The name Ganzack didn’t really ring any bells.

  My first guess was that he might have been a filler character, or a forgettable extra.

  From what Merry told me, It appeared to be the former. The episode named ‘Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!’, interestingly enough, was the first animated adaptation of the manga, released a year prior to the anime series.

  Ganzack himself was a pirate that was basically a mesh of buggy, Arlong and Don Krieg. A guy that was easily flattered and just as easily insulted.

  At some point in time Ganzack had enslaved an entire island and had them working to death in weapon factories to fuel his ambitions. Aside from that, he had somehow tamed a sea beast the size of Lord of the Coast, valued firepower above all else and most important of all to me, in a personal combat relied heavily on a suit of armor. An armor with some interesting functions.

  Now, Merry didn’t know all the details, but he did have a perfect memory of all One Piece media I had consumed.

  The armor somewhat acted as an exoskeleton. A crab-themed exoskeleton, to be precise. It looked goofy, something a cosplayer would wear, but was actually pretty powerful for something in possession of an East Blue villain.

  The exoskeleton had two pincers that could puncture plate armor, could shoot bullets like Gatling gun, extend iron chains or expel sticky foam-like substances that even Luffy had trouble to break through. Well, it was pre-time skip gearless Luffy, but that was more than enough for most threats in this world.

  In short, the armor would pretty easily fuck up normal titans. Give it to a skilled enough user and it would be useful even against shifters.

  So, it was safe to say that I really wanted that armor. Well, not for me specifically. Oh, I definitely was excited to take it on a test drive once or twice. But it would shortly lose effective value in my hands. The same couldn’t be said if one of my companions mastered it. If they got really good with it, I would be able to gain another combatant that would ensure safety of the whole group before each individual got strong enough form to fend for themselves. And all that stood before the piece of coveted equipment, that I didn’t know existed few minutes ago, and me was Ganzack.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  So I had another incentive to defeat Ganzack. Still, Ganzack wasn’t weak. Not compared to us. He wasn’t a devil fruit user either, so while he wouldn’t arrive with troublesome abilities, cheap tricks like spawning him in water wouldn’t work on as well. And I couldn’t damage that armor if I wanted to keep it. Not that it would be easy to damage it, but I couldn’t risk it.

  “So, we’re fighting another freak, boss?” Dante asked as he casually juggled three swords like ping-pong balls. “How strong is he?”

  “Stronger than the clown, though less tricky.”

  There was a loud bang as a titan’s body hit the ground. It was dead long before that, smoke already coming out of it as it began evaporating. We ignored it. Maxwell was simply having fun with his new ability.

  Merry was next to him, giving him some ideas about how to better utilize the fruit, as well as on standby to help him out if needed. His presence was also convenient as he could also absorb bodies in my stead, since I could use the ability though him.

  The slots began rolling as Roulette was activated “remotely”.

  [Draw Pool: East Blue ? Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!]

  [Plesiosaur (E-)]

  Ah, it was the sea beast that Ganzack had tamed. Talk about a lucky roll. Though, once again, I wondered how a sea beast would do on the land. It was pretty much Lord of the Coast but with a slightly different shape. I wouldn’t be using it against Ganzack. I’d rather save the monster for something more appropriate.

  “Well, can we beat him?” Wilhelm asked.

  “Maybe. If we play our cards right. But I’d rather not risk it immediately. We’ll kill some more titans and I’ll see when we’re good to go.”

  There was another loud collision, though it was just a tree this time. It was followed by a scream of pain. Maxwell was testing out the chop-chop fruit and first attack he came up with was launching his arm forward like a projectile while spinning it to give some extra momentum. He said it hurt like hell. But assured us that it was all according to his plan. That his method wasn’t reckless at all. That the more skilled he became, less injuries he was beginning to receive.

  The group didn’t even try to conceal the laughter and just kept teasing him. It resulted in more stubbornness and recklessness in return.

  I left them be. Merry was more than happy to give him guidance with the devil fruit knowledge he had, which was wasn’t much but was better than nothing. And Maxwell showed some talent. So he was steadily improving.

  At the end of the day, I had filled the eight out of the nine slots. Aside from Plesioisaur, rest were just some randos. They didn’t amount to much. Ganzack didn’t even have any capable underlings that could hold on their own. His crewmates were weaklings. But at least they had pistols. That was better than nothing.

  And as another titan fell, what I got from it was something unexpected.

  =====

  [Ganzack]

  Grade: E-

  _

  Stats:

  Strength: F+

  Agility: E-

  Constitution: F+

  Perception: E

  -

  Equipment:

  [Crab Exoskeleton (Prototype)]

  [Pistol]

  =====

  I blinked.

  “Did I just get the guy I am supposed to defeat?”