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The battle for Cocoyasi Village was over.
Maya, Law, Robin, Reiju, Tashigi, and Sanji's brothers—each leading a hundred clone soldiers to sweep the island clean of every pirate bold enough to land there.
Jin himself had barely lifted a finger. He'd simply identified his targets—the Devil Fruit users—hunted them down, and tossed them into the carrier. It was a matter of efficiency. If they were killed, finding their bodies before the fruit respawned would be a hassle.
Any delay was a potential loss.
The pirate crews of the East Blue were numerous, but none were particularly noteworthy. Ace and Luffy were the exception, not the rule. Against a powerhouse from the Grand Line, they stood no chance. It was a complete curb stomp.
The strongest of the bunch was Mad Treasure, but even he was taken out by Jin with a single move. A single Finger Pistol was all it took to clear the field.
There was no pride in it.
Mihawk had dismantled the Krieg Pirates with a single slash. If Jin couldn't manage at least this much after all his training, he'd have wasted his time.
"This was almost too easy," Jin thought, a sense of pleasant satisfaction washing over him. "The simplest job I've had since coming to this world."
Watching the Devil Fruits and soul crystals roll in was incredibly gratifying.
His haul included the Scream-Scream Fruit, the Chain-Chain Fruit, and the Steel-Steel Fruit.
And the soul crystals—between the purge in Loguetown and this little trap—far exceeded his previous collections.
Which is why he didn't kill everyone.
For one, he had enough soul crystals.
For another, he needed some free labor to help build an airfield and other projects on the Conomi Islands. And who better than a captured pirate—full of "vigor" and "strength"—to do the heavy lifting?
So, Jin decided to play a little game.
"Alright, everyone," he announced to the captured pirates. "We're going to play a game called 'Pirate Mafia.' You're going to point the finger. Tell me the crimes of your fellow pirates, crimes worthy of death. Will you choose to let others die, or will you die yourself? No lying. It has to be the truth. Things like... wanton murder of innocents, rape, pillaging, and the like. You don't have to talk. But in five minutes, I'm going to start killing people at random. So... choose."
He made the prisoners turn on each other, to expose the evil they had done, to see who among them deserved to die.
Some might have stayed silent, out of a misguided sense of honor.
But pirates like that were rare.
The vast majority were selfish, greedy, ignorant, and black-hearted.
Many of them even held grudges against each other.
To save their own skin, what wouldn't they do? They'd kneel and call him 'daddy' if he asked.
With his Observation Haki, Jin could read their hearts and discern the truth in their accusations.
Those who had committed great evils, who had killed civilians for sport—death.
Those who tried to frame others, the dishonest—death.
Those who had dealt in the slave trade, who had abducted and tortured others—death.
And those who, in this moment, felt not fear, but a simmering, venomous hatred—death.
And it wasn't a simple execution.
Their crimes were read aloud, in public.
Then, in front of everyone, they were beheaded.
Heads rolled.
At first, the people of Cocoyasi Village had come to watch, to cheer the execution of the pirates.
But as the heads were piled high, forming a grim monument, more and more of them began to vomit, to run away in terror.
This king... he was a monster.
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Aside from the pirates who were so terrified they had lost all will to fight, who had committed no great evils and were now as docile as sheep, Jin also kept those with valuable skills.
The navigators, the shipwrights, the doctors.
These were support roles. For the most part, they hadn't participated in the raiding and pillaging, and they had a useful trade.
His new "labor camp" would need such skilled workers.
He also spared Kuro and Gin.
Kuro was an intellectual powerhouse. It was officially stated that his intellect was second only to Benn Beckman's. And he had a desire to "retire." He was exactly the kind of administrative talent Jin desperately needed.
How to win him over?
Simple.
Serve or die. Pledge your loyalty, and I'll fake your death and give you a new identity. Do a good job, and you'll be promoted.
Kuro was a smart man. He knew which to choose.
As for Gin, Jin valued his loyalty. He was, after all, one of the fandom's greatest enigmas—the ultimate "what if" whose return fans had been speculating about ever since Luffy entered the Grand Line.
Jin offered the Krieg Pirates the same deal he'd offered the others: their lives in exchange for their loyalty.
Gin, believing that some of his crew could be saved under this new standard, tried to offer his life in exchange for Krieg's.
Jin refused.
However, as a gesture of "good faith," to win Gin's true loyalty, he offered Krieg a one-on-one duel.
Krieg: ????
He immediately dropped to his knees.
A duel? Was he joking?
When his begging failed, Krieg scrambled to his feet and ran.
After his encounter with Kuma, his eyes had been opened. He no longer had any courage to fight.
A single Finger Pistol.
His life was over.
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With the cleanup complete, the final tally was in.
3,782 soul crystals.
785 "laborers."
87 ships of various sizes.
And a massive haul of cannons, guns, and swords, with a total value of about 150 million Berries.
On top of that, Eldoraggo, had contributed 535 kilograms of gold. The man's obsession with the precious metal was unparalleled. His ship, his armor, even his nails, teeth, nose ring, and earrings were all plated in gold.
It was all Jin's now.
He left the remaining matters to Robin and the others and returned to the demonic carrier.
He sailed to a secluded island in the Conomi archipelago that he had scouted earlier.
He had everyone disembark—Judge and the Germa 66 soldiers, the various craftsmen.
With all preparations made, Jin went to the conning tower and opened the interface.
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[Primary Authority: Captain Jin]
[Hull Data: Length 48m | Width 22m | Height 12.6m | Weight 150 Tons]
[Internal Space: 2.5 x 1.2 x 0.5 km³]
[Abilities: Munch-Munch | Mushroom-Mushroom | Candy-Candy | Hell's Red Serpent | Calm-Calm | Triceratops | Bomb-Bomb | Spring-Spring | Kilo-Kilo | Kraken-Kraken | Earth-Earth | Castle-Castle | Barrier-Barrier | Scream-Scream | Chain-Chain | Steel-Steel]
[Armaments: Main Cannons (56) | Heavy Cannons (325) | Firearms (12,068) | Blades (11,564)]
[Crew: Bartholomew Kuma (Cook) | Sir Crocodile (Boatswain) | Trafalgar Law (Gunner)]
[Next Evolution Requirements: Soul Crystals (9365/2000) | Refined Steel (48,000/2000 tons) | Gold (14.2/10 tons) | Silver (41/30 tons) | Rare Earth Metals (368/300 tons) | Biological Matter (13/10)!]
——————
Jin took a deep breath, his eyes shining.
"Finally," he said. "Everything is ready. The time has come."
On the interface, a message appeared:
[Note: Requirements met. Evolve now?]
[Notice 1: Evolution initiated. Please clear all living beings from the ship within 1 minute.]
[Notice 2: During evolution, all ship functions will be suspended. Please wait patiently for the upgrade to complete.]
[Notice 3: Avoid any damage to the hull during evolution. Damage will consume energy and may even lead to evolution failure.]
With a powerhouse like Kuma standing guard, Jin had nothing to worry about.
Without a moment's hesitation, he commanded:
"Evolve!"
[Upgrade Time Remaining: 47:59:58]
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