One Star

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Kazt's strength was not to be underestimated.

Even at a disadvantage, if he landed a direct hit, the situation would flip instantly.

Corvin had been avoiding a direct fight earlier, but not entirely because Kazt's strength was so fierce.

In Corvin's view, if he could wear Kazt down from a distance, why risk fighting at close range?

But Kazt had changed strategy in time, sacrificing defense for speed in order to stick to him. That forced Corvin to meet him head-on.

Under those circumstances, Corvin had no choice but to move in.

The punch containing his strongest current force struck Kazt's wound in a rather vicious way.

That punch not only caused internal injury, but also crushed Kazt's assumption without mercy.

Kazt had believed Corvin's strength could not be all that high.

Otherwise, if he truly had the ability, why would he keep avoiding direct combat?

Because of that, every attack Kazt threw at Corvin had left no room for recovery.

After taking Corvin's punch, Kazt realized he had been wrong.

Ridiculously wrong.

"You..."

Kazt glared furiously at Corvin. The word had barely left his mouth before he vomited blood again.

He truly could not understand Corvin's approach.

He clearly had the strength to fight head-on, yet insisted on using nasty methods to irritate people.

"Me?"

Corvin smiled.

"Shameless..."

Kazt endured the pain churning in his abdomen and could only use that single word to express how he felt.

Bang.

Without warning, Corvin drew a flintlock pistol and shot Kazt in the knee that had not transformed.

Pff.

The lead ball punched into Kazt's knee, bursting into a vivid flower of blood.

"What did you just say?"

Corvin slowly put away the pistol.

The gunshot had happened to cover the rest of Kazt's words, so Corvin had not heard them.

Kazt stared at Corvin with wide eyes. After a long moment, another furious roar tore through the night.

"Usopp!"

In an instant, Kazt shifted fully into his hybrid form.

But he did not attack Corvin. He turned decisively and ran toward the shore, dragging his injuries with him.

Corvin raised an eyebrow and chased him.

A few seconds later, Corvin tightened his grip on the dagger and aimed at Kazt's back, straight for the heart.

At that moment, Kazt suddenly turned. The violent motion tore open the wounds along the inside of his thighs, spraying arcs of blood.

He did not even frown.

Double Strike.

Kazt's expression was ruthless. His left hoof came first, striking toward Corvin's throat.

Corvin raised the dagger, trying to deflect this desperate counterattack.

Clang.

The overwhelming force knocked the dagger from Corvin's hand and sent it flying into the sea.

Kazt's expression brightened with savage joy. His right hoof followed, stamping toward Corvin's chest.

If it landed, he was confident he could take Corvin's life in one blow and reverse the situation instantly.

But Kazt did not see Corvin's faint smile.

The black hoof bore down.

Corvin suddenly lowered his body, letting the hoof scrape over his scalp.

Shing.

After avoiding Black Hoof, Corvin drew Dark Crow with his right hand. With a simple bend and extension of his elbow, he drove the blade into Kazt's heart.

There was no technique in it at all.

The sharp blade instantly sank a third of the way in.

Kazt's body froze in the middle of his attack. He lowered his head and stared blankly at the long sword piercing his chest.

Corvin gave Kazt no chance to breathe. His other hand slammed down on the hilt, and his foot stepped forward at the same time.

Hiss.

The bloody blade burst out from Kazt's back.

Step by step, Corvin drove Kazt's body backward until he pinned him to the mast. Only then did he stop.

"You were shot in the knee and still wanted me to believe you were running for your life? Even if you believed it, I wouldn't."

Corvin's smile faded. Expressionless, he looked at Kazt's twisted face, full of hatred and disbelief.

"Truth is, we never had any grudge between us. I just need stepping stones."

Corvin pulled Dark Crow back and took two steps away, watching Kazt fall limply to the deck with his eyes still open.

Around them, the remnants of the Sharp-Horn Pirates stared at the scene in disbelief.

"Captain Kazt!"

Corvin held the bloodstained Dark Crow and turned his head toward them.

The blood still hanging in the air made the remaining members of the Sharp-Horn Pirates tremble where they stood. None of them dared move.

"Now is not the time..."

Corvin lowered his eyes.

In his consciousness, on the cover of the ledger, the ☆ beside physique had already become a filled star: ★

"It really filled. Hm? Here it comes..."

A flash of joy hit Corvin, and he instinctively tightened his grip on the sword hilt.

All at once, a strange sensation moved through him, like countless gentle hands kneading every knot out of his mind.

The sensation sharpened all his senses in an instant.

At the same time, warm currents flowed through his limbs and bones.

Every tendon, every cell, seemed to sink into soft cotton.

It was like a perfectly measured massage that did not miss a single inch.

A pleasant numbness spread through him.

Corvin slowly closed his eyes and sank into this long-lost transformation.

His suddenly heightened senses remained locked on the remnants of the Sharp-Horn Pirates on deck. He could also sense the crowds surging out from the dark.

The surviving Sharp-Horn Pirates watched Corvin suddenly close his eyes. Then they heard a series of popping sounds come from his body, like firecrackers.

Perhaps it was only an illusion, but they felt Corvin's body had grown slightly fuller.

They looked at one another. They wanted to attack, but they also felt as if a beast were watching them, and they could only freeze in place.

After a moment, Corvin opened his eyes.

The transformation had ended.

"Comfortable."

Corvin sheathed Dark Crow and could not resist stretching.

One solid star representing physique had allowed him to take an important first step.

At the same time, based on the nature of Hunter's Ledger, it indicated that the physical ceiling in the pirate world was ten stars.

Corvin knew very well that the farther he went, the harder it would be to form a star frame and fill it in.

Raising any requirement to ten stars would be a long, difficult road.

In his previous life, because he had filled requirements too quickly, his early returns had been split too severely.

So before he was dragged into death by that absurd wish-granting force, even after exploiting a few opportunities for extra returns, the highest of his four requirements had only been a little over four stars.

Having experienced that once, Corvin had considered raising only physique first, but that approach was too extreme, so he had abandoned it.

For now, having only physique and swordsmanship as requirements would keep his early returns relatively concentrated.

As for the next requirement, it would undoubtedly be Haki.

But given that he did not know his own talent yet, and because suitable prey was scarce, Corvin was not in a hurry to fill in another requirement.

If his talent for Observation Haki was above the acceptable line, then he could consider writing a single item such as Armament Haki in order to raise its star rating faster.

The reverse was also true.

Corvin stopped thinking about it and looked toward the shore.

Dense, hurried footsteps came from the docks.

Pirates carrying weapons, clearly here with bad intentions, climbed onto the Sharp-Horn ship one after another.

In an instant, seventy or eighty pirates had appeared on the deck, divided into three groups.

They looked at the corpses covering the deck.

When they saw Kazt's body, all of them were shocked. Then they fell silent and looked at Corvin.

They were like scavengers. Even gathered in numbers, they hovered between advancing and retreating.

They would not actively attack the prey, but they also would not easily give it up.

They were waiting for the prey to fall, so they could open their mouths and feed on its flesh.

Corvin saw through their intentions at a glance.

Compared with the Sharp-Horn Pirates' property, Corvin cared more about the prey named Gabton.

He swept a cold look over the scavengers and walked toward the shore.

Seeing Corvin take a step, the pirates who had come to snatch food swallowed nervously. As they stepped back, they opened a path for him.

Corvin ignored them, walked through the open path, and left the ship.

"Gulp."

Only after Corvin had gone far away did one pirate who had been closest to him swallow hard.

"Damn. That was terrifying."

The pirate's legs trembled slightly.

Just now, he had been only a few steps away from Corvin.

When Corvin walked past, an image had appeared in his mind for no reason, showing himself being cut into several pieces by Corvin's blade.

No one nearby laughed at his reaction.

The Sharp-Horn Pirates had fallen to a boy named Usopp.

After the shock passed, their greed-filled gazes turned toward the remaining members of the Sharp-Horn Pirates.

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