Star Frame

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Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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In this Great Pirate Era, perhaps because of the limits of firearms, or perhaps because training a gunman was difficult, gunmen often showed less killing power and presence than swordsmen or physical fighters.

Because of that, most pirate crews leaned more heavily toward close-combat fighters when assigning their battle members.

Even Yasopp, powerful enough to serve under one of the Four Emperors, needed physical strength and Armament Haki to support his overall ability before reaching the later stages, or he would drag the crew down.

And if physical strength and Armament Haki had to be improved anyway, would investing effort into blades or pure physical combat not bring more direct killing power?

Looking across the rulers of the sea, how many did not use blades or specialize in physical combat?

That was the awkward place snipers occupied.

But in certain situations, a sniper could undoubtedly become the enemy's worst headache.

Just like now.

The Sharp-Horn Pirates, pinned in place, had become Corvin's live targets.

With only ten shots, Corvin had taken eight members of the Sharp-Horn Pirates out of the fight.

The gunfight echoing through the night also drew many spectators.

It was hard to imagine that the Sharp-Horn Pirates, who had the advantage in numbers, were being suppressed by a single gunman.

The hidden watchers who wanted to bite a chunk out of the Sharp-Horn Pirates saw an opportunity in this gunfight.

They did not know which crew's monster had made the move, but driven by profit, they no longer cared. Each of them sent word to their boss to prepare for a chance to benefit from the chaos.

The hungry stares of scavengers hid in the dark.

On the warehouse roof, Corvin quickly changed sniping points.

The process was effortless.

At that moment, the advantage of the enemy being in the open while he remained hidden was displayed completely.

After moving to a suitable sniping point, Corvin raised his gun and aimed at Wells and the others, who were still carrying out their suppressive-fire strategy.

"First."

The people he had shot earlier were not worth Corvin's attention.

His targets had always been the three names written in the ledger.

His gaze settled on Wells, who still did not know danger was about to arrive, and Corvin pulled the trigger.

The lead ball flew into the distant night.

As smoke spread, Corvin put away Usopp without even looking and jumped from the warehouse to the ground.

Without Wolf Rat and Tatamu beside him as protection, Corvin did not dare stay so exposed and keep firing.

He reloaded while quickly moving toward the Sharp-Horn ship moored at the dock.

After only a few steps, another speck of starlight appeared on the black ledger's cover in his consciousness.

The physical return flowed into him at once, making Corvin feel as if he had stepped into a hot spring. He exhaled in comfort.

Feeling a return different from before, Corvin realized something.

With a thought, the black ledger appeared.

On the black cover, the many silver specks above suddenly turned into falling stars. They drew long, thin silver trails across the dark cover, like a meteor shower falling through the night.

At last, the shower of starlight gathered to the right of physique on the requirement line and slowly formed an empty star frame: ☆

Looking at the ☆ beside physique, Corvin could not hide his joy.

"A star frame formed this quickly. If I can kill Kazt tonight, I might fill it in all at once. Then I'll get my first real transformation."

Corvin was surprised and excited.

But he soon calmed down.

He could celebrate after the hunt succeeded.

After dismissing the black ledger, Corvin looked toward the distant Sharp-Horn ship with renewed focus.

The formation of the star frame was unexpected.

He had originally thought he would need to kill at least five to eight targets on Evan Watt's level before a star frame could form.

Now, it seemed the fish-man Sam he had hunted on the night of the auction had raised the overall return.

"Next, as long as I can kill Kazt..."

Corvin slung Usopp over his back. For one instant, a steadier idea rose in him.

He could first regroup with Wolf Rat and Tatamu, then work together to wipe out the assault squad the Sharp-Horn Pirates had sent over before launching a full attack on the ship holding its position.

However, considering the possibility of someone stealing the kill, Corvin would rather face Kazt alone.

With Listening with the Spirit, even if the situation became impossible, he could pull away in time.

Drawing his dagger and holding it in his hand, Corvin headed toward the Sharp-Horn ship.

On the deck of the Sharp-Horn ship.

"Captain Wells!"

One gunman stared in terror at Wells, who had been shot through the temple and killed on the spot.

Even their captain had been killed.

When they looked back toward the distant night, even though the enemy's muzzle flash no longer appeared, a strange fear remained that they might be shot dead at any moment.

That was the invisible pressure a sniper hidden deep in the night could create.

And the poor performance of the remaining three gunmen left the melee fighters behind cover even more exhausted.

Under these circumstances, they could not even keep a basic lookout.

Considering that there were also watchers from other pirate crews around the ship, all sorts of thoughts became pressure on their shoulders.

Drip.

A bead of sweat fell onto the deck and burst into a small splash.

Every member of the Sharp-Horn Pirates stayed on high alert.

They could only hope Captain Gabton had killed the sniper.

Under that invisible pressure, they endured a difficult minute.

The sniper had not fired for a full minute. That meant...

"Captain Gabton succeeded?"

As soon as that possibility appeared, a trace of joy rose on the faces of the Sharp-Horn Pirates.

The three gunmen in particular felt as if a weight had been lifted.

Since the gunfight began, that sniper had never stopped firing. This was the first time more than a minute had passed without a shot.

Even if Captain Gabton had not killed the sniper, he must have driven him back or pinned him down.

That was the only explanation.

The Sharp-Horn gunmen thought their burden had been lifted. How could they imagine that the terrifying sniper had traded his rifle for a small knife and was currently creeping toward them?

When that impossible thought became reality, only deep confusion remained in the gunman's mind.

Corvin came with a knife in hand. Having already figured out the enemy positions, he appeared and immediately cut open one gunman's throat with his dagger.

Under the gunman's disbelieving stare, Corvin quickly stabbed him again through the heart.

Then Corvin pulled the short-handled flintlock from the gunman's body. Following the route he had planned before boarding, he rapidly approached the second gunman and killed him with the same clean two strikes.

Only after Corvin killed two men in a row did the others in the Sharp-Horn Pirates react.

Bang.

Corvin shot the nearest of the last gunmen dead.

He threw away the emptied pistol. Before the Sharp-Horn crew could rush him, he used the loaded rifled gun and flintlock pistols from the dead gunmen to fire several shots in succession.

At close range, his precise shooting added four more bodies to the deck in an instant.

In a little over ten seconds after boarding, Corvin had killed seven members of the Sharp-Horn Pirates.

Even so, many members of the crew remained on deck, rushing toward him with murder on their faces.

Corvin did not fear them in the slightest.

Liking guns did not mean his close-combat ability was weak.

His ability to handle Aibe's rapid thrusts had already shown that.

Gripping the dagger, Corvin, whose physique had already transformed once before, met the crowd head-on.

Steel flickered, and arcs of blood sprayed outward.

Before long, the pirates on deck had been cut apart by Corvin and his dagger.

If he had been using a long sword, he would likely have killed them even faster.

Inside the captain's cabin, Kazt finally could not sit still.

Silently cursing his subordinates as useless, he pushed open the cabin door and stepped onto the deck.

He stepped out to a deck covered in the bodies of his men.

Kazt looked sharply toward Corvin, who was still killing his subordinates.

The moment he saw Corvin's face clearly, thick veins rose across his rugged face.

The moment enemies met face-to-face, Kazt saw red.

"Usopp!"

He shouted the name Corvin was using, one word at a time.

His voice, thick with murderous fury, rang through the night.

The hidden watchers around them were all startled when they heard that name.

So it was Usopp, the rookie who had appeared out of nowhere recently.

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