'Ah, so beautiful and so strong,' Erik thought as he watched Akame skillfully steering the ship. 'She can cook, expertly handle a sailboat, and has mastered all kinds of wilderness survival knowledge. Akame is practically...'
'Wait a minute—doesn't that mean Akame is a one-woman crew? What am I even good for?' Erik was suddenly struck by the realization that he was nothing more than a moving burden, leaving him utterly shocked.
"Akame, do you need my help?" he asked ingratiatingly, sidling up to her. Akame shuddered slightly at his approach.
"Oh… Go watch the fishing rod. Don't let any fish get away," she replied, casually assigning him a task fit for a tool.
While watching the rod, Eric tried to multitask—learning how Akame handled the boat while also chatting. "Hey, Akame, do you know how to use Flying Slash?"
"What's that?"
"It's when your sword emits a wave of energy—a ranged attack."
"Never heard of it."
"That's odd. Your swordsmanship is clearly at swordsman-master level. Maybe it's because you're from another world?" Eric puzzled over her character sheet: Max Stats—Four Stars, Current Stats—Three Stars. "Why the downgrade? Maybe some condition has to be met to restore her full strength… Should we stop by Shimotsuki Village to study their sword techniques—and maybe meet that green-haired guy and his childhood friend Kuina?"
"What about Observation Haki?" Eric asked next. As the captain, he himself didn't have it—yet somehow his crew member did.
"Observation Haki?"
"Do you ever have a moment where your senses sharpen, and you can feel your enemies' presence and movements, almost like predicting their next move?"
"Yes," Akame said thoughtfully. "After I finished my undercover mission with the Sabatini Circus, I started getting those feelings during missions. They saved me from a few sneak attacks."
"Probably the result of her years as an assassin—instinct honed to the point it translated as Haki in this world," Eric speculated.
"Akame, we're heading to Shimotsuki Village. Are there any pirate rumors along that route?"
"Last month, the Henry Pirates attacked two merchant ships and a passenger vessel. They captured one. Their total bounty is 4.6 million Berries."
"Perfect! That'll be the first target of the Dawn Voyage Crew!" Without consulting Akame, Eric—who loved the Akatsuki from Naruto but didn't want to copy the name exactly—decided the name on the spot.
[Ding... You've got new mail]
[Temporary Mission: The best way to bond with comrades is by defeating a strong enemy together! Eliminate the Henry Pirates. Reward: 2 Bond Points / 1,000,000 Berries]
Bored, Eric opened the message while studying his system. His stats were low, but trainable. Using Achievement Points to boost them now would make future gains harder. Better to save those for later.
"Wait a sec—didn't I use the Sandai Kitetsu as the summoning medium? But it didn't vanish—it's in my inventory!" Sure enough, the cursed blade was listed with a note: [Cannot be used as a summoning medium again].
[Clause 19: Items used as summoning mediums won't disappear. If you use the corpse of a recently-deceased Devil Fruit user or a Devil Fruit itself, the summoned ally will inherit the ability.]
"So that's how it works… Wait, doesn't that mean they'll never know how disgusting Devil Fruits taste? That's not fair!" Eric grumbled, having already picked out the Devil Fruit he wanted to try.
Two days later, at sea…
"Look! A small boat!" yelled a lookout pirate from the Henry Pirates' ship.
"A single-mast boat? Can't be much loot…" Pirate B sighed. "Probably not even worth the cannon shot."
"But there's a real beauty on board!" said the lecherous Pirate C.
"I'll go get the captain!" said the loyal Pirate D.
"Get over there and grab both of them! We'll sell them as slaves!" barked the Henry Pirates' captain—vicious and heartless, like any true pirate-slaver hybrid.
As the pirate ship closed within 10 meters, Eric and Akame furled their sails to prevent drift. Eric leapt across the water to confront them.
"Well, aren't you brave—jumping aboard by yourself." Henry laughed.
Eric rolled up his sleeves and drew his blade. "Akame, watch your captain work."
"Understood."
"Come on then! Eric Henry—bounty: 3.8 million Berries! I'll be taking your head!"
"A bounty hunter, huh? Let's see if you've got what it takes!" Henry slashed with his long sword, which Eric parried before striking back with an upward slash.
"Time to split this punk in half!" Eric grinned. But Henry, a seasoned fighter, hopped back just in time to dodge the "groin-slicer."
"Not bad, kid. Want to join my crew?" Henry offered.
"Your face is way too ugly for someone as handsome as me to follow," Eric scoffed. In a world full of weird-looking pirates, he often wondered if their mothers drank radioactive water during pregnancy.
"You bastard! DIE!" Henry roared, bringing his blade down with all his might.
"Soru!" Eric vanished from sight with a Navy-style movement technique, dodging the heavy slash and appearing behind Henry.
Clang! Their blades clashed. During the lock, Eric smirked like a scheming villain and suddenly pulled a flintlock from his right-side holster.
Bang! Blood splattered as the shot landed in Henry's chest.
"Coward! You brought a gun to a duel!" Henry screamed in disbelief.
Bang! Another shot silenced him.
"Whew~" Eric mimicked a cowboy, blowing smoke from the barrel. A lazy tactician at heart, he didn't care for honor if he could end a fight quickly.
Meanwhile, most of the pirates had already fallen—taken out by Akame. She had intercepted the grunts during the duel, keeping them off Eric's back.
"Execution." Pirates dropped like wheat before her blade.
Despite the slaughter, Akame moved with the elegance of a dark elf in the moonlight. She dodged attacks with ease, striking down enemies with swift, precise blades—beautiful, deadly efficiency. Eric soon joined her.
With fewer than ten pirates remaining, those still alive tried to run, only to find themselves surrounded.
"Please, let us go! We won't be pirates anymore!"
"We surrender! Don't kill us!"
"Too bad. What about the innocent people you killed?" Eric sneered. "You took lives and treasure without remorse. You don't deserve mercy."
And with that, he refused their surrender.
[Temporary Mission Complete: +2 Bond Points / 1,000,000 Berries]
[Achievement Unlocked: 'First Battle With a Comrade' – +1 Achievement Point]
"Damn, they were broke!" After wiping out the pirates, the duo looted the treasure room—only 810,000 Berries. "Figures. Pirates live in the moment—they don't save."
"But they had a lot of food. Let's take it back to our boat."
"Mm." Akame, already drooling over the meat, jumped to help.
[You can sell the pirate ship to the System Store]
"Yeah, it's too big for the two of us to handle anyway." Still strapped for cash, Eric didn't hesitate to sell the ship.
Sold for: 1.5 million Berries
"What?! I sell it for 1.5 million and you turn around and list it for 10 million?!"
[Isn't buying low and selling high a basic merchant skill?]
"…." Speechless, Eric blanked out.
[Current Funds: 8.531 million Berries | 9 Achievement Points | 8 Bond Points]
(End of Chapter)