Chapter 14: The Function of the Puppet Talisman

“This guy...”

Luffy’s eyes turned icy. Clearly, this man wasn’t here to rescue him, but had come solely to humiliate him.

“You’d better put down my sword,” Luffy warned.

“With your pathetic strength, you can’t possibly wield this sword’s true power. Giving it to you is a waste. I can unleash its real potential. Now pack your things and come with me. Your days of being kept by a woman have begun.”

The young man in the dark blue battle armor eyed Luffy with disdain, sneering at how infatuated he seemed with the Crimson Flame Sword.

“If you’re so eager to die, I’ll oblige you. I appreciate Qin Bailing’s good intentions, but I’ll find her myself. I don’t need you to take me.”

Luffy’s gaze sharpened, fixing on the armored youth with such intensity that the latter flinched, startled by how this pretty boy suddenly seemed to change.

“You’ll die here without me. Weaklings like you, with neither power nor talent—what does Qin Bailing even see in you?”

Without another word, the armored youth began ransacking Luffy’s house, looking for valuables, treating Luffy as if he were invisible.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Luffy exploded, lunging forward and throwing a punch.

The youth dodged aside with a swish and resumed his search, utterly unconcerned.

“Courting death,” Luffy spat, his anger mounting. So, Qin Bailing had sent this man to bring him back, but the guy was insufferably arrogant—he even wanted to steal from him. Unforgivable.

Luffy swung his fist with all his might.

With a thunderous bang, the armored youth’s tongue flicked in shock, his eyes wide as he doubled over and was blasted out of Luffy’s house like a cannonball, sliding ten meters along the ground before coming to a stop.

Blood trickled from the youth’s mouth as he stared at Luffy in disbelief. Who would have thought that a first-tier nobody could erupt with such terrifying strength—at least a hundred times that of an ordinary man. Could he really be the legendary first-tier with a hundredfold human strength? Even Qin Bailing, a renowned prodigy, only had seventy-fivefold strength at first tier. Could this youth really be such a monster?

Of course, striking him would not go unpunished. Even if Luffy was that rumored freak, there was still a price to pay. The armored youth wasn’t so easily bullied.

“You’ve got guts, kid! Hiding your real strength and catching me off guard—I admit I underestimated you. But you’ve made me angry, so now I’m going to finish you. When I return, I’ll simply tell Qin Bailing you were eaten by zombies. That’s it. You’ll vanish from this world.”

The armored youth sneered, his eyes glinting with malice.

“How did you manage to grow so powerful, anyway?” Luffy asked, suspicion gnawing at him. “Did you know the apocalypse was coming all along?”

“You’re ignorant of so much,” the young man replied with a cold laugh. “Twenty years ago—no, even fifty years ago—there were those who predicted the end times. They spent decades preparing, researching, and developed some remarkable things. As to what they are, you’ll never know. I am curious, though: how did you become so strong?”

Luffy stepped forward, leaving the house and coming within two meters of the youth. “I’m strong because I cheated.”

“Cheated? What are you talking about? This isn’t some game world. No matter. If you won’t say, I’ll make you talk.”

The armored youth drew the Crimson Flame Sword, raising it high, preparing to charge and seriously injure Luffy, then extract the truth.

With a whoosh, he leapt at Luffy, slashing so quickly the air itself split with a pale streak.

But Luffy was no sitting duck. In an instant, he activated the Dragon Emperor’s Tyrannical Aura, dodging the blow and appearing behind his foe, fist surging forward like a dragon’s roar. Dragon energy enveloped his fist, crashing down with overwhelming might onto the armored youth’s back.

With a deafening boom, the youth was launched backward, crashing to the ground in a humiliating sprawl.

Seeing the man struggling to rise, Luffy was incredulous—this guy was tough. Even third-tier wild beasts usually couldn’t withstand his Dragon Emperor’s Aura, and yet this man was trying to get up. Luffy kicked him hard in the head.

Another resounding thud. The youth’s entire body was driven into the ground, earth flying in all directions.

Still, the armored youth tried to crawl out. Luffy, relentless, stomped him back down into a pit a meter deep.

Blood spattered from the youth’s mouth. He could no longer move.

Trying to steal from him—serves him right.

Luffy didn’t kill the youth, only inflicted serious injuries—his head might even have suffered amnesia. From his belongings, Luffy pulled out a puppet talisman and slapped it onto the youth’s forehead.

A flash of golden light erupted.

The youth stood up as if he were nothing but a puppet, eyes vacant.

“Tell me your secrets,” Luffy demanded, curiosity burning in his eyes.

“Fifty years ago, Dr. Huo retrieved a book from an ancient tomb, describing the apocalypse and the coming of dark energy. Forty-nine years ago, tomb raiders entered that same tomb and suddenly went mad, dying and turning into zombies. Dr. Huo extracted a crystal core from a zombie’s head and developed the body-tempering serum…”

“Damn, they developed the serum forty-nine years ago?” Luffy muttered, exasperated. No wonder these guys were so strong. “What else?”

“I’m a scout, sent to observe this mountain region. There’s a wild beast here called the Golden Monkey—first-tier, with a hundredfold human strength. Its crystal core is multicolored, and for those with bottlenecks, it has miraculous effects. As long as the serum is added, one can break through and reach the second or even third tier.”

The armored youth answered every question truthfully.

“Interesting. So the Golden Monkey is practically prepared for me,” Luffy thought, pleased to have uncovered such information. He took the Crimson Flame Sword back from the armored youth, then instructed, “Forget everything that happened here. You lost your memory after crashing your car into a ravine and walking back after the explosion.”

Luffy glanced at the car—it was quite decent—so he simply claimed it for himself.

The mind-controlled armored youth turned and left obediently.

Luffy got into the car and inspected it—it was a top-notch off-road vehicle, state-of-the-art, with bulletproof windows. Before the apocalypse, it would have cost at least ten million.

He removed the license plate and scratched the paint in a few places. Now, it was his.

He sat back, thoroughly satisfied.