Chapter 179: How to Define a "Good Pirate"
In the grand hall of the castle, Louis had the prototype Flügels take the unselected Devil Fruits back to the warehouse for secret storage.
Uta stretched lazily from Louis's shoulder, then sat down on the sofa, her gaze falling on the treasure chests being carried away by the prototype Flügels.
After a moment, she tilted her head, a puzzled look on her face. "Hey, Louis."
"What is it?" Louis turned his head.
"Why do you think Gerd and the others didn't choose that Logia? And that one the World Government valued should also be a very powerful fruit, right?" Uta believed that the Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit and the fruit that the World Government prized were very strong, but that none of the three giants had chosen either of them, which made her quite confused.
To this, Louis, after some thought, gave his subjective opinion. "They probably just felt that the fruits they chose were more suitable for them. If you want to know the specific reason, you'll have to ask them yourself."
Hearing this, Uta pouted and idly toyed with the two-toned hair hanging in front of her chest. She felt that Louis was just brushing her off; his answer was the same as saying nothing.
But in the blink of an eye, Uta tossed these thoughts aside and said pointedly, "Louis, Shirahoshi wants to come here to see us. What do you think?"
Hearing this, Louis felt it was quite strange. "Will Neptune and Jinbe allow her to come to the surface world?" Louis felt that this was not something they would agree to. The reason was simple: the world on the sea was still too unfriendly to merfolk and fish-men. Even the World Government was secretly persecuting them. Not to mention, Shirahoshi also had the identity of the Ancient Weapon Poseidon. If she rashly appeared before the World Government's eyes, she might be assassinated.
Uta shook her head and then put on a reminiscent look. "This is a wish that Shirahoshi brought up when we were talking. She hasn't told Neptune and the others yet."
After serious consideration, Louis gave an affirmative answer. "In another year or two. I feel that my fruit ability has already reached the verge of awakening. In another year or two, my strength and influence will have expanded to a considerable degree. At that time, even if I move the entire Fish-Man Island over, I will be able to protect it."
"A year or two?" Uta pondered. "Okay! The next time we talk, I'll tell Shirahoshi this good news!"
"But—" Uta raised an eyebrow, a hint of curiosity in her amethyst-like eyes, "Louis, after your fruit awakens, will it be like that Paramecia user Doflamingo, and assimilate the surrounding environment?"
Louis shook his head. "According to my estimations, after the Life-Life Fruit awakens, it will probably be about creating true life, a brand-new species."
"True life—" Uta heard this, a thoughtful look on her face.
Suddenly, Louis thought of the unfamiliar auras lingering on Dressrosa and asked Uta, "Uta, the unfamiliar pirates who are currently wandering around Dressrosa... are those the ones you screened?"
Louis's words brought Uta back to her senses, and she nodded firmly. "That's right! They are now all pirate crews under the flag of the Archangel Pirates! Right now, you are also a pirate admiral with many fleets and forces!"
"How many people are there specifically?" Louis was more concerned with the practical numbers.
Hearing this, the expression on Uta's face froze and became visibly awkward. In the end, she gave a somewhat embarrassed estimate, "About a thousand people—"
"A thousand..." Louis mused. This was a rather small number, even fewer than the 1,600 people in the 16 divisions of the Whitebeard Pirates. And Whitebeard had over 50,000 pirates under his flag. In the future, Kaido would have over 30,000 subordinates. And Big Mom, with all of Totto Land, the pirates under her command, and her special Homie soldiers, probably had a combined combat power that could rival Whitebeard's.
Although Louis had only just begun to accept pirates seeking refuge, a mere thousand people was indeed a bit few.
Seeing his expression, Uta explained awkwardly, "Actually, there were many pirates who expressed their willingness to join us. But after I used my illusions to dissect their pasts, I just told them to get lost. If I wasn't worried that word would get out and no one would come to seek refuge with us, I would have even wanted to annihilate them all right there!" Uta said, her face dark, indicating that those pirates who indiscriminately slaughtered civilians would only make food more expensive by living in the world.
Seeing this, Louis reached out and stroked Uta's head, soothing her grim thoughts. "Is that so? When you're a pirate for a long time, you tend to forget what kind of group pirates are. Then how did you manage to pick out as many as a thousand people?" After hearing Uta's explanation, Louis also recalled the viciousness of pirates, and he was a little surprised that a thousand people had managed to pass Uta's screening.
Are there a thousand "good pirates" in the New World? Louis was a little skeptical.
Louis's words made Uta's face turn even darker. It took her a good while to reply with an indescribable expression, "Don't even mention it. After eliminating a batch of people in a row, I realized that there are almost no good people among pirates. So, to avoid having no one under my command, I had to lower some of the conditions a little."
"What conditions?" A hint of curiosity flashed in Louis's eyes. He had always left this matter to his partners, and had never even specified the standards, relying entirely on the person handling it to grasp the situation.
"Those who don't persecute or indiscriminately slaughter civilians. Those who will leave some food and water for merchant ships to prevent them from starving to death. Those who don't do anything other than seek profit and food. As long as they meet these conditions, I've temporarily accepted them," Uta said, her face as black as the bottom of a pot.
It was hard to imagine that these guys, who in her view were unpardonably wicked, were actually considered "good pirates" among the general pirate population. It wasn't until a short while ago that Uta had truly realized just how rare a clear stream like Shanks and the Roger Pirates was. In the past, Uta had thought it was just that the sea was vast and she hadn't met them. But when she dissected the pirates' memories, she knew she had simply been thinking too much. Robbing without killing, and leaving enough food and water to prevent the merchant crew from starving to death... that was already an extremely rare "good pirate."
"Even with those conditions, there were still as many as a thousand people?" Louis was extremely surprised. Since when did the pirate population have so many good people?
"Is a thousand a lot?" Uta stared with her amethyst-like eyes, her face full of disbelief.
"Based on the standards you set, being able to recruit a thousand people has already far exceeded my imagination," Louis replied concisely.
Uta: "..." Her face became even grimmer.
Louis took in her current appearance and, after some thought, said in a deep voice, "From now on, just follow your standards for accepting pirates. Or if you want to set them higher, that's fine too."
Uta heard him, looked up, and asked subconsciously, "But if we do that, the pirates under our command will be far fewer than those of the other monsters—"
To this, Louis's gaze fell on the several prototype Flügels that had returned to a corner of the main hall. "It's fine," he said pointedly. "It's just a small number of people, it's not a big deal. When I awaken, I'll just create a powerful species and use them as our military force. Didn't Big Mom also use those Homie soldiers as pirates? What she can do, I can do too. And I can do it better."
Louis felt that since they didn't have an advantage in numbers, he would just create a batch of powerful creatures that could each fight a hundred. Not to mention, Louis still had several powerful, disaster-class Fantasy Species in his hands. Most grunts were no different from ants in front of them. Louis's original intention in recruiting pirates was just on the basis of "the more the merrier." If he didn't have them, it wasn't a big deal.
Uta heard him and nodded thoughtfully.
On a deserted island near Dressrosa.
Hanafuda looked at the traces of the sea wash nearby, and at the mountain that had been cut with a smooth-as-a-mirror slice not far away, and fell into thought. "This seems to be one of the trafficker bases that was rumored to have been destroyed by Archangel Louis."
Nearby, Kaido of the Beasts, his body wrapped in many bandages, sat on the ground, tilting his head back and pouring a large gulp of sake into his mouth.
Seeing this, Hanafuda shook his head. "In your condition, is it really okay to be drinking so much?"
Hearing this, Kaido took the giant gourd from his mouth and let out a burp. "What nonsense are you talking about, Hanafuda?! If I stop drinking, there are only two possibilities: either my throat has been cut open, or my stomach has been pierced."
Hanafuda sighed at the sight. "After all these years, you're still like this."
Kaido heard him, and a ferocious smile curled at the corners of his mouth. "You're more or less the same, Hanafuda."
Suddenly, as if he'd remembered something, Kaido's whole body jolted. "That's right! Where are your two kids and the Triceratops fruit?"
Hanafuda heard him and took out a wooden box from behind him, tossing it to Kaido. "Should I say thank you for still remembering them?"
Kaido heard him, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile that showed not the slightest remorse. "Looks like they're fine, right?"
"Yes." Hanafuda took out two Vivre Cards with Ulti's and Page One's names on them from the interlayer of his hat. He looked at the unharmed Vivre Cards, and the worry in his heart dropped to a minimum.
"At the time, the flame cloud carrying them flew to where Big Sister Yamato was. She snatched the half that was carrying Ulti and Page One. Just then, you were smashed into the sea by a dozen islands, so I went to pull you out first."
Kaido heard this and raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "So your two brats are with Yelena? Her name is Yelena? You were right before, her name style really is different from Yamato's," Hanafuda added.
Kaido heard him, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "The name doesn't matter. Let's go. To Dressrosa. Let's go and talk to them, and pick up your kids while we're at it."
"Alright!" Hanafuda heard him and stood up, slinging his scythe and chain mace onto his back.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi on Kaido's body suddenly rang. Click. Kaido saw it, raised an eyebrow, and casually answered the call.
The next second, a voice that was familiar to both of them came from the Den Den Mushi. "Mr. Kaido, you must come back to the Land of Wano."
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