Lowly Creatures

The merchant ship swayed endlessly upon the vast, turbulent sea. Only those who had truly spent time at sea could understand how terrifying it was.

Ling Donglai mulled it over again and again, yet he still could not understand how Luffy had started sailing in nothing but a wooden barrel back then.

With every breath, crackling currents ran across Ling Donglai's body. Once he entered the Current Drive state, whether he trained or did anything else, his physical qualities improved significantly. In other words, simply by training, his body underwent constant reinforcement from the inside out.

This was far more efficient than the usual training methods in the pirate world. After all, this was a method of training by stimulating cells through friction.

After three days of calm seas, things changed. The merchant ship stopped in the middle of the ocean, and two attendants knocked on Ling Donglai's door.

"What is it?"

Ling Donglai stopped training. His muscles had become firmer from his training, and he was gradually starting to look like a strong man, a stark contrast to the frail figure he had been before boarding.

"A group of pirates has intercepted us. There are about six of them," an attendant shouted from outside.

"I'll be right there." Ling Donglai found his revolver, checked that the cylinder was fully loaded, then tucked it into his waistband and covered it with his clothes.

It was a simple wooden ship, its sail painted with a skull emblem. Several men stood aboard with short blades, looking every bit like ordinary pirates. There was also a cannon on deck, its barrel covered in rust.

"Listen up! One thousand Beli per head! If you don't pay, I'm opening fire!"

The pirates kept shouting threats.

"Mr. Ling, you're here. Look..." The person in charge of the merchant ship looked at Ling Donglai with anger written all over his face.

"These pirates are far too arrogant. Unfortunately, since this is close to Arlong Park's waters, the nearby Marine branches always drag their feet when they receive a distress signal."

"It's fine. You paid me to handle this, so don't worry." Ling Donglai drew his revolver.

The pirate ship was extremely close to theirs, as if it were preparing for boarding combat.

"We agree to pay! Send someone over to collect it!" Ling Donglai shouted toward them.

"Mr. Ling, our ship is carrying supplies. Any extra money has to be handed over to Arlong. We can't give it to these pirate lackeys!" the person in charge shouted anxiously.

Their merchant ship always traveled to designated locations to trade supplies, then returned with money.

"It's fine, it's fine. We're just getting some of them to come out. Based on my experience as a former pirate, a ship like that can hold ten people at most. We have five sailors here, and they're armed, so they can defend themselves. I just need them to get closer first so I can deal with that cannon."

As long as that cannon was there, the enemy had a chance to turn things around. One shot would be enough to wreck these wooden ships, and then he would be left soaking in the sea.

After hearing Ling Donglai's call, the pirates on the other side indeed began steering closer.

The merchant ship's manager was shocked as well. "Mr. Ling, you used to be a pirate?"

"I'm retired, retired." Ling Donglai pulled several iron plates from his pocket.

After the pirate ship drew a little closer, someone raised his head and shouted, "Don't try anything funny! We're coming aboard to count heads!"

As he spoke, a boarding plank was laid across the merchant ship's rail, and the pirates on the other side leaped over with their machetes.

"Quite brave." Ling Donglai raised his revolver. The moment they jumped over, he fired decisively, emptying one cylinder and taking two heads.

"You're not playing fair! Fire the cannon!!!" Seeing the sudden change, the pirate captain immediately gave the gunner an order.

A thick, black cannonball was loaded into the barrel.

These old-fashioned cannons took a long time to load and fire. Using their boarding plank, Ling Donglai leaped across in a flash of electricity.

The Devil Fruit user, practically cheating with his superior speed and strength, punched and kicked his way through the pirate crew with the ease of an adult beating up children.

"Boss, should we just sail away and leave him on that pirate ship to fend for himself?"

"After all, he's a pirate too!" A sailor holding a blade cautiously approached the manager and asked.

People in these small East Blue towns had suffered terribly at the hands of pirates. The moment they heard Ling Donglai had once been a pirate, they instinctively disliked him, retired or not.

"Why would you have such a ridiculous idea? Didn't you see the cannon over there? What if they fire a shot at us later?" The manager glared at the sailor.

He disliked pirates too, but that pirate ship had a cannon.

"This kind of cannon is pretty prone to bursting. No one's maintained it." After dealing with the pirates on board, Ling Donglai looked at the lone cannon.

Back when he had been a pirate, he had wanted to become a gunner so he could blast enemies with cannon fire whenever he encountered them.

Then one day, he saw a cannon burst, and that idea vanished without a trace.

After looting the pirates' supplies and money into his own pockets, Ling Donglai removed the cannonball from the cannon, lifted the cannon itself, and threw it onto the merchant ship. Then he jumped back over while carrying two cannonballs.

"Mount this cannon on the ship for show. It can scare off plenty of small-time pirates. Try not to actually fire it, or it might explode." Ling Donglai clapped his hands, gave them his instructions, then returned to his room to continue training.

Perhaps because they now had a cannon, or perhaps because there were simply fewer pirates in these waters, the merchant ship encountered no more pirates until a bizarre-looking Fish-Man burst from beneath the water.

"Stop! This is Arlong Park! What are you doing here?" The Fish-Man who leaped out of the sea landed directly on deck and asked viciously.

His appearance alone frightened one sailor into collapsing onto the deck, pale yellow liquid spilling out.

"Hahahaha! As expected of weak humans! Just seeing us is enough to make you wet your pants!"

The Fish-Man reeked of fish, and his laughter was wildly exaggerated.

"This is our passage fee. We're a merchant group that comes every month to sell supplies."

The merchant ship's manager had come prepared. Two sailors carried a bag of Beli over and set it before the Fish-Man.

"Not a small amount." The Fish-Man lifted the bag of Beli with one hand.

"Yes, yes, yes..." The manager forced a smile. "We understand Arlong's rules, we understand."

"Only..."

"But the price has gone up. Turn around and go back!" The Fish-Man waved his hand as if shooing flies away.

"How can you do this... If we can't complete this deal..." The merchant ship's manager looked at the bag of Beli in the Fish-Man's hand.

"Hm? Isn't this Beli your tribute? Don't tell me you want it back? You worthless human!"

With a shove, the Fish-Man knocked the merchant group's manager to the ground.

"Get this straight. You lowly creatures—us Fish-Men are the superior race. Isn't it only natural for us to take your money?"

—

Make some investments, brothers.