_________________

In the game world, a dark-skinned man walked through the crowd in what appeared to be a marketplace. The tall man attracted glances here and there. Everyone in that crowded place were merely civilians, with their levels rarely exceeding level 5.

The man observed for a moment but continued moving forward, wanting to leave the market. His current emotions were strange, still unfamiliar even after over a year of playing the game. He had spent a lot of time in it, but those feelings still felt new.

In real life, he could never walk like this in a human marketplace. Although the One Piece manga had drastically shifted people's beliefs, the fundamental change needed to end human racism toward other races, especially fishmen, had yet to happen.

That's right. The man wandering the human market in the Sabaody Archipelago within the game was a fishman, and not just any fishman, but Fisher Tiger himself!

Fisher Tiger stopped when he exited the human market and looked at his hands. He had human hands. In fact, he had a human body in the game.

During the avatar creation phase, the game allowed players to choose from many races, though some were locked. As a fishman entering the game, his default race was naturally fishman, but the game allowed players to change to any race they preferred.

As expected, Fisher Tiger chose to enter the game as a human. He wasn't the only fishman who did this, most fishmen had long wanted to know what it felt like to be human.

The game world gave them the chance to experience that feeling in a tangible way.

"They're not looking at me with fear… They're not despising me, not even staring with curiosity…"

Fisher Tiger had lost count of how many times he had told himself those words. But every time he did, it felt like the first.

Living as a human made him completely disconnected from reality. He had never felt anything like it. He had never experienced racism—not even when he chose dark skin for his character. Not once.

Suddenly, Fisher Tiger's gaze fell on an unusual scene: four men leading two individuals with their faces covered. The surrounding humans paid them no attention and kept walking away.

It was clearly a kidnapping scene, but the two victims seemed unable to resist.

Fisher Tiger noticed the victims had skin colors different from any human—one was green, the other blue.

Driven by instinct, Fisher Tiger ran forward and struck the four men who were leading the two fishmen in broad daylight.

Boom!

He kicked the two in the back, sending them flying, and then, using Fishman Karate, crushed the ribs of the other two who had attacked him viciously.

Since their levels were only around 15, they stood no chance against someone at level 36. He easily knocked them out—they couldn't even utter a word.

The bystanders gasped in astonishment.

"Wait, aren't those guys from The Human Auctioning House? Why did this guy get involved?"

"Does he want to keep those fishmen for himself?"

"Man, he's asking for trouble!"

This was Grove 8—an outlaw zone where criminals roamed freely. It wasn't surprising to see a weirdo like Fisher Tiger meddling in others' business. But the fact that he knocked out four elite guards from the Human Auctioning House? That was something else.

That's what the crowd thought, including members of the Hound Pets gang—the same ones who had captured those fishmen and sold them to the auctioneers.

Fisher Tiger ignored the crowd—and the system notifications—and removed the hoods and restraints from the two fishmen. He said:

"Follow me. I'll take you to the sea."

He didn't even look at them while saying that. Then he walked in a specific direction, sensing the two were following.

Fisher Tiger watched as the two fishmen jumped into the sea, casting grateful looks back at him before swimming deep into the ocean.

"You bastard! Do you have any idea how hard it was to catch those fish? And you just let them go?!"

"You brought this trouble on yourself—are you aware of that?"

"You freed them, but now you'll be sold in their place. Those fish were supposed to be sold to Saint Jascard. You've screwed yourself."

"Go! Capture him! We can't explain what happened to the Celestial Dragon unless we catch that bastard!" shouted Peterman, leader of the Hound Pets gang, at his men.

Behind Fisher Tiger was the sea. In front of him, the Hound Pets gang stood ready to tear him apart—but he was utterly calm.

"Looks like I've earned a lot of EXP… Well then, my story in this game is to cleanse this place of scum like you. I'll finish this story with excellence."

In the next moment, Fisher Tiger charged into the gang like a wolf among sheep.

Using Fishman Karate and Haki, only Peterman was left standing—frozen in shock and fear.

"Level 19? Tch… Trash."

Fisher Tiger spat on the ground before lunging at Peterman and beating him mercilessly.

While Fisher Tiger was enjoying his own "Story Mode" in his own way, in a different story mode, Roger—under the username Gold in the game world—was gazing at the lost city of gold while sitting atop the golden pyramid, a smile never leaving his face.

[Quest: Help Mont Blanc Cricket find the City of Gold, Shandora]

The quest details were still displayed before him. Roger lifted his head. The bell he was looking for was at the very top of the towering plant that reached into the clouds.

"Up there is the Poneglyph that points to Poseidon, isn't it?"

Roger stood and began walking toward the massive plant holding the golden bell at its peak.

At his current level, reaching the top took just a few leaps.

Roger looked at the golden bell. Once he struck it, the quest would be completed—and he might even bring an end to the 400-year conflict between the Skypieans and the Shandians.

Climbing the golden staircase toward the bell, Roger's fist turned black with Haki.

"This bell's mechanisms are too old. It can't be rung normally—and it's enormous. I'll need brute strength."

As he said that, he punched the bell with force. At level 42, ringing that colossal bell wasn't difficult.

RIIIIING!!!

As soon as he struck it, a mighty sound echoed across the sky and land. Then Roger rang the bell ten more times in succession.

The ringing of the ancient bell, silent for 400 years, filled the air—dispersing the clouds of mystery around its location, bringing tears to the descendant of Noland, who was 10,000 meters below.

He heard it.

So did the Shandians, hidden among the clouds. Their bodies trembled with chills, overwhelmed by the longing tied to the memories passed down in their records. Once upon a time, Shandora had thrived… The symbol of Shandora was "the ringing of this bell."

What Roger just did—Luffy was supposed to do in a few months.

But this… was Roger's story, not Luffy's.

[Quest Completed.]

_________________

Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):

_________________

Chapter 902: Rob's Impression of the Latest Elbaf Arc Chapters! Solo Leveling Nears Its End.

Chapter 903: The Birth of Luffy!

Chapter 904: The Impact of the New Naruto Shippuden Episode! Welcome to This World, Luffy.

_________________

BlackStar_BH:

Join my Patreon at:

/BlackStar_BH

To support me and unlock advanced chapters. Get ahead with up to 30 chapters in advance:

- 5 advanced chapters for $5

- 10 advanced chapters for $10

- 15 advanced chapters for $15

- 20 advanced chapters for $20

- 30 advanced chapters for $30

_______

New! With the addition of the shop feature to Patreon, you can now purchase chapters without needing a monthly subscription! For the curious individuals who like the idea of buying just one or two chapters, you can now control the number of advanced chapters you want to read. I have ensured to set the lowest permissible price on the platform for the advanced chapters! Enjoy!

_______

Hey everyone!

I'm excited to announce that I'm now on Ko-fi. If you enjoy my content and want to support my work, you can now buy me a coffee! Every contribution helps me keep creating and sharing more with you all.

Check out my Ko-fi page here:

https://ko-fi.com/blackstar_bh

There are 30 chapters available there ahead of NovelFire.

The membership tiers on Ko-fi:

- 5 advanced chapters for $5

- 10 advanced chapters for $10

- 20 advanced chapters for $20

- 30 advanced chapters for $30

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report