Powerstones Goal: 100
--
"No way. Germa... Judge's army was defeated...?"
The Five Elders were shocked. Germa was a member nation of the World Government, but it had no land—it was not allowed to have land. It was a powerful fighting nation, and its defeat was a huge surprise.
"The only threats were supposed to be Kuro himself, the 'Marine Hunter' he's with, Nico Robin, and two other fruit users... How did they get so strong, so fast?"
They looked over the battle reports from Germa. The Marines at HQ were probably talking about this right now. The five men who ruled the world frowned, looked grim, or held their heads.
"Kuro is also wanted by the underworld. Most of his crew are former 'products' of those groups."
"It should be hard for him to grow his numbers or power in the West Blue."
"We thought we could just blockade the West Blue. We planned to find them and finish them, along with Nico Robin..."
"He took people who were only valuable for their looks and turned them into a real fighting force?"
They were very interested in the 20-some former Marines who stayed with Kuro after the battle with the Regional Manager.
"The ones he returned to us are all training hard. We are getting good reports from the Marines and CP."
"But... they aren't as strong as the ones who stayed with Kuro."
"I think it's because he has Kuja pirates with him for some reason... Are they already using Haki?"
"A small branch can't stop them anymore."
The Five Elders did not think Kuro himself was a threat. From his talks and actions, they thought he was a strange pirate, one they could even work with.
The real problem was that this strange pirate—who was hard to predict—was protecting Ohara's knowledge. He was protecting Nico Robin, who had to be erased.
"...Should we order another Buster Call?"
"This isn't like Ohara. This crew has a good reputation with Marine HQ. It might split the military."
"But..."
They knew the crew was growing very fast. If they left them alone, they would become too strong to handle. They could not let them reach the Grand Line, where they would be hard to catch. As the five leaders tried to make a plan...
There was a knock on the door.
–
"It has been months since the battle with the Regional Manager. 'Silent Step'—who now calls his crew the 'Black Cat Pirates'—has not been seen, and his forces have grown much stronger."
This was a normal meeting for the high-ranking officers at Marine HQ.
The topic of the meeting was the man who kept causing trouble for the Marines.
A large screen showed the battle records from Germa (Germa had planned to use these records to make their soldiers even stronger.)
The video played:
―― "We'll scatter them."
―― "Understood."
"The main fighters in this battle were the leader, 'Silent Step' Kuro, and the bounty hunter who has been causing trouble in the Grand Line, 'Marine Hunter' Dracule Mihawk."
The men at HQ had only read reports about the first battle. Now they were watching Kuro and Mihawk side-by-side, cutting down Germa's clone soldiers.
"Oh my. He's mixed up with someone amazing again. He always runs into big names," Aokiji said.
The Marines had changed after the slave incident. The old Commander In Chief had stepped down. Kong was now in charge of everything, and Sengoku was the new Fleet Admiral.
Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino were the three new Admirals.
Aokiji watched the video and remembered the day he fought beside this pirate.
The video changed to Mihawk.
―― "Very well. I'll shift gears a little. Try and keep up, soldiers of science."
The screen now showed Mihawk fighting alone. The strong Marines in the room looked serious as they watched his skill.
"He is not wearing the crew's mark... so he is not a permanent member," Akainu said, looking conflicted. "But 'Marine Hunter' and 'Silent Step' working together..."
"We checked the records. 'Marine Hunter' and Kuro fought as a team," Brannew, the meeting leader, said. "They crushed many Germa soldiers all by themselves. And..."
Brannew changed the video again.
―― "Guard, draw swords! Push the line forward! Move!"
―― "Sir!!!"
"And the crew's main fighting force... well, this is hard to say... it is the former Marines who were rescued by 'Silent Step' in that incident."
Everyone in the room knew about the Marine slave incident.
And none of them could blame the women who left to join 'Silent Step'.
Instead, they all felt ashamed that they had not known what was happening.
Some of the officers saw women they had trained. Their faces grew dark. Admiral Zephyr, who had trained all of them as recruits, watched with anger, sadness... and a little pride. He was proud because they were all fighting the "ideal Marine way."
"This 'Guard' unit, made of 21 former Marines, is very skilled. We also saw them leading other crew members in the battle. This means the 'Black Cat' crew is doing leadership training and research," said Brannew.
The room was filled with quiet talking. "Pirates are doing that?"
But the video showed a crew that fought with amazing teamwork, not like normal pirates.
They made their regular soldiers form lines to fight the stronger Germa soldiers. They defended well and changed their plans based on the battle.
"...Splendid," Zephyr whispered.
He was seeing everything he tried to teach his own Marines.
Vice-Admiral Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer, nodded. They still made mistakes. But their basic movements—protecting the weak—were perfect.
The hard truth was that they had learned this after becoming pirates.
"The leader is Amisu, former Private 3rd Class," Brannew went on. "Her grades... were not special. She said in her interview she just joined for a stable life. We were going to move her to accounting after training..."
Brannew looked at Zephyr, feeling awkward.
"...For people to grow... to truly succeed... they need certain things," Zephyr, known as "Black Arm," said.
The big man with purple hair and glasses had trained many Marines. He spoke slowly.
"They need a superior to teach them. They need the will to learn and stand up. And... they need a cause to guide that will."
The men who had fought with Zephyr, or been trained by him, nodded.
"They were captured and almost sold. They felt fear and had no hope. Then they were saved. That rescue gave them a reason to fight... loyalty, or maybe... respect for 'Silent Step'."
Zephyr had never met Kuro. He had only sent one letter, through Kuzan.
"I believe this pirate, Kuro... his actions and his heart... gave these women what they needed to fight."
That letter was strange for a Pirate... it was too polite, Zephyr thought.
Kuro's letter was written in neat, clear letters, like a teacher or a clerk, not a rough soldier. It was a kind letter, giving a report on the women he had saved.
You can't know a man until you meet him, but that one letter said a lot. Vice-Admiral Tsuru had also gotten a letter and felt the same way.
"I don't know what Kuro wants," Zephyr finished. "But I think he gave those girls a purpose. And if he did... they will grow incredibly fast from here."
Everyone in the room looked at the video again.
They saw a group of fighters with scary teamwork, strong enough for the Grand Line.
They were trouble. They would be horrible to fight. The officers frowned.
"And the one who likely taught them Haki is..." Brannew said.
―― "Follow me! We will cut them down and rally the soldiers! Show them the pride of a Kuja warrior!"
The video changed again. A girl in a blouse and pants with the three-claw mark was firing a bow and yelling at the troops.
Two younger girls were next to her, using giant weapons covered in Haki to knock down Germa soldiers.
"We do not know the details, but as you can see, she is clearly one of the 'Kuja'. This girl, Hancock, and her sisters... she is a high-level Haki user."
It is very hard to put Haki on bullets or arrows. But the girl in the video was doing it. She was also hitting soldiers with her bow and kicking them.
"...She's probably learning leg techniques from Kuro in exchange for teaching Haki..." Kuzan muttered. He was sure of it. He recognized some of Kuro's movements in her kicks.
"On top of that, they have 'Ghost Princess' Perona, who uses her Horo Horo fruit for bombings and spirit attacks. And the archaeologist Nico Robin, with her Hana Hana fruit. Also, the gangster Capone Bege is helping them. And, though we did not see them, we are sure Fish-Men helped them move."
Brannew showed more clips.
A swarm of little ghosts that could not be touched. They were bombs that followed the soldiers.
A castle suddenly appearing next to Hancock's group, firing cannons.
A pillar of water lifting a large wooden plank with Guard members on it.
"And most importantly, the one who shined the brightest in this battle was 'Steel Blade' Daz Bonez."
The King of Germa Kingdom.
He was not weak. He was strong enough to fight in the New World.
And yet—
―― "You... you are 15 million!? What kind of joke is this!!"
―― "I agree."
He was defeated.
Daz Bonez used his fruit, Haki, and fighting skills. The man called 'Garuda' was beaten.
"...They didn't kill King Judge," Brannew said. "King Judge, after he was captured, said that 'Silent Step' himself told him... there was no 'merit' in killing a member nation's king."
Kuzan and Sengoku put their heads in their hands.
How humiliating for Judge, Kuzan thought.
It was like saying "your life has no value."
Kuzan knew Kuro was polite, but he also knew Kuro was cold-blooded to his enemies.
"Their threat level is now equal to a Grand Line pirate crew... maybe even strong enough for the New World," Brannew finished.
He looked at Sengoku.
"We need to update their bounties. But it is very hard to set a number... because they helped us in that incident..."
Just as Brannew finished and they were about to talk about bounties, someone banged on the door. A Marine ran in, panicking.
"Sir, sorry to interrupt! It's an emergency!"
Sengoku, the new Fleet Admiral, looked calm. "Calm down. What is it?"
The Marine saluted. "Sir! A report from Branch 303! The Mogwa Kingdom is under attack by a large pirate force! It's about to fall!"
"What!?"
Some of the officers stood up.
"The rescue units we sent were also captured! There are too many pirates!"
"That's impossible! A pirate force that big in the West Blue!?"
The first name in Sengoku's mind was 'Black Cat'.
"Sir! The report says—"
The Marine took a breath.
"New pirates in the West Blue have gathered! They are calling themselves the 'Pirate Alliance' and are robbing everyone in the area!"
–
"I knew this would happen sooner or later," Kuro muttered, "but why in our nearby seas?"
It had been a month since the fight with Germa. A month since he beat Judge and let him go.
He had been busy getting ready for the harvest, checking the land, and gathering stone. He was doing his job, like a good pirate. And now this!
"Hurry and prepare ships one through four!" he ordered.
In the last battle, they moved the fight to the enemy ships. His men were hurt, but the ships were fine.
The port was now in chaos as everyone rushed to get the ships ready.
"I heard Marines were captured and their ships were stolen... This means they're going to get even cockier."
His crew had survived Germa. They wouldn't lose to these pirates.
Hancock and Hack could protect the island. He would move the people to the safe area just in case.
"Captain, why did so many pirates team up so suddenly?" Hancock asked.
"...Probably," Kuro said, thinking. "I thought it would take more time..."
"They teamed up to break the blockade at Reverse Mountain."
He explained that a strong Marine fleet, led by a Vice Admiral, was blocking the way.
A normal pirate would be sunk. The ones who tried and failed must have gathered together.
"But why attack the Mogwa Kingdom?" Hancock asked. "They were supposed to be causing trouble elsewhere... They were supposed to be a distraction for us!"
I know! Kuro thought. Bege's plan to sell supplies while using them as a diversion was ruined. Again.
"Ah, that's simple too."
He had seen this coming...
"They realized it's easier to steal what's in front of them than chase a dream in the Grand Line."
And Mogwa was a military nation. It looked like it had a lot of weapons.
Of course... Bege and I stole or sold most of those weapons... and Mogwa was hated by pirates... and we crushed their army, making them an easy target…
Kuro paused.
...Wait, is this my fault again?
No. They attacked us first. It's fine. It's fine.
"Hancock," Kuro said, "you earned the soldiers' trust as a commander in the last battle."
"I believe they will follow my orders," she said.
"Good. I'm leaving Perona and seven Guard members for recon. Use Hack and the others to defend the island."
"Yes, I understand."
"Good."
Kuro turned to the port and yelled.
"Hurry and load the weapons!"
"We're heading to the Mogwa Kingdom now! We'll scatter those pirates and show them our pride!"
I swear I'm going to destroy those idiots for making more work for me!
--
Powerstones Goal: 100