Bonus Chapter for reaching 100 Powerstones.
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"So basically," Spandine asked, leaning against the wall, "your idea of 'taking this seriously' is training and leading the workers?"
"Only in a limited way… but yes, that's what it means. As for myself, I've already pushed my personal limits long ago."
I didn't want to reveal too much, so I tried to handle everything without touching the workers, using only the skills they already had, but…
Impossible.
Totally impossible.
As the work grows and grows, I at least need one or two people who can match my pace, or I'll break.
If I dump everything on the Navy and focus on negotiations, the government will shift all political pressure onto the Navy instead.
According to Hina, many Headquarters officers have quit the Navy already.
I wish they had waited and balanced things better, but what's done is done.
The problem is what comes next.
The government will probably offer to "replace" the missing Navy staff during these negotiations without me. In other words, they'll push their own people into the Navy.
A "replacement" that creates a government faction inside the Navy.
This flow is already hard to stop.
I could interfere, but the "Black Cat" would gain almost nothing from that.
No point wasting energy on what I decided not to meddle with. I just need to fix the situation fast.
Same with rebuilding the Holy Land— the Navy needs results to increase its influence.
"Hey, Kuro," Spandine said, watching me. "From your view, is that girl Jenetta useful?"
"The idiot who mistreated her should be demoted immediately."
Seriously, the moment she noticed the same issue in the transport plan that took the three of us time to find, I knew she was extremely capable.
The other girls too.
Why would anyone waste talent like that?
"No joke—if the government can't see that someone like her is a gem, then there's something fatally wrong in the organization. They need to rethink things."
If she were a free agent, I'd take her right now and put her under Gild Tesoro.
The other two I've been watching will be next. If they're as good as I think, I want them too.
And the others who sensed something was off…
"…Hey, Kuro."
"If you're telling me to train more staff, no."
"Come on, Kuro," he urged. "That would be your achievement—your weapon."
Don't be stupid! I spent two lives building my methods! I'm already revealing the bare minimum to train Jenetta and the other two—and that's the limit!!
"If I go beyond that, I'd be revealing not just training but also my whole system of running an organization. So no."
"Then just make your own faction inside the government," Hina suggested.
"Idiot girl," Spandine scoffed at the idea, "if he does that, they'll try to wipe him out."
"Then inside the Navy?" Hina asked.
"...That's tricky."
Stop deciding my future on your own.
"If the Black Cat entered the Navy's sphere, the government would increase pressure on the Navy," I explained. "No doubt. Then the question is how long Sengoku and the people around him can keep their influence."
"…If that happens, everything around you will get noisy again, Kuro."
"That's why I'm fine staying a pirate…"
I can move only because I'm outside the big powers.
If I go inside, it will only cause more chaos.
To be specific, things like where exactly Robin is, or where our fighting power is… ah, just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt…
"Hina, Spandine, Jenetta will be here soon with her things. Sorry, but could you help her set up her desk?"
"Sure, I understand," Hina nodded.
"H-hey, Kuro! Me too!? I'm the CP9 Chief, you know!?"
"If we prove she's talented, she becomes a card we can use against her boss. If I remember, he's the one aiming for your CP9 Chief seat and always looking for a chance, right?"
"How the hell do you know that much!!?" he shrieked.
Well, with this many political fights going on everywhere, of course the information sources grow too.
Besides, they kindly spread people around me who only carry information.
And their mission is to win me over. That means they have to talk to me again and again.
Two days was more than enough to cut out the fake stories and get a rough idea of the power map of each CP branch.
Give me more time, and learning the details isn't hard either.
"I'll train her properly in office work and then send her to you. Think of it as getting both a political card and a skilled clerk and secretary candidate at the same time. Not bad, right?"
"I don't mind helping, but you help too!" Spandine grumbled. "You're way better at sorting and managing documents than me!"
"He's right," Hina added with a smirk. "You're a pirate, but you work better than a government director."
"Shut it, you little brat…"
…You two really did become close.
"I'm going to visit the Navy for a bit," I told them.
"The Navy? You already went yesterday to check on the wounded marines!"
I visited the government's wounded too, you know.
I just didn't expect to walk in on a Celestial Dragon yelling, 'Get up and work already!' at a wounded man, and then have to calm everyone down with fast talk.
"There's something I want to discuss with Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
–
"To think you'd get invited by the Celestial Dragons… you're really not like a normal pirate," Sengoku said with a heavy sigh.
"How should I put it… I'm honored, I guess. I didn't think they'd play that card."
The Navy's office is quieter than usual.
Many officers and soldiers were hurt in the attack on the Holy Land the other day.
Instead of the usual office, I'm talking with the top brass in the marines' break lounge.
"So, the government is spreading the rumors?"
"They've added this to the old ones," Sengoku confirmed. "The story of your fight with Golden Lion and your leadership afterward is spreading across all four seas and even the Grand Line."
Oh, come on.
Bringing up the Golden Lion battle is one thing, but now they're dragging in the fight against the zombie army too. All to mix the Black Cat in and dull the Navy's shine a little.
They're playing a very bold game…
Right when the revolutionaries are getting more active.
They can't be planning to throw away the Navy… So maybe they want to use this to rebuild it under government control? Even while offering an apology?
The confusion will get worse, but it also means they care that much about the current setup.
"Because of all that, rumors say the Celestial Dragons invited you to join them as a Celestial Dragon. The whole world is in an uproar."
"I heard from my men during check-ins… They really like to stir things up."
Seriously…
I sent word through Daz that I have no such plans and asked him to calm the men, but this is way too big a story.
"How are the marines taking it?" I asked.
"…Honestly," Sengoku admitted, "many of them support the idea of you becoming a Celestial Dragon. They say that would make them feel safe."
Hey, marines!!?
Nothing will change if I become a Celestial Dragon, you know!?
If anything, the chance to improve things will drop sharply!
All they want is to keep us on a leash and steal our power and know-how!!
"…You should hurry with the education of political officers," I advised.
"Yes. But the Navy is an arm that values fists and battle achievements."
"In that fight, Kuro showed he could both face the Golden Lion and lead soldiers. That's what they're looking at." Garp, who had been listening while eating crackers, laughed loudly. "Bwahahaha! This is a good chance. How about it, Kuro? If you don't want to join them, be my adopted son instead!"
"I'll pass," I said instantly. "I feel like I'd still be dancing on the edge of death every day."
If it was just being thrown into a forest, maybe. But I can easily imagine him saying, "You're bored, right?" and starting a real fight.
...
Wait. Would my survival rate be higher than when I'm blocking the combined attacks of Mihawk and Rayleigh?
…No, I think he's worse at holding back than they are.
"In any case, Kuro, the marines don't think badly of you. Many soldiers want to learn from your methods."
"…I'm a pirate, though…"
"It's too late for that. Some even mistook you for a Navy officer."
The Navy doesn't invade non-member countries, force the people to work, or collect taxes!!
"If the government accepted your terms from last night, would you really consider becoming a Celestial Dragon?" Sengoku asked seriously.
"I don't think it's a bad deal… if they keep the contract."
Honestly, it wouldn't be bad, as long as we're allowed to grow our power and rule freely outside the Holy Land.
To be honest, I thought they'd suggest something like turning Mopuchi and our current area into a member country.
They'd reduce our crimes and let us join the World Government—basically recognizing me as a king.
That would seal our use of Nico Robin's knowledge about the Poneglyphs, slow our expansion by turning us into a nation, and trap us in the West Blue.
They could also call me to the Holy Land regularly for the Reverie. A leash.
I was ready for that kind of play—and they threw a wild pitch from outside the field instead…
"I also don't think it's bad if you become a Celestial Dragon. Under you, the soldiers would carry out their duties with all their hearts."
"…To be honest, I don't trust myself enough to say I could live in luxury and never sink into it," I confessed.
If I lived a life where I could marry beauties like Robin and Hancock as I pleased, and do whatever I wanted, I'd probably get used to it. Even if I hated it at first, I'd slowly drown in it.
If money can do anything, in a way I'd be able to do everything I once wanted. In a bad way.
"One day, I'd see the lives of civilians and soldiers as things that can be used up, just like other Celestial Dragons. That thought scares me more than anything, Vice Admiral Garp. I can only feel at ease if I stay outside that life."
If I lived in the Holy Land, I'd always be beneath the old Celestial Dragons. I'd become the target of their crazy demands.
"Bwahahahaha! Pirates are supposed to dream of a life of endless luxury!!"
Only people like Buggy are like tha—
…Actually, yeah, there are a ton of them.
The pirate alliance guys were exactly like that.
"…Then."
"Yes, Fleet Admiral?"
I spread out the Holy Land map we borrowed from the government.
It shows the rebuilding plan I made with Spandine, then adjusted using Hina's—meaning the Navy's—view.
"After we start unloading goods from the first transport convoy and see how the reconstruction work goes, I plan to return to the West Blue."
Once things are shaped up that far, people and supplies should flow properly on their own.
"…I haven't told the others yet, but your unofficial talk with Saint Warcury last night has clearly improved things," Sengoku noted, looking at the map. "When that happens, our relationship will likely return to what it was."
There will be a lot of power struggles during that rebuilding, but they'll have to handle it.
"When that happens, our relationship will likely return to what it was."
"You mean the end of our truce?"
"…They're waving that card in front of us."
"So if you don't want to fight Black Cat, they're telling you to help pull us into the government or the Celestial Dragons…"
I can't help fighting someone like Sakazuki, but I really don't want to clash with Kuzan or Sengoku…
And Garp… I absolutely don't want to fight him, in a very instinctive way. I don't, but…
"In that case, don't worry about us. We're pirates."
"We sail how we want, where we want."
–
In an old bar on some island in the North Blue, a certain pirate was drinking alone.
The "Heavenly Yaksha" Donquixote Doflamingo.
Once a Celestial Dragon himself, he had gotten his hands on the news early—news that was already spreading around the world—and since then he'd been spending more and more time drinking alone like this.
"Heh, heh…"
Night after night,
"Fuffuffuffu!"
That time grew longer.
"He denies the way of the Celestial Dragons, runs away, lives by his own will in the world below, and then the Celestial Dragons ask him to join them?"
People in the underworld often mock Black Cat as a government dog, but if the rumors are true, many also envy him and say they want to be like him.
"Why—"
Wanted posters of Black Cat's crew were spread out on the table.
"Marine Hunter" Dracule Mihawk
"Devil of Ohara" Nico Robin
"Ghost Princess" Perona
"Steel Blade" Daz Bonez
Doflamingo pushes those posters aside with the bottle and ashtray, leaving only one in front of him.
"Silent Step" Kuro
The clear leader of Black Cat.
Now called not "Silent Step" but simply "Black Cat", a great pirate.
"Why—"
He grabs a knife lying nearby and aims it at the face printed on that poster.
"Why couldn't I do this back then!!!"
He drives the blade into the printed face.
"—Damn you, old man!!!!!!"
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Next Bonus if we reach top 200