Great Pirate Era

After learning what had happened, Jerry realized he had been getting carried away by his own assumptions. They had indeed followed him, but they had never intended to do anything to him.

They had only meant to teach him a lesson. Once they saw him get thoroughly beaten up, they had not pursued the matter any further.

It had all been a misunderstanding caused by his terrible impression of pirates, along with excessive suspicion and fear.

"Ma'am, would you be willing to sell this sword for a modest price?"

Just as Jerry reached out to take the sword Cifer offered him, his mother took it first.

She gave Savage Dragon a long look, then sheathed it again. After a brief moment of thought, she looked up at Cifer.

Savage Dragon was a fine sword, but it would serve no purpose in their hands. She still intended to sell it, exchange it for Belly, and give her children a better life.

But as a descendant of the Dragon Slayer, and as someone who had grown up listening to stories of her ancestor while looking at Savage Dragon, she naturally hoped the sword would end up in the hands of a strong person.

Only in the hands of a strong person would it not disgrace its name as one of the Supreme Grade Swords. She also hoped that Savage Dragon would one day become famous throughout the world once more.

Cifer, who had so easily dealt with Savage Dragon's lingering spirit, was undoubtedly a powerful man. Besides, she had caught an important piece of information in what Captain Smoker had said earlier.

She had lived in Loguetown for many years, having settled here before Smoker took office. Back then, she had not been so frail and sickly.

She had also learned about this base commander. He was a man who hated evil and was filled with a sense of justice.

Though the Shichibukai differed from ordinary pirates, there was no way they could make him call one of them "an unconventional Marine," especially when he had emphasized that there was only one.

In other words, in his eyes, the man before her was unlike the other Shichibukai—a pirate with a strong sense of justice.

If Savage Dragon could be entrusted to such a righteous, renowned, and powerful man, she would be more than happy to see it.

After all, her ancestor had slain a Dragon in the name of justice and at the cost of his life to protect the people. If Savage Dragon became a weapon for evil men to harm civilians, she would not know how to face her departed ancestor.

"Buy it? That's possible. Name your price!"

Cifer had been worrying about not having a suitable good sword. He had discovered that when dealing with certain troubles, simply sending out a slash of sword aura was indeed convenient.

Ulquiorra already knew how to use a sword. More importantly, while traveling the world, who could refuse the identity of a great swordsman?

"This is... Savage Dragon, one of the twelve Supreme Grade Swords!"

As luck would have it, Tashigi, the sword fanatic whom Smoker had left far behind, arrived at the scene just then and recognized the sword in the woman's hand at a glance.

Completely drawn in by Savage Dragon, Tashigi even forgot about Smoker and Cifer beside her. She walked up to the woman and carefully examined the sword.

"If Mr. Cifer uses this sword, then that Dragon Slayer will surely be greatly comforted!"

After learning the full story, Tashigi pushed up her glasses and looked at Savage Dragon with delight.

A treasured sword like this should not remain hidden in the marketplace, much less fall into the hands of evil people!

If Cifer wielded it, she believed it would surely become a blade of justice.

Seeing that the young girl before her cherished Savage Dragon so dearly and thought so highly of Cifer, the woman was finally completely at ease.

At the same time, she cautiously revealed the lowest price in her heart: 100 million Belly.

After all, this was one of only twelve Supreme Grade Swords in the world. This was already the lowest price she could offer after much hesitation.

Though the others did not know much about swords, they could tell from Tashigi's shocked and pained expression that this price was already very cheap.

100 million Belly?

Cifer wondered whether taking out that much money on the ship would leave them unable to afford food. After all, there were two big eaters aboard now.

"Kid, I can tell that you seem to hate pirates?"

Instead of answering directly, Cifer lowered his head and looked at Jerry.

The moment Jerry had drawn Savage Dragon, Cifer could tell that a hatred lay buried in his heart—not toward him, or rather, not only toward him.

Jerry's silence confirmed Cifer's guess, but he did not answer the question.

Seeing this, the woman sighed softly and explained the reason to Cifer.

After the Great Pirate Era began, countless ambitious people had rushed toward the Grand Line, hoping to find the great treasure Roger had spoken of.

Jess, the father of Jerry and Jamie, had been one of them.

Back then, Rina had been a healthy woman, and Jamie had only recently been born. Their family was not wealthy, but it had been harmonious and happy.

She had thought they would support each other and spend the rest of their lives together with their children by their side.

Until that day, when everything changed...

"Jess, what are you doing?"

When Rina returned from buying groceries, she saw her husband packing his luggage. A sense of foreboding rose within her.

"Rina, can you forgive my selfishness?"

Jess immediately dropped to his knees before her and told her that someone had invited him to sail out in search of the legendary great treasure.

She had asked why he would so readily accept someone else's invitation. Jess gave an answer she could neither understand nor refute: the Pirate Flag was calling to him.

Jerry, who had been about four years old at the time, hid in his room and secretly watched his parents speak.

"What about me? What about the children? They're still so young!" Rina did not fly into a rage. She merely asked softly.

"I'm sorry!"

Jess did not answer her directly. He only pressed his forehead to the floor.

"Go, then!"

Rina saw his determination to go to sea. She knew that from that day onward, this home could no longer keep him.

Having received his answer, Jess hurried away. Before leaving, he did not even see his children one last time.

From then on, whenever Jamie asked about her father, Rina told her that he had gone somewhere far away to handle something important, and that perhaps he would return once Jamie grew up.

But Jerry never once asked about Jess. Rina guessed that he must have overheard something, so she never took the initiative to mention him in front of the children.

She had thought that she was still young and could raise her two children, but fate seemed to love playing cruel jokes on her.

An accident two years ago had caused her health to worsen by the day. She could no longer go out to work, and the family's savings gradually dwindled.

Until Jerry began earning money, and then came the matter of Savage Dragon today.

"That man isn't my father!"

Jerry was highly agitated. Not long after Jess left that year, he saw his mother leave the house.

He had been terrified that his mother would abandon them too, so he secretly followed her.

As a result, he saw with his own eyes that his mother had crouched in an empty corner and burst into tears. It felt as though someone had gripped his heart.

From then on, the seeds of hatred toward pirates were planted in his heart. Coupled with the increasingly rampant pirates of recent years, he swore to become a righteous Marine.

He wanted to bring every pirate in the world to justice!