After Captain Kuro's announcement, the salon turned into a small party.
The guards and Capone Bege's men, who were waiting in another room, all came in. They started talking and ordering food and drinks.
Captain Kuro was eating simple food and talking with Bege and Mihawk.
Nico Robin was standing behind him, carefully brushing his long hair and, for some reason, braiding it.
Hancock and her sisters were watching. Then, some of the guards came over with fruit and started talking to them.
Perona was talking with the fish-men about building up their hidden port.
"Still, you've all become serious pirates at such a young age," Rayleigh commented. "It must be tough to be the second-in-command, right?"
"Yes," Daz replied. "...But it helps that my men all understand their jobs."
"That's right," Amisu added. "All the crew members know what it means to defend their post... On the other hand, the guard's jobs are starting to get a little mixed up. We may need to rethink things."
At the salon counter, the Pirate King's right-hand man was drinking with the two main pillars of the 'Black Cat' crew: the vice-captain, Daz, and the guard captain, Amisu.
...Though one of them was drinking tea.
"No, even I can see the guard is a very good group," Rayleigh said. "If they keep training their Haki, they'll become a strong force that won't be easily beaten, even in the New World. ...I'm jealous."
"Jealous?" Amisu asked. "Of what?"
"I've never seen a pirate crew, including the regular members, that is this organized. ...If I had men like you, my life would have been a little easier."
At those words, Daz's stone-faced expression softened a little.
"You're right. The pirates we've sunk so far just rampaged. They didn't have any tactics at all."
"Ha-ha-ha! That's normal," Rayleigh laughed. "To organize a pirate crew and use strategy and tactics better than the Marines, like Kuro and you all do..."
"Better than the Marines?" Amisu asked.
"That's how it feels. While Hancock was training, I watched the rest of the guard and crew. It was very interesting."
'Dark King' Rayleigh was drinking some of the good-quality booze that Capone Bege had gotten. He looked like he was really enjoying it.
"The Grand Line—especially the second half—is all about individual strength and numbers. But your group is trained to a level that would work even there. And you focus on moving as a group, not as single fighters... My, my, that's scary."
"Even as a group," Daz said, "we still can't beat Mr. Mihawk or the Captain."
"The Captain has gotten even faster since he learned Armament Haki... or so I've heard," Amisu added.
"...Second-in-command, is that true?" Rayleigh asked Daz.
"He says that if he covers his feet with Armament Haki when he speeds up, it protects them and lets him move more quietly. I can't tell just by looking, though."
"...Impossible," Amisu whispered. "I can't keep up."
"Ha-ha-ha!!!" Rayleigh and Daz laughed.
The two, who knew very well how fast Captain Kuro was, felt proud of their stronger leader. But they also had a headache, knowing he was now so strong they couldn't even have a practice fight unless he held back a lot.
"You train with the 'Marine Hunter' too?" Rayleigh asked.
"Yes, all of the guard," Amisu confirmed. "And some crew members that he's taken an interest in..."
"It's mostly just five of us at a time attacking him, and he knocks us all down," Daz explained. "We just repeat that."
Daz and Amisu both grimaced, remembering the usual hell.
They were leaders, so they didn't join every time. But every time they did, they would remember the last fight, try something new, and get knocked down again, as if he was saying, "That's not it."
By challenging him over and over, they could finally last 15 minutes alone. Now, if they worked together, they could last 20 minutes before he beat them.
The other members, except for Miakis who was good at defense, were knocked out much faster.
"Daz," Rayleigh said, turning to him. "You're young. Just like your Captain Kuro, you're still young enough to be called a boy. Why did you become a pirate?"
"...I ate a Devil Fruit by accident a while ago. I was trying to be a bounty hunter. That's when I met the Captain."
"So... you met as enemies."
"Yeah. At the time, the Captain had his original bounty, plus extra bounty from the mafia. ...When I saw the wanted poster, he looked a little older, but not by much. It didn't say he had any powers like me."
Daz, the only one drinking tea—mate tea—put his cup on the counter. He thought back to that time. It wasn't that long ago, but it felt like years.
"The Captain was fast even back then. I couldn't follow him with my eyes. I didn't get hurt, but he just kept kicking me. I thought I could cut him the moment he kicked, so I turned my arm into a blade and swung, but he was already gone. ...To be honest, I was scared."
Daz opened and closed his hand a few times, wondering how he would do now.
"Well, as we were fighting... he suddenly said, 'Come with me.'"
— Weak people are pushed around because strong people are forgetting to show respect.
— Strong people are forgetting respect because they are forgetting that they were once weak, too.
Daz still remembered what Kuro said that day.
Because even now, as a strong man who had no real enemies in the West Blue, his Captain had not forgotten to respect others. (Who understood the reference?)
"It was such a stupid way to ask," Daz laughed quietly, "Kukuku."
Rayleigh asked, "What did he say to you?"
"Ah, he said something like a con man," Daz replied.
"He said, 'Let's turn the world upside down together. This meeting is fate.'"
Amisu couldn't help but snort.
"Vice-Captain, you actually agreed to that?"
"After that, he told me that crazy plan from earlier. ...Well, I told him 'I'll join if I can be the Captain,' and we started fighting again... You know the rest."
Daz turned to the old man who had asked him the question. The man looked stunned.
He stared, as if he was seeing something impossible.
But then,
"Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!"
He slammed his drink on the counter. Tears formed in his eyes as he let out a huge laugh.
--
"So, I sent a letter to Hancock's friends on Amazon Lily who were worried," Rayleigh told me. "I'll be staying here for a while."
No, you won't!!
Who could blame me for wanting to scream that!?
This is the West Blue! And we're pirates who have a truce with the Marines right now!
I can't just tell Kuzan, "Excuse me, the 'Dark King' is staying with us for a while, but please don't worry about it," can I!?
"Well, I am interested in watching you all grow. Especially..."
Hey, Mr. Rayleigh.
Why don't you put that sword back in its sheath, put it down, and have some tea? Or booze, I don't care.
"I've taken an interest in you."
You don't need to—Killing intent!? Behind me!!
— ZANNNNN!!!
"Oh. You dodged that?" Mihawk's voice came from behind me. "Just as I thought. You're coming along nicely."
"Mihawk, you bastard!!!!"
What!? What is going on!? Why is the 'Dark King' holding a sword in front of me, and 'Hawk-Eye' has his sword out behind me!!?
"But Rayleigh, is this okay?" Mihawk asked him. "Helping Kuro with his training."
"It's fine," Rayleigh replied. "Just as you thought, Kuro's mind is getting in the way of him using Haki. The fastest way is to push him past his limit. That way, we can break his mental block without slowing down his best weapon: his mind."
"People die when they go past their limits!!" I screamed.
Who could blame me for screaming that!?
"Ha-ha-ha! Don't worry. You are very strong and you're young. It's fine. As long as the bones are fine, they'll heal."
"Did you just say you're going to cut off my arms and legs!!?"
"Relax, Kuro," Mihawk said. "I promise."
"Promise what!?"
"I, and Rayleigh, will cut you cleanly. We have a doctor standing by. It's not a problem."
"You need to go look up the word 'problem' in a dictionary!!"
Yes, I did ask you to watch my Haki training when we were talking!
You're the master who taught the main character Haki, so I thought you'd give me some tough but fair training!
I even said I'd do it, no matter how hard it was!
But I was talking about my training! I never asked anyone to execute me!!
"Kuro, you have to go to the Mogwa Kingdom soon, too," Mihawk noted.
"This man is strong enough to fight for five days straight. He can handle a little rough housing," Rayleigh added.
You need to understand that "a little rough housing" does not mean 'get ready to have your limbs cut off'! Please understand!!
"Oh, is that so? Then let's start with a light warm-up. Let's see... six hours. Mihawk and I will keep attacking, leaving just one opening."
"Your job is to see it and survive."
"Excuse me, it sounds like you're saying I'll die if I make one mistake. That's a joke, right!?"
"Here I come," Rayleigh said, raising his sword.
"Show me your power from that night, Kuro," Mihawk said, tensing.
"—N-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!"