It has been one month since we rescued the fish-man pioneers. Hack and the others are still at our base. They plan to keep exploring, but they want to stay with us for a while because some of them are still in shock from being captured.
As payment, they are helping us with work. They are also training our fighters as masters of Fish-Men Karate and Fish-Men Jujutsu.
Toya and the navigation crew have a knack for it... or rather, they all trained like their lives depended on it. They've already gotten good enough to earn ranks. They can now break at least eight hundred tiles with a single punch.
The other crew members are also getting stronger very quickly while learning Haki. ...Yeah, they've gotten really strong.
We went on three raids this past month. They completely defeated the mafia and the attacking Marines without my help or Perona's ghosts.
Robin is also starting to copy Fish-Man Karate moves using her powers. I'm not sure what happened to her joint-lock moves, but she can probably still use those whenever she wants.
"Daz Bones is getting the hang of Armament Haki", Mihawk noted from where he was watching.
"I thought so, but I wasn't sure. If you say it, then it must be true, Mihawk," Kuro replied.
"Yes. The two women hitting him have good Haki, too", Mihawk added.
Meanwhile, Daz, who is training harder than anyone, is getting better very fast. He is being beaten up by two girls but is holding his "Spider" defensive pose without even flinching.
"Hmph. My sisters are Kuja warriors, just like me," Hancock declared from nearby. "Of course they have trained their Haki."
"I had heard stories of an island of warriors in the Calm Belt," Mihawk mused. 'Interesting.'
"Amazon Lily is a holy island of only women," Hancock stated. "Men are not allowed."
"...So, if I stepped foot on the island, the Kuja warriors would attack me," Mihawk said, a faint smile on his face.
"Hey, stop it!" Hancock snapped. "You just thought that sounded interesting, didn't you!?"
"...Hmph."
"What are you laughing at!? You rude man! Stay right there!"
...Why is this happening? This girl is Hancock, right? She's a little younger than me, but she's already so beautiful that I can tell she'll become that person. Her sisters are definitely those two.
And she's looking down on him so hard that she's looking up. Are you okay? Are you going to fall over?
I heard she was captured with them, but I never thought it was that Hancock. My memory is a bit blurry, but I feel like the timing is off.
"Mihawk, and... Hancock, Sonia, Marie, thank you," Kuro said, cutting in. "I appreciate your help."
Still, it's a huge help to have future Warlords and their crew members training Daz and the others.
"...Why are you bowing your head?" Hancock asked, looking genuinely confused.
"Because I'm thankful..." Kuro replied.
What other reason is there?
"Strong people do not bow their heads so easily. It makes them look weak," she insisted.
Even if you say that...
"If my honor is so weak that it breaks just from bowing, then that's all it was worth," Kuro said calmly. "If showing thanks to people who helped me is weak, then I'm fine with being weak."
"You are the ones who saved us... Mihawk," Hancock said, turning to the swordsman. "Are all pirates in the outer sea like this?"
I was shocked when we first met, but it seems Hancock is very interested in the outside world after leaving Kuja and being freed. She gets along well with our crew and helps train Daz and Amisu.
"No," Mihawk replied. "This man is just special. I doubt there is any other pirate who seems more like a government apprentice."
"I thought so. The pirates we sank were much meaner and ruder," Hancock agreed.
...I'm a little worried that this is so different from the original story. But, it's a good thing that she and her sisters—Daz's training partners—didn't have to go through that terrible experience.
"Do you not like it here?" Kuro asked Hancock.
"No, it feels strange, but not bad," she admitted. "Your Haki is still unskilled, but you showed me a different kind of strength than what the Kuja have."
"I do not mind serving under you. My sisters and I will be in your care," Hancock finished.
...But if you join my crew, what will happen to the future Kuja Pirates? Well, she said it's only until she can get back to Amazon Lily from the Grand Line.
--
"Mr. Hack, I brought the cart you asked for!" Toya called out.
"And I brought lunches for everyone who is working," Robin added, walking up beside him.
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Toya, Ms. Robin," Hack replied.
The cave we first dug out to hide the ships was made even bigger. Part of it was rebuilt as a living space for the fish-men and merfolk.
The Captain had kicked and broken the hard rock ceiling, which let sunlight in at the far end. They also built houses for the fish-men near the island's lake, which was a very hidden spot.
Hack and the other fish-men were now working to turn the cave into a real hidden port. Since they can work underwater, the fish-men were digging out the shallow parts of the water to make it deeper, so bigger ships could fit inside.
The merfolk and fish-men had become friends with Robin. They waved at her as they took the lunches she brought.
"Is the Captain okay?" Hack asked. "I heard he was fighting the 'Marine Hunter' again yesterday."
"Ah, yes. He's already awake," Robin answered. "He was watching the vice-commanders train earlier."
"The Captain said that even after fighting that man, he feels fine after a good night's sleep," Toya added.
"What..." Hack said, amazed.
The fight that happened at the raid was beyond what most people could understand. It was a battle between two people without Devil Fruit bit it was so intense that even Daz, who was in command, forgot his own order to "run straight for the ship."
That fight was burned into the memory of everyone who saw it.
"He's worth over 100 million for a reason. He's a great pirate," Hack mused.
"But because of that, people are trying to attack us from all over..." Toya sighed.
On their recent raids, they sometimes found that the mafia was ready for them with more fighters than expected.
But, the newly-strong Black Cat Pirates, along with Mihawk (who wanted to test their training) and the three Kuja sisters (who wanted to see how the crew fought), easily beat them all.
It was so one-sided that the Captain, Kuro, said something he normally wouldn't: "This is just painful to watch..."
"I'm still upset that he hurt the Captain, but Mr. Mihawk has definitely made our crew a lot stronger. Hancock and her sisters, too," Toya said with a complex smile.
"...Why is that man using our crew's work clothes? He's not even in our crew..." he wondered.
"Ah, that surprised me, too," Hack said. "That famous swordsman... farming."
Farming was an important job for everyone in the Black Cat Pirates. Since the crew did not steal from normal people, they had to be able to feed themselves.
The tailors in our crew had made special work clothes that were easy to wash.
The sight of the "Marine Hunter" wearing a straw hat and these work clothes, planting seeds with a hoe next to the other members, was a big shock to the crew, especially the former Marines.
"Lately, he even wears those clothes during training. It's so weird." said Toya.
"A newspaper a few days ago asked if the 'Marine Hunter' had joined the Black Cats..." Hack said. "It really feels like he's going to stay."
"...The Captain is so friendly with him, even after they fought..." Robin pouted.
From the Captain's point of view, Mihawk was a helpful person who trained his crew and helped with the farm. He was happy to share meals and drinks with him.
"But Robin, you even made him a straw hat," Toya pointed out.
"...It's been hot lately", replied Robin while looking at the sky.
--
"Alright, everyone is here," Kuro began, looking around the meeting table.
We finished the day's training with Daz and others. Today was basic training for the crews of the second and third ships. Mihawk and Hancock said they weren't ready for more. After training, I helped with the farming. We all ate a quick meal, and now we are having our regular meeting with the leaders.
Daz, Perona, Robin, Amisu, Hack, Mihawk, Hancock. And a few of the non-fighter leaders who are in charge of building our base.
...Yep!
Some of them seem out of place, but everyone's here!
"Things have finally started to calm down since we rescued Hack and the fish-man pioneers. I think it's time we decide on our next move." said Kuro.
"Does that mean another raid?" asked Mihawk.
Robin glared at Mihawk...
Mihawk, you seem really excited to help us.
Are you sure you're okay? You're supposed to become a Warlord, right? You are going to, right?
"Well, it's a kind of raid... Amisu," Kuro said, gesturing to the wall.
"Yes."
Amisu pointed to the map of the West Blue on the wall. It was covered in notes from Daz, Robin, and the other teams.
"As you know, the West Blue is controlled by the underworld," Kuro explained. "Our last mission greatly weakened one of the five big families. Now, the other families are fighting over their territory."
"...That gangster with the power... Bege. He's making a name for himself in all this." said Mihawk.
The map had X-marks showing which families fought. It also had arrows showing the flow of money and people.
"As I'm sure Mihawk and Hancock have heard from the crew, I've picked a fight with the Five Elders—the World Government," Kuro stated.
Mihawk... stop grinning like that. You're scaring Hancock.
"Right now, they are busy with the Marine slave problem..." Kuro continued. "But if we don't get stronger now, they will eventually crush us with their large army."
"...Are you delaying our trip to the Grand Line to get more people?" Daz asked. He knew my original plan.
"...We do need numbers," Kuro replied, "but what we really need now is fame, achievements, and, most of all, authority."
If we just wanted to fight the World Government, we could just join Big Mom or Kaido. Mihawk and Hancock would leave, but we are probably strong enough to make it to the New World.
But if we do that, the world could become a terrible place ruled by violence.
If Shanks were an Emperor, that might be an option, but not now.
"Getting stronger is the most basic thing we need to do," Kuro said. "We are so lucky to have Mihawk, the three Boa sisters, and the Fish-Man Karate master Hack training us so early in our journey."
Hancock, I know you're proud, but you're looking up at him, not down.
And you too, Mihawk. That training is so hard it could kill someone. It's a miracle no one has quit.
Also, can we please make our sparring matches once every four days? No?
"But just being a strong pirate crew isn't enough," Kuro continued. "We need more to make the World Government hesitate. We need them to be afraid to touch us... But we also need to be useful to them in a way... so that crushing us would cause problems for them."
I turned to the map and drew large circles around several islands.
"Captain... are those... countries that are not part of the World Government?" Robin asked.
"That's right, Robin," Kuro confirmed. "These are countries in the West Blue that couldn't pay the money to the World Nobles. They were either kicked out or never joined. They are in bad shape because of civil wars or pirate takeovers."
"...They are also the places where the human traffickers get their slaves and sell their goods," Mihawk added.
"Mihawk is right," Kuro said with a nod. "The mafia sells weapons, ships, food, and supplies to the armed groups here. Then they sell the same things to the public on the black market at high prices. They sell illegal drugs, too."
Mihawk, Hancock, and Perona did not seem surprised. But the others looked disgusted.
"These places are also a source for the slave market. People here are kidnapped and sent to the 'Human Shops'," Kuro said.
"The World Government doesn't treat non-affiliated countries as human," Hancock stated. "We Kuja also often raided them for that reason."
Yes, that's the point. That's what I think the World Government is doing wrong.
"That's right," Kuro said. "For some reason, the World Government ignores them... but they are basically untouched lands, even if they are in ruins."
"So, our first goal is to conquer them?" Amisu asked.
"...Captain, there's no profit in that for us," Daz pointed out.
"That's right, there isn't," Kuro agreed. "It's just more trouble. They don't even have food."
Daz is right. There's no real profit. It will be hard work, and the mafia will target us even more.
"That's exactly why it's worth doing," Kuro said, a slight smile on his face. "Because no one else thinks it's worth the trouble."
"At least, for us."
This will be enough to show the World Government what we're about. We'll clean up some of your mess, and you can handle the rest.
"We are going to unite the non-affiliated countries of the West Blue."
...We might get attacked since they'll know our location. But if that happens, we'll just have to fight the Marines seriously.
"The Marine forces of the West Blue might come after us..."
Daz and Amisu nodded. Perona laughed. Robin looked a little worried but met my gaze. Mihawk and Hancock just grinned.
...Yeah, um.
Honestly, with our current strength, we could probably put up a good fight.
"Everyone, let's go forward with our heads held high."
--
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