On these turbulent seas, what was the most valuable hard currency?
It wasn't the Beli issued by the World Government.
Nor was it gold, a precious metal.
It was the seemingly unremarkable ship!
In Water Seven, the world-famous city of shipwrights,
even a well-maintained secondhand ship cost around one hundred million Beli.
And a brand-new ship cost at least three hundred million Beli!
After all, even the legendary "great treasure of the sea"—Devil Fruits—
had an average selling price of only one hundred million Beli.
By that standard,
a brand-new ship could be exchanged for nearly three Devil Fruits!
Besides,
the ships openly sold to the public in Water Seven were usually wooden sailing ships intended for pirates and merchants.
What about the warships the World Government and Marine Headquarters relied on to rule the seas and maintain order?
Take the three warships Storm had just seized in battle, for example.
They were massive battleships made of steel, with four masts and dozens of cannons mounted along their bows and sides. They could even cross the Calm Belt unscathed!
Each of these battleships was nearly sixty meters long!
From what Storm had learned at the Naval Academy,
a battleship like this, nearly sixty meters long and capable of carrying eight hundred marines across the sea,
typically cost several billion Beli apiece!
Storm had no idea why the World Government—or perhaps Marine Headquarters—
had sent three battleships at once to capture "Tyrant" Bartholomew Bear of the Sorbet Kingdom.
Either way, the three warships had now fallen right into Storm's hands.
He happened to be short on ships.
When he recruited more crew members later, he could point to the warships and say,
"My ship's big and comfortable!"
Of course,
Storm couldn't possibly keep all three warships for himself.
He wasn't planning on "keeping one, displaying one, and preaching from one"...
Storm intended to keep one Marine warship for his own use.
As for the other two, he wanted to find a suitable "buyer" who'd take them both off his hands!
And while he was at it, he'd have that "buyer" ransom the hundreds of marines on the shore, too!
That would give him the initial funding for his pirate career, wouldn't it?
Bulldog looked at the three warships on the sea, then at the young "pirate" beside him.
"You're planning to steal the marines' warships?"
"Not 'planning to steal them.' I've already 'stolen them'!"
Storm corrected Bulldog.
"Being a pirate means taking from whoever has money!
"How much can you squeeze out of the poor?"
At that,
Bulldog finally believed that the man before him was a lawless Great Pirate.
He wasn't quite sure how to put it, but Storm's disdain for the poor still came as a relief...
Just then,
Kid and Killer, who had finished checking the supplies aboard the three warships, came over with excitement written all over their faces.
"Boss! The Marine ships are huge! They've got tons of stuff inside!"
"Food, fresh water, sabers, cannonballs, and all kinds of new weapons and gear I've never even heard of!"
Their reports reflected their very different personalities.
"Unload the food that won't keep for long first, then take some people with you..."
Storm paused.
He glanced at all the marines he had under control, then at the group of old people standing on the shore, and shook his head.
[Clay Person]!
Storm unleashed the power of the [Clay Fruit], and one three-meter-tall little giant after another appeared on the shore.
He lined up the clay giants, then waved to Kid and Killer.
"You two, take these Clay People with you and unload everything from the ships. Don't leave anything behind."
"Yes, boss!" X2
Kid and Killer readily followed orders, leading a group of little giants back to the warships.
Storm made a few more Clay People and had them guard the marines.
Then he used the clay to pick up the unconscious Bear and another "important prisoner"—King Bekley.
[Nine-Tails Fox]!
A lifelike white fox leaped out of Storm.
Its magical appearance, exactly as described in legends and stories, startled Bulldog and the other old people nearby.
"Old-timer, I'll have to cut our chat short."
Storm leaped onto the Nine-Tails Fox's head and sat down cross-legged.
"I'm heading to King Bear's 'palace' now. Want to come along?"
The palace?
How did this pirate know where it was?
Bulldog was startled.
He hadn't told the man anything about the "palace"!
"All right. Looks like you're planning to walk back on your own."
Storm patted the Nine-Tails Fox beneath him. It immediately started toward the island's interior.
"Then I'll be on my way!"
"W-wait!"
Bulldog hurriedly raised a hand and called out.
"Please take me with you!"
Bulldog had made up his mind.
If the young Great Pirate was telling the truth—
if he really was heading to Bear's "palace," the church where little Bonney was hidden—
then Bulldog would stop him, even if it cost him his life!
But if Storm had been lying,
if he hadn't found Bear's "palace" and had instead found King Bekley's palace—
"King Bekley?!"
Storm had just pulled Bulldog up onto the Nine-Tails Fox when he caught sight of another familiar face beside him.
Who else could it be but Bekley, the former king of the Sorbet Kingdom?
This Great Pirate!
Bulldog stared at Storm's back, utterly bewildered.
He had captured Bear and King Bekley, too...
What was this pirate trying to do?
The Nine-Tails Fox moved at incredible speed.
Before Bulldog could even react,
it had already carried them deep into the island where the Sorbet Kingdom stood.
Under Storm's control, the Nine-Tails Fox came to a steady stop in front of a small, oddly designed church.
Unlike an ordinary church, every window in this one had been sealed shut.
Storm could imagine it.
With precautions this strict, not a single ray of natural light could get inside!
Storm jumped down from the Nine-Tails Fox and set Bear, Bulldog, and King Bekley down beside him.
Just as he had finished lowering them,
Bulldog suddenly swung his cane at Storm, striking with all his might.
"You pirate!"
"Old-timer, that's rather impolite of you, isn't it?"
Storm frowned slightly at the cane, which barely had any force behind it.
"You can stay outside with that king, too!"
Before Bulldog's cane could hit Storm,
the Nine-Tails Fox's bushy tail gently curled around him.
When its tail pulled away, Bulldog had turned into a clay statue, just like King Bekley.
Storm slowly walked toward the church, carrying Bear, who still hadn't regained consciousness.
Creak—
The door groaned as Storm slowly pushed it open from outside.
The moment he stepped into the church,
a tiny, stern-faced girl suddenly charged out of the shadows.
She had waist-length pink hair, and a few jewel-like fragments dotted her dewy cheeks.
"Die!"
The tiny girl leaped high into the air, raised her right leg, and launched a "powerful kick" at Storm.
But her kick was even weaker than Bulldog's cane.
Storm reacted in the blink of an eye, grabbed the pink-haired girl by the ankle, and held her upside down with one hand.
"Little girl, what are you doing?"
Storm held her upside down and shook her vigorously. Little "weapons" kept falling off her.
Crosses, garlic, candlesticks, bricks...
Storm's eyelids twitched.
"The people around here are terribly rude!"
Storm's shaking left the pink-haired girl dizzy. She couldn't help squealing and yelping.
Her voice reached the man nearby.
Bear, who had been unconscious just moments ago, suddenly opened his eyes and got to his feet.
"Bonney!"
Seeing his "captured" daughter, Bear raised his right hand anxiously, ready to rescue her.
But he was simply too close to Storm and his daughter to make a move.
In the end, he could only raise both hands above his head and give Storm a French salute.
"Let Bonney go! I'll do whatever you want!"
"Daddy!"
Upside down in the air, Jewelry Bonney felt tears the size of beans welling in her eyes.
"Hey, hey! You two make it sound like I'm some kind of scumbag!"
Storm held Bonney by the ankle and gently tossed her toward Bear.
"Bartholomew Bear, spend more time with your 'daughter'!"
"Bonney!"
Seeing her fly toward him, Bear forgot everything else and immediately caught her in his arms.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine!"
Bonney curled up in Bear's arms, doing her best to keep the tears from falling.
"That man just now—"
Storm immediately shot her a cold look.
"Hmm?"
"That person just now—"
"Tch!"
Summoning her courage, Bonney continued.
"That man didn't hurt me."
Bear checked Bonney himself, and only relaxed once he'd confirmed she truly wasn't injured.
He looked up at Storm, recalling what Storm had just said.
"What did you mean by that just now?"
"You don't know?"
Storm casually shaped a clay doll in Jewelry Bonney's likeness and poked its face with his finger.
"Your daughter has a Terminal Illness."
Before you continue