Having passed the first night since leaving that island, we, the Black Cats, were sailing once again toward the waters near Fish-Man Island... No, we're not a pirate crew right now. The only people here besides me are marines and collaborators.
Anyway, aboard this ship, which should be called the Black Cat Pirates' detached unit or perhaps a temporary formation...
"Shameless!! You shameless ingrates!!! Seriouslyyyyy...! Just how rotten are they!!? Both their heads and their guts!!!"
Hina was furious. And I mean, absolutely furious.
Calm down, Miss Hina, I thought wearily. I understand how you feel to death—seriously, to death—but still.
"Oh my, for Miss Hina to be this angry... did something happen?" asked Issho, tilting his head as he tapped his cane on the deck.
"Ah, Mr. Issho. Good morning," I greeted him.
"Yes, good morning to you. ...And so?"
"A letter arrived at dawn..." Hina seethed through gritted teeth.
"...A letter? To this ship?" Issho asked.
"Yes."
Hina and I were on watch duty last night. We took a short nap after dinner, then chatted—or rather, discussed land management and politics at Hina's request—until dawn, when a literal government bat flew in.
"There was a lot written in it at length... but essentially, an order from the Government was delivered," I explained.
"...Mr. Kuro, could the content possibly be—"
"Yes, 'cooperate with the Government in exchange for erasing your crimes'... well, yeah," I shrugged.
"...It is no wonder Miss Hina is this angry," Issho muttered solemnly.
Yeah, she's super pissed. Her anger is non-stop, a volcano that won't stop erupting. From the moment I read her the de facto order disguised as a request, she snatched it away, tore it into pieces, threw it into the sea, and has been like this pretty much ever since.
"How thick can their skin be, asking for cooperation after betraying us repeatedly and even throwing an Admiral at us!! It's irritating! It's infuriating! Hina is livid! Hina is super livid!!" she screamed at the ocean.
Hina likes kebabs, if I recall.
We have plenty of meat and vegetables, and the dough is already made, so it shouldn't be a problem.
"In the first place, it's not actually 'cooperate', it's 'help us', isn't it!!? Why are they acting so high and mighty!!!" Hina continued to rant.
......
Yeah, I'll stand in the kitchen. I'm the only one in this group who knows exactly how she likes her food seasoned. Meat and vegetables aside... did we stock enough limes? I should check before I go to sleep.
"Well, let's leave it at that," I said aloud. "As for sending it to me... well, that's obviously that, but they're probably sending letters to other places too."
"By 'others', do you mean... people from the Black Cats?" Issho asked. "That would be absolutely impossible. I was with you all for a while, and setting aside the new recruits, the loyalty of the executives toward you was genuine."
"No, I mean in a much broader sense, including that. They are likely sending requests to pirates at random right about now," I theorized. "...Well, they'll probably exclude people like Big Mom or Whitebeard since they're too much to handle."
"At random!?" Hina looked surprised... but they will do it. They will definitely do it. Or rather, that is about the only move they have left to play.
"The nation will begin hiring pirates," I said with conviction. "Ah, I have conviction regarding this. They will undoubtedly do it."
In fact, even in the original work, there were instances where the country and pirates were connected. Just like how the Goa Kingdom... I can't recall the name, but just like how they had pirates set fire to that mountain of trash where Luffy and the others were.
"Hiring pirates is, naturally, a shady business," Issho noted.
"Plundering other nations..." Hina realized with horror.
"Exactly. If it's against non-member nations, the Government likely won't make an issue of it, but they want to avoid member nations dragging each other down."
No, well, there are a mountain of problems even before that... but it somewhat feels like the World Government is doing some of this intentionally...
"So, they'll hire pirates directly to manage them?" Hina asked.
"On top of that, the Government wants military power. On the surface, they've temporarily reconciled with the Navy, but the spark of conflict has actually grown stronger."
"Just because they're pirates who will do anything if you pay them..." Hina scowled.
"Yeah. Even if individually they aren't much, if you gather enough of them, they become trouble."
If there's a large crowd, they'll naturally get cocky. The countries in this world are often island nations of moderate size. Just using numbers to surround them would likely be effective.
"The Government provides a certain amount of operational funds and permits pillaging. In exchange, they force them to narrow down their targets for pillaging," I explained.
"Do you think they'll listen?" Hina asked skeptically.
"The possibility of being attacked by armed warships disappears. And it's not like they're being told not to pillage. Plus, since there are likely many countries that have separated from the World Government, they won't have trouble finding prey to target."
"...Is there a possibility that non-member nations will also hire pirates and clash with them?" Issho asked.
"This is also to eliminate that. The only side that can reliably provide money and reliably reduce the danger is the World Government."
If I had to say, I'm worried about how much the World Government, whose controlled territory has definitely decreased, intends to pay to hire pirates... If they hire enough to affect the state of affairs, the numbers will inevitably be quite large.
In the original Seven Warlords system, did they have to submit a portion of their plunder? I can't really remember that far.
...Even so.
Is Sengoku okay? Hasn't he collapsed from stress and overwork? Is he coughing up blood?
He's almost certainly bogged down confirming whether marines have defected, and he'd want to somehow persuade the marines who actually did defect... and in the midst of all that, this pirate incorporation policy is likely being pushed forward.
...The backlash from the marines will likely grow even stronger. I wonder if they can hold the inside together before they can even try to persuade the outside...
If they struggle with internal control, the Government will see the Navy as unreliable and put even more effort into incorporating pirates. Seeing that, the marines will accumulate even more dissatisfaction...
What kind of Mobius Death Loop is this? I seriously can't think of a plan to stop it. If I could hang a few Celestial Dragons as an example, I could construct a plan, but...
If they dawdle, the Government will place pirate forces as the main axis and begin to eliminate influential marine admirals to whittle down their strength. Literally beginning to replace the military with pirates.
"The Government might actually want to rebuild the Navy from zero," I murmured.
"After doing whatever they pleased themselves...!" Hina clenched her fists.
"That is exactly why."
If only the concept of noblesse oblige existed even a little bit within the Celestial Dragons, interference from our side wouldn't have been impossible... They are nothing but consumers through and through.
No, normally a consumer is simultaneously a producer, so I shouldn't even use that word in such a derogatory way... They are such a special case where that doesn't apply that there's truly nothing to be done.
"It's really turning into a difficult world, isn't it..." Issho sighed deeply.
"It truly is," I agreed.
Oh, you're definitely going to get dragged into this, Issho. From here on out, it's a world of violence and domination. Someone as strong as you will end up involved in some hell or another no matter how much you struggle.
"If one had a nature that could get drunk on violence, perhaps it might be heaven..." Issho mused.
"Can you not get drunk on it, Mr. Kuro?" Hina shot me a sharp look.
"I'm the type who gets drunk watching the festival from a distance rather than drinking in the middle of it," I replied dryly.
Truly. I've always been bad at drinking in large groups. Drinking casually with a few friends I know well was always the most delicious.
"Heheh. In that case, it seems the drink will taste better in a place like this."
Saying that, Issho produced a sake bottle and two cups from somewhere and poured the contents.
"I hear you had no time to rest even before coming to that island, and not since we departed either."
"...Right."
Not bad. Fortunately, all the marines are excellent. Setting aside combat, I have no anxiety regarding navigation. In that case, my real work starts when we reach the point Leelin mentioned and begin preparations to submerge. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get some alcohol in me around now and give my body a slow rest.
"My. Drinking openly right in front of a marine? You have some nerve," Hina scolded, though she didn't stop me.
"Because I'm a pirate," I retorted.
Is this a morning starter for Issho? We lightly clinked cups before downing the contents. It was lukewarm, yet as I poured the liquid of moderate sweetness and dryness down my throat, a faint scent of alcohol passed through my nose.
Oh. Since it was a tokkuri, I suspected as much, but it really is rice wine. The kind of sake Mihawk would like.
"...Come to think of it, you were a pirate," Hina muttered, eyeing the bottle.
"How many times are you going to forget that while we're together, you?"
"I forget because we're together. Behave yourself," she huffed.
Why am I the one getting scolded!!?
Ah, hey, give back the cup—why are you drinking it, Marine!!?
—Cough, cough...!!
See, you choked. Because you're not used to drinking...
"Cough...! Ngh. How can you drink something like this so calmly?" Hina wheezed, her face flushed.
"First of all, why did you drink it?" I asked, bewildered.
"...Because... you looked like you were enjoying it..."
Are you a child!!?
...
She was a child!! Hey, spit it out!! I'm a pirate so it's whatever, but you're a marine!!
Hey, don't kick my shins! What kind of protest is that!!