Chapter 40: The Foxy Pirates
On December 1st, the system issued the fourth monthly quest.
[Monthly Quest 4: Form a Five-Member Crew]
'Huh? Don't we already have five people?' Eric wondered.
[Details: Summon a fourth companion to form a five-person crew composed of the player and summoned characters (excluding crew members recruited from the One Piece world).
Reward: 1 Achievement Point / 2 Bond Points]
'This is straight-up discrimination against NPCs from the pirate world! This is blatant bias!'
…
The weather was sunny and calm as they sailed for two days.
"Watch out! Huge wave behind us!" Chiron, acting as lookout, alerted the crew.
"That's strange… temperature and humidity are very stable. We should be within the climate zone of an island. Why would there be such a huge wave?" As the navigator, Da Vinci found the wave's formation highly suspicious.
"I can see several huge monkey faces in the wave. It's probably being caused by sea monkeys," Chiron reported and shared his analysis.
"Leave this to me!" Eric , having recently eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, hadn't yet fought with his new powers, but had been training with them for days. He was eager to test them in combat.
"10 Million Volts: Discharge!" Eric 's right hand turned into blue lightning, and a two-meter-wide bolt shot toward the incoming wave.
BOOM!
The electricity hit the seawater, causing a massive explosion. The wall-like wave—dozens of meters tall—collapsed. Dozens of sea monkeys inside the wave were stunned, and about a third of the survivors turned tail and fled at once.
"So that's the electric eel." Not only did the sea monkeys float belly-up, even many fish had flipped over. "Bless you for your sacrifice—I'll eat you gratefully. Akame, get the tools!"
Food-lover Akame had already prepared a fishing net larger than a human and buckets to hold the catch.
"That's enough. No need to take more. The rest will be eaten by other creatures—it's part of the natural cycle," Da Vinci said, stopping Akame. She didn't want to reek of fish for the rest of the day.
"What about the sea monkeys?" Chiron asked. A few near the point of contact had died, but most were simply unconscious.
"Let's kill half of them."
"Hm?" Chiron was puzzled. Eric usually avoided excessive killing of animals and even stopped Akame when she hunted too much, citing ecological balance.
"Think about it, Chiron. If regular people encountered that massive wave, they'd be flipped over and dead. If we leave too many sea monkeys around, it could keep happening."
"Then why only half?" Cricket asked. "Wouldn't wiping them out solve the problem?"
"If we kill too many, it could disrupt the food chain and the balance of the ecosystem. It could even harm humans in the long run. These sea monkeys have survived for a reason—they have their place in the ecosystem."
"I see…" Cricket nodded. "Then again, maybe they're still around just because they're too hard to kill in the sea?"
"KRAAH~! KRAAH~! (Idiot!)" A Karasu flew by…
"There's an island ahead—two pirate crews docked there."
"Looks like they're hosting some kind of event. Looks lively."
At the camps of the two pirate crews, stalls were set up everywhere. Balloons hung from strings, and a festive carnival-like atmosphere filled the air.
"Hey! This is a Davy Back Fight between pirate crews! No civilians allowed!" Some grunts shouted at them. Surprisingly, they didn't try to rob them, just told them to leave.
"We're a pirate crew too. Just here to observe."
"You're a pirate crew?" One grunt looked up at their small ship's mast, then at the main sail. "You don't even have a flag! And you're so few—did you lose all your members in a Davy Back Fight?"
"We're an elite crew. We wouldn't waste time on grunts like you," Eric said bluntly, instantly ticking them off.
"What did you say?!"
Just then, cheers erupted from the massive coliseum-like structure.
"Ha! Another win?"
"Of course! We're the undefeated Foxy Pirates—257 straight victories!"
The Foxy crew had full confidence in their captain, who could win good crewmates and even steal flags. Once stolen, the losing pirate's flag could never be flown again.
"Fehfehfehfeh! Now your flag belongs to me!" Foxy, with his despicable laugh, declared as he stripped another pirate crew of their precious flag.
"Hm? Civilians?" Foxy noticed Eric 's crew. "No—wait! That's the new three-man pirate crew!"
"'Vicious Pirate' Darren Eric , bounty 45 million Berries;"
"'Huntress' Akame, bounty 23 million Berries;"
"'Sagittarius' Chiron, bounty 98 million Berries."
Holding the wanted posters, the young Porche said, "Only three of them, yet their total bounty is over 160 million Berries… incredible. Huh? Why does it say there are five of them?"
"Not allowed to recruit?" Eric shot back with a smirk.
"You're mean~" Porche pouted, her voice sweet enough to melt bones. She looked about fourteen or fifteen, still a young girl, with a delicate nose and none of the traits she'd later get from spending too much time with Foxy. She was exactly Eric 's type.
ZIIING Two women on the ship locked eyes on Eric .
Foxy held up his right hand, four fingers gripping three coins. "The Foxy Pirates officially challenge your… uh…"
Because Eric hadn't raised a pirate flag or declared their crew's name, Foxy didn't know how to address them.
"What's your crew called? Why don't you have a flag?" he asked angrily.
"We haven't picked a name yet, or decided on a flag. Then we got slapped with bounties. What could we do?" Eric explained helplessly. The system had rushed him into piracy.
[Got a problem with that?]
'Nope, Boss.'
"…We challenge your five-person crew! This is an official three-coin Davy Back Fight!"
"So this is that match where pirates steal crewmates and flags. What do we do? Should we accept?" Eric turned to his four companions. Unlike Luffy, he wasn't going to say yes without thinking.
"From what I know, this kind of match is rarely fair. There will be tricks," Chiron warned. As their strategist, he was always cautious.
"Mhm. That parted-hair guy is a sleaze. I know the type."
"Par—parted-hair…" Foxy collapsed dramatically.
"Boss! Mind your words! Captain's sensitive!" Porche defended her beloved captain.
"Since the captain is aware and prepared, let's leave it to him," Chiron said, passing the decision to Eric .
"Mhm," the others nodded.
"Alright! I accept your Davy Back Fight challenge." Eric turned to face them with his own agenda in mind.
"Hmph, I'll show you what I'm made of." Foxy flashed his infuriating grin.
(END CHAPTER)
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