"Hii... iii...!"
The Black Cat Pirates had grown through raids on human trafficking operations, with many of their crew members being people they had rescued from being sold as merchandise. This was how the crew had expanded since its founding.
Everyone, including the elite guard with their high combat prowess and training, knew the terror of being enslaved.
They were people who understood the fear of being exposed to violence, the ease of surrendering to it, and the relief of being dominated.
To ensure they would never fall into such circumstances again, they had risen up. They learned to handle weapons like swords and guns from the elite guard members, trained themselves, and fought alongside them against numerous raiders.
But now, an enemy had appeared against whom they were completely helpless.
No matter what raider they had faced before, even a grazing blade would draw blood and make them flinch.
Yet these enemy soldiers showed no fear whatsoever.
What's more, blades couldn't even penetrate them, and bullets that should have hit simply fell to the ground with soft plinking sounds.
Even when they managed to pierce through with desperate determination, the enemy continued fighting calmly with the blade still embedded in them.
Not everyone could maintain their fighting spirit after witnessing such a sight.
Especially on this front line, where the limited elite guard was desperately holding the gaps, morale was beginning to drop.
"N-no good...!"
The eerie soldiers, all bearing identical faces, turned their weapons toward the pirates who were beginning to succumb to fear, their expressions uniformly blank.
"Gah! Don't retreat! Close in and push them back!"
Several of the clone soldiers were pierced by black light-wrapped arrows that came flying from somewhere, killing them instantly as they collapsed.
"Out of my way!"
The comrades who could barely scratch these enemies with ordinary weapons were easily dispatched. The girl who had fired those arrows, clearly a high-threat target, was targeted in return. But as she landed on the crumbling front line, one enemy she had failed to finish with her Haki-enhanced bow was punched away, then kicked aside.
"Sister!"
"Continue! We shall mow down the enemy and inspire our troops! Show them the pride of Kuja warriors!"
"Yes!"
Two more girls leaped forward, wielding a great axe and halberd respectively, blowing away enemy soldiers and momentarily stabilizing the wavering battle line.
The girl at the front, unlike the other crew members, wore no jacket over her blouse, instead sporting a leather breastplate bearing the Black Cat's brand, shouted out:
"Soldiers of the Black Cat! Do not be overwhelmed!"
While these enemies were manageable for Kuja warriors, their sheer numbers meant no room for carelessness.
Boa Hancock enhanced an arrow directly with Haki, thrust it into the heart of the enemy before her, then nocked it to her bow and took aim, piercing through.
"The enemy is indeed strong! These creatures refuse to stop fighting with unnerving persistence! Even when they're already half-dead!"
The arrow that penetrated the enemy soldier's heart continued through to pierce the chest of another soldier behind him.
Yet that soldier continued moving calmly.
Despite blood flowing from the wound, he lunged at Hancock, only to be finally stopped by a strike from Marigold's great axe.
"But! They are not invincible! No matter how tough their bodies, there are limits to their flesh! No matter how strong, they still have only two arms and two legs each! Maintain formation and endure!"
She pointed with her bow toward a distant location.
There, clone soldiers who had been slashed and rendered immobile were being swept up and blown away as if caught in a tornado.
"Look! The Captain and the others are cutting down the enemy forces! That's why we can fight without worrying about our backs! Once they finish carving through, they'll come to our aid! Remember, this is a battle we can win!"
Even as Hancock rallied the troops with such encouragement, she felt anxiety within.
Not fear of the enemy, but anxiety about whether she was doing well in her role.
This was her first experience commanding large numbers in battle, rather than fighting as a single warrior, a mere piece on the board.
Strength alone wasn't enough. She was learning firsthand the enormous influence of morale and how difficult it was to maintain.
If this were a Kuja ship, it would be essentially family only.
On a ship unified by the warrior culture of Kuja, the island of warriors, such concerns wouldn't arise.
How's that?! Have they rallied a bit?!
At that moment, as if to sweep away her anxiety, the enemy formation exploded.
Enemy soldiers were blown away by successive explosions, and while not dealing fatal blows, the attacks were definitely dulling their movements' sharpness.
"Perona!"
As she shouted, she felt a familiar sensation at her neck.
It was Robin's ability.
'Sorry for the delay. We're increasing the density of artillery support from our side. The interception of the enemy general has also begun, so we're repositioning the elite guard and personnel from the withdrawn battle line accordingly... Captain's orders!'
"Understood! My gratitude!"
Marigold swung her great axe horizontally, Sandersonia swept with her halberd, breaking apart the enemy formation.
An arrow charged with Haki from Hancock struck the forehead of what appeared to be a unit commander among the soldiers beyond, and he collapsed.
Simultaneously, cannon fire rang out, blowing away clusters of enemy soldiers.
So Kuro was watching the same thing too.
Before she knew it, a man in a suit and coat different from the Black Cat's stood there.
Various parts of his body opened like doors, revealing small figures holding cannons and guns.
"You're... Bege, right?! Weren't you supposed to be on artillery support?"
"Well, those bastards were pretty much ignoring us artillery types. I figured the ship crews alone, including your escort vessels, were enough to hamper the enemy ships' movements."
The man, Capone Bege, was still smoking his cigar with a fearless smile despite the situation.
"Besides, my ship isn't sturdy enough yet to fully utilize my ability. I had one of your fishmen carry me to the place where I could be most effective. Now then, eat this, Germa!"
Capone Bege had eaten the Castle-Castle Fruit, making him a Castle Human.
His weapons were the fortress-like durability of his body and the soldiers literally waiting inside.
"I've been wanting to test-fire those fancy cannons you gave me anyway!"
The small cannonballs fired from his body suddenly returned to their original size once they traveled a certain distance from Bege's body, blowing away enemy soldiers.
"Clear the area, pirates! I'm making this my stronghold!"
And his greatest weapon was literally becoming a castle himself.
Big Father!
Suddenly, a massive castle materialized on the deck, wide enough to serve as a battlefield.
With gun ports everywhere, it delivered steady artillery damage to the Germa soldiers trying to crush the pirates through sheer density, even if not dealing killing blows.
'I've got our ship's doctor waiting inside along with soldiers! Get any wounded in there!'
"Argh! If you have such an ability, you should have said so beforehand! You're just like that blockhead Mihawk!"
Some confusion was visible among allies as well as enemies.
Naturally, since a massive structure of unknown allegiance had suddenly appeared.
"Everyone! Our ally has established a stronghold here! The battle turns in our favor!"
As a mobile fighter and someone treated as an officer within the Black Cat crew, Hancock raised her voice to calm the troops in her role as a commander.
"Push them back! If we lose, everything will be taken from us! If we flee, we lose everything! Then victory is our only path!"
"PUSH FORWARD!"
***
"Don't mess with me...!"
Daz easily parried what was probably meant to be a killing thrust from a sharp spear.
Certainly, among the opponents Daz had fought so far, this one ranked in the upper tiers in terms of skill.
But he's nowhere near Captain or Mihawk.
The high-speed movement was still trackable by eye, and even when the enemy disappeared from view, his location was clear from sound.
If this were Captain Kuro, he would be invisible in the first place and make no sound, making it genuinely difficult to even defend without sharpening all five senses to their limit.
"Don't mess with me!"
The quality of attacks was also far inferior to Mihawk's.
Daz was confident that even if he took a hundred of these strikes, his defense would never be breached.
If this were Mihawk, just drawing his sword would send sword intent so chilling it would freeze one's spine.
"You, with a bounty of only 15 million?! What kind of joke is this?!"
"I share that sentiment."
Crackle, the enemy's spear, wielded by Vinsmoke Judge, began wreathing itself in electricity.
The voltage was at a level that would not just electrocute an ordinary person on contact, but actually burn them to death...
"Electromagnetic Shaft!"
"Supa Supa Spider!"
The 'Bladed Steel' calmly received the electricity-wrapped strike, and all the electrical current passed through Daz's steel-transformed body and flowed directly into the ground.
"Damn you!"
"A while ago, this would have left me unable to move... but fortunately, Captain uses similar techniques, so I'm used to it. Too bad for you."
Captain Kuro's strike-enhancement technique, Winter Cat, which temporarily wreathed his feet in powerful electricity by spinning at high speed and turning his body into a kind of turbine.
Having participated in practice sessions for that technique many times, Daz had drilled countermeasures against electricity into his body.
When Judge realized electricity was meaningless, he wrapped his spear in Haki and swung it, but all his attacks were parried as Daz transformed his arms and legs into blades one after another.
Those transformed limbs weren't the dull silver color of typical blades, but were dyed black.
"To think someone with such training proficiency, even using Haki, is merely a subordinate..."
"I should mention there are five others stronger than me. Including Captain."
The swordsman he and the elite guard had challenged countless times to improve himself: Mihawk the Marine Hunter.
The Haki user who mastered all weapons, still beyond his reach: Boa Hancock and her sisters.
And... the 'Silent Step' Captain Kuro, whose overwhelming speed combined with Haki had grown to the point where no one but Mihawk could serve as a training partner.
The strong ones he still couldn't reach, whom he continued to challenge in order to surpass them.
The core of the Black Cat crew was no longer Daz alone.
While this made Daz feel somewhat lonely, as someone now leading many crew members, it was also a source of relief.
Meanwhile, for Judge, who had understood from advance intelligence that only the ringleader Kuro and the Marine Hunter traveling with him for some reason would be troublesome, the depth of their officer-class layer was completely unexpected.
"Damn it! I cannot allow mere pirates to halt Germa's advance!"
"...Sixty-six days of glory. Royalty driven from their homeland... was it?"
"That's right! I carry the souls of three hundred years of resentment from those who couldn't even set foot on their homeland's soil!"
The spear, now carrying somewhat more weight, still couldn't reach 'Bladed Steel.'
"For that research! For that funding! For Germa 66!"
Strikes, thrusts, and sweeps with the spear.
Daz calmly parried this series of attacks.
"I've destroyed entire nations! Made those who paid us win! Destroyed nation after nation that couldn't pay! So many of them!"
"So why can't I crush a single crew of pirates?!"
Daz Bonez could see it.
The man who had fought alongside Kuro from the very beginning could see it clearly.
"Different caliber."
"Caliber?!"
"That's right."
Daz recalled the day he first met the man called Kuro.
"You claim the restoration of your nation as your dearest wish, yet all that comes from your mouth is talk of money and destroying other countries."
"...!"
"In contrast, our Captain has been trying to move with an eye toward the era itself from the day we met, not for money, nations, or satisfying desires."
"Your current caliber doesn't even reach Captain Kuro's feet."
***
'Daz Bonez!'
This takes us back a little in time, to when Kuro and Daz Bonez crossed blades.
'Come overturn the world with me!'
This was when Kuro, internally sweating bullets, decided to make him a comrade.
'This meeting is destiny!'
'...Overturning the world is quite the bold claim.'
Daz Bonez looked at this bounty head called Kuro with suspicious eyes.
He looked like nothing more than a con artist.
'How do you plan to overturn the world? Are you aiming for the One Piece treasure?'
'No, I believe the One Piece only has meaning when obtained by the right person. I'm not suitable for it.'
When he asked casually, expecting a typical answer, he got something that deviated slightly from his expectations.
The man began speaking about specifics as if he had some idea what the One Piece actually was.
This piqued Daz's interest in this bounty head called Kuro just a little.
'...Then what are you after?'
'Daz Bonez. How much do you know about the Grand Line?'
Slightly irritated at having his question answered with a question, but figuring it was probably necessary, he shook his head.
'...Just that it's the pirates' sea where the One Piece is said to be.'
'I see... Listen. The Grand Line is...'
Kuro then began explaining the Grand Line.
How each island possessed unique magnetic properties, rendering compasses useless.
How navigation required either a Log Pose that recorded an island's magnetism and pointed to the next island, or an Eternal Pose that permanently recorded an island's magnetism.
'In other words, the routes through the Grand Line are somewhat predetermined. This means pirates clash and destroy each other depending on their routes. Travel between islands is also difficult, so cultures and technologies remain isolated and develop uniquely.'
The surprisingly clear explanation of the Grand Line was quite interesting for Daz, who only knew the West Blue.
He could sense, if only vaguely, that this wasn't a lie.
'So I'm going to create a shortcut through there.'
'How?'
'There's an island called Jaya in the first half of the Grand Line.'
'...Jaya.'
'Yeah, there's an interesting bird there. The South Bird, which always faces south... no, can only face south.'
The story suddenly became incredibly dubious, and Daz found himself giving a deadpan stare, but Kuro continued.
'Since it can only face south, you can determine general direction with it. Well, it would still be a difficult sea, but you could navigate the Grand Line almost like a normal sea.'
'...And you want to create a shortcut with that? Make money from a new route?'
'No, that's not it.'
'I'll transport technology and culture.'
Daz found his mouth hanging open in surprise.
Shouldn't he be transporting profitable goods instead?
'There are such places in the four seas too, but the Grand Line has highly developed technologies and such that have spread only on their respective islands. For example, the kingdom of Drum has advanced medical technology, Water 7 has shipbuilding technology. Of course, there's nothing to be done about things they intend to monopolize from the start, but...'
'If even a portion of useful technology spreads to the outside world, the world would become more stable. The number of people who become pirates seeking quick riches might decrease. More serious hunger and... poverty could... even if only slightly, perhaps...'
'The new route using South Birds, and the Seastone I used on you earlier. This is said to be crystallized sea power, and if you line a ship's bottom with it, you can pass through the Calm Belt.'
'Using these, I will partially liberate the Grand Line.'
It was a pipe dream.
Daz couldn't be blamed for thinking so.
But Kuro was dead serious.
Kuro, who knew of a future where a certain clown pirate would possess something called a Grand Line sea chart, believed it was possible.
'If useful technologies developed in the Grand Line spread... there would be chaos. But places that become prosperous would definitely emerge too. At worst, we could occupy them as pirates and force the technology on them, then flee as criminals.'
'If technology stabilizes life and unknown cultures expand entertainment options, quality of life improves. It might be only partial and truly temporary, but perhaps we could create an era of peace.'
'In this Age of Pirates born from the One Piece, we could drive a small wedge of peace and stability with our own hands.'
'The Pirate King... and the World Government, the Celestial Dragons, some of the great pirates are creating the flow of this era. A half-baked person like me might be able to land a small but real blow against that flow. Thinking about it...'
'Doesn't that sound a bit satisfying?'
A pirate speaking of incredibly grand pipe dreams in the manner of discussing something trivial.
Seeing this, Daz Bonez couldn't help but burst out laughing.
At home he was exposed to violence, and even after leaving, everything he encountered involved violence.
Daz, who could barely remember ever laughing, definitely laughed at that moment.
'Well, naturally, since we're pirates, we'll make a little profit in the pirate way... What do you say?'
'Good grief. When nonsense reaches that level, it becomes something impressive.'
Even as he said this, the small bounty hunter was internally sighing.
If he laughed, he'd lost, he thought.
Even as he thought that.
***
10 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/Well_being