The Grand Line, Mock Town.
"The Knock Up Stream this time feels a bit bigger than before—it even punched up into the clouds."
"I just saw a bunch of newbies who didn't believe it and insisted on sailing out at this time. Their ship got torn apart on the spot."
"Ahaha! Not listening to the locals, huh? Maybe we can go fish up some wreckage later and see if any treasure's waiting for us."
Mock Town, a gathering place for pirates, is somewhat like Whiskey Peak, but the quality of pirates here is even higher. Pirates with bounties in the tens of millions show up all the time.
After all, anyone who's made it here has been tested by the route and has a few tricks up their sleeve. Quite a few pirate crews also suffer losses along the way.
They come here to replenish their crews.
There are also those who, having seen how cruel the Grand Line is, part ways with their teams here.
In short, for all sorts of reasons this has become an island where pirates thrive—some get off pirate ships here, and others wait for powerful crews to recruit them and rekindle their ambitions.
A group of pirates on the dock watched the tide gradually recede, and their chatter slowly drifted to other topics.
"Our island's had quite a few tough guys show up lately. Anyone you want to sign on with?"
"Oh yeah—you mean the Pulverizer and the Succubus Woman, right? One's got a 57 million bounty, the other 61 million. They really are rare big shots lately."
"If it were me, I'd definitely pick the Succubus Woman. She's a real beauty. Staying on a beauty's ship gives me plenty of motivation."
"You really are judging by looks… though her bounty is indeed a bit higher."
"Oh? Another ship's coming in. The Knock Up Stream just passed and someone's already arriving? That's pretty gutsy."
In the pirates' view on the dock, a large ship gradually appeared. A ship this big is rare even among pirates—probably another guy with a bounty.
"I don't see a skull flag…"
"No skull flag? Could it be a merchant ship?"
Before the big ship entered the harbor, the news seagulls arrived first. The Knock Up Stream earlier had also affected their delivery of the latest papers.
"There are new bounties today…"
"Really? Any newcomers?"
When his companion tried to grab the wanted poster, he found the other guy's eyes bulging.
"One hundred thousand, one million, ten million… t-three… three hundred million bounty!!"
"What! Three hundred million? Did someone at that level show up?!"
The surrounding pirates all went crazy scrambling for the poster.
"Nation-Slayer Vane—attacked three kingdoms, killed at least two kings, more than a hundred nobles were slain… and even attacked a World Government ship!"
"That's doing something truly outrageous… Isn't this the newbie from a while ago? The bounty climbed fast—already up to three hundred million."
"Hey, hey, hey—th-that's… the cat-head flag."
The one who got the poster first trembled as he raised a finger and pointed at the ship drawing closer over the sea. The distinctive cat-head flag was fluttering at the top of the mast.
"The captain's bounty is a full 300 million Belly! This year's most formidable rookie pirate crew—the Rocket Team Pirates!"
"Even their vice-captain's bounty is higher than many captains'!"
A huge wave of pirates who had been waiting here to join a powerful crew boiled over. Just the captain alone is worth 300 million—his vice-captain's bounty is higher than other people's captains!
This is the powerful pirate crew they've been dreaming of. Join them, head to the other side of the Grand Line, and find the Pirate King's treasure!
...
Aboard the Thunder Fortress.
"We're here, meow. But this island doesn't smell very pleasant, meow."
A place long occupied by pirates, with chaos happening every day—of course it doesn't smell pleasant.
"Look at those pirates—what are they doing?"
"They're not planning to rob us, are they?"
On the dock, a huge crowd of pirates was holding up a wanted poster and loudly welcoming the arrival of the Rocket Team Pirates.
"These are all pirates. I lived in Mock Town for a while before, so I know what they're thinking—nothing more than seeing a powerful crew arrive and wanting to join~"
Burgess turned his head to look at Vane.
"Captain, your 300 million Belly bounty is a huge signboard here. Just wave your hand a little and these pirates will throw themselves in and join the crew."
Today they received a brand-new bounty. Yes—Vane's bounty had risen to 300 million Belly. No one else's changed.
That kind of thing is normal.
Vane walked to the rail and looked at the group of ordinary pirates.
"I'm not interested for now in pirates who are already grown but don't have much strength."
"We already have enough people on the crew."
Of the ten children brought back from the Future Country, in the end four couldn't keep either a leg or an arm. For kids, that's a heavy blow. Fortunately, Meowth first made temporary prosthetics for them.
Even though they're temporary, they're far more usable than prosthetics in the real world—very convenient to move with.
Vane also gave this group of kids names. Kaku's name was kept—Vane didn't want to change it. The other nine all took Raiden as their surname.
Then the given names were simple, using the English alphabet from oldest to youngest.
Raiden A, Raiden B… and so on up to Raiden I.
"Kaku, take them and keep training. On my ship, you must have strong enough strength. The sea is cruel."
"Yes."
Kaku followed Vane's orders strictly, mature beyond his years.
Calling it training, it was really just some basic physical exercises—they hadn't fully recovered yet.
But Kaku's powerful talent was already beginning to show. His body had completely recovered compared to the others, and the strength he could unleash at such a young age was a bit like Sabo and Ace when they were kids.
The others' talent was comparatively more ordinary than Kaku's, but they survived to the end in that extremely cold environment—well worthy of the "one in a hundred" label.
If they really don't have much physical talent, that's fine too—send them under Meowth and Kaku to study. The crew's future cultivation definitely isn't limited to brute force.
Science is the primary productive force, and talent is the primary resource. It's necessary to train a few more people who can do research.
After getting prosthetics installed, Raiden A, D, E, and G were directly assigned to the science unit.
Of course, among the disabled there can also be top fighters… like a certain guy whose arm was bitten off by the Lord of the Coast.
But people like that are really too rare. It's better to let them study hard in science. If they want to become strong, science is also a path—various modified weapons are sometimes stronger than the body.