Starting with Kengan beating up the Pirate King

Chapter 11 The Team Leader and Jiang Xue

House number 407, Loguetown.

During the first exploration, a military soldier learned by chance how to acquire the house. As a result, it became the base for the explorers' leaders during the second and third explorations of the pirate's secret realm.

As the deputy leader, Zhou Yingxiong, entered, he ripped off his naval uniform and complained, "I served on Mist Star for nine years and I'm only a captain. This guy just finished basic training and is already a second lieutenant. If he goes out to sea twice more and catches half a pirate, he'll probably be promoted to captain. It's too fast."

"Congratulations on completing basic training."

Team leader Long Qi emerged from the study, his hair more disheveled than before, and his demeanor somewhat languid, unlike when he was in military uniform.

"In most secret realms, the strong are respected. As long as your strength increases, you can become a colonel without merit. Although there is no information on higher-ranking officers at the moment, it is probably the same."

“I know,” Zhou Yingxiong said. “The period of rapid power improvement is not over yet. I estimate that I can still go up a bit more. Hey, now I can lift a stone roller weighing a thousand or eight hundred catties without much effort. In our area, even a one-patterned martial artist would be a nobody!”

Long Qi smiled and said, "If you want to enter the Grand Line to gather more intelligence, Vice Leader Zhou and Vice Leader Guo are the combat power. You two should work harder."

"Don't mention Guo Yan. I feel like she's been a bit obsessed lately. I don't know what she heard from a female soldier named Tashigi in the same class, but she's been researching some kind of 'the ability to cut through steel but not through paper' technique. It sounds really weird."

“Deputy Team Leader Guo comes from a family with a long tradition of swordsmanship and has practiced swordsmanship since childhood. She should have some ideas of her own,” Long Qi said. “Anything can happen in the secret realm. It might be a real level of swordsmanship. Let her give it a try.”

"You don't know, that Tashigi is such a fool, she seems to be..."

Zhou Yingxiong wanted to complain, but then thought it wasn't good to talk badly about someone behind their back, so he shook his head and said, "Never mind, Long Qi, how's it going on your end?"

"Call me team leader."

Long Qi corrected him, saying as he walked back to his study, "We've already received 34 letters."

"Only 34 letters?" Zhou Yingxiong frowned.

Even the simplest way—joining a nearby naval branch and becoming a naval officer—should be enough to survive the first month or so of the secret realm, settle down, and send out letters.

“There are probably still some letters on the way, and some who don’t quite trust our team leader,” Long Qi said. “And there must be a few who have unfortunately been caught up in danger.”

"Tsk, I don't know what some people are thinking, as if we could harm them. Without pooling our wisdom and efforts, who can conquer a secret realm that is just like the real world, all by themselves?"

Zhou Yingxiong asked, "Do any of these 34 letters contain any useful information?"

"Most of the reports are about their own location and safety, or requests to rendezvous with other explorers. The information is mostly trivial and has no practical value. It's only been a month and a half, and it's too difficult to get information that we didn't have in the first two explorations."

As Long Qi spoke, he took a letter from the mail on his desk and handed it to Zhou Yingxiong.

"This letter is somewhat interesting."

Zhou Yingxiong looked up first: "Guan Yi? Is that Guan Yi from the first exploration team?"

He unfolded the letter and read: 'Long time no see. I am Guan Yi, now making a living in the small town of West Sisicono in the Konomie Islands. The shipping industry here is thriving, and the docks need a lot of laborers every day. I have become one of them. I load and unload cargo every day, my days are fulfilling, and I have earned a sum of money. Although I don't have a fixed place to live yet, I think I am not far from settling down here.'

"Hey, this kid is pretty meticulous. No wonder he almost became your junior. He's writing to an old friend as if it's okay if others see it."

As Zhou Yingxiong turned to the second page of the letter, he said, "Carrying cargo at the dock, this kind of heavy physical work should be very helpful for improving one's physical condition. I remember he has some basic skills, right? He's definitely not as good as me and Guo Yan, but he should be close to the level of a martial artist."

"Yes."

After entering the secret realm, ordinary people can quickly reach the average level of ordinary people in the secret realm through training. If they already have some foundation, their improvement speed will be faster than others, and their limit will be higher than others.

The first group of four was specially arranged by Long Qi, and each of them was someone he cared about.

During the background investigation, Long Qi discovered that Guan Yi had been exercising his body scientifically since childhood. He excelled in academics and was even better at sports, as if he had been preparing for entering the secret realm in the future.

After the college entrance examination, he could have become his junior and entered the National University of Defense Technology, but he didn't even fill out a college application. Instead, he resolutely signed up as a volunteer for the exploration of secret realms. These goal-oriented and capable exploration volunteers often make extraordinary contributions to the exploration of secret realms.

"The second page is also full of mundane family matters, what this trading company transports, what that trading company sells, what do you want me to see..." Zhou Yingxiong read on, then suddenly noticed a line: "I overheard the manager of Aomori House Trading Company casually complaining to someone that the 16th Naval Branch's rat lieutenant colonel is greedy to death. If the tribute isn't paid on time, the goods will be seized by the Navy. It seems there are some scoundrels in the Navy too..."

"This piece of information doesn't seem to have appeared in the previous two explorations. That's interesting."

A corrupt naval lieutenant commander? If used properly, perhaps something can be obtained.

“Read this letter again,” Long Qi said.

"Hmm... Jiang Xue?" Zhou Yingxiong took it and said, "The girl in the first group?"

"Hey, that's interesting. She just joined the 16th Marine Division? That makes sense, they're in the same group, entering the secret realm together, their teleportation points will be closer. I remember her..."

I wrote her a reply.

Long Qi nodded and smiled, "I hope she can make good use of her strengths and achieve something... Actually, I'm more looking forward to Zhang Sangu, but unfortunately, that uncle will probably have a hard time communicating with us."

"Him? He's normal..."

Navy 16th Division.

At the recruit training base, a bearded naval captain stood in front of a recruit dormitory, holding a bouquet of flowers and with loving eyes.

"Xiaoxue, please go out with me!"

Jiang Xue, now using the pseudonym 'Xue' and becoming a new naval recruit, blushed slightly as she extended her arm to accept the flowers. She had rolled up the sleeves of her short-sleeved naval uniform twice, revealing her fair, jade-like shoulders, which attracted the attention of the bearded naval captain throughout.

"I'm sorry, Captain Morton, I'm currently focused on becoming a qualified marine and have no plans to date anyone at the moment!"

"Oh..."

Sighs of schadenfreude rippled through the crowd, while many others breathed a sigh of relief.

Morton said with a face full of grief, "I understand, Xiaoxue. If you encounter any problems or don't understand anything during training, please be sure to tell me!"

“I will, Captain Morton.”

After watching the highest-ranking officer at the recruit training base leave, Jiang Xue returned to her dormitory, closed the door, and threw the bouquet aside.

"They always send useless flowers, and with this guy blocking the way, fewer marines are sending me things lately. It's really troublesome."

As a woman with striking good looks, Jiang Xue had been subtly regarded as the school beauty by boys since high school, receiving many implicit preferential treatments.

As time went on, she gradually learned how to use her beauty and when to 'accidentally' show off her arms and legs to attract more men.

On the misty planet, she was pursued by more than twenty boys at the same time, yet she knew how to maintain a proper distance. Not wanting to be arrested for being a con artist, she accepted gifts within the boys' means and provided corresponding emotional support, like a high-end gaming companion.

Her innate talent allowed her to navigate relationships with these boys with ease, until her mother discovered it. Unfortunately, she had no idea that one of the boys pursuing her was the son of her mother's company boss, and they happened to be caught in the act.

My mother was a stunning beauty who was widely admired when she was young. After a simple question, she knew what was going on and was furious, saying that if Jiang Xue continued like this, she would get herself into trouble sooner or later.

She told Jiang Xue to settle down, saying that the company boss's son was a good match and she could try dating him, while rejecting the other boys who were pursuing her.

Jiang Xue was unwilling, and the mother and daughter had a big fight. In a moment of impulse, Jiang Xue signed up to be a volunteer in the secret realm.

So most of what she said in the car was true, and she was indeed scared.

But after entering the secret realm, she found that the situation was much better than she had imagined. The men in this world were all like anime otaku, each one frighteningly innocent. Although they talked about 'dating' and 'marriage' as soon as they met, they didn't get angry when rejected. There was no coercion or oppression, and she wasn't even treated unfairly.

“We also need to be careful. Just because we haven’t encountered it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” Jiang Xue tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It would be best to find a backer, or… find a way to climb to a higher position.”

Basic training was tough, but after a month of perseverance, I felt like I was half again as strong as before. If I could keep going like this...

Da da da.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

After a moment of impatience, Jiang Xue's face instantly switched to a simple and lovely expression.

Who is it?
"New recruit Xue, a letter from Rogge Town."

Jiang Xue's eyes lit up. She took the letter and went back to her room to open it. Most of the letter was filled with trivial family matters used as a pretense. She quickly noticed the most important sentence.

"I heard you complain in your letter that many marines are pursuing you, and you feel scared and distressed. You could try visiting Lieutenant Colonel Rat at the 16th branch with some gifts, but remember to be careful."

Lieutenant Colonel Rat!

Jiang Xue had heard of him; he was said to be the most promising high-ranking officer in the base, waiting for the colonel to be transferred and promoted to colonel to manage the entire 16th branch.

Do the team leaders really know some top-secret information that we explorers don't?

Jiang Xue had earned quite a few 'gifts' these past few days. After thinking about it, she felt that it was better to do it sooner rather than later, and that you can't catch a wolf without giving something away. So she gathered the most valuable ones and went out directly.

"Hey, have you heard of that... that pirate hunter in the shadows?"

Pirate hunter in the shadows?

what is that?
Hearing the nearby marines talking, Jiang Xue glanced sideways but didn't stop walking.

Whatever, it has nothing to do with me anyway.

(End of this chapter)