Everyone's Reaction

3 days ago

East Blue, on a 'small island' made of reefs tens of kilometers away from Baratie.

Gin, Krieg, and Baru, along with a few survivors who had barely made it, lay on the reefs, gasping for air.

After drifting at sea for 2 days, they were all waterlogged.

They had also barely eaten anything, surviving solely on raw fish.

At this moment, Gin's mind was in turmoil.

In the past, he had always hidden behind Krieg, merely obeying orders and living in a daze.

The Baratie incident a few days ago had allowed him to discover his true feelings and see through Krieg's character.

But Krieg had shown him great kindness, and he didn't know how to handle their relationship going forward.

'Forget it, why think so much? We might all starve to death on this small island in a few days.'

'If only I could meet them again on the Grand Line.'

Perhaps it was heaven's mercy, for in his eyes, he saw a ship slowly approaching.

The survivors instantly felt hope arrive.

Krieg revealed a sinister smile, hid his few remaining weapons, and prepared to seize the ship.

"Gin, get ready."

Gin gave Krieg a meaningful glance.

He thought to himself, this would be the last time he obeyed an order, considering it repayment for Krieg's kindness.

From now on, he would walk his own path.

But as the ship drew closer, Krieg and Gin and the others instantly lost their composure.

It was a pirate ship.

And the symbol on the pirate flag clearly showed that the ship belonged to 'Clown Buggy'.

"Ka-ha-ha-ha, isn't this Krieg? I heard you challenged Can Yue?"

Buggy, having repaid his debts in Orange Town, stood with his hands on his hips, high and mighty at the ship's bow.

Beside him was Alvida, who had eaten the Smooth-Smooth Fruit and was incredibly slippery, and Kabaji, the acrobat and practitioner of Two Sword Style.

When Krieg saw that it was Buggy, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat and felt dizzy.

"It's over, I'm definitely going to die!"

He remembered that when Buggy had driven them out of East Blue, he had explicitly stated.

If he saw them in East Blue again, he would kill them on the spot.

Buggy rubbed his hands together and looked down at Krieg and Gin.

"Ahem, honestly, you guys dared to provoke Can Yue, truly brave. You must have been beaten pretty badly, right?

Tsk, seeing you all like this, I know that question was a bit redundant.

Anyway, the reason I'm saying all this is that we're short on startup capital for our voyage.

And this money will come from your lives."

Buggy grinned as he said this.

His expression was playful yet sinister.

Upon hearing Buggy's threat, Krieg could only sweat profusely; he had no other reaction.

Ever since seeing Buggy, Krieg had completely lost the will to fight.

But to everyone's surprise.

Gin stepped forward.

"Leader Krieg saved my life. If you want to kill him, you'll have to get past me first!"

Buggy's eyes flickered, and after a moment of thought, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"An interesting kid."

Time returned to the present.

There was about 1 day left until the Merry reached Cocoyasi Village.

Everyone was engaged in their respective physical training.

Can Yue, having nothing to do for the moment, entered the lounge and carefully examined the spoils from the recent battle.

Because he had encountered Hawk Eyes before his Sesshomaru template had reached its critical fusion point.

Therefore, this time he only received a small amount of rewards.

"Fusion Rate: 46%--48%, a 2% increase.

Bonus Reward: 'Great War Spear' weapon strength and power increased.

Exclusive Reward: Spear-Staff Combat Style * 1"

After several days of sailing at sea, Can Yue's daily performance increased from 45% to 46%.

Coupled with the 2% from the system reward, it had now reached 48%.

An increase in fusion rate naturally meant a slight improvement in strength, though it hadn't broken through any significant thresholds.

Furthermore, Can Yue noticed that as the fusion rate grew higher, the speed at which his daily life performance improved noticeably slowed down.

The peculiar thing was that because Can Yue had taken Krieg's 'Great War Spear'.

The system had strengthened the weapon based on the physical strength of its new wielder, Shushu.

Additionally, the exclusive reward provided clearly belonged to Shushu and Nami, who had initiated spear-staff training.

It seemed the system, based on Can Yue's current environment, might provide rewards suitable for his current needs.

'Heh, not bad.'

As soon as the Spear-Staff Combat Style reward was issued, Can Yue had already learned and mastered it.

This combat style was of average strength and not suitable for Can Yue.

Therefore, Can Yue would basically not use it, but it was still usable for training Nami and Shushu.

After briefly organizing the rewards, Can Yue began to consider his next plan.

'Ugh… Arlong? What's there to think about? One sword strike and he's dealt with.'

After dealing with Arlong, everyone would then head to Loguetown.

It was there that they might encounter some difficulties.

Can Yue wasn't sure what the current combat strength of the Straw Hat Crew was in the eyes of the Marines.

If their full strength were known to the Marines.

Then, the ones blocking them in Loguetown might not just be Smoker.

But if only Smoker were there to stop them, it would be simple.

After all, according to rumors, Smoker in this world should be about the same as Buggy.

He was capable of fighting Luffy and the others.

But if he encountered Can Yue himself, the 'Undefeated War God' would surely be defeated.

'He can serve as practice for Luffy and the others.'

With his thoughts organized, Can Yue walked onto the deck.

"Nami, Shushu, come for training. I'll teach you something new."

Marine Headquarters—this time not the Bounty Management Department.

In the Fleet Admiral's office.

'Fleet Admiral' Sengoku and 'Marine Hero' Garp were sitting together eating senbei.

Sengoku rested his head in one hand, looking unhappily at Garp.

"Garp, your grandson is now a wanted criminal! How did you educate him?"

Garp laughed heartily, his expression indifferent.

"20 million? That kid still has a long way to go."

Sengoku sighed, resting his chin in both hands, his gaze somewhat solemn.

"But I'm not worried about your grandson, but about his companion named Can Yue."

Garp took a bite of senbei, pursed his lips, and responded.

"Why? A 30 million bounty isn't enough to warrant your attention as Fleet Admiral, is it?"

Sengoku responded with a grave expression.

"There are rumors that he single-handedly defeated Buggy.

And not long ago, he had an exchange with Hawk Eyes on the sea. Initially, it was a draw.

But our mole within the Krieg Pirates was killed by the residual shockwaves from their battle, and the information transmitted back was incomplete."

Upon hearing this, Garp's expression finally became serious.

"Being able to defeat Buggy, with a real bounty of at least 100 million, he indeed warrants attention.

As for the other matter, have you verified it with Hawk Eyes?"

Sengoku sighed, "I tried, but I can't contact him at the moment."

Garp looked at the worried Sengoku and said, seemingly with heavy concern.

"A pirate like Can Yue is already someone we need to pay close attention to. Hmmm... Sengoku, good luck!"

Sengoku initially thought Garp was going to handle it himself, but hearing the latter part of his statement, he instantly became furious.

"That's your grandson's pirate crew!"

"Got it."

"Garp!"

"Ahem, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be going now."

Watching Garp leave, Sengoku scoffed.

Then, his eyes flickered as he pondered and spoke to himself.

"Ah, the great pirates of the New World haven't been quiet lately either, so the Straw Hat Pirates' matter will have to be put aside for now.

They should pass through Loguetown after some time.

Hmmm... Can Smoker handle it?

Perhaps I should arrange for a few more people to help."