Chapter Twenty-One: The Realm of the Sniper

With the intelligence on the “neighbors” that Sunny had so graciously provided, Modd sifted through the crowd and selected ten targets. The first, of course, was Red, whom Modd had already taken out with his rifle. The second was Garden, whom he had just assassinated.

What Modd hadn’t expected was that Garden would come with a bonus—two for the price of one, a stroke of unexpected luck. In terms of sheer physicality, these two muscle-bound men, who had spent the night embracing, clearly outmatched both Watt and Red. Yet, the returns Modd gained from them were not as significant as with the previous two.

He had anticipated this. Modd knew well that the Hunter’s Notebook worked much like an experience point system: like a novice player who can quickly level up by slaying a few slimes at the start of a game, but as their level increases, the yield from those slimes drops off sharply. After that, only by hunting stronger creatures—ones that match your own strength—can you continue to see stable gains.

To take an example, if Modd right now could manage to bring down monsters of the caliber of Kaido or Big Mom, the physical enhancements he’d reap would be astronomical, catapulting him far beyond his current self. But such feats were the stuff of dreams, nothing more.

Of course, Modd could continue targeting “slime-level” prey; though the gains were paltry, quantity could make up for quality, leading to a transformative effect. He’d done just this before. Back in the Hunter world, he’d leveraged his position in the penal system to personally execute a number of death row inmates. During that period, he racked up experience until the gains dwindled to nothing, and only then did he stop.

Yet, while this method offered risk-free experience, it also rapidly consumed the blank pages in his notebook. In the Hunter world, this was an acceptable cost, but in the world of pirates, it would be like sabotaging his own future potential.

After all, in the Hunter world, those with Nen abilities were exceptionally rare, while in the world of pirates, powerful individuals were everywhere. That was the critical difference. In other words, the number of viable monsters in the world of pirates far exceeded those in the Hunter world.

So, even though Modd had considered buying slaves to farm experience, he wasn’t about to act rashly.

Back at the weapon shop, Modd washed up and went straight to bed.

The days slipped by.

By the day before the auction, Modd had already claimed neighbors number th