The warship slowly sailed away from the wreckage of the Chris, carrying two unconscious bodies. Since two people were injured, Weiss wasn't in a hurry to travel.
They replenished fresh water and supplies on the warship. Combined with Weiss's own hunting, there was no rush. The Chris drifted leisurely toward their destination.
By nightfall, the two injured finally woke up. For convenience, they were placed in the same room. Karina was tending to their wounds—but her methods seemed anything but gentle.
"Hsss—!"
"Ow—!"
The two men winced in pain as their wounds were redressed. They glanced at each other over Karina's back and muttered almost in unison:
"Did you piss her off?"
"I didn't!"
They lay there in silence, confused. The pain wasn't enough to distract from the shared question: When did we offend this woman?
A mere crewmember treating official sailors so roughly—it was outrageous!
Weiss walked in, carrying two portions of food and set them down in front of them. Feeding them? Not a chance. They'd have to eat it themselves. Without hesitation, the two dug in, completely forgetting their earlier grievances the moment they saw food.
...
...
To hell with women—food came first.
Watching the two scarf down their meals, Weiss once again marveled at their freakish vitality. On Blue Star, anyone this badly wounded would be lucky to survive—much less be up and eating after just one night of bandaging and rest.
Even that weakling Kadun was the same!
As they ate, Weiss spoke up. "You two are way too weak. So weak I don't even know how to describe it. I thought you'd at least be able to protect yourselves even if you couldn't win, but you got absolutely wrecked."
"You know how much the bounty was on the guy who beat you? Just over thirty million Berries(Lute's Bounty). And you still lost. What have you two been training, dog tricks?"
The two froze mid-bite, their eating slowing down. Their eyes flickered, and eventually they stopped eating altogether, awkwardly looking at Weiss.
He wasn't wrong. Even though they managed to destroy a pirate ship with a single shot, Jack knew luck played a part in it. If the enemy had been even a little more cautious, they could've easily intercepted the cannonball.
And still, the surviving captain and fighters had thrashed them so thoroughly they couldn't even fight back.
They were both deeply ashamed.
But they'd also forgotten—those opponents were seasoned pirates, veterans of the Grand Line.
In terms of both experience and strength, they were far outmatched.
"Look at you," Weiss said, turning to Jack. "You're supposed to be the best sharpshooter in East Blue. One ship blown up and you're already full of yourself—didn't even notice enemies boarding the ship. What's the point of your Observation Haki, huh? Decoration?"
"And you, Kadun," Weiss continued, "always bragging about being East Blue's top navigator. Navigators need combat skills too! In the New World, some navigators are strong enough to wipe the floor with all pirates in Paradise."
"Don't give me that crap about being caught off-guard or how navigators don't need to fight."
The two men bowed their heads, clearly chastised.
Weiss's tone softened. "Out here on the sea, survival is everything. If you can't stay alive, being 'number one' means nothing. A dead champion isn't a champion."
"And the only way to survive is strength—enough strength to crush every enemy in your way. Once you've recovered, I'm putting you through hellish training. If you can't handle it..."
"Then you're just not good enough."
With that, Weiss turned and left the cabin, leaving the two speechless and still staring at the floor.
Once they were sure Weiss was gone, they slowly raised their heads.
Kadun was the first to speak. "You closet sadist... Don't die in training, or I'm not burying your body."
"Shouldn't I be the one telling you that, weakling? You're not even good at fighting!"
"Who says navigators can't fight? Didn't you hear the captain? Some of them are monsters in the New World!" Kadun shot back indignantly.
"Hmm... maybe he was just being nice so he wouldn't crush your confidence," Jack mused.
"You bastard!"
"Loser!"
And so, despite their injuries, the two started brawling again.
Naturally, the reopened wounds earned them another harsh beating from Karina.
That night, the moon hid behind the clouds. Stars shimmered like flowing water, high above the sea. Weiss stepped onto the deck, folded up the sunshade, and reclined in a chair.
Scenes like this were rare in his previous life. Aside from seeing the Milky Way as a child, the stars had vanished by the time he was older—along with the little fish in the streambeds.
Tap, tap, tap...
Karina's footsteps approached. She flopped down in the chair next to him and, imitating Weiss, gazed up at the sky. Even out here on the ocean, views like this were rare.
Most days were either fighting pirates or braving storms—who had the time to stargaze?
"Did you finish re-bandaging them?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah," Karina replied casually. "Don't know why those two have such insane energy. You'd think they were teenagers, but they're already in their twenties—Kadun's twenty-five!"
"We're all still young on this sea."
"Ugh—gag!"
Karina suddenly dry-heaved.
"Wait—what?! You're pregnant? When did that happen? No way! You've only been on board for a month! That's too fast!"
"Don't even think of blaming us," Weiss said quickly, eyeing her with suspicion. "None of us are taking responsibility!"
A fist came flying at him, which he barely dodged.
"What the hell are you thinking? I'm only seventeen! How could I be pregnant, huh? You think I'm that kind of girl?!" Karina snapped. "You just made me want to puke with that dumb line. You're eighteen—of course you're young."
Then she looked at Weiss with narrowed eyes. "You're not thinking anything funny about me, are you?" She covered her chest—but quickly realized it didn't help.
Weiss blinked. What kind of move was that?
"No way. You're not my type," he said firmly. "Even if I had to jump overboard right now—even if Kaido himself fell from the sky—I still wouldn't like you!"
"Good," Karina said, satisfied, and lay back down to keep watching the stars.
Weiss didn't say anything more. His mind was already turning, planning out training methods for Jack and Kadun.
His expectations for Jack weren't high—he just needed to be able to beat the other Jack. They were close in age. Right now, there were about three years until Luffy set sail, and two until they'd meet that Jack (From the Beast Pirates).
That version of Jack would be twenty-eight—surprise! Based on the timeline, he should be twenty-five now. Only a three-year gap. With five years of training, there was no reason they couldn't surpass him.
As for Kadun... forget it. First step: toughen him up physically. After that, maybe toss him a Devil Fruit. Not expecting combat miracles—just don't be dead weight. As long as he can run for his life, that's enough.
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