness of a mine, was someone with whom he could form a true friendship.

Perhaps it was some kind of supernatural feeling brought on by the use of his Haki, or perhaps he simply liked Roux a lot. Whatever the case, he was happy to gain the long-suffering boy's friendship and appreciation.

"Very well, then, let's get to work!" Orion said, and with a wave of his hand, he pulled a large sack from his inventory and threw it in front of Roux.

"Weapons?" the boy asked without even opening the sack.

"That's right, you can't go into battle empty-handed, right? Choose the one you like best; there's a wide variety," Orion replied. While Roux opened the sack to take out a weapon, Orion took a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and called Yukimura, signaling him that it was time to start the attack.

Lucky Roux took two pistols from the large weapon sack and placed them on his belt. Although there were a large number of weapons at his disposal, he felt this style of pistol was the most suitable for him.

Orion looked at him, ready for battle, and nodded. He then opened a door, intending to leave the Pocket Dimension, but Roux stopped him.

"Wait a moment, Orion. Do you have any of that roast beef you gave me last time? I'm a little hungry," the boy said, rubbing his stomach.

Orion was a little surprised, as it was the first time he'd seen Roux make a request like this. He immediately burst into laughter and took out a large quantity of roast meat from his inventory, under the excited gaze of the puny boy, who began to drool uncontrollably

For the first time, the slave Roux had let his hunger emerge unchecked.

.............................

August 21, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle

In the great royal palace of the Roux kingdom, King Vasco Gin was listening to a report from one of his subordinates.

Suddenly, he grabbed the tray laden with sumptuous food from a small table next to his throne and violently threw it at the soldier.

The messenger didn't dare dodge the king's attack, knowing that he would be tortured by Vasco Gin for contempt if he did. He simply closed his eyes and let the food, still steaming from the high temperature, fall on his face.

The other advisors present watched as the soldier writhed on the ground in pain, not daring to make a single sound. Their backs straightened, improving their posture and trying to appear as professional as possible.

They knew their king was a ruthless and unreasonable man, and no one in the great hall wanted to attract his attention and be his next victim.

"You're a bunch of trash!! You can't even suppress those rogue rebels?! What's the point of keeping you alive if you can't handle a simple task?!" King Vasco Gin roared vehemently.

The people present in the great hall bowed their heads and didn't say a single word.

A day had already passed since the rebels had taken up arms against the royal family, launching several simultaneous attacks in different parts of the kingdom.

The Vascos, who were accustomed to ruling with an iron fist and had put down countless attempts at rebellion in the past, didn't pay much attention to the matter and were simply surprised that the rebels had been able to organize secretly to launch a successful rebellion.

Months ago, Roux's army was on the verge of eradicating the fledgling group of rebels that had formed again to threaten the Vascos' reign. However, before the army could act, the rebels seemed to have dissolved on their own.

None of the king's advisors paid much attention to the matter; all believed that the insignificant peasants had simply understood their place in the world and given up their foolish ambitions for freedom.

However, now the rebels had reappeared, carrying out a full-scale attack, without the royal family even knowing about it!

If it weren't for the Vascos' arrogance,which led them to believe that no one in the hall would dare oppose them, the king would have thought there was a traitor among their ranks.

In reality, Orion was the one behind the whole affair.

Months ago, when he had first visited this kingdom, he thoroughly investigated the situation of the Vascos and the noble families, as well as the precarious position of the rebels, who were on the verge of being eradicated.

With his various skills, which he had acquired during his stay in Guanhao and improved with the help of the system, it wasn't very difficult for him to put himself in an advantageous position against the Vascos.

The Vasco were a very powerful royal family, having been in power for many years, and their roots ran deep. That was what made them difficult to eliminate, or at least that was the case for the rebels, who had no experience or fighting ability.

On the other hand, Orion immediately found the weak point of this royal family and devised the simplest and most effective plan to destroy them.

Basically, the Vascos' problem was their very strengths: their iron grip on their territory.

They had been in power for so long, giving them great control over their kingdom, but that same control had been creating increasing unrest among the other people in the kingdom.

And this was not limited only to the so-called 'common people' but also to the kingdom's nobles.

For that reason, the solution Orion had arrived at was quite simple: cut off the head of the serpent.

If he could eliminate the king, who was the supreme monarch in this land, the rest of the royal family would crumble like a house of cards under the pressure of the rest of the people and the noble families.

Once the situation became chaotic enough, Orion could intervene alongside the rebels to turn the tide and free the masses. Even if the other nobles wanted to act at that moment, it would already be too late, and the advantage would be in their hands.

To this end, Orion made contact with the resistance; after gaining their trust by confronting Prince Vasco Shot, he became their de facto leader, organizing the movements of the inexperienced rebel faction.

His original plan was to slowly increase their power and eventually launch a much more devastating attack on Roux, but he had overestimated the rebels' capabilities and had to push forward his plans for fear that they would be exposed through carelessness, and the entire plan would fall apart.

Utilizing the rebels' greatest advantages—their positive reputation among the common people and their vast reach throughout the kingdom—Orion quietly carried out his plan.

The rebels further sowed discontent among the people while preparing to carry out massive attacks throughout the kingdom, intending to disperse the power of the Vascos' royal army, which was usually concentrated in the capital.

The plan was a success, and days ago Orion returned to Roux, bringing with him a large quantity of weapons that he supplied to the resistance.

After a few days, preparations were complete, and a massive revolt began in almost every village in Roux, forcing the royal family to take emergency action, dispatching their armies to deal with the situation.

If Orion had relied solely on the rebels' strength, he might not have been able to create the massive chaos he needed, since they were merely peasants without any military training. Although they had a great passion for the cause, their skills fell far short of their ambitions.

And that was precisely why Orion had hired the Gray Wolves, one of the largest and most powerful mercenary companies in the South Blue, even though he had to spend a fortune to do so.

With the help of mercenaries, who assisted the rebels in various parts of the kingdom, chaos had been successfully wreaked, and in just one day, the situation had deteriorated to the point that King Vasco Gin was losing his temper and attacking his subordinates to vent his frustration.

The revolts didn't start in the castle, nor in the capital.

They began with a baker in a forgotten village; then with an old woman hiding weapons under her vegetable stall; with quarry workers, street vendors, and carpenters traveling from town to town.

Orion had provided the resistance not only with weapons but also with a strategy for attacking on multiple fronts, sabotaging supply routes, and isolating remote sentry posts.

The weapons were hidden in the humblest houses, while coded messages were passed from hand to hand through pieces of bread, bags of spices, or simple braided cords with a special knot.

By the time the plea for help reached the royal castle, the villages were already in flames.

The army was unable to contain the riots. By the time they arrived, the Gray Wolves had already seized the entrances to key cities, blocking escape routes and eliminating officers before they could regroup.

Now, only the final step of the plan remained: cutting off the snake's head.

Only the labored breathing of the extremely obese King Vasco Gin could be heard in the great hall. From one of the large windows, the glow of flames glimmered in the dark night.

The rebel attacks had been concentrated outside the capital, but that had only been at the beginning, and now there were even riots within the great city walls!

With each passing minute, the sound of the bloody struggle between the two factions grew closer and closer.

However, the king wasn't worried, just irritated and angry.

In his arrogance, he believed with absolute certainty that his forces would be able to suppress the rebels, and considering the disparity in strength between the two sides, he was right.

That was why the rebel attack had never been more than a distraction and a way to create chaos, not a genuine attempt to defeat the royalist forces.

Slam!

The door to the great hall suddenly opened, and a bloodied, fat man rushed in with a panicked expression.

The king immediately recognized him as one of his sons, and his expression twisted with anger at the man's state.

"Who dared to lay their hands on the royal family?!" Vasco Gin thought indignantly, not understanding that death was knocking at his door.

A shadow ran across a stretch of almost a hundred meters and, without stopping, decapitated the terrified prince, who died with eyes full of terror and reluctance.

Plop.

The head fell to the ground and rolled to the feet of the intruder, who kicked it violently, sending it at high speed toward the king.

One of the guards stepped forward and brandished his sword, cutting the deceased prince's head in two and scattering brains all over the luxurious carpet.

Some of those present fainted at such a brutal scene, while others began to tremble with fear. Unlike the king, who felt only great anger toward the insolent person who had dared to confront him, the other nobles present immediately realized they were in a life-or-death situation.

"What are you doing?! Catch him! But don't kill him, I want him alive! I want to make him live a living hell!" the arrogant king ordered his personal guards, who were the most powerful warriors in the kingdom.

Orion, who had just decapitated the prince, tensed his muscles and launched a powerful attack.

"Kamusari!"

The soldiers who had rushed at him like loyal bloodhounds were thrown backward by the force of the brutal attack. Some suffered severe injuries, the most severe being the amputation of both legs.

The soldiers fell to the ground, screaming in pain, while everyone present stared in fear and amazement at the mysterious man who had burst into the great hall like a god of death.

"What are you doing! Bastards! You're useless! Useless! Catch him right now!" King Vasco Gin shouted, completely out of control.

Orion walked slowly toward the king, while a new wave of soldiers rushed at him to block his path.

Orion threw some small stones he had reduced using his Art Coating ability, then undid the effect, causing them to return to their natural size.

Three massive boulders came crashing down on the soldiers, crushing them like insects and flooding the ground with a great deal of blood. The scene was truly terrifying, and the nobles present knelt and begged for their lives.

Finally, the king reacted and realized the precarious situation he was in. He tried to stand up and escape, but the weight of his bloated body made it impossible for him to stay upright. His legs weren't strong enough.

"Call Shot, bring Shot immediately!" King Vasco Gin shouted like a pig being slaughtered.

Now that he sensed the danger, his first intention had been to call his son Vasco Shot, who had monstrous strength. However, no one heeded his pleas, as everyone was too terrified to move.

Orion arrived before the king and looked at him with disgust and contempt. This was the kind of person he hated the most: a depraved, arrogant, stupid king. The list of negative epithets in Orion's mind stretched on and on

"Y-You dare oppose me? Do you know what you're doing? I'm a king affiliated with the world government! Do you think you can do whatever you want without consequences?!"

Orion glared at him with contempt and sheathed his cutlass without a word.

Seeing his actions, the king sighed in relief, believing Orion had cowered at his words, and immediately returned to his previous arrogant attitude.

"Ha! That's right, it's good that you know your place, you damned insect! Now kneel—"

Bang!

King Vasco Gin couldn't finish his words because, unnoticed, a scrawny young boy had appeared behind him and pointed his pistol at his head, shooting without mercy.

The king's brains flew out, and the obese body fell from the throne, sprawling on the floor at Orion's feet, who simply stared at him as if it were a pile of trash.

"Don't be stupid," Orion muttered to the corpse lying sprawled at his feet.

"I'm simply not the one who should kill you," he concluded.

Lucky Roux, who had suddenly appeared like a ghost, was covered in blood from head to toe.

The scrawny boy looked at Orion and said with a smile.

"I've already eliminated the entire royal family."