Chapter 36: Baroque Works**

On a dark and windy night, a group of people climbed up the cliff surrounding the ancient castle. The cold wind cut through the last remnants of their drunkenness.

Originally, they had planned to rest for a day, but it turned out they had to risk their lives after all.

Anyone else might have already broken down, but Kiba's nerves were tough, and he was gradually getting used to this knife-edge, blood-licking lifestyle.

The ancient castle was fortified with high walls, and soldiers patrolled around the clock, making a secret infiltration nearly impossible.

As for a frontal assault, they would likely suffer heavy casualties before even breaking through the gate.

Swinging her spiked mace, Alvida spoke coldly, "Kid, there are about two thousand guards inside. If I were you, I wouldn’t think about breaking through the front."

"Of course," Kiba replied, unfazed by her attitude. He figured that Ryūna must have said something to her; otherwise, this ugly woman wouldn't be giving him such a hard time.

In fact, his guess was correct. Alvida was deeply resentful of Kiba's actions. If it weren't for Ryūna's influence, she might have already turned against the Black Cat Pirates.

She didn't want to become anyone’s underling, but the temptation of defeating the Pirate Admiral was too great, so she considered this as a small test.

If they could seize the treasure in the castle, then there might be a chance for further cooperation. With more manpower, they might even stand a chance against Captain Krieg of the Krieg Pirates.

But first, they needed to bring back Kuro.

Alvida knew her own limits; she wasn’t currently a match for Krieg. That terrifying guy could only be dealt with by the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates.

To get her to join, Kiba had readily betrayed his captain. If Alvida hadn’t learned that Kuro was still alive, she would never have agreed to the merger of the two pirate crews.

"Everyone get ready; I'm starting," Kiba said, tying a rope around his waist. Then, to the astonishment of the others, he jumped off the edge of the cliff.

The powerful thrust from the gas jets propelled his body rapidly toward the tall castle walls.

A soldier on patrol noticed him, but before the soldier could react, Kiba unleashed a powerful mental shock.

*[Your mental shock inflicted 18 damage on the guard.]*

With the same energy consumption, the mental damage he inflicted was becoming increasingly terrifying. This was the benefit of a higher attribute base.

To avoid detection, Kiba refrained from using his Black Star Shot. While the guard was reeling from the mental assault, Kiba quickly grabbed him and tossed him off the cliff.

He untied the rope from his waist and secured the other end to the wall. Although the distance was a bit far, he was confident that the pirates' excellent physical abilities would allow them to easily climb up to the wall.

A strong fortress is always more vulnerable from within. If they could seize some defensive positions, that would be even better.

As time passed, the pirates successfully climbed the castle wall using the dangling rope.

Once their feet were firmly on the ground, Alvida's gaze began to change slightly.

Whatever else might be said, at least Jason's plan had proven feasible, showing that he wasn't just some crazy dreamer.

Joining forces against Krieg might actually be possible.

After accomplishing what seemed like a small task, Kiba immediately began organizing the next part of the mission.

Unknowingly, he seemed to have become the leader of the two pirate crews, and the others didn’t seem to mind at all.

"The next step is to capture the lord of the castle. With a hostage in hand, the enemy won’t dare use heavy artillery on us."

Under his coordination, part of the crew went to seize the defensive fortifications, while another group took the opportunity to infiltrate the castle's interior.

Given the unknown situation inside, both Kiba and Ryūna decided to personally head to the palace, leaving the outside battles to the two captains.

As the squad successfully entered the palace, the sounds of battle erupted outside.

Realizing that intruders were present, the guards immediately heightened their vigilance, and soon enough, the group's presence was detected.

"Quick, the intruders are here!"

Seeing that they could no longer stay hidden, Kiba quickly drew his Black Star and began a series of rapid shots.

With the explosion of a talisman, the guard who had just shouted was swiftly killed by the combined efforts of Kiba and Ryūna.

Looking at the unremarkable corpse, Kiba sighed, "Still no treasure chest."

In the previous world of the Titans, he had obtained several storyline treasure chests, but now, in the pirate world, after killing so many people, he still hadn’t seen a single one.

Hearing the temporary companion's lament, the female Onmyoji slightly turned her gaze, her eyes holding an indescribable meaning.

"The depth of a storyline world affects the drop rate of treasure chests. In other words, the larger the map, the lower the drop rate."

She paused slightly at this point, then swallowed back the question that had been on her mind.

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Actually, Ryūna wanted to say that these were common sense issues in the Reincarnation Space—things that any Reincarnator who had experienced two or three storylines should know.

Recalling his earlier questions, a bold idea suddenly formed in her mind.

Perhaps Jason the Brute was a complete newbie, the kind who had experienced three or fewer storyline worlds.

“If that’s the case, maybe I haven’t fully evaluated him.”

Completely unaware of her thoughts, Kiba continued to charge ahead at the front of the group, with swordsman Paul constantly on guard against any ambushes.

Everything Kiba knew about the Reincarnation Space came from the Rookie's Guidebook. That guide was entirely written by individuals and tended to overlook some common sense issues. It was fine in most cases, but as soon as he spent more time with other Reincarnators, his "lack of knowledge" would become evident.

But even if he was exposed, it wouldn’t matter. At most, people would think he was a super-talented and lucky newbie.

No matter how others speculated, they could never discover Kiba’s true secret, nor could they predict how quickly he would grow.

He ducked to avoid a bullet whizzing by, quickly reloaded his Black Star, and started picking off the guards one by one.

In terms of individual combat abilities, the pirates were stronger than the guards, especially since the group included three "elite enemies."

One of them was swordsman Paul, and the other two were core members of Alvida’s pirate crew.

With the three of them working together, they were unstoppable, cutting down anyone in their way as they advanced deep into the palace.

"Push forward! Don’t let the target escape!"

Deep within the palace, in a luxurious, massive room...

"What should we do? What should we do?" The despondent royal heir was filled with worry, fearing that the guards couldn’t hold off the pirates.

Despite the widespread rumor that he wanted to rebuild the fallen kingdom, that was actually his father’s dream. As someone who had grown up in luxury, the castle’s owner only wanted to live a life of indulgence.

Grasping a beautifully crafted flintlock, he nervously asked the captain of the guards, "Maybe we should just leave now? Otherwise, the enemy will break in any minute."

"No." The captain of the guards refused firmly, loyal to the old master and swearing to restore the kingdom's glory.

If their opponent were the World Government, he might have understood their lack of resistance, but today’s intruders were just a bunch of pirates.

If they couldn’t even face them head-on, the captain might as well slit his own throat.

"You—" The royal heir’s face twisted in anger, feeling his authority was being challenged.

He might be timid in the face of external threats, but he was always overbearing with his own people.

If someone displeased him, he wouldn’t hesitate to point the gun directly at his own guard captain.

"I order you to escort me out immediately."

As the two were deadlocked, a man and a woman suddenly entered the room. Seeing them, the castle’s owner clapped his hands excitedly, "Wonderful! How could I have forgotten about you two?"

Running such a large castle and maintaining an army of two thousand soldiers came with numerous challenges, many of which could only be handled by shady organizations.

The man and woman in front of him were operatives from the Baroque Works.

Baroque Works, a mysterious organization based at the entrance of the Grand Line, had connections with many powerful leaders.

In short, as long as the price was right, they would accept almost any mission, whether it was espionage, assassination, or infiltration.

The castle’s owner didn’t know much about these people, only that members of Baroque Works never used their real names. Regardless of gender, they were all addressed by codenames.

They usually worked in male-female pairs, with the male’s codename following the format "Mr. + number." The lower the number, the stronger the individual.

For example, Mr. 1, Mr. 2, and so on.

The female’s codename would be a combination of "Miss + a date or holiday," like Mr. Sunday, Miss Valentine’s Day, etc.

As an organization aiming to take over the Kingdom of Alabasta, many members of Baroque Works raised funds through external means.

A wealthy target like the castle’s owner had attracted attention from more than just pirates.

For various reasons, Baroque Works hadn’t directly looted the castle but had chosen a more cautious approach to gradually acquire its wealth.

Over the past six months, Miss Valentine and her partner had been working for the castle, earning close to seventy million Berries in fees.

They had planned to slowly squeeze the castle’s owner dry, but who could have predicted that a group of pirates would break in?

Hearing the castle owner’s plea, Mikita turned to her partner, who was picking his nose, and asked, "Mr. 5, what do you think?"

"Alright." Mr. 5, glancing at the snot on his fingertip, responded with a cold smile, "Eighty million, and I'll take care of those pirates for you."

The extortionate price made the captain of the guards clench his fists in anger, but his rage had no real effect.

"Alright, I agree," the terrified castle owner quickly nodded in agreement.

Eighty million wasn’t much compared to losing the entire castle. He was quite adept at weighing such costs.

Boom!

Feeling the tremors from outside, the two Baroque Works agents swiftly left the room.

Having accepted the mission, they couldn’t let eighty million slip through their fingers.

It was just a bunch of insignificant pirates; it should be easy to deal with them.

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(End of Chapter)

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