Bonus Chapter for 200 PS; Next Goal : 300 (We finally reached 200 PS, I hope we reach 300 this week)
For the people on this island, summer was a time when the smell of rot filled the air. There was more food, but there were also more robberies. Fights between the bandits also increased.
The fighting left many bodies scattered around. To replace the dead, more robberies happened.
It was better if they just took the food. Sometimes, they took young men to be fodders, or they took young women and children as a tax.
Sometimes people escaped from other villages, but their stories were always the same. Food was taken, workers and daughters were taken. Only the hurt, the sick, and the old were left, people who could barely farm.
They knew they would die soon, along with their dying village.
While the villagers were feeling sad as usual, a strange group arrived. They were all wearing black suits with three claw marks and a cat's face on the back and chest, though each wore it a little differently.
"The land hasn't been worked," one of the newcomers observed. "They probably don't have the energy..."
"Captain, the well seems dry too," another member of the group reported. "If we want to make this a production base, we'll have to dig it again..."
"Yes, and even the fields are ruined," a sharp-eyed man added. "It looks like seeds were planted, but they're full of weeds. The crops won't just be small; they might get sick."
"Mihawk, is that really the first thing you notice?" a beautiful young woman with long black hair teased. "Maybe you should switch from being a swordsman to a farmer."
"...Hmph," Mihawk responded with a noncommittal grunt.
"Hey, what does that mean? Hey," she pressed.
The group was all young. Some looked strong, some beautiful, and some even looked like strange creatures they had never seen before. They looked like the kind of people bandits would target.
"You folks," a villager called out nervously, "I don't know where you're from, but you came from outside, right? You should leave right away."
"Oh? And why is that?" the beautiful girl asked, her tone haughty despite her youth.
"This island is like hell," the villager explained. "Bandit groups fight over it. If pretty girls like you get caught by them, they'll suffer worse than death. Take my advice and leave now."
The girl's expression didn't change. She turned to a boy around her age, not the older ones, and said, "Captain, this place is less useful than we thought. It seems there are hardly any workers, let alone soldiers."
The boy with glasses, called 'Captain', had long hair tied back messily. He looked like he came from a good family. He shook his head at her words. "The bandits probably took them as farmers," he deduced. "Even if they fight each other, if they use up the people who produce things, there will be nothing left to steal... It's a fight over workers as well as food..."
"Horohorohoro, so it's going according to plan?" another young girl chimed in, holding a small closed umbrella with surprising confidence. She pointed it towards the mountains where the bandits' hideout likely was. "Captain Kuro, looks like they've already spotted us. There are guys with weapons coming towards us from that mountain."
"Are there any non-fighters around them?" Kuro asked.
"Nope," the girl replied. "I saw some guys who looked like they were farming in the mountains earlier. Maybe it's them?"
"...So there's no risk of hurting others," Kuro concluded. "Okay, let's take care of the ones coming for us first. Daz," he called to a stern-looking young man, "let's set up a temporary base here. While we fight, you start setting up—"
Those devil-like people are coming here again. The thought sent a chill down the villagers' spines. But the young people in front of them didn't seem nervous. They started unloading their things. One of them—the sharp-eyed man—drew his sword.
In the next moment, with an unbelievable WHOOSH sound like wind, a giant slash flew towards the direction the girl had pointed with her umbrella.
"MIHAWK!!!!!" The rest of the group yelled in unison, crowding around the man who swung the sword.
"Hey! Why did you just attack!?" Kuro demanded.
"If you're going to work with us, get permission from the Captain or one of the leaders first...!" a young woman with short hair scolded.
"You bastard, that scared the hell out of me!" Daz growled.
"Why are you always like this, Mihawk!?" the girl with the umbrella complained.
"And if you're going to attack, say something first, you idiot!" the beautiful girl snapped.
The ones in the group who seemed strangely respected, even though they looked like kids, yelled at the swordsman. The man called Mihawk looked surprised for a moment, then muttered, "Ah."
"I attacked."
"SAY IT BEFORE YOU DO IT!!!" they all roared back.
The boy with glasses scratched his head and started giving orders. "Perona, what's the enemy's status!?"
"They're cut down!" Perona reported. "The survivors have no idea what happened! Of course they don't!"
"How many survived?" Kuro asked.
"One, two... four," Perona counted. "One of them was outside the attack range, he looks unharmed."
"Okay," Kuro said. "Use your ghosts to stop them right now. Second ship crew," he directed towards others unloading gear, "capture them and get information. Guards," he turned to the short-haired woman, "start setting up the base and get info from the residents. Find out about the enemy hideout and other villages."
The beautiful girl from earlier was kicking the swordsman in the shin. He looked annoyed that some had survived.
"W-who are you people...?" an old woman from the next house asked nervously, still shocked. "Who in the world are you?"
The boy with glasses smiled slightly. He glanced at the short-haired female sword user standing near him. She then looked at the others, and they brought over something long, like a laundry pole.
"Ahem!" the short-haired woman cleared her throat. "...Excuse me. We haven't introduced ourselves... We are pirates."
What looked like a long pole was actually a flagpole. A group of mostly female sword users tied a large flag to it. It looked like a pirate flag, but it didn't feel scary. It had the same mark as the clothes they wore: three claw marks with a cat's face on the chest and back.
"From today on," she announced, "we are the pirates who will rule you."
"Our name is the Black Cat."
This happened one week before the news arrived that a certain pirate crew had taken over a country. For the Black Cat pirates, this wasn't even a real skirmish. It was just the beginning. And it happened just before the villagers, who were scared of the name 'pirate', deeply etched the name 'Black Cat' into their hearts when their sons returned.
–
The main job, taking over the kingdom—a country named Mopuchi—was surprisingly easy.
...But because it ended so easily, now I have to fight Mihawk for at least three hours every two days and do all my work. How is that fair...?
And the next day, he's either sparring with Amisu's team all day or working in the fields. He has way too much energy... Is he going to suggest we fight for five hours every day soon?
Thanks to him, I can use Armament Haki clearly now, but still.
We have attacks from the mafia, planning defenses, spreading news while keeping secrets, calming the citizens, assigning work...
It was my own plan, but help... please help me...
"Robin," Kuro asked, looking up from his papers, "how is the food production going?"
"Mihawk just said they finished planting the summer crops in all the usable fields," Robin reported and then asked, "Daz was helping rebuild the fields too, right?"
"Yeah," Daz confirmed. "And just like on the other island, they're fixing the wells that were destroyed in the fighting. With the food we brought, not too many people should starve right away."
"...But we can't save everyone," Kuro murmured.
"We have to accept some losses," Daz said pragmatically. "If we make sure the burials are done properly, it might make people feel a bit better."
...Daz is starting to think like that now... Is that good or bad...?, Kuro mused internally.
He had called Daz and Robin to a room in the partly destroyed palace—the former palace—to get updates. The throne was still there, and Hancock asked if I wanted to sit on it, but that would be way too embarrassing.
"Well, that's good," Kuro said. "Still, I didn't expect the mafia forces to be so weak... I thought they'd have at least one or two Devil Fruit Users."
They had guns, but they were just a bunch of random guys. Our regular troops could have handled them... They tried to escape with their money, so we surrounded them and blew them all up with cannon fire.
"They probably joined other families or were bought out," Daz guessed. "Devil Fruit Users are valuable."
"Really?" Robin asked.
"People on islands might think Devil Fruit Users are creepy, but the mafia knows their value," Daz explained.
"...Daz," Kuro asked, "did anyone ever try to recruit you?"
"Yeah, once," Daz admitted.
All the royal family members were dead except for the women and children... The royal children were found locked in the palace dungeon. Maybe they kept them to use them as scapegoats later, or maybe they planned to sell them off...
"So Captain," Robin asked, "what's next?"
"We'll discuss the details at the meeting tonight with the royals..." Kuro replied. "But for now, we focus on gathering information. Like how people feel about the royal family now."
After that, we need to gather and store food and fuel for a while... We can't move freely until the food situation here is stable.
"Daz," Kuro ordered, "order all the patrol ships, including the ones we captured, to start using fishing nets."
"...Patrol boats and fishing boats?" Daz repeated, sounding surprised. "That's new."
"It probably won't bring in much," Kuro admitted, "but every little bit helps."
"We need to keep the people from starving as much as possible..." he finished quietly.
–
"Haaaaah!" Amisu yelled, swinging her sword.
After patrolling the palace and the old capital city, Amisu, now the Guard Captain, was practicing her sword skills in the former royal army's training ground. Her opponent was Mihawk, the 'Marine Hunter', the strongest swordsman the Black Cat pirates had ever fought...
"Good," Mihawk commented, blocking her strike. "The other guards are improving surprisingly fast, but you are the fastest among them."
Mihawk blocked Amisu's downward strike, tried to twist her sword away, but she pulled back first and prepared to thrust.
"...Alright," Mihawk said, stepping back. "Let's stop here for today."
"Already?" Amisu asked, confused. "I still have energy left."
"That's why," Mihawk explained. "Back at our base, I'd train you until you dropped. But we just took this place; it's still enemy territory. You need to command your troops, just like Daz Bones. I can't wear you out."
Amisu puffed her cheeks slightly. "Then could you please go a little easier on the Captain too?" she requested. "He has government work to do now."
"That's exactly why I'm doing it," Mihawk stated flatly. He sheathed his sword and started wiping sweat from his forehead. "Kuro trained himself, so his Haki grew in a strange way. It's like he skipped the basics and went straight to advanced techniques..."
"...You mean that move that cracked your sword?" Amisu asked.
"Yes," Mihawk confirmed. The sword Mihawk was using now was a famous blade called 'Miyao Mark II'... Kuro gave him this one, saying, "Use this to replace the sword I broke," and Mihawk was very happy.
"Haki is the foundation and the ultimate technique in high-level fights," Mihawk continued, "Using Haki on your fists or weapons makes them much stronger and lets you hit even Logia-types."
"So using Haki on your weapon is essential if you want to fight Marine admirals or Emperors," Amisu recited. "A swordsman should never let their blade break, or even chip... right?"
"Well... he got the better of me that time," Mihawk admitted with a faint smile. Mihawk kept the cracked sword safe in his room...
"Kuro will get stronger," Mihawk said. "Once he can use Haki whenever he wants, he'll be able to train that refined Haki he used to crack my sword."
"Yes, we believe he will," Amisu agreed.
"But he makes enemies like he's in a hurry to die..." Mihawk warned. "When the Marines find out he's built a force here, they'll send a large fleet."
"...Yes," Amisu acknowledged, gripping her sword tightly.
"The Captain seems to think he needs to build a large force as quickly as possible," she added.
"I heard," Mihawk said. "Though he didn't tell me the details..." He looked towards the palace, towards the simple room Kuro used as a temporary headquarters. "Nico Robin. I heard rumors about the Ohara incident, but I didn't know the government feared history that much..."
"Even in the sea battle before you arrived, they seemed very focused on her," Amisu confirmed.
"Honestly, if I had known such a big war was happening..." Mihawk trailed off. Amisu glared at Mihawk, wondering if he just wanted to join the fight, but he ignored her.
"Anyway," Mihawk continued, "it's almost certain we'll have a major battle with the Marines at some point. Kuro will be busy organizing things here. If we drill the Haki basics into him now while he still has time, he'll reach a level where he won't be easily stopped."
Amisu remembered the duel between the man in front of her and their captain...
"Don't let your guard down, Guard Captain," Mihawk said suddenly, his hawk-like eyes staring straight into hers.
"There is always someone stronger," he stated. "Even now, there are plenty of people in the sea stronger than I am."
"...Honestly, I find that hard to believe," Amisu admitted. "To me, you seem like someone impossibly far above."
"You will meet them eventually," Mihawk said. "Not just purely strong enemies, but enemies you never imagined."
"Don't get careless, Amisu," he warned. "The sea is vast, the world is wide, and the top is always far away. Those who forget that... are the first to die."
—
"Honestly, this request came from a troublesome place," a large man wearing a helmet-like mask grumbled, drinking and looking at a map inside a special ship.
"If it were in the East, it would just be over one wall. But the West requires more arrangements... If the pay wasn't so high, I would have refused."
The request came from several affiliated countries in the West Blue... The job was to eliminate a certain pirate crew and take back the island they controlled... So, the request came to this man, who was famous as a 'Warmonger'.
"A kid with a bounty over 100 million. Impressive skill to back it up, I'll give him that..." the man mused. The map the man was looking at showed a specific area of the West Blue...
"Oh well," he sighed. "If I think of it as a field test for the first batch of soldiers, there's more to gain than just money." Next to the map were four wanted posters: the boy pirate leader and his subordinates.
"'Silent Step' Kuro," the man read aloud. "It's a shame to crush young potential,"
"But you will serve as fuel for Germa's long-held wish."
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