When they entered the building, Tyler saw several people in cages; some were out of the cages, but they seemed to have handcuffs.
Seeing Tyler and his group, those people in the cage gained some courage as they started shouting.
"Help us! Please let us out!"
"Yeah! We heard the noise outside. You must've come here to free us."
"Please free us! We will do anything for you."
Hearing their plea, Tyler didn't even move his finger. Most of them were pirates who always did evil things.
He had no responsibility for saving them. He wasn't Spider-Man.
"I will call your name. Raise your hands once you hear your name, understand?"
Tyler gave them a look before taking out the list.
"Gojo!"
When he called out that name, Gojo didn't even need to raise his hands. Almost everyone in the room turned towards him.
"Pawan!"
This name was less recognizable.
"Acorn!" "Peach!" "Harald!" "Aang!" Pochi!" "Cent!"
After calling their names, Tyler saw that only six people had raised their hands. Tyler saw Gojo hadn't raised his hand, but finding Gojo wasn't hard.
This man had pink hair and black pupils. He looked quite young, almost as old as Tyler.
On the other hand, every name he called before was a middle-aged person.
Pawan, Acorn, Harald, and Aang were middle-aged men, while Peach and Pochi were middle-aged women.
The guy called Cent hadn't raised his hand.
Seeing this, Tyler turned his attention towards Gojo and said.
"I need your medical skills. Join my crew!"
Gojo gave him a serious look before asking.
"What do you plan to do with them?"
He was obviously referring to the people inside the cages.
"I won't do anything. I am pretty sure Marines will arrive here soon. If they are pirates, they will be captured. If they are ordinary people, they will be freed."
Tyler said.
Although he didn't have much confidence in the Marines, he had seen the reputation of Soro.
This Marine was truly good.
"Heh! Are you going to leave them to the Marines? Then, they will be in this cage much longer than you can imagine?" Gojo sneered, laughing at his idea.
"If you are talking about Mojo, he is dead."
Tyler answered. He knew why Gojo sounded so sarcastic. The Marines were the ones who covered up this business for a long time.
Gojo paused and shook his head.
"No, let the civilians leave first! I recognize every single pirate in this place. Then, I will join you."
Hearing his words, Tyler smiled and said.
"Deal!"
"No, wait! Let us out!"
"Damn you, bastard! Let us out! Why are you doing this to us?"
"We are all pirates. Let me out! I will join your crew."
"Motherfucker! Let me out! I am a pirate with a fifty-million bounty."
When Tyler heard the pirate cursing him, his anger flared. He looked at Gojo and said.
"Does that cage have any civilians?"
Gojo realized he was going to attack them and shook his head.
Then, without wasting any time, Tyler unsheathed his sword from his back and slashed.
A powerful wind merged with the edge of his sword, releasing a blue slash that tore through the cage and slashed every single pirate inside that cage.
The one with a fifty-million bounty died with his head dropping to the ground.
After killing those pirates, Tyler put his sword back and said.
"Frank, Adam, help Gojo! As for the six of you, follow me out!"
The six people looked at him with some fear, but eventually followed him out.
They had never seen someone kill a pirate with a bounty of fifty million with a swing of his sword.
The entire building had gone silent, not even daring to breathe until Tyler walked out.
Six people followed him to a large rock.
Tyler sat down and watched the expressions of those six people. He looked at the six of them.
Pawan and Pochi were people with fishman-like features. Pochi was a mermaid, but she didn't have a tail; instead, she had legs like normal people.
Since her tail had split, she could walk on land like a normal person. If he didn't know her identity before, he wouldn't even be able to tell the difference.
Tyler took out his bounty poster and said.
"My name is Tyler, and as you can see, I am a pirate. But I am not like most pirates, so I don't like those who attack civilians."
"Out of those people, only eight had a proper background, but one of them did have a problem, so I only called out seven names."
"And out of seven, only six of you raised your hands! So, I will give you a chance. Join my crew!"
"Out of seven of you, only you two have bounties."
He said while pointing at Pawan and Harald.
"So, if you don't want to become a pirate, you can leave."
Hearing his words, the remaining four lowered their heads, but they didn't leave. Not because they didn't want to, but simply because they didn't have a choice.
Out of those four, three were already on the kill list of the five families of West Blue. So, even if they left, they would still be hunted by those families.
As for Pochi, she was afraid of being captured once again. Not to mention, her husband was already a man with a bounty.
She couldn't leave him even if she wanted to.
Seeing this, Tyler nodded his head with satisfaction.
"Regardless of the reasons, you staying here means joining my crew. But let's be honest, none of you can be a part of my main crew."
Hearing that, their heartbeat soared, unable to understand what he was trying to say.
Only Harald showed a look of surprise and asked.
"Captain, are you trying to create a fleet from West Blue?"
Tyler looked at him with satisfaction and nodded.
"Yes! My goal is the second half of the Grandline. Only with a big enough crew will I have a chance at fighting those top pirates for territories."
"So, seven of you will sail with me until we are ready to enter the Grandline. During that time, I will help with your training."
"After separating from the main crew, you have only one job. Go around three seas and gather more people to join our crew."
"Naturally, only people like you or better can join the crew. But at the same time, I don't need someone who will recklessly throw his life for others."
"So, do you still want to be a part of this crew? This is your last chance. Even two of you can leave and form your own crew."
He said while pointing at Pawan and Harald. But none of them moved or even said a word.
After a bit of silence, Pochi asked.
"Captain! Pawan and I come from Fishman Island. Our identity might cause you problems."
Tyler shook his head and said.
"It won't. Remember, once you join this crew, you become my responsibility. If someone dares to cause trouble for you, he will face my wrath."
He said with strong confidence.
Pochi still wanted to remind him of her identity as a mermaid, but Pawan stopped her and shook his head.
His new captain's bounty was only forty million, and it seemed like a new bounty.
But with a casual swing of his sword, he cut down a pirate with a fifty-million berry bounty.
This meant their Captain was much stronger, at least stronger than a pirate with a hundred-million bounty.
"Now, let's make a scene!"
He took off his shirt, unsheathed his sword, and suddenly slashed himself on the chest.
"Captain!"
The other six shouted in shock, but as the blood dripped from the sword, Tyler said.
"From now on, you are dead. Until the fleet is formed, your identity must be hidden."
"Understood?"
He said.
The others gulped heavily and nodded. Someone like Harald was calm enough to notice that the wound was starting to close.
After wiping away the blood from his chest, he put on the shirt and turned around.
He walked back to the building, where people saw the blood dripping from his sword.
Gojo gulped heavily and asked.
"Captain, what did you do with those six?"
Tyler glanced at him and said.
"I invited them to join my crew, but they rejected me. So, I killed them. It seems like they weren't as smart as you."
"Frank, Adam, are you finished?"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Then, let's go! And doctor, welcome to the crew!"
He turned towards Gojo before turning back and walking towards the ship. The civilians didn't leave immediately.
They were too afraid to move in Tyler's presence, especially after seeing the blood on his sword.
Tyler returned to the ship, and Gojo was stunned upon seeing the six people.
He looked at Tyler with confusion, unable to understand what he had just done.
Tyler smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said.
"Congratulations, Doctor! Unlike them, you don't need to hide as part of this crew!"
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For Thirty Chapters in Advance, check out my P@treon link from the description.