One Pice: A Game Blue System.

"There's no code of honor!"

41 Damage! (670/2,010) 40 Damage! (630/2,010) "No rules about what isn't allowed!" 42 Damage! (588/2,010) 42 Damage! (546/2,010) "..stop...stop..I yield..please.." Blackjack sputters through a bloody mouth while his hands rise weakly in protest.

And yet the beating continues.

41 Damage! (505/2,010) Fuck this guy!

41 Damage! (464/2,010) He doesn't get an opinion!

40 Damage! (424/2,010) He killed me! And he's not killing anyone ever again!

43 Damage! (381/2,010) My fist continues to smash against his face, determined to turn it into a bloody paste. Each time taking away another small chunk of his health.

42 Damage! (339/2,010) 44 Damage! (295/2,010) Your opponent has been knocked out!

40 Damage! (255/2,010) I finally pause in my assault and take deep calming lungfuls of air.

I needed that.

It was a unique flavor of catharsis.

To beat the man who killed you with your bare hands.

My grip on the man's shirt collar eases up and Blackjack's body flops limply onto the ground. This fight is over.

Ding!

Quest Completed! Quest: Defeat Blackjack!

Reward: 2,400 Exp and Lv.3 [Skill Disk]. You have reached Lv. 21!

You have 10 points to spend.

'I'll deal with these later.' I close the blue windows and stare down balefully at Blackjacks unconscious form for what feels like a personal eternity.

The well of rage that sprung forth inside me apparently hasn't drained completely yet, because I watch in an almost third-person view as my foot rises up to ever so slowly land atop my enemy's neck.

I pause there for a moment. Not sure if I'm capable of this act. To kill a man when he's passed out and defenseless like this. 'Is that really who I am? Who I'm capable of being?'

My foot presses down and I watch his health start to tick lower. 'It seems so.' I am just learning so many things about myself today.

As his health falls from three digits to two, a thought strikes my brain and I ease back on the pressure. If I kill this man and chuck his body in the [Inventory], how am I going to explain a fresh corpse when I bring it to the Marines? Its a four day trip back to Caeba and I'm not even sure how I'm getting a ride. The ship that brought me was only using this place as a pit stop before moving on.

I'm not sure if a dead body breaks down differently in this universe or not, but after four days back on Earth the organs have turned to mush and the torso starts to bloat. The whole thing tends to be rather noticeable.

I remove my foot entirely from his throat and scowl. 'So If I want to collect on the 8.2 million -and like hell am I passing it up!- either Blackjack needs to still be alive when I turn him in or I need to be able to explain away how I moved a body without any time passing for it. Hmmm. I suppose I could claim Devil Fruit powers? Perhaps some innocuous ability to store things? A Storage-Human? It's not the worst idea I've ever had, I could even start using my [Inventory] in front of others. Although..I'm not sure that's a lie I want to lock myself into quite yet. What if word gets around of my ability and then I fall into the ocean without dying? That would raise some pretty massive red flags.'

I visibly huff. Alright Blackjack. You get to live. Your ass is still staying in the [Inventory] for most of the trip though. I'll take you out when we get back to Yeutton. I'll even bandage your wounds for appearance sake.

It's not mercy. It's pragmatism.

There's over 8 million Beri on the line here after all. Oh wait. There's actually more. I mosey over to the briefcase that Buchanan was so desperately clutching and pop its lid open.

20 stacks of 100,000 Beri smile up at me.

"Nice..." I mutter softly.

+2,000,000 Beri!

"Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru."

My thoughts shift gears as a soft ringing pierces the quiet of the derelict market. 'Ah. Now there's an iconic 'One Piece' sound I've yet to hear.'

"Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru."

"Yeah yeah I'm coming." I make my way back to Blackjack's side and begin searching the downed man's pockets. Frankly I'm astonished that any snail the gangster had on him managed to survive the fight. The two of us weren't exactly being gentle. Then again, maybe the lovable little guys secretly have ridiculous amounts of durability and shells as hard as iron. Who knows? It wouldn't be the strangest thing in this world.

'Wait a minute. Duh. There's an easy way to find out.' I realize as I discover the source of the ringing and remove it from inside Blackjacks breast pocket. '[Observe]'

Den-Den-Mushi, Lv. 1

Den-Den-Mushi are a breed of snails that possess innate psychic abilities that allow them to communicate with other members of their species. Humans have developed special rigs that can be installed inside the snails shell to allow for long-distance communication across the world.

This Den-Den-Mushi is blue with a yellow shell and possesses no special traits.

Health: 32/50 STR: 0.01 VIT: 5 DEX: 0.01 INT: 250,000 WIS: 0.01 LUK: 6 "HO-LY SHIT!" I think my jaw just actually hit the floor. Sure its got 50 health which is more than I'd expected and its injured so I can tell it was jostled around a bit in the fight but fuck talking about any of that! 'Why in the actual FUCK does it have a quarter million INT?!'

Is this the [Game] attempting to quantify the snails psychic abilities? To somehow make sense of it? Wait! Will I get psychic abilities If I raise INT high enough?

"Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru." I mean sure I'll probably never reach a quarter million in the stat but then again I'm not exactly aiming to have telepathic conversations across the entire world am I?

"Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru."