Bonus Chapter for 5 more Postivie Reviews.
--
"Hii...!", a pirate shrieked.
The Black Cat Pirates had grown by saving people who were about to be sold as slaves.
All the members, including the strong elite Guard, know the fear of being captured.
They know the fear of violence, how easy it is to give in to it, and the strange comfort of being ruled.
They stood up to never let that happen again. They learned to use swords and guns from the Guard, they trained, and they fought many robbers together.
But now, an enemy they could not hurt was in front of them.
Any other robber would bleed if a blade grazed them. They would flinch.
But these enemy soldiers did not flinch at all.
Worse, blades could not cut them, and bullets just bounced off.
If they managed to stab one with all their might, the enemy soldier just kept fighting with the blade stuck in them.
Not everyone could watch this and keep their fighting spirit.
The front line was in trouble. The Front guard was small and was trying hard to hold the line, but the enemy found a hole, and the crew's spirit was starting to break.
A pirate cried out, "It's... it's no use...!"
The creepy soldiers, all with the exact same face, raised their weapons at the pirate who was frozen in fear—
A commanding voice shouted, "Do not fall back! Stand firm and push!"
An arrow covered in black light flew from nowhere. It stabbed several enemy soldiers, who fell down dead.
The enemy soldiers yelled, "Out of the way!"
The enemy soldiers saw their brothers, who were barely scratched by normal weapons, killed so easily. They aimed at the dangerous girl who shot the arrow. But she landed right on the broken front line. She hit one soldier with her Haki-filled bow and then kicked another one away.
"Big sister!"
"Follow me! We will cut them down and rally the soldiers! Show them the pride of a Kuja warrior!"
"Right!"
Two other girls jumped out. They swung a giant axe and a halberd, blowing the enemy soldiers back. For a moment, they saved the line from breaking.
The girl in the front—Hancock—was not wearing a jacket, only a leather chestplate with the Black Cat mark over her blouse. She shouted:
"Warriors of the Black Cat! Do not give in!"
For a Kuja warrior, these enemies were not so strong, but there were too many to be careless.
She coated an arrow in Haki and stabbed it right into the heart of a soldier in front of her. Then, she put it on her bow, aimed, and fired.
She yelled, firing another Haki-coated arrow, "The enemy is strong! They are spooky and will not stop fighting! Even when they are already dead!"
The arrow went through the soldier's heart and hit another soldier behind him.
But that soldier kept moving.
Even with blood pouring out, he jumped at Hancock. Marigold, who was next to her, had to hit him with her giant axe to finally stop him.
"But they are not invincible! No matter how tough they are, their bodies have limits! No matter how strong, they only have two arms and two legs! Hold the line! Do not break!"
She pointed with her bow to the far side of the deck.
They could all see a whirlwind of blades cutting down the clone soldiers.
"Look! The Captain and the others are cutting down the enemy army! That is why we can fight without worrying about our backs! When they are done, they will come here! Do not forget we can win this fight!"
As Hancock shouted, she was also worried inside.
She was not afraid of the enemy. She was worried if she was doing a good job.
This was her first time leading a large group in a real battle, not just fighting as one warrior.
She was learning that strength was not enough. She had to keep everyone's spirits up, and that was very hard.
If this was a Kuja ship, it would be easy. They were all family, all warriors. They all shared the same culture.
Is it working!? Are they fighting again!?
Just then, the enemy army exploded.
Enemy soldiers were sent flying, one after another. The blasts were not killing them, but they were slowing them down.
"Perona!"
As Hancock yelled, then suddenly she felt something familiar on her neck.
It was Robin's Devil Fruit.
Robin's voice suddenly spoke from her neck, "Sorry I'm late! I'm having our ships fire more. The enemy's main leader is moving, so the Captain is sending the Guard and other troops from your line to stop him!"
Hancock shouted in reply, "Got it! Thank you!"
–
Marigold swung her axe and Sandersonia swung her halberd, cutting into the enemy line.
Hancock saw the enemy on the other side. She fired a Haki-filled arrow that hit him in the forehead, and he fell.
At the same time, cannons boomed, and a whole group of enemy soldiers was blown away.
"Hmph. Looks like Kuro had the same idea."
Suddenly, a man stood next to them. He was wearing a different kind of suit and coat.
Doors were opening all over his body, showing tiny men inside with cannons and guns.
Hancock asked, surprised, "You... Bege! Weren't you supposed to be firing from the ship?"
"They were ignoring me. My men can handle just stopping the enemy ships from moving. I asked your Fish-Man to bring me where I am needed most. Eat this, Germa!!"
The man—Capone Bege—was still smoking a cigar and grinning.
Bege is a Castle Human who ate the Castle-Castle Fruit.
His weapon is his own tough body, which is like a castle wall, and the soldiers waiting inside him.
He laughed, "I also wanted to test out these new cannons you gave me!"
Tiny cannonballs flew out of his body, then suddenly became full-sized and blew the enemy soldiers away.
Bege roared, "Make way, pirates! I am making this spot our new base!"
And his greatest weapon is that he can literally become a castle.
"BIG FATHER!"
Suddenly, a giant castle appeared on the huge deck.
It had cannons everywhere. It started firing at the Germa soldiers who were trying to crush the pirates. The cannons were not killing them, but they were definitely hurting them.
Robin's voice came again, "My doctors are inside! Bring the wounded!" Hancock snapped, "If you could do that, why didn't you say so earlier!! Are you a Mihawk too!?"
The pirates were also a little confused.
Of course they were. A giant building just appeared out of nowhere.
Hancock, as a leader, raised her voice to calm them.
"Listen! Our new friends have built a base here! The battle is turning in our favor!!"
"Push back! If we lose, we lose everything! If we run, we lose everything! We have no choice but to win!!"
"PUUUSH!!"
–
"Don't mess with me..."
Daz easily blocked the sharp spear strike.
The man, Judge, was strong. He was one of the strongest Daz had ever fought.
But... he's nothing compared to the Captain or Mihawk.
Judge moved at high speed, but Daz could still see him. Even when he vanished, Daz could hear where he was.
If this was Captain Kuro, he would be invisible and silent. Daz would not even be able to block.
Judge roared, "Don't mess with me!!"
Judge's attacks were also weak compared to Mihawk.
Daz was sure that even if he took a hundred hits, his guard would not break.
If this was Mihawk, just pulling out his sword would make Daz's blood run cold.
Judge yelled in disbelief, "You... you are only 15 million!? What kind of joke is this!!"
"I agree," Daz said calmly.
BZZT! The enemy's—Vinsmoke Judge's—spear started to spark with electricity. It was enough to fry a normal person.
"Electromagnetic Shaft!"
"Spider!"
'Steel Blade' calmly blocked the lightning-fast strike. The electricity hit Daz's steel body, passed right through him, and went into the ground.
"—! You bastard!"
Daz explained, "I might have been in trouble before... but I'm used to it. The Captain uses a similar move. Too bad for you."
Captain Kuro had a special kick called "Winter Cat," where he would spin and cover his leg in electricity.
Daz had trained with him many times and had learned how to handle electric attacks.
Judge seeing his lightning was useless. He covered his spear in Haki and attacked again. But Daz's arms and legs turned into blades and blocked every move.
His new blades were not silver. They were dyed black with Haki.
Judge was stunned, "You have this much skill... you even use Haki... and you're just a subordinate...?"
"I'll have you know, there are five others on this crew stronger than me. Including the Captain."
There was the master swordsman he trained with, 'Marine Hunter' Mihawk.
There was the Haki master who used all kinds of weapons, Hancock, and her sisters.
And... there was Captain 'Silent Step' Kuro, who was now so fast and strong with Haki that only Mihawk could be his training partner.
Daz had not reached their level yet. He was still climbing.
He was not the only strong one in the crew anymore.
That made Daz a little sad, but it also made him feel safe as a leader of so many men.
Judge, on the other hand, had been told that only Kuro and Mihawk were the real threats. This was a complete surprise.
"You... a bunch of pirates! You cannot stop the march of Germa!"
Daz asked, "...The 66-day glory. A royal family chased from their home... right?"
"Yes! I carry the pain and anger of 300 years, of a family that cannot even step on their home soil!"
His spear felt heavier, but it still could not hit 'Steel Blade'.
Judge raged, "My research! My money! My Germa 66! All for that! I have destroyed nations for this! I made kings win wars, and I destroyed those who couldn't pay! So many!"
He screamed, "And now! Why can't I beat one small group of pirates!?"
Daz Bonez—
The man who had been with Kuro from the very beginning—
He saw the truth.
Daz said quietly, "Your spirit is different."
"Spirit!?"
"Yes."
Daz remembered the day he first met Kuro.
"You talk about restoring your country, but all you really talk about is money and destroying others."
"...!"
"Our Captain, from the moment I met him, was not looking at money, or countries, or his own greed. He was looking at the World."
"Right now, your spirit doesn't even reach Captain Kuro's feet."
–
'Daz Bonez!'
This was a little while ago. It was when Kuro and Daz Bonez first crossed blades.
'Come with me and let's turn the world upside down!!'
Kuro was sweating bullets, but he had decided to make Daz his partner.
'This meeting is fate!'
'...Turn the world upside down? Big words.'
Daz Bonez looked at the wanted man, Kuro, with suspicious eyes.
He looked exactly like a con artist.
'How are you going to turn the world upside down? Are you going for the One Piece?'
'No. The One Piece is a treasure that only has meaning when the right person finds it. It is not for me.'
Daz asked the question, and the answer he got was not what he expected.
Kuro spoke as if he knew something about the One Piece.
Daz felt a small spark of interest in this wanted man.
Daz asked, his interest growing.
'...Then what is your goal?'
'Daz Bonez. What do you know about the Grand Line?'
Daz was a little annoyed that Kuro answered a question with a question, but he felt it was important. He shook his head.
'...Only that it's the pirate sea... where the One Piece is.'
'I see... All right. The Grand Line is—'
Then Kuro started to explain.
He said the islands all have special magnetic fields, so compasses don't work.
He said you need a 'Log Pose' to record one island's field to find the next.
Or an 'Eternal Pose,' which always points to one island.
'This means the routes in the Grand Line are mostly set. Pirates run into each other and fight. It also makes it hard to travel, so islands are isolated. Their culture and technology grow in their own special way.'
This was very interesting to Daz, who had only ever known the West Blue.
He had a feeling that this man was not lying.
'So I am going to make a shortcut.'
'How?'
'In the first half of the Grand Line, there is an island called Jaya.'
'...Jaya.'
'Yes. It has an interesting bird. It's called a South Bird... a bird that only looks south.'
Daz's eyes narrowed. This sounded very suspicious.
But Kuro kept talking.
'If a bird only looks south, we can know our direction. It will still be a hard sea to sail... but we can sail the Grand Line almost like a normal sea.'
'...And you will make money with this new route?'
'No. I will not.'
'I will transport technology and culture.'
Daz's jaw dropped.
He thought, Shouldn't you be transporting things that make money?
'Just like in the four seas, the Grand Line has places with amazing technology... but it's stuck on one island. For example, Drum Kingdom has amazing medicine. Water 7 has amazing shipbuilding. Of course, I can't take things they want to keep secret...'
'But even if I just spread some of that tech, the world will become more stable. Maybe fewer people will become pirates to get rich. It might help with hunger... and poverty... even just a little...'
'I will use the South Bird to make new routes. And the Sea-Stone I used on you... it's like a crystal of sea energy. If I put it on the bottom of a ship, we can cross the Calm Belt.'
'Using these, I will partially 'liberate' the Grand Line.'
It sounded like a fantasy.
Daz had every right to think so.
But Kuro was completely serious.
Kuro knew that, in the future, a certain clown pirate would have a map of the Grand Line. He knew it was possible.
'If this helpful technology from the Grand Line spreads... there will be chaos. But some places will get rich. If we have to, we will take over as pirates, force the technology on them, and run away as criminals.'
'When technology makes life stable, and new culture gives people more to enjoy, life gets better. It might only be in a few places, and only for a short time... but maybe we can create a small time of peace.'
'The Pirate King... and the World Government, the Celestial Dragons, and the big pirates... they are all making this era flow one way. The idea that a nobody like me can land a small blow against it... When I think about it—'
'—isn't that pretty cool?'
In front of him, this small-time pirate was talking about a huge, impossible dream as if it were just a small, fun thing.
Daz Bonez looked at him, and he burst out laughing.
Daz, who had only known violence at home and violence in the world...
Daz, who could not remember the last time he laughed...
He laughed.
'Well, we are pirates, so we will make some money... So? What do you say?'
'That's... some grand nonsense.'
Daz said the words, but inside, he was sighing.
He thought, If I laughed, I guess I've lost.
And he smiled.