Scheming!

As long as Lowett agreed in public, right and wrong would be up to Monka alone to arrange.

Failure did not matter to begin with. Betrayal... was even better!

What a fine tableau of a Rashomon-like human drama!

"None of them are simple!"

Under the azure sky, Lowett gazed at the endless ocean ahead, his face showing not the slightest anger at being treated as a discarded pawn.

He recalled how Monka had sought him out before departure, saying this mission was his chance to prove himself and telling him to seize it well.

Lowett could not help but sigh. Those who treated others like fools were the real fools.

Monka had long planned to abandon him as a disposable pawn.

That was human nature!

There was no better way to solve a problem than by eliminating the person who caused it.

Otherwise, for a matter concerning the survival of the branch, they would at least have sent Lieutenant Colonel Jordi, the veteran officer everyone knew whose strength clearly surpassed the Triangle Spellbreaker, to put them at ease.

Yet he had chosen him instead...

Monka and Kuro—two utterly insignificant minor characters in the original work—had both left him amazed, proving with facts that...

Oda was just a manga artist. What the hell did he know about Pirate King!

The characters in manga were portrayed too absolutely. Only when they appeared alive in reality did they seem truly "real."

"What a pity..."

Lowett murmured softly. A soldier selected to accompany him paused and asked.

"Ensign, what did you say?"

"No, nothing."

Giving him a glance, Lowett sat on the edge of the lifeboat, leaned his head back, and narrowed his eyes.

"Do it."

Do what?

Do what? What was he supposed to do?

"Huh?!"

As the soldier stood there in confusion, the lifeboat trembled faintly and unnaturally. With his back to the sea, he failed to notice a corpse-spotted hand silently gripping the side of the boat as a body slowly rose from the water.

When the Zombie Puppet's head broke the surface, another soldier in front of him noticed it. His pupils abruptly shrank. Terror instantly seized his body, forcing his mouth open as he made a dry rasp like a fish hauled ashore.

"C-Colonel..."

Then he watched Colonel Alva, dead for nearly a month and personally witnessed being buried, silently climb aboard and remove the dagger clenched between his teeth.

Water dripped from his soaked hair and slid over his eyes, yet he did not blink at all. Slowly, he extended the dagger to less than a centimeter from the soldier's throat.

Wait, if that was happening over there... then what about me?!

The soldier was suddenly jolted awake.

Drip...

Icy liquid fell onto the skin at the back of his head. Feeling that chill, boundless terror instantly crawled up his spine and spread through his entire body.

His eyes opened to their absolute limit, as if he refused to die, while syllables gathered in his throat.

Splurt!!

"Ghk..."

Then it dissolved into weak, ragged gasps as the light faded from his eyes.

The rusty, cold dagger sliced through his windpipe and carotid artery, sending blood pouring out as if it cost nothing.

Enemies whose throats were slit or who were stabbed to death could not scream dramatically and fall backward like they did on television.

As a Necromancer, Lowett had experimented with it many, many times.

"You changed boats and still couldn't sense the difference in its weight. What am I supposed to say about you people?"

Even fishermen could judge their catch from a vessel's draft. Yet as soldiers of the sea, they did not even possess that basic skill...

Through his dying vision, the Navy Ensign Lowett watched him with neither coldness nor malice, only the merciful gaze humans used when looking upon livestock being slaughtered.

"In your next life, remember not to join the Navy."

Splurt...!

Splurt! Splat!

With every rise and fall of the blade, the undead spilled blood. At that moment, the broken dagger became Death's soul-reaping scythe, mercilessly harvesting lives, making blood dance and death emerge in an instant.

Once the wheezing, leaking breaths gradually faded, the small boat returned to silence.

By then, the bottom of the boat was already soaked in blood. Every step made it creak and squish, as if walking through a pool of slime.

Lowett quietly raised his head. A Zombie Puppet came to his side, holding a Den Den Mushi in its hands.

"Which one?"

"Roar!"

The zombie shook its head like some dimwitted fool playing in mud by the village entrance, then raised an arm, pointed at a corpse, and roared.

"Tch. They already treated me as a discarded pawn, yet they still weren't at ease and sent someone to watch me... Hell is empty, and all the devils are here on earth!"

Though Den Den Mushi were common communication tools, they were far from cheap. Modifying wild Den Den Mushi was the kind of craft countless people relied on to make a living and pass down through generations.

Instead of handing such a precious thing to him, the leader, they had hidden it away themselves. What sinister intentions!

The "upright gentleman" Lowett sighed with feeling.

"Perfect. I need some... spellcasting materials."

Splash!

One by one, the zombies jumped back into the seawater, swam beneath the lifeboat, and held it up. Carrying Lowett, the boat headed forward.

East Blue, in an ungoverned region, on an unnamed deserted island.

Zango, the current captain of the Black Cat Pirates, endured the forest's damp heat and mosquito bites as he lay hidden among the bushes.

Beside him, a crewman slapped his own face repeatedly. When he pulled his hand away, there was a streak of blood on it.

"Captain, will he come?"

It had already been more than half a day.

"He'll definitely come. Only he would come."

Zango pressed his chin into the mud. Behind his pink floral sunglasses, his gaze was solemn yet confident. "Don't forget, after he left that day, Doctor Sheldon immediately took medicine and committed suicide... Once there was one, there would be a second. He knew he couldn't hide it from everyone."

"But wouldn't doing this make the Navy target him again? What is he after?"

Remembering what he had seen that day, the pirate shuddered.

Death was a common sight to them, but making someone swallow an overdose of medicine with a gentle smile on their face, sit in a reclining chair beneath a fan, and wait for their life to abruptly end...

That kind of death exceeded the limits of his understanding!

Even in the height of summer, it made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, his hands and feet turning cold.

It reminded him of their former captain, who had gone into hiding under a false name: "Hundred Schemes" Kuro.

Only he possessed such terrifying deterrence.

But the question was, if the Triangle Spellbreaker and Kuro were the same kind of people, what did he stand to gain by drawing the Navy's attention again?

No one knew the answer.

Rustle...

The sound of leaves stirring came from nearby. Zango turned and saw the pirate responsible for keeping watch on the hillside approaching.

"C-Captain, he's here!"

"He finally arrived?!"

Zango's spirits lifted.

He reached for the binoculars, only to suddenly realize something was wrong with the pirate's expression. His pupils had contracted, his lips were pale, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat. He had clearly been badly frightened.

"What happened?"

Zango asked with a frown.

"Blood... So much blood!"

The pirate's face was filled with terror as he recalled what he had seen through the binoculars. "Only one small boat came over. All the Navy soldiers aboard were dead. There was blood everywhere."

By then, it was too late to say any more. The small boat had already entered their field of vision.

Corpses were piled into a small mountain in the center of the boat. Red liquid constantly streamed over clothing and skin, while their target, Lowett, stood at the bow amid the bodies and looked toward them.

"This is..."

Zango's pupils contracted as he thought of a possibility.

The next second, a black coat sliced through the air and appeared at the edge of the beach.

"Captain Kuro!"

Looking at that familiar, tall figure and the skull epaulets, Zango's heart skipped a beat.

This was not part of the plan!

If Kuro did not fight Lowett, how was he supposed to wrap up the backup plan he had prepared?

Rustle...

Thump!

The lifeboat struck the beach and swayed gently.

Under the blazing sun, the mountain of corpses brought not a trace of warmth to anyone's heart. But Kuro did not care about such a scene. Behind the glasses that represented refinement, his eyes held amusement, and the corner of his mouth curled into a smile.

"You came."

Lowett said, "I came."

Kuro said, "You shouldn't have come."

Lowett said, "But I had to come."

After that baffling exchange with outsiders, Kuro's eyes shifted. He raised a hand and pushed his glasses up with his palm.

"Your value is not enough for me to take a risk."

The concern he had harbored finally came out.

Zango clenched his teeth.

Were they going to cooperate?!!

The Triangle Spellbreaker, with a bounty of merely one million, naturally had no right to speak on equal terms with Great Pirate Kuro, much less form an alliance, but...

His current identity was a Navy Ensign!!

The Black Cat Pirates had repeatedly been forced to flee in the past. Their greatest problem was that they had no source of intelligence within the Navy. Every time, they only realized something was wrong after encountering the enemy.

Just imagine.

What if one day they had their own intelligence source inside the Navy?

Combined with the immense wealth Kuro was about to scheme for and his personal strength...

Krieg?

Arlong?

Among the famous Great Pirates of East Blue, who could be Kuro's match?!

When the time came, breaking out of East Blue and setting their sights on the Pirate King would not be impossible.

And the foremost prerequisite was having a stable, reliable, trustworthy source of intelligence.

Was there a more perfect target than Lowett?

The answer was obvious.

"Is that so?"

Kuro wanted to see a trace of nervousness on Lowett's face, but unfortunately, he did not get his wish.

Lowett wanted to push up his glasses, but unfortunately, he did not get his wish either.

"If my position isn't high enough, I can make up for it with merit... If someone makes a mistake at this time and opens up a position, that would be even better."

At those words, a fierce glint flashed in Kuro's eyes. He shook his head.

"I said it already. You aren't worth the risk."

Yes, that's it. Let the negotiations collapse!

Zango clenched his fists and silently encouraged them. Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought he was deeply worried for Kuro.

Lowett said, "No room for discussion?"

Kuro said, "None."

"Unless..."

With a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, Kuro said, "You do something for me."

"What?"

"Kill someone!"

The atmosphere on the scene froze.

Lowett's eyes shifted as he understood what the other party meant.

So.

Your real name was Hundred Plans · Nation Thief · Kuro?

Lowett said, "That sounds simple..."

Kuro chuckled. "Doesn't it?"

"But I refuse!"

Kuro's confident smile froze on his face. Amid the startled silence, Lowett's eyes were hidden behind his hair as he said in a low voice.

"One of the things I, Lowett, like most is telling those who think they're stronger than me: 'NO'!"

The negotiations had finally collapsed!!!

Zango was instantly overjoyed.

But then, a sharp howl rang out beside his ear, carrying a nauseating stench of rot as it struck toward his heart.

"Watch out, someone's attacking!"

"It's... it's undead! We've been cursed!"

"Help! Don't come any closer...!"

Hearing the shout from behind him, boundless shame surged into Kuro's heart, making his whole body tremble.

The left hand holding his glasses slowly lowered. His pupils shrank to pinpoints, and his killing intent soared.

"You... are courting death!!!"

At that, Lowett grinned.

"All warfare is based on deception, little kitty..."