The Decaying New World

"Vivre Card?"

Gawain pondered for a moment before finally recalling that it was the Pirate King world's GPS, a piece of Vivre Card paper linked to its creator's life force.

Even in the world of the Pirate King, the materials for this kind of paper could only be found in the New World. By mixing the creator's fingernails and hair into the materials, it could accurately reflect the creator's state of health.

If the creator fell into critical condition, their Vivre Card would shrink. If they died, it would turn to ashes.

Of course, if the creator recovered, the shrunken Vivre Card would return to its original state. It was remarkably magical.

Naturally, for Gawain, Vivre Cards had one small drawback: torn pieces of a Vivre Card would attract one another and move together. That meant that once he left behind a Vivre Card, the World Government would inevitably be able to track his location.

But after only a moment's thought, Gawain nodded decisively.

"Perfect. I was just wondering how to make a Vivre Card. Did you bring people who know how?"

"Of course. I can't make Vivre Cards myself. Look, all those Cipher Pol people are in the corner. I don't like them."

Shalria pursed her lips toward the distant corner. Sure enough, a group of pitiful-looking Cipher Pol agents were staring at them with forced smiles.

Seeing their smiles, Gawain beckoned.

"I'll leave my Vivre Card to you, then."

"Not a problem, not a problem! It is our honor to make a Vivre Card for Saint Gawain!"

The Cipher Pol agents rushed over. Their leader then cautiously raised his right hand toward Gawain.

"Saint Gawain, please clip off a small piece of your fingernail and give it to me. Just a tiny bit will do."

"Mm."

Gawain lowered his head and looked at his fingers. So where were the nail clippers...

Swish!

A black gleam flashed from its sheath. Kompira's pitch-black blade swept swiftly past Gawain's raised middle finger.

Gion sheathed her sword with her right hand. Then, with her left, she lightly pinched the air before Gawain and presented the thin clipping of nail between her fingers to the Cipher Pol agents.

Seeing the nail clipping before him, the Cipher Pol agent shed his previous caution and spoke with utmost seriousness.

"So it was Vice Admiral Gion. You truly wield a fine blade!"

"Not as fine as you lot. You are fine blades yourselves, heh."

Gion shook her head disdainfully.

If someone put a pirate like Rayleigh, retired for decades, beside Cipher Pol and asked Gion whom she hated more—

She would absolutely say Cipher Pol.

As for why?

Simple. You're the CIA, we're the FBI. One causes trouble, the other cleans it up. That was roughly the sort of miserable relationship they had...

In any case, Gion held her chin high and tossed the nail clipping to Cipher Pol.

After that, she turned away without another word.

Only then did Shalria, standing before Gawain, finally react.

Shalria was practically a walking meme at that moment.

Her eyes were wide and vacant, while her mouth hung open wide enough to swallow a pineapple.

She raised a trembling hand and shakily pointed at Gion.

After making faces for several seconds, Shalria finally managed to cry out half a sentence in a low voice...

"An assassin..."

As she spoke, she looked at Gawain in terror.

"Watch out... Gawain...!"

Her voice became louder this time, but Gawain simply raised a hand and pressed down on her bubble helmet, forcing the rest of her words back inside.

"Don't make a fuss. She is the chief guard I recruited from the Navy, a great swordswoman who wields the Black Blade Kompira, Admiral candidate Gion!"

As his words fell, Gawain smiled at Gion while patting Shalria's bubble helmet.

"Gion, this is Shalria, a textbook Celestial Dragon girl. You know the type.

Still, she has genuinely been good to me."

"Understood. I am Gion. Greetings, Lady Shalria!"

After hearing Gawain's explanation, Gion gave Shalria an expressionless bow.

Once she learned that Gion was merely a guard, Shalria immediately perked up. She first grabbed Gawain's hand and inspected it for quite a while before carefully muttering.

"Ah, so she's the chief guard. Brother, why did you recruit a guard from the Navy?

How can those Navy people compare to the people the Five Elders arrange for us?

And this lowly woman is so fierce. She actually dared to swing a sword at you!

Unlike me. All I do is feel sorry for you, Brother!"

Perhaps even she felt that her tone was a little off, so she coughed softly twice before continuing.

"Why don't we replace her? Look at how little she's wearing...

No, I mean, look at those skinny arms and legs. She definitely can't be very strong!

Perfect timing, Gawain. Didn't my biological brother Charlos disrespect you before? I beat him up, and while I was at it, I took the super slave he bought at auction last month for 1.2 billion Beli!

That slave is my brother's apology to you. He would definitely make a much better guard than this lowly woman. Why don't we kill this lowly woman? How could a woman like her possibly be as impressive as an amazing slave..."

"Stop!"

Seeing Shalria getting more and more outrageous, Gawain helplessly patted her bubble helmet again.

"You still remember Charlos is your biological brother?"

"Hm?"

"Enough with the 'hm.' Take the slave you brought and—"

Gawain had intended to tell her to take the slave away, but halfway through his words, he suddenly felt that he ought to curb Shalria's slave-owning habit somewhat.

So Gawain rephrased himself.

"Wait. Where is this slave you mentioned?"

"He's locked in the stable behind us. Let's go together."

Shalria instantly forgot about Gion and skipped happily out the door.

Gawain said nothing and merely followed behind Shalria. Before long, he saw the slave Shalria intended to give him.

The instant he saw the man, Gawain frowned. He was not someone familiar.

"Gion, do you know him? What kind of person is he, and what has he done?"

Hearing that, Gion nodded and glanced at Shalria.

She had probably guessed Gawain's intentions.

So Gion began her introduction.

"My lord, this is a pirate born and raised in the New World: Jebul the Red Sea Hippo. His bounty is 530 million Beli. Some time ago, after raiding Whitebeard's territory, Marco the Phoenix hunted down and scattered his pirate crew.

I never expected him to end up here!"

The moment Gion finished speaking, the pirate in the stable, who had been meek and silent just moments before, suddenly raised his head.

He ignored Shalria, who had beaten and ordered him around, and ignored Gawain as well. He merely stared fixedly at Gion.

Facing Jebul's gaze, Gion raised her chin and spoke coldly.

"You are probably the kind of pirate I hate most. Humanity has long since lost all foothold within you.

If I remember correctly, your bounty was revised six times in total. Five of those revisions were because you massacred small and medium-sized population centers."

As her words fell, Gion removed Kompira with her left hand and said quietly.

"My lord, a pure villain like this, who has fallen so low and is still willing to be a slave, can be replaced at any time by someone of comparable strength. He is not worthy of standing at your side!

And he has not eaten a Devil Fruit, so we need not worry about his fruit returning to the sea.

May I kill him?"

"I suppose so. Shalria gave him to me, didn't she, Shalria?" Gawain asked.

"Of course! Are you going to kill him? How exciting, Gawain!" Shalria became thrilled. She clutched Gawain's hand and stared expectantly at Gion's blade.

But before Gion could draw her sword, Jebul suddenly laughed.

"Zehahahaha! I wondered who it was. So it's you, Vice Admiral Gion, the woman too scared to even enter the New World!"

While mocking Gion, Jebul shifted his posture. He straightened his upper body, raised his knees, and stood up again.

Facing Gion's unsheathed yet motionless blade, Jebul grinned and suddenly roared.

"Gion, if you ever get a chance to see Whitebeard, deliver a message to that old bastard for me!

That bunch of old geezers have occupied the New World for far too long. The pirate way of the New World has rotted away!

If there is another life, I will still charge into his territory!

Why should the sea Roger left behind belong only to that bunch of old geezers? Why?!!!"

Clang!

With a crisp sound, Gion lightly swung her right hand and took a step.

In the next instant, Gion appeared out of thin air behind Jebul.

A pillar of blood shot skyward, spraying seven or eight meters high. After Jebul's head rolled across the ground several times, his eyes came to face Gawain.

His mouth, meanwhile, was stretched wide in a wild grin, and his final mad laughter continued to spill from it.

"Zehahahaha!!!"

Bang!

After stepping down, Gion lifted her foot. The sole of her shoe was covered in a mixture of blood and brain matter.

As she rubbed the bottom of her shoe against the ground, Gion said disdainfully.

"Even pirates think their class has become rotten?

Aren't they all trash who worship strength above all else?"

Hearing Gion's scornful words, Gawain spoke after some thought.

"Yes, most pirates are trash. But in an environment where increasingly ambitious trash gathers, the weak inevitably grow dissatisfied with the suppression of the strong.

Think about the pirate emperors of this sea, especially Whitebeard.

He had sat in the position of the world's strongest for far too long."