For Miller, even though he was called the "Guardian" of the two villages, there were still many who did not truly respect him.
Farmer, the village chief, was one of them.
As mentioned earlier, Miller was a retired Navy lieutenant commander. He had learned advanced combat techniques and possessed some fighting ability. When he was younger, he fought against pirates and carried several scars on his face from those battles. He often called these scars his "medals."
While Miller's strength was not enough to liberate the villagers from Anderson's iron grip, most villagers still believed that it was precisely because of Miller's presence that they had survived this long and avoided being slaughtered outright by Anderson.
The custom in Zhendong and Zhenxi was simple: if a man was strong and powerful, people would eagerly want their daughters to marry him. Because of this tradition—and Miller's flirtatious nature—despite being nearly 40 years old and unmarried, he had a notorious history with women.
On top of that, Miller was known for constantly boasting about his past, always starting with, "You know how amazing I was back in the day…" This constant bragging irritated Farmer to no end.
In Farmer's opinion, Miller was nothing more than a blowhard who could talk big but never act. If Miller truly had the ability, Anderson would have been defeated or chased away long ago. Instead, every month, the villagers continued paying humiliating tribute to the "Wolf Pirate Group."
In fact, Farmer believed Miller never truly cared about the villagers. All he did was flaunt his small measure of strength to gain fame and attract women.
Because of this, Farmer secretly sought help from the outer islands, hiring three warriors to deal with Anderson.
These three warriors each had unique strengths: one was renowned for his brute force, another for his incredible speed, and the third claimed that no one on his island had ever been able to defeat him.
To avoid implicating the villagers, Farmer paid them generously in advance and planned to have them pick a fight with Anderson during one of his routine "protection fee" collections. This way, Anderson would not suspect the villagers of rebellion.
However, when the time came, one of the warriors took one look at Anderson's terrifying presence and fled in terror. The remaining two were slaughtered by Anderson in less than three minutes.
From that day on, no one dared to challenge Anderson again. In everyone's hearts, his strength was considered nearly invincible.
So, when the villagers heard that Raion had killed Andrin, it caused an uproar.
Even the youngest children in the village knew that Anderson was many times stronger than his younger brother. Killing Andrin would not remove the threat—it would only bring catastrophe upon them.
In other words, Raion's victory was like poking a sleeping tiger.
Because of this, the villagers began urging Miller to capture Raion and hand him over to Anderson, hoping this would save the village from destruction.
Miller was more than happy to hear this. He was curious to see just how strong this kid who had defeated Andrin really was.
One day, as Raion headed toward the back mountain of Zhendong Village to train, Miller and a group of villagers intercepted him on the road.
Seeing so many people blocking his path, Raion frowned. "What are you all doing?"
"Boy," Miller said with a sneer, "I hear you're pretty strong, huh? You defeated Andrin, sure—but do you realize how much trouble you've brought down on us?"
"Yeah, exactly! Do you know what kind of disaster you've caused?" the villagers echoed behind him.
Raion's tone was calm but firm. "I already told the village chief—if Anderson isn't defeated, you'll never be free of this problem."
At first, the villagers were stunned. Then they burst into loud, mocking laughter.
"This kid… he says he's going to defeat Anderson?"
"Hah! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!"
"Don't think that just because you beat Andrin you can beat Anderson. The two brothers' strengths aren't even close!"
"What an arrogant brat who doesn't know his limits…"
Everyone hurled contemptuous remarks at him.
Raion ignored them and continued walking, but Miller stepped forward and blocked his path.
"What do you want?" Raion asked, his eyes narrowing.
Miller smirked. "Didn't you hear? None of us believe you. You think you, a punk kid, can defeat Anderson? Keep dreaming!"
Raion smirked back. "People can say whatever they want. I promised the village chief, not you. Whether you believe me or not has nothing to do with me."
"You little brat! Looks like I'll have to kill you myself and present your corpse to Anderson!" Miller barked, taking a fighting stance.
Raion's expression hardened. "If you think you can do that, go ahead and try."
"Too arrogant! Teach him a lesson!"
"Yeah, catch this guy!"
"Show him his place!"
The villagers cheered Miller on, eager to see him put Raion in his place.
"Die, kid!" Miller shouted as he lunged forward, swinging his leg in a powerful kick aimed at Raion's side.
Raion instantly coated his left arm with chakra and blocked the attack.
This was no ordinary kick—Miller was a former battlefield commander, and it was said that he had even mastered some of the Rokushiki (Six Powers) techniques. His strikes were far from ordinary.
This kick was just a test. Miller wanted to gauge Raion's strength. But seeing how easily his attack was blocked, Miller's expression darkened.
Next, Miller went on the offensive.
"Rokushiki—Shigan (Finger Gun)!"
He thrust his right index finger straight at Raion's heart with deadly precision.
A metallic clang rang out when his finger struck Raion's chest.
But Miller's finger couldn't penetrate even a millimeter further.
Raion had instantly condensed chakra around his heart, forming an invisible armor that blocked the blow.
Seeing Miller go straight for his vital point, Raion's patience snapped.
"Lightning Release—Thousand—"
"Stop!"
Just as Raion was about to counterattack, an elderly voice rang out from nearby.
It was Farmer, the village chief, rushing toward them.
"What are you doing?!" Farmer shouted as he ran up.
Miller immediately pointed at Raion, as if accusing him. "Village chief, this kid is getting cocky just because he beat Andrin! I was just teaching him a lesson for you."
"Who do you think you're teaching? Say that again!" Raion snarled, chakra surging around his body, ready to strike back.
Miller sneered. "You don't even know how big the world is, brat. I was just—"
"Enough! Both of you, stop!" Farmer's roar cut through their argument like a blade.
Seeing the chief's fury, Miller gritted his teeth but fell silent.
For all his arrogance, Miller still didn't dare disobey the respected village chief.