Chapter 49: Blood Oath Contract Talisman**

The bullet exploded, and ice rapidly spread across the surrounding area, covering several dozen meters.

At first, Krieg didn’t understand the purpose, but when he took a step and his body uncontrollably slipped to the side, he finally realized what was happening.

Before he could curse the cowardice, the onmyoji lady’s talisman exploded in his face.

“Damn it! I’ll make sure you die with no place to bury your bodies!!!”

Krieg was furious. He began to relentlessly strike the ground around him with his golden battle spear. Amidst the loud explosions, the ice surface was quickly cleared away.

Without a sound, Kuro appeared behind his opponent, and the cat claw blade slashed across the back of Krieg's knee, targeting the soft spot behind everyone’s kneecap.

“What?!” Krieg swung his golden battle spear, barely able to contain the rage in his eyes. “Were you pretending to be weak earlier?”

Just a few minutes ago, Kuro had been acting as though he was completely exhausted, enduring several attacks without using Silent Steps again.

Krieg had assumed Kuro was no longer a threat, but it turned out that this was all part of Kuro’s plan, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Dodging the enemy's attack, Kuro sidestepped, and with ease, his cat claw sliced through the Achilles tendon of Krieg's other leg.

At this point, Krieg’s defeat was inevitable.

The large body crashed heavily to the ground. Krieg propped himself up with his weapon, but his body was on the verge of collapse.

In a desperate battle, he had managed to retrieve his golden armor, but even so, he still couldn’t defeat this foe.

He couldn’t understand how a former loser could find the courage to challenge him again, or how his once-mighty pirate crew could be defeated by a mere black cat.

Krieg had so many questions, but Kuro had no intention of answering them.

With a swift motion, Kuro slit Krieg’s throat, and the admiral who commanded 5,000 pirates finally paid the price for his arrogance.

After cruelly decapitating Krieg, Kuro held up the head and walked step by step towards the battlefield ahead.

Killing the captain wasn’t enough; he needed to use the admiral’s death to intimidate the other pirates. If possible, he planned to take over the remaining forces.

If that happened, Kuro would become the new ruler of the East Blue.

As they watched Captain Kuro leave, the two Reincarnators turned their gaze to the golden chest on the ground.

Since they didn’t contribute much, the rewards from the chest might be significantly reduced. But it’s still a golden chest, so there should be at least one or two good items out of the four reward options.

“Let me do it~” The onmyoji lady prayed excitedly before reaching out to open the golden chest.

*[You are opening a Story Chest (Gold)]*

*[You received 500 story points]*

*[You received a Golden Battle Spear]*

*[You received 8 Lethal Poison Gas Grenades]*

*[You received 3 Grilled Sea King Limbs]*

The Golden Battle Spear is an epic weapon with terrifying destructive power and explosive performance.

When equipped by a close-combat Reincarnator, it would undoubtedly become a deadly weapon, especially when dealing with large-scale enemies. Its value would be maximized.

The moment she saw the Golden Battle Spear, Ryuno’s eyes lit up. She couldn’t use it, but her companion met all the requirements to wield it.

“An epic item… I don’t have enough story points left to pay for it,” Ryuno said, feeling deeply conflicted.

As for Kiba, he continued to inspect the remaining two items.

*Lethal Poison Gas Grenade:* Releases a powerful toxic mist that causes continuous damage. The damage varies greatly depending on the target's resistance.

The specific damage isn’t detailed, but Kiba vaguely recalled that an ordinary person would die instantly from even slight exposure.

“Good stuff.”

*Grilled Sea King Limb:* A Sea King’s limb, consuming it restores 60% of your health.

Kiba needed this item just as much; he was interested in keeping any food that could restore health.

Looking up at the onmyoji lady, he noticed her gaze was still fixed on the Golden Battle Spear.

Her intentions were clear, but an epic weapon is too valuable, and Kiba doubted her ability to actually pay for it.

“Ahem, I think…”

“I want the Golden Battle Spear, 500 story points, and the poison grenades,” Ryuno interrupted firmly before he could finish his sentence.

There was no problem with wanting the items, but what would she offer in exchange?

Considering she had already pocketed the story points, it was clear that Ryuno intended to barter.

“Is she going to trade a shikigami?” Kiba’s eyes lit up as he secretly began to look forward to it.

If it were a Ubume, that would be fine, but an Akashita wouldn’t be worth exchanging for an epic-grade item.

His guess was close, but there was a slight difference in the details.

When Ryuno took out a contract scroll, Kiba’s heartbeat quickened a little.

*Blood Oath Contract Talisman:* A high-level talisman crafted by Black Seimei that forcibly binds a contract with a yokai. The highest rank it can capture is SR.

This treasure, created by Black Seimei, can forcibly contract a yokai, turning it into a shikigami that can be summoned.

Although the rank limit is a bit low, only capable of capturing SR-level shikigami, Kiba was already quite satisfied.

Even if he were given a higher-level contract talisman and faced with yokai like Otakemaru, Ibaraki-dōji, or Tamamo-no-Mae, he wouldn’t have the ability to subdue them anyway.

To forcibly bind a contract, the yokai’s health must be reduced to below 20%. For yokai like Ibaraki-dōji, he might have to wait until the second difficulty world to even have a chance to challenge them.

“Thank you,” Kiba expressed his sincere gratitude.

Setting aside whether the trade was worth it or not, at least Ryuno had given him two excellent items.

The Blood Oath Contract Talisman would allow him to obtain his first true summon, and the dragoon flintlock would become his primary weapon.

Even Kiba had to admit that meeting this onmyoji lady was a stroke of luck.

“It’s nothing. I should be the one thanking you,” Ryuno shook her head, sharing similar thoughts to Kiba.

Without the man’s meticulous planning, she wouldn’t have triggered the hidden quest, nor would she have had the ability to defeat the pirate admiral.

Yes, the Blood Oath Contract Talisman was incredibly valuable, but the Golden Battle Spear was even more crucial. It was vital to the development prospects of the entire team.

After this battle, the team’s strength would increase significantly, giving them a better chance of completing the main storyline.

Hesitating for a moment, Ryuno mustered the courage to express her thoughts: “Jason, I’d like to invite you to join our team. Don’t worry; every member of our team is a top-tier expert.”

“Sigh.” Kiba sighed inwardly, knowing exactly what the onmyoji lady was thinking.

He had intentionally avoided the topic several times, but she couldn’t resist asking.

If he were an ordinary Reincarnator, given how well they had worked together, he would likely have accepted her invitation.

But unfortunately, there’s no such thing as “what if.”

“Sorry.”

Hearing his refusal, Ryuno forced a bitter smile and said, “It’s okay. I had a feeling this might happen, but I couldn’t help asking.”

The two fell silent for a while, until the sound of the space’s voice echoed in their minds, causing them to glance at each other.

“It seems Kuro succeeded.”

With the hidden quest completed, the most exciting part was, of course, the reward distribution.

Kiba had planned meticulously for this mission, and he still had three choices available to him.

The poor onmyoji lady, however, had performed so poorly that the space only gave her two chances, and among the five reward options, not even one was rare. In the end, she could only pitifully choose 2 attribute points.

*[Hidden Quest: Ruler of the East Blue (Completed)]*

*[Calculating results… Generating rewards]*

*[Based on your contributions, you may select any three rewards from the following options!]*

*Option 1: 1000 Story Points*

*Option 2: Treasure Map*

*Option 3: Perfect Restoration Potion (Rare)*

*Option 4: Title: Ruler of the East Blue (Rare)*

*Option 5: 15 Merit Points (Uncommon)*

There it was, the Perfect Restoration Potion. This item could save a life at a critical moment.

No doubt about it, he had to reserve a spot for it.

The Treasure Map wasn’t very useful, and besides, Kiba didn’t want any unnecessary complications, so he decided to pass on it.

The uncommon Merit Points were a must-have, as Kiba was very eager to select the abilities of three different story worlds.

That way, he could choose based on his familiarity, potentially estimating future rewards and hidden quests.

As for the last reward…

*Ruler of the East Blue:* You have become a top-tier pirate with unparalleled influence in the East Blue. Pirate recruitment +100%, intimidation significantly increased, and the number of bases you can occupy doubled.

If he had just entered the One Piece world, Kiba would have chosen this without hesitation. It would have opened up many more possibilities.

But the situation was different now. The day to leave the story world was approaching, and if he ever returned, he would definitely head for the Grand Line to make a name for himself.

Who would want to linger in a weak sea like the East Blue?

“Sigh, compared to an intangible title, immediate benefits are more important. Besides, summoning shikigami probably consumes a lot of story points, so you can never have too many.”

For the third reward, he chose the 1000 Story Points.

With over 4,000 Story Points in hand, Kiba felt unusually secure. But the One Piece world wasn’t over yet, and the upcoming third storyline mission would likely be another challenge.

The two returned to the shore, where they found that the Black Cat Pirates had grown significantly in size. A rough estimate put the number at nearly 2,000 pirates.

Now, Kuro was undoubtedly the ruler of the East Blue, and he was a cunning captain whose threat to the seas far exceeded that of Admiral Krieg.

As it turned out, the Navy shared his thoughts.

When the newspaper arrived the next day, the updated bounty amounts indirectly confirmed his suspicions.

*Hundred Plans Kuro:* Bounty: 22 million Berries.

*Marauder Jason:* Bounty: 12 million Berries.

*Medium Ryuno:* Bounty: 8 million Berries.

(End of Chapter)

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