Next, the former members of the Black Cat Pirates threw a small banquet under Allen's leadership.
They were a bit reserved at first, but on Allen's orders, all the ship's alcohol reserves were brought out, and the seventy-odd men ate and drank to their hearts' content.
As the night deepened and the booze flowed, the pirates finally let loose completely. They threw their arms around each other's shoulders, singing and dancing, kicking off a wild carnival on the shores of this deserted island.
Having barely been active on the seas for three years, they had been suppressing themselves for far too long.
Before setting sail, Allen felt it was necessary to give them a chance to wildly vent their frustrations.
However, he did not participate in the banquet himself.
Suddenly getting a new captain meant the pirates needed time to adjust. His presence would only make them timid and restrained.
Loyalty wasn't built in a day. For the short term, he only needed his subordinates to obediently follow orders.
And to achieve that, managing the Nyaban Brothers was much easier than managing a mixed bag of over seventy pirates.
Allen ordered his men to prepare some food and alcohol in the meeting room, then called the Nyaban Brothers to accompany him to the ship's supply warehouse.
Opening the door, a wave of stuffy, dry air rushed out to greet them.
Allen fanned the air with a look of disgust before stepping inside with the Nyaban Brothers.
*Creak—creak—creak.*
A dilapidated oil lamp emitted a dim yellow glow, barely illuminating the surrounding corners. The wooden floorboards beneath their feet occasionally let out overwhelmed groans.
Allen's gaze swept across the small, bare room.
After the banquet had cleared out a massive amount of food and booze, all that remained were a meager few ship repair materials and a couple of crates holding daily necessities, almost all of which were draped in cobwebs.
The entire room reeked of an off-putting smell.
*'The stench of poverty!'*
"You guys used to be a rather famous pirate crew in the East Blue. You're living way too miserably, aren't you?"
Allen couldn't help but make a snide remark.
Sham and Buchi rubbed the backs of their heads in embarrassment.
Could anyone blame them? In the past, they had Kuro.
Let alone easily pillaging villages and other pirate crews, even if the Marines showed up, they would be forced to leave both their ships and their lives behind.
Without Kuro, they were like tigers stripped of their fangs and claws. While they weren't exactly weak by East Blue standards, they definitely couldn't be called strong.
Furthermore, Jango operated with extreme low-profile caution. Unless they ran into absolute small fry, they would always choose to run rather than fight, as if terrified that others might find out they were still active.
Ever since Kuro's departure, the pirate crew's income had plummeted. Yet, the crew members retained their old habits of spending money like water, resulting in a constant state of failing to make ends meet.
By the time they completely exhausted their accumulated treasures a year ago, they spent most of their time surviving on fishing and hunting, only setting sail to pillage when they were on the verge of starvation.
Understanding their situation, Allen could only shake his head helplessly.
It looked pretty miserable, but in reality, it wasn't that bad. You could only say they weren't living comfortably, but at least they didn't have to worry about basic survival.
There were plenty of pirates far worse off than them. If you didn't believe it, just ask Alvida's subordinates—they truly lived every day more suffocated than a groveling dog.
Being a pirate wasn't exactly a glamorous profession to begin with. For a group of people struggling just to survive, being forced into a different way of life didn't necessarily mean they would have it better than before.
The moment they picked up their blades and became the aggressors, they also shifted from being protected by the Marines to being hunted by them.
Even trash like Morgan would crack down on pirates appearing in his jurisdiction. The hundreds of branch bases in the East Blue weren't all run by the likes of Captain Nezumi.
...
"Sigh... poor as we are, life still goes on."
Allen sighed, then asked, "What islands are nearby where we can restock our supplies?"
"The closest would be Ximei Town. There are black market merchants operating there, but we don't have any money left on the ship, and..."
Sham shrugged and said awkwardly,
"There are two Marine branches in the Moonlight Archipelago. One of them is on the island right next to Ximei Town. Wouldn't that be a bit..."
Allen knew what he meant and waved his hand.
"Don't worry about it. I have some money on me. We'll set sail before noon tomorrow to buy supplies, and then we're heading to the sea-going restaurant, Baratie."
"Baratie? Are we going there to eat, Boss?"
Triggered by the keyword, Buchi's eyes lit up.
Sham, on the other hand, was a bit surprised.
He had assumed Allen was going to lead them to pillage a town. He never expected him to pay out of his own pocket to feed them. From his perspective, this was simply absurd.
Allen couldn't help it either; this was just how the early stages of a startup worked.
"Of course we're going to the restaurant to eat. While we're at it, we'll see if we can recruit a few chefs with decent skills."
Allen grinned, flashing his teeth as he answered Buchi.
This brought a matching smile to Buchi's face.
Next, Allen rummaged through a few more crates, finding only ship supplies like gunpowder, cannonballs, spare sails, and rigging.
Finally, in a corner, he discovered a locked wooden chest that had been sealed with wax.
Before he could even ask, Sham took the initiative to step forward and speak up.
"These are Captain Kuro's belongings. It contains the clothes and weapons he used to use."
*Smash!*
Without needing another word, Sham violently tore the lid off the wooden chest with a single swipe of his claws. He then brushed away the wood splinters and stepped back to stand behind Allen.
Allen stepped forward to take a look. On the right side of the chest lay a black captain's coat with a captain's hat resting on top of it, and a stack of folded clothes underneath.
On the left side of the chest sat two pairs of "Ten-Blade Cat Claws." The blades bore obvious signs of use, indicating they were likely discarded by Kuro in the past.
Aside from that, there was a small amount of gold and jewelry. It wasn't much, and judging by the quantity, it wasn't hard to guess that these were accessories Kuro used to wear.
Allen picked up the gold and jewelry, then turned to the Nyaban Brothers.
"These two pairs of Ten-Blade Cat Claws can still be used if you polish them up. Take them if you want them. Throw the rest into the sea."
Sham and Buchi exchanged a glance and happily stepped forward to each grab a pair of the Ten-Blade Cat Claws. The quality of these two weapons was far superior to the ones they currently wielded.
Although the blades were a bit long, it wouldn't take them long to adapt, considering they already used cat claw gloves as their primary weapons.
As for the fact that Kuro had used them...
*'We're too broke to be picky!'*
After taking inventory of the warehouse supplies, Allen brought the Nyaban Brothers back to the meeting room to eat. From the two of them, he learned more about the past exploits of the Black Cat Pirates.
This also included Kuro's master plan.
As officers on the ship, the Nyaban Brothers knew a little bit about the matter, even if they didn't have the full picture.
The rest of the pirates only knew that they were going to sack Syrup Village in a couple of days.
As for Kuro's intention to silence them all once the plan was complete, it was likely that even Jango was unaware, let alone the Nyaban Brothers.
But Allen pointed it out directly.
"Do you really think Kuro is going to come back and continue being a pirate after he plunders that wealthy family's fortune?"
After asking this question, Allen fell silent, minding his own business as he used his knife to cut the meat on his plate.
Sham and Buchi stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at each other.
A few seconds later, Sham turned to face Allen, speaking in an uncertain tone.
"Probably not. Captain Kuro... He expressed that he was tired of being a pirate."
"Yeah, Jango also said that Kuro wanted to hide his identity and live a peaceful life."
Buchi nodded in agreement.
Allen forked a piece of meat into his mouth, looking up as he chewed and asked,
"Then what about you guys? Are you going to keep following Jango as pirates?"
"Allowing a bunch of pirates who know his true identity to roam around freely... He doesn't sound like the type of guy to do that, does he?"
Swallowing his food, Allen picked up the bottle and poured himself a glass of booze. After tilting his head back and downing the full glass, he went back to cutting his meat.
He left the Nyaban Brothers staring at each other in dismay.
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