Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 187 MYSTERY

The red room appeared around me. Only 2 doors cleared. I pulled up my status screen. 

Name	Weston Watanabe
Current Quest:
World 1:	Naruto
World 1 Quest:	Save the Girls
World 2:	One Piece
World 2 Quest:
World 3:	My Hero Academia*
World 3 Quest:
Passive Skills:	Memory Meld
	World Lasting Physique +
	Protagonist Path
Usable Abilities:	Status Screen
3 Challenger Slots	World Escape
	Chakra
	Chikyugi
	World Store	Shop
	Give and Take Quirk
	Conqueror's Haki
	Cross World Summoning
	Chakra Sense
Bonuses	Increased Intellect
1 Challenger Slot	Tough Organs
	Increased Vision
Items	Chikyugi Necklace	Stored
2 Challenger Slot	Seastone Jitte	Stored
	Chakra Absorption Scroll	Stored
	Arm and Leg Weights	Stored (3)
	Hero Costume
	Reject Dial	Stored (2)
	Gantz Armor	Stored (10)
	Gantz Sword	Stored
	Baria Reef Map
	Condom	Stored (435)
	World ID	Stored
	Anti-Hero Costume	Stored
	World Choice	Stored
	Full Heal	Stored
Currency:	Berrie	147,134,899
	Yen	1,239,331,005
	Ryo	3,210,125

I really wanted to use my World Choice and World ID. I knew that only Challenger Slot items would go between Halls, but it didn’t make sense to need those in a fight. I hoped I could use them in different rooms. But I wasn’t about to waste a Challenger Slot on them. I also didn’t want to use a Challenger Slot if I could learn a useful skill now. 

My only choice was to figure out the other worlds. At the SSW corner I had Dragonball Z. Working clockwise I had the exit next, then One Punch Man, My Hero Academia, One Piece, Naruto, High School of the Dead, and Gantz. The other 4 doors were unknown. I didn’t want to waste a World ID on any of them. They were for halls where I was weak. I was confident in my strength to make it anywhere now. 

I needed Challenger Slots. Maybe I would get lucky and one of the worlds I had chosen could be quickly cleared. Biting the bullet I moved to the door next to Gantz. My NNE door, the 1 o’clock. My guess was Attack on Titan since all the other worlds on it were so deadly. Guess I would find out if I was right. 

I stepped into the door. Everything was black. Slowly the area around me became alight as the room I was in appeared. It was an older time period room. The chairs at a small table were poorly made wood. Hardly any sanding done to make them smooth. The walls appeared to be made out of mud. The ceiling was open to show the trusses. There was a small window with no glass. Simple wood shutters to close it when the weather was bad. 

“Am I right?” I asked, unsure if this was Attack on Titan or not. 

Looking around I didn’t find anything to use as a mirror. The door old and rickety I headed outside. The road outside was a mix of mud and rocks. Horses tied to a pole next to a building across the street I noticed a trough next to them. 

Heading over I ignored the cold mud as I walked through it. The smell of piss and shit rampant. I ignored the smell as I stumbled toward the water. That’s when the notification appeared. 

You have chosen the Berserk World

You thought it was bad before? Time for a wakeup call.

I had forgotten that I received notifications when I didn’t know the world. Berserk was just as bad as Gantz and High School of the Dead. It followed a mercenary named Gutz who hated people. He slowly learned what it meant to have friends and family until it was all ripped away from him as his best friend sacrificed everyone to reach his goal. 

It was one of the greatest mangas of all time. Spanning years of time the place had a lot of potential. There was fighting. Eventually magic too. Maybe I could learn it. 

But the world was not the solution to my current problem. I needed challenger slots. Finishing the canon early wasn’t an option here. The main antagonist was backed by gods. I doubted I could go against them…for now at least. 

“Move it, boy,” a gruff voice ordered without slowing from atop his horse. I moved out of the way as he trotted past. A line of other men followed him. For now I had other matters. I needed to figure out who I was. 

I leaned over the water trough. Focusing on my image the memories came to me in a rush.  

I was Weston Watanabe, of course. My mother had been a War Party whore. Jumping from one mercenary group to another she had a thing for strong men. Marrying one of them she was caught in bed with another and cast aside. Soon it was found she was pregnant with me. 

She went back to her home town to give birth. Leaving me in the care of her parents. She disappeared once more and my grandparents died a few years later. I was left to my aunt. A hateful woman I couldn’t remember a single day that she hadn’t hit me. 

Blaming me for every problem under the sun she was a lowly maid. I was 15 years old. I couldn’t read or write. My only dream in life had been to run away when I turned 16. I didn’t hold any malice in my heart toward my aunt. Though she had struggled and beat me. She still made sure I was fed and had somewhere to sleep. 

As the memories slowed. That was when the pain hit me. Sinking to the ground I felt immense pain as my thin arms that had barely ever tasted meat expanded outward. I had felt worse pain. Breathing in and out slowly I counted in my head until the pain disappeared. 

Standing up, my shirt had ripped as my muscles bulged out. My pants restricted I took a tentative step in my empowered body. It was time to act. I was stuck here for 24 hours no matter what. I had to make my plan. 

The column of men on horses had passed. They were a group of knights that patrolled the area for the local lord. I recognized the sigil on their shields. Following after them I considered robbing them. I didn’t want to kill them. 

L had warned that a Villain path was possible. Killing unnecessarily was not the path I liked. And I really didn’t want the Anti-hero role. Not like heroes were a thing in Berserk. This place was as dark as Gantz. Rape, murder, child killing, more rape, this world was ugly and full of death. 

I began to jog after the knights. I could knock them out with my Chikyugi easily enough. A plan forming there was a ravine just outside of town that would be a perfect ambush point. I sped up again but stopped as someone yelled at the knights. 

“Stop!” A skinny old man pleaded desperately to the knights. “Stop please!”

The leader raised his hand causing the dozen knights to halt. I got closer, curious what was happening. The old man struggled to catch his breath. 

“What is it?” The leader growled. 

“My granddaughter. She was taken. 2 days ago,” he said, catching his breath with each sentence. “By the bandits across the river.”

“Across the river?” The lead knight asked. “That is beyond our lord’s domain.” The knight said and without another word he kicked the sides of his horse. His troops mirrored the move and they were soon trotting away as the old man cried out more loudly. 

I walked up to the desperate old man as he laid on the ground on all 4s. Giving up. 

“Bandits you say?” I asked him with a wide smile. “How many bandits are we talking about?”

The old man jumped, seeing me for the first time. “I don’t know. At least 20,” he said. “Who are you?”

“I’m Weston. You’re not local are you?”

“No, I came in with the caravan today,” he said. “I was told no one in this town could help. Only the local lord's men. Do you know anyone that can help?”

“You’re looking at him, pops,” I said. My smile grew wider as I helped him up. “Any idea where these bandits are?”

—-

It was dusk when we made it to the bandit camp. Apparently they had moved in a week ago. They hadn’t bothered our town yet but a few farms had been hit. Taking women and gold they had killed a few. A collection was being put together to bribe the local lord to take them out, but since they hadn’t affected too many in our town it would be a while. 

Local hunters knew where they were. The old man having bribed them he had some deep pockets. I had quickly commandeered some gold for a nice pair of custom shoes, a new shirt, and pants. 

After that I was throwing him on my back and running to the bandit camp. The old man didn’t believe I could help. But as the miles were eaten away and I ran across the top to the river his denials were growing less and less frequent. If he had been a local he would have known not to trust me. But as an outsider he had at least held some hope. 

“Looks like the place to me,” I said. We were a ways away on the outskirts of the forest. The large fires and tents of the bandits were just barely visible. There were more than I expected. At least 50 tents. Probably 100 people. The sound of women crying out was loud. Echoing in the night. 

“I know you have special powers, young man. But what do you expect? To waltz in there and challenge them to fight?” He asked. 

“Yeah that works for me,” I said. “You stay here.” I headed into the woods. The old man cursing as he tried to stop me I shrugged him away. Walking through the shrubs the noises of the camp became louder. 

Men laughed, drinking their pain away. Women cried out as they were defiled or toyed with. All the while my heart raced. Using my Haki I found the first guard. Making an ice bullet I sent it into his skull. The ice thudding against the tree behind him as he fell. 

I ran into 2 more. Killing them as they noticed me. Then I was in the camp. One of the tents extra loud with a girls screams I peeked in. 

“Wait your-“ I pulled him off the young girl. Using my chakra to latch onto the water of his body as I threw him out of the tent and across the camp. His body shattered against a tree and he breathed no more. 

The man’s yell as he flew drew eyes as I walked back toward the center of the camp. A few people stopped laughing as I walked past. A young boy they didn’t know walked without fear through the mess of them. 

I came through the tents to find a large bonfire at the center of camp. Next to it were girls and women staked to the ground by collars at their necks. They were mostly nude. Wearing rags as they shivered, despite being so close to the fire. Some had sightless eyes, others looked around in fear. All turned to me as I approached. 

“Who is in charge around here?!” I bellowed, making the girls shake harder. My voice like a booming thunder as it echoed around us. I could hold my breath for over half an hour. I had extreme lung strength. 

People walked toward me. All men, crowding around. “Who wants to know?” A tall man asked. He was rather well refined looking. Finer clothes than everyone else, he was well manicured, and had long black hair slicked back. 

“I asked the question, dipshit. Obviously I want to know,” I said. “Is it you?” 

“Listen here-“ I pointed and the man died. A thin bullet of ice slamming into his head it pierced through and also hit the man behind him in the shoulder. Causing him to cry out. Men stepped back in fear. But no one stepped up, claiming to be the leader. 

Normally I would pull my Jitte out at this point. But I had seen the error of my fighting style when up against All-For-One. I no longer needed the Jitte in worlds other than One Piece. My control of water was now at a level where a sword was unneeded. 

I gathered water chakra in my hand. Making it expand out the men in front of me prayed as it twisted around me. Controlling every movement I sent it in a wide slash cutting through 10 men at once. As people reacted I cut through another 10. Then more and more. 

Slicing my blade-thin water through the air in a smooth stream. Blood and guts poured out. Men ran as I made 4 clones. All 4 running in different directions they did much the same. Using water chakra to kill men. 

Some fired arrows or slashed at us. But with Observation Haki it was easy to dodge. In less than 10 minutes we had killed every man in the camp. Collecting women some were badly beaten. Others tried to run. But we gathered them up and my clones ended themselves. 

“I’m sorry for what you went through,” I told the first woman staked to the ground. I broke the iron around her neck. “You are free to go,” I said as I moved to the next one. “Take a horse, food, whatever you think you deserve. Whatever you need to get back home.” Again and again I broke the restraints with my bare hands. 

“Liza!” The old man yelled running up to the small girl that shivered at the end of the line. She was no older than 13. A very sickening display of their lack of standards. 

“Gramps!” She cried out as I broke her shackle and she ran to him. I stood in front of the girls. 

“Or,” I said. “You can join me.”

“Join you?” An older woman said. I guessed she was in her late 20s or early 30s. Long auburn hair she had a strong appearance. She had seen such atrocities. Not near as shaken up as the others. 

“Yes, I’m thinking of making my own Band,” I said. “Nothing but women and me.” I cracked a smile. “The Band of the Heart.”

After that I left. Finding the biggest tent there was a girl shackled to a tent post that I had missed. I broke her shackles and sent her outside. Finding a huge chest at the foot of the bed I opened it with a tug. Finding a nice trove of coins I began throwing it in my status screen. 

I had expected gold, silver, and copper represented like in Wow. But it converted it all to gold. I ended up with 567.32 gold. It didn’t sound like a whole lot to me. I needed to search the dead men for more.

For now I let the women have the run of the camp. I was sure some would flee. I couldn’t blame them. They didn’t look very strong. But I had no plans in this world currently. Also I didn’t know when the hell I was. 

I guessed I was at the start of the story. The Band of the Hawk wasn’t ringing any bells of this world's Weston’s memories. They were pretty famous later on. I guessed they were just starting out. 

One of the best arcs in the story was Gutz fighting 100 men and coming out alive. I had done that in 10 minutes without a scratch. I decided making my own band was the best option to join the world stage. I could spend a few months recruiting and strengthening the girls. Casca was the only female in the Band of the Hawk. Women were pretty discriminated against. I didn’t see why I couldn’t give them a nice home. Whether some wanted to join my harem, that was up to them. But for now I was happy with surrounding myself with women. 

Planning my next step the smell hit me. Cursing I had forgotten about the dead bodies. Making some clones we moved through the camp. Disposing of bodies we searched them one at a time. Finding more and more gold hidden all over. Too excited to sleep we started searching tents for valuables. The women had found a few tents to occupy together so we left them to it. 

By the time dawn came around I had a fairly good inventory already sorted and ready to go. There was a trove of weapons. Most junk there were enough swords, bows, crossbows, arrows, knives, maces, and spears to arm 50 people. Food stuffs well preserved I got upset at myself for killing the cook. 

If I wanted to make a band I had to do a lot of recruiting. A secretary to keep track of everything. I had checked and everything was written in English so I could read and write at least. I needed a quartermaster. A Nami for sure. And a Brook. I didn’t want to be walking around without some minstrels to liven up the place a little. There was so much to do. 

“Excuse me,” a voice said. I turned to see the auburn haired girl. Taking charge there were a few women behind her. 

“Yep?” I asked. 

“Were you serious about letting us take horses and whatever we want?”

“Of course,” I said. “I took most of the gold. Let me know how much you think you will need to get back home.” Slowly turning to them they were wearing better clothes now. Some shied away from my gaze. Others stared at me. 

“What were you talking about when you said you were making a band?” She said. 

“I’m sorry, what’s your name? I’m Weston.” I extended my hand out. She slowly took it. 

“Mary,” she said. 

“Finally,” I said, happy to meet someone with a name I could remember. “You see, Mary. I’m quite strong. Having trained in the far East for many years I’ve mastered many martial arts. As you saw last night. I’ve decided to sell my services on the battlefield. I hope to make the strongest and most well known band in existence. Able to challenge the gods themselves. Would you care to join?”

“Join how?” She asked, skeptical. 

“I don’t know. Can you read or write?” She shook her head. “Know how to cook?” She nodded. “Perfect. You can be our cook.”

“I don’t want to cook,” she said. 

“Then what do you want to do?” I asked. 

“I want to learn how to fight,” she blurted. “I’ve been here for fucking weeks. I’m sick of you men-“

“Fine,” I said, cutting her off. 

“What?” She asked, angry I cut her off. 

“Fine. I can teach you to fight,” I said. “Doesn’t bother me any. It will be tough of course. But there’s no reason you can’t learn to be one of my many merry mercenaries.”

“Okay,” she mumbled. Her anger dissipating as she stared at me. 

“Anyone else want to learn how to fight?” I asked. Another woman raised her hand slightly. “Perfect. Any takers on the cook? I’m starving. Oh and a minstrel. Can anyone play the flute? I found one among all this junk.” I dug around. Pulling it out I was surprised that one of the younger girls raised her hand. I tossed it to her. She smiled widely, caressing the long shaft. I guessed that was actually her flute. 

“Who's hungry?” I asked. Getting up, the girls jumped as if I would attack them but I walked on past to the food tent. There was bread made already. Plenty of fruits and veggies. 

“Can someone go check the chickens for eggs?” I asked. One of the smaller girls nodded. Grabbing a basket she ran off, following the sound of chickens. “Why don’t you chop up some potatoes,” I said pointing at Mary. “Can someone gather firewood? I’ll be out in a minute to start it.”

Soon they were all running around. Taking up chores they were used to. When the fire was built I waved my hand pushing energy into the wood. It caught fire easily. The girls whispered but didn’t ask me about it. 

Setting a pan down over the fire I began cracking eggs. Then in another pan I was cooking potatoes. Then another was carrots, onions, and other potatoes. The smell brought Liza and her grandpa over. They joined in passing out plates as I spooned food out. After the eggs I sliced some bacon and began cooking it as well. 

It was an ugly breakfast. Most everything burned on one side or another but no one complained. Smiles on lips as their bellies were filled I guessed these people were made of stronger stuff. Used to life shitting on them they were bouncing back. Not fixed by any means. But a full belly could do wonders. Especially meat. 

I continued to cook and they continued to eat. I doubted they had eaten much over the last few days. 

When everyone was slowing down on consuming food I asked, “so what are your plans?”

“We will head back to the caravan,” the old man said. 

“What was your job there?” I asked. 

“I’m a merchant.”

“Maybe you could use some guards?” I mused. “That might be a good first job for the band.”

“You can’t be serious,” the old guy said. 

“What? You saw what I can do. Most anything wouldn’t be a problem.”

“I mean your band,” he said. “You can’t be serious about forming one.”

“Oh I am,” I said. “It will be glorious. Nothing but women. We will become the most feared band out there. I will become the mercenary king,” I said with a laugh. Stealing Luffy’s line. And well every manga protagonist’s line. There was the Wizard King, Hokage, who was a Ninja King, Number 1 Hero, honestly too many to count.  

“You are strong, yes, but you need more than that for a Band. You need fighters. Tactics. Supplies. Backing.”

“Plenty of supplies here,” I said. “Take it or leave it, dude. Doesn’t matter to me. Are there any other bandit groups around here? We could kill them. Free more people. Grow our coffers.”

I looked around. The women stared at me. The younger girls didn’t know what to think. Suddenly Mary barked a laugh. “God dang you are weird,” she said. “But I’m in.”

“Perfect. The first of many I hope,” I said. “Eat up. Your training starts after breakfast.”

“What?” She asked in surprise. 

“You want to learn to fight, right? Gotta start now.” She grumbled but accepted. Another girl joined as I had them pick a weapon and start swinging it around. Simple stuff to build strength. Other girls were lost so I had them start looking for the best tents. 

They got to dismantling them. Grabbing bedrolls and other useful items we had huge piles set out of every little tool. From sewing kits to an anvil and hammer. My collection was starting to grow. As the 24 hours wrapped up I thought about staying but instead said, “World Escape.”