Sea Calendar 1461, February.
The New World.
It had been over a month since leaving Elbaf. During this time, aside from stopping once at some unknown small island, they had spent most of their time at sea.
The reason for their extended voyage was simple yet embarrassing.
"We're out of money!"
Sitting on the Black Pearl's fishing platform, Silas's expression was incredibly grave.
In Elbaf, they had eaten the giants' food and used their resources. When truly hungry, they could hunt in the forest. Elbaf's jungles never lacked prey, as long as you had the ability to hunt them.
But once at sea, problems arose immediately.
As Devil Fruit users, both Silas and Ripley were helpless in water, unable to dive for fish. Surface fishing alone proved woefully inadequate. Rather than satisfying meals, they faced the constant threat of hunger every few days.
Originally, Silas still had several million Belly in savings, but he had given all that money to Carmel as a down payment for bringing Charlotte Linlin aboard when the time came.
As for the bounty from Blood Skull Farrell's head that he had obtained half a year ago, although Silas had entrusted two giant bounty hunters to collect it, he had set sail again before they returned with the payment.
"Our pirate crew is actually short on money?" Ripley asked, her eyes widening in disbelief.
In her view, even if the White Wolf Pirates did not have enough money to buy several countries, they surely would not fall to the point of being completely broke, right?
Blood Skull Farrell had thought the same thing.
"Before disbanding the crew, we did have some savings, but after dividing all the money fairly among the crew members, my share was only enough for an old man to live out his remaining years," Silas explained with complete helplessness.
"So now we need to figure out how to make money."
"That's simple!" Hearing this, Rocks's eyes lit up, and an evil smile appeared on his face. "Just find a couple of merchant ships to rob and... Ow!"
Rocks clutched his head, glaring at Silas. "Why did you hit me?"
"Because you are embarrassing!" Silas looked at Rocks with a cold sneer. "Our crew has never had the habit of bullying the weak."
"Then what do we do?" Rocks spread his hands in frustration. "If we do not rob merchant ships, should we rob pirates instead?"
"That is actually an option," Silas did not deny the suggestion.
Pirates preying on other pirates was a natural part of life on these seas. Even if the opposing crew did not have anything particularly valuable, what about their captain's head?
Any pirate crew active in the New World had a captain with a bounty exceeding ten million Belly.
"However, that is just a temporary measure," Silas continued, putting down his fishing rod and spreading his arms wide, embracing the vast sea.
"If pirates want to get rich, of course they need to claim territory!"
In the New World, whether a pirate's reputation was truly impressive depended on how many pirates they could intimidate and how many countries they could protect.
Only by possessing "territory" of their own could a pirate crew truly establish a lasting foothold in the New World.
"The former White Wolf Pirates only needed to manage one crew, so there was no need to expand. But now it is different."
Silas's eyes blazed with the light called "ambition."
"My footsteps will never stop at occupying just a corner. If time has not made me stop, then these seas cannot either!"
"I will rule these oceans!"
In front of Rocks and Ripley, Silas did not hide his overwhelming ambition.
In the past, he had once fantasized about changing this world, but he had failed. His insufficient strength had forced him to stagnate and eventually retreat.
Now it was different.
With Admiral-level combat power, Silas truly possessed the ability to face Marine encirclement head-on and had the capital to negotiate with the World Government.
Admittedly, this level of strength could not truly put him on equal footing with the World Government and Marines, but it meant Silas had taken a solid step on his own path toward dominance.
Laugh Tale? Who cared about such things?
In this time period, with the future Pirate King Roger still years away from beginning his voyage, the legendary final island remained purely symbolic rather than a tangible goal.
Silas had initially thought what he wanted to pursue was a path like Pirate King Roger's. But looking at it now, what he wanted to do was not much different from the future Rocks D. Xebec!
"Sorry, Rocks," Silas said, looking directly at his young crewmate.
Previously, he had thought Rocks was a loser who competed with Roger for the title of Pirate King. That was wrong. The two had never been on the same track from beginning to end, so how could there be victory or defeat?
If we are talking about losing, the future Rocks lost to the World Government, lost to his own arrogance, not to Roger.
And now, the path he wanted to walk was remarkably similar to that of Rocks.
"Perhaps in the future, we will become enemies!"
Silas did not plan to deceive Rocks. If he did not even have the capacity to accommodate his subordinates' ambitions, then he did not deserve to become an overlord of the seas.
Hearing Silas's words, Rocks burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, you old bastard! If that day really comes, I will definitely spare your life and let you live out your old age in peace."
Rocks just kept laughing, laughing until tears nearly came out.
Who would personally train their own future enemy?
But Rocks could tell that Silas was not joking. If he still wanted to become an overlord of the seas, then he would definitely clash with Silas in the future, and eventually they would become enemies.
He also heard that Silas had no intention of suppressing him. Silas was looking forward to it. Looking forward to him becoming stronger, looking forward to him challenging himself.
"When that time comes, I will not show mercy!"
"Haha, if you lose, then just obediently be my intern for life!"
Silas and Rocks picked up their wine cups and clinked them lightly in a toast to their future conflict.
Then they heard a resentful voice interrupt their moment.
"Hey, did you two forget about me?"
Ripley looked at the two who had completely forgotten about fishing, her face full of dissatisfaction. "When it comes to ambition, mine will not lose to yours!"
"Oh?" Hearing Ripley say this, Silas immediately became interested, and even Rocks could not help but prick up his ears.
"Hehe, it is that I..." Ripley began.
Woooooo!
A sudden ship's horn drowned out Ripley's voice. Not only did Ripley pout in frustration, but even Silas and Rocks could not help but frown.
Because what appeared before them was a massive steamship with most of its hull armored in iron plating. Not just Rocks and Ripley, even Silas rarely saw such ships on the seas.
In the pirate world, where sailing ships were still mainstream, steamships basically only existed in a few technologically advanced countries. Even Marine warships were not fully equipped with the steam boilers unique to steamships.
But all three could clearly see the flag flying prominently on the steamship.
The symbol on the flag was cross-shaped, with circles at the four points and center, and a line of text below the cross.
[WORLD GOVT.]
This was the flag representing the World Government, bearing the World Government's official symbol!
[Chapter Complete]
***
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