Pew! Pew! Pew!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The barren mountain echoed nonstop with sharp blasts and heavy explosions as one stone target after another was reduced to rubble by Rorschach's light bullets.
"The power's decent… but my accuracy is still a little off."
Rorschach shook his head slightly, not fully satisfied.
At his current level of precision, once the distance increased, hitting the target would get much harder. He still needed a lot of long-term training.
There was still a long way to go.
Still, he had only just obtained the Glint-Glint Fruit, so there was no need to rush.
A road had to be walked one step at a time. No one could become a monster in a single bite.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
With that thought, Rorschach threw himself back into training.
Only when he finally stopped to catch his breath did he realize he had been firing nonstop for two full hours.
That meant he had basically held a gun and fired continuously for two straight hours.
Ridiculous.
It seemed the Devil Fruit had quietly improved his physique too.
Of course, compared to the monsters in the One Piece world who could fight for days and nights without stopping, he was still nowhere close.
But for Rorschach, this was already an enormous leap.
And beyond that, the two hours of training had clearly paid off. His aim was noticeably better than before.
That alone left him fairly satisfied.
Still, no matter how remote this mountain was, constantly flashing bright light in the middle of the night wasn't exactly ideal.
Even though he still had plenty of energy left, Rorschach decided to stop for the night.
Looks like I'll need to get an indoor training ground eventually.
The thought crossed his mind.
Of course, that was still a little far off for now. For the time being, his best option was to come earlier and train during the day instead.
As for leaving work early…
Well, he was the boss.
If he wanted to close early, then he could close early.
Thinking about all that random nonsense, Rorschach started making his way back down the mountain. It took him over half an hour just to get to the bottom.
Thankfully, his physical condition had already improved.
If this had been the old him, he really wouldn't have been able to handle this kind of exhaustion.
Even so, this stretch of road was still extremely remote. There was no way he'd be able to find a cab out here.
Rorschach only thought about it for a moment before making his decision.
Run.
He wanted to see exactly how good his body had become.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
On the silent road, only the faint sound of footsteps could be heard.
And once he started running, another two hours passed.
Only then did Rorschach begin to feel a little tired.
This physique was seriously ridiculous.
"Damn it, I got so focused on running that I didn't even notice where I ended up."
Only after stopping did Rorschach realize the area around him looked completely unfamiliar.
He had never been here before.
And judging by the surroundings, this place looked rough.
Dirty.
Chaotic.
Run-down.
It felt like some half-abandoned edge of the city.
"Did I accidentally run into a slum?"
Rorschach frowned to himself.
Places like this were practically breeding grounds for crime. He took out his phone, planning to check the map and get out of here.
"Hey, kid! You!"
"Don't move!"
"Hand over everything valuable you've got!"
"Or I'll blow your brains out!"
But just then, four delinquent-looking punks suddenly rushed out of the alley ahead.
Each of them had a gun in hand, aimed straight at Rorschach as they shouted at him.
Freedom-loving America, huh. Gunfights every damn day.
Rorschach couldn't help mocking it in his head.
If this had happened before, he really would've panicked.
But now?
The ones who should be panicking were the idiots in front of him.
"Let me give you guys a piece of advice." Rorschach spread his hands and spoke from the heart. "If you ever try robbing someone again and run into a person as calm as I am…"
"You should turn around and walk away."
"I mean that sincerely."
The four punks cursed inwardly at the same time.
This guy had to be mentally ill.
What the hell kind of nonsense was he saying?
"You talking crazy because you want to die?" snarled the one in the plaid shirt, who was clearly the leader. With a metallic click, he cocked his gun. "Give me the money, now."
"You believe I won't put a hole in your skull?"
As he spoke, he pressed the gun toward Rorschach's head.
Rorschach stopped wasting words.
He simply raised one finger and pointed at the guy in the plaid shirt.
Pew!
A flash of golden light streaked through the darkness and pierced straight through the man's chest.
"What… what is this…?"
The man stared at the bloody hole in his chest, his eyes wide with disbelief.
He couldn't understand it.
Couldn't accept it.
Then, full of unwillingness, he collapsed to the ground.
The other three instantly flew into a rage.
This bastard was way too arrogant.
Surrounded by guns, and he still dared to make a move like that?
At this point in Marvel's timeline, the world hadn't yet fallen into full-blown chaos. Superheroes, aliens, gods, and monsters hadn't fully taken over the public consciousness yet.
So the punks didn't think of anything supernatural.
They just assumed Rorschach had some weird weapon that fired golden beams.
That was all.
"You killed Jack?!"
"You're dead, you little bastard!"
"Kill him!"
Amid their furious shouts, all three of them pulled their triggers at once.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several gunshots tore through the quiet night.
At such close range, missing was practically impossible unless someone was blind. Multiple bullets slammed into Rorschach.
And then something impossible happened.
Each place the bullets struck flashed with golden light—
and then the light vanished.
Rorschach himself remained completely unharmed.
"Impossible!"
The three punks cried out in terror, as if they'd just seen a ghost.
They had hit him.
Several times.
So why didn't he have a single wound on him?
And what was that golden light just now?
But Rorschach had no intention of giving them time to think.
He raised both hands and started firing wildly at the three of them.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Several golden beams flashed through the darkness.
The three punks were instantly pierced through, their bodies crumpling helplessly to the ground.
Even as they died, they still couldn't understand one thing.
Why couldn't that guy be killed?
And what kind of weapon was he using?
Unfortunately for them, they would never get that answer.
Rorschach didn't even spare the corpses a second glance.
He simply quickened his pace and disappeared into the darkness.