The emotions affect the temperature of Torracat's flames. During battle, its emotions become even more intense. You could say Torracat's ability was born for combat.
Moreover, these emotions aren't necessarily anger, excitement, sadness, or joy. As long as they aren't calm like still water, Torracat's fire won't be affected.
"They're here again! That monster's caught up to us!"
"Damn it, we just got that treasure and now we've lost it. They're still not satisfied? What the hell do these monsters want?!"
Jingle~ jingle~
The pirates cursed Wolff for attacking them as they fled, frantically moving their legs. After a long stretch of cross-country running, their stamina was nearing its limit, but from beginning to end, they had never managed to shake off the pursuers behind them.
On one side were the rookie pirates from West Blue. They were originally mountain bandits who ruled over several islands in West Blue. They were all ordinary people, with no particularly powerful individuals among them.
But as the chaos caused by pirates grew, driven by greed and desire, they too set off in search of that legendary treasure and thus embarked on the path of pirates.
On the other side were the Minks who grew up in the New World. They were unique Psychics who were further empowered by their own abilities.
According to King, on a biological level, these pirates were no match for Wolff and Meowna.
"They're here!!"
The sound of the bell was close at hand, but they no longer had time to prepare. A fist wrapped in flames struck the last pirate's head. Just one hit and he lost consciousness.
"Stop running! We can't outrun him! Let's fight and see if we can take him down!"
"I don't want to be a pirate anymore! This isn't the pirate life I imagined! If you want to fight, go ahead, I'm not dying for this!"
Some wanted to make a desperate last stand, while others wanted to flee, but in moments like this, running off alone often only hastens one's demise.
Whoosh!
A vine whipped out. At the end of the vine were three special ball-like structures. Though it was a plant, it acted like a flail and instantly knocked the pirate unconscious.
"Idiot, that monster was never alone to begin with, and you still dared to run off on your own."
The vine belonged to Meowna, and it was Floragato's ability. Floragato hides vines beneath its fur and can skillfully control them like yo-yos, whipping them at enemies from under its long body hair.
Moreover, its soft fur can instantly harden during battle, forming a protective shell like steel needles. With the guidance and enhancement of the power of Aura, Meowna's control over the vines became even more precise, and the force they released was even greater.
"Damn it… we didn't offend you anyway! Why are you coming after us?!"
"Didn't you kill the people on that merchant ship before? Did they do anything to you?"
"Did you know someone on that ship? If not, then what does their life or death have to do with you?!"
"You…"
"Wolff, you're talking too much."
The pursued pirates couldn't understand why monsters like these were targeting them. Wolff was about to respond, but Zeraora's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
"I understand, Dad."
Giving up on the idea of communicating, the bell on Wolff's chest rang out again. Accompanied by flames, he used his superb physical skills to defeat his opponent, and then used Meowna's ability to tie them up.
"Wolff, Meowna."
"Out at sea, you'll encounter all kinds of situations. But as long as you've confirmed someone is your enemy, don't bother trying to reason with them.
Talk less, do more. If you can win, fight. If you can't, find a way to escape. Talking too much leads to mistakes. Wasting words on enemies only gives them opportunities."
It was Wolff's first real battle against an enemy. Zeraora was doing his best to pass on what he knew, hoping his child would avoid taking the long road.
"But Mr. Kaido always talks a lot when he fights..."
"That's because he's powerful. If the two of you reach our level of strength, you can also choose to persuade others with words. However, when facing enemies, fists will always be more effective than words."
"Next, let's head to the Marine branch in West Blue. These people are worth several hundred thousand Berries, consider it your pocket money."
A bounty of several hundred thousand Berries is no different from cannon fodder in the Grand Line, and it's not considered impressive even in the Four Seas.
After all, even the weakest East Blue has an average bounty of 3 million Berries. An amount in the hundreds of thousands is already far below average.
Zeraora chose enemies of this level purely to see what rookie mistakes they would make in battle. Such mistakes are often more fatal, and it's better to discover them early.
Meowna and Wolff both had clean records, so entering a Marine branch directly wouldn't cause any issues. After smoothly exchanging the bounties for their pocket money, Zeraora began upgrading their training.
From now on, their battles would no longer be against small fry, but against opponents capable of fighting back.
The New World was still too early for them, so Zeraora lingered with them in West Blue for a few more days before heading to the first half of the Grand Line. During this journey, they also saw new headlines in the newspaper.
[Jack the Drought]
The newspaper's headline was very concise, but anyone who followed pirate news could extract the key information: "Calamity" had become an exclusive title for senior officers of the Beasts Pirates. Apart from their senior officers, no outsider would be referred to as a Calamity.
"1,329,000,000 Berries. Dad, Brother Jack's bounty is higher than yours."
"That kind of thing doesn't matter. Don't put too much faith in bounties. At best, they're just estimates. Queen is a good example. He doesn't actually have that kind of skill."
Jack's bounty had already exceeded 1 billion before this, but after becoming a Calamity, the Marines still raised his bounty. That's the Marine's attitude. Raising a bounty means they're still keeping an eye on the person.
If they stop raising a bounty, it means the World Government has given up on targeting that person.
They might even downplay their existence to protect their own reputation, just like how they handle the prisoners of Impel Down's Level 6, only taking action in secret.
But this time, the newspaper report was very unusual. It only mentioned Jack's promotion to Calamity and didn't mention anything else.
It wasn't that the Marines didn't dare mention Fullalead, but rather, the World Government had other plans regarding this incident.
One of them concerned Law's identity as a Shichibukai. One hundred pirate hearts is an intimidating display, especially since, according to intelligence, each of these pirates had a bounty of at least several tens of millions of Berries.
This show of attitude and deterrence led the World Government to agree to grant him the final Shichibukai position. In their eyes, pirates who behave tactfully have become fewer and fewer lately.
And the other matter was the details surrounding Fullalead.
There was no way they would report it truthfully. Saying that pirate mercenaries rescued the hostages while the Marines simply reaped the rewards, those words would be far too humiliating. Just like with the God Valley and Alabasta incidents, they needed to downplay the pirates and emphasize the Marines' achievements.
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