Postwar Reconstruction! A New Look for Hachinosu
A month had passed since the God Valley Incident.
Hachinosu had changed.
Rows of wooden houses now stood neatly along the beach, built by Ginny and the civilians who had stayed. More than 230 of the 437 people had remained, most of them elderly or orphaned. The elderly cooked and washed clothes, while the orphans ran errands and passed messages. Their voices filled the island, where once only pirates' shouts had been heard.
The port had been expanded. The docks could now accommodate ten ships instead of three. Lin Yuan had brought the stone from the mountains of West Blue, and Kaido had carried the timber back from nearby islands. Bullet was in charge of smashing the stone, breaking each piece with a punch and sending fragments flying. King used the Float-Float Fruit to transport the timber from the shore to the construction site, saving labor.
"Orololololo... This wood's too light." Kaido emerged from the forest carrying three large trees and tossed them to the ground, smashing a crater into the earth.
"If they're so light, why are you only carrying three?" Ginny stood nearby, keeping the accounts.
"Because they're light, I can carry three. If they were heavy, I'd carry one."
Ginny rolled her eyes and went back to her accounts.
The training ground had been renovated. Bullet had complained that the old wooden posts were too soft, smashing each one with a punch and going through a new batch every day. Lin Yuan brought several blocks of raw Seastone from Wano Country and set them up in a corner of the training ground.
"Hit this," Lin Yuan said.
Bullet slammed a fist into it. His hand throbbed with pain, but all he left on the Seastone was a white mark.
"...What is this stuff?"
"Seastone. The hardest kind."
Bullet's eyes lit up, and he threw another punch.
Kaido walked over, looked at the white mark on the Seastone, and grinned.
"Orololololo... My turn."
The two of them hammered away at the Seastone for a month, leaving a few cracks in it.
Kuma practiced his palm strikes by the sea. With each strike, a cannonball of compressed air exploded over the water, sending spray more than ten meters into the air. Ginny stood on the shore counting, and he took a break after every hundred strikes.
"Kuma, how much longer are you going to keep this up?"
"Two hundred more."
"Then I'll head back first. I haven't finished the accounts."
"Go ahead."
Kuma kept striking. Plumes of water erupted across the sea, and fish stunned by the impacts floated to the surface, covering a stretch of water.
King practiced his Observation Haki on the watchtower, his eyes closed as he sensed every ship within two kilometers.
"A merchant ship is approaching from the east. It's flying the World Government's flag," he said into the Den Den Mushi.
"Steer clear of it," Lin Yuan's voice came through the Den Den Mushi. "I don't want trouble today."
"Understood."
Moria practiced with shadows in a dark room. There was no light and no shadow, so he had to rely entirely on his imagination. Lin Yuan had made him spend a month in the dark room with his eyes closed. At first, he couldn't do anything, but now he could create a Shadow Horn Spear out of thin air in the darkness.
"Shadow Horn Spear!"
A black spear shot out of the darkness, piercing three layers of wooden boards.
"That was 0.3 seconds faster than last week." Lin Yuan stood in the doorway of the dark room, holding a stopwatch.
"Still not enough." Moria panted heavily. "I want to be able to pierce Armament Haki."
"Then keep practicing."
Moria gritted his teeth and continued.
Ginny's intelligence network had spread over the past month.
After the God Valley Incident, the Underworld's attitude toward Lin Yuan had changed. Before, they had "heard of him"; now, they were "watching him." Morgans published three reports in quick succession, portraying Lin Yuan as the biggest winner at God Valley: the first to empty the warehouse, rescue four hundred civilians, and escape unscathed under the noses of Rocks and the Marines.
The title "Space Demon" appeared in the newspapers for the first time.
Ginny pinned that newspaper to the wall of the intelligence room, with a row of wanted posters beside it.
Lin Yuan, 1.5 billion. His photo captured the moment he unleashed Conqueror's Haki above God Valley, dark red lightning surrounding his body.
Kaido, 700 million. His photo showed him laughing with an iron club over his shoulder, Marines sprawled on the ground behind him.
Bullet, 500 million. His photo showed him smashing a gun emplacement with one punch, Conqueror's Haki lightning crackling around his fist. The wanted poster bore a special note: "Confirmed to possess Conqueror's Haki."
Kuma, 450 million. His photo captured the moment he sent civilians flying with his paws. Codename: "Tyrant."
King, 400 million. His photo showed him standing on the watchtower, the flames behind him lighting up half the sky. A special note read: "Lunarian remnant."
Moria, 100 million. His photo showed him standing in the doorway of the dark room, scissors in hand and a fierce look in his eyes.
"Only 100 million?" Moria looked at his wanted poster, his expression sour.
"How long have you even been at sea?" Ginny didn't look up. "Kaido followed Lin Yuan for years and only reached 700 million. You got 100 million on your first wanted poster. That's not bad."
Moria folded the wanted poster and put it in his pocket.
That evening, Lin Yuan called everyone to the castle hall.
Kaido leaned against the wall, gnawing on meat. Bullet sat on the windowsill, wiping his fists. Kuma sat quietly in a chair, King stood by the door, Moria sat in a corner, and Ginny stood beside Lin Yuan with an account book.
"A few things," Lin Yuan said.
"First, there are more and more people on the island, so we're setting rules. No stealing, no killing, and no bullying. Anyone who breaks them is out."
"Orololololo..." Kaido laughed. "No stealing on Pirate Island?"
"This is Hachinosu." Lin Yuan glanced at him. "What I say goes."
Kaido shrugged and went back to his meat.
"Second, training doesn't stop. God Valley was just the beginning." Lin Yuan looked at Kaido. "You haven't used your Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon in a real fight yet. Head out to sea next week and find a target to practice on."
Kaido's eyes lit up.
"Orololololo... All right! I've been wanting to try it for ages!"
"Third, recruitment. We don't take just anyone. Bring anyone with potential back for me to see." Lin Yuan looked at Ginny. "You're in charge of screening them."
Ginny made a note in her account book.
"Anything else?" Bullet asked.
Lin Yuan thought for a moment.
"One more thing. Starting today, Hachinosu will announce this to the outside world: those who come seeking refuge, we protect. Those who come to do business, we charge. Those who come to cause trouble, we kill."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Kaido burst out laughing.
"Orololololo... Now that's what I like to hear!"
Bullet laughed too.
"Huhahahaha... Now that's a pirate crew!"
King said nothing, but the flames behind him flickered. Kuma nodded silently. Moria tightened his grip on his scissors, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Ginny closed her account book.
"I'll go draft the announcement now."
"Go ahead."
Ginny turned and walked out of the hall, her pink ponytail swinging behind her.
Lin Yuan stood by the window, looking out at the sea.
Moonlight spilled across the water, making it shimmer.
Kaido walked up beside him.
"Lin Yuan."
"Hm?"
"Are you coming with me when I head out next week?"
"Yes," Lin Yuan said. "I want to see just how strong the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon really is too."
"Orololololo... Then don't blink."
Kaido left. Bullet left too. King returned to the watchtower, Kuma went to the shore, and Moria went back to the dark room.
Lin Yuan was the only one left in the hall.
He pushed open the window, and the sea breeze rushed in, carrying a salty tang.
"Next..." he said quietly, "Impel Down, or Wano Country?"
No one answered.
In the distance, moonlight laid a silver path across the sea.
(End of Chapter 43)