Black Cat Pirates

Lynn found three Log Poses aboard the warship, pointing respectively toward Marine Headquarters, the Sabaody Archipelago, and Loguetown in the East Blue.

The first two were absolutely out of the question, leaving Loguetown in the East Blue as Lynn's only choice.

And during the time after arriving in Loguetown, Lynn had not been idle. After all, because of the series of events at the Sabaody Archipelago, his bounty had now reached as high as 100 Million Beli.

Furthermore, his act of declaring war on the Celestial Dragons gave Lynn reason to believe that a sky-high price had already been placed on his head in the underworld.

The price offered by the Celestial Dragons was enough to spur those powerful monsters into action!

And to deal with the monsters targeting his head, Lynn's most pressing task was to master the skill known as "Haki."

Thus, he set his sights on Foosha Village, which was also located in the East Blue.

That was a good place.

Whether it was Garp or Shanks, who would soon arrive there, both were top experts in the use of Haki.

In the East Blue, no one understood Haki better than they did.

The sea breeze blew.

Granny Siya's small merchant ship sailed across the sea while several sailors worked busily and methodically.

Three days had passed since they set sail from Loguetown.

"Two more days, and we'll reach Foosha Village."

Granny Siya sipped her hot tea and said to Lynn beside her, "Being young is wonderful."

"You're not old either, Granny," Lynn replied with a smile.

Over the past few days, Lynn had also learned some of Granny Siya's past.

This kind and gentle-looking old woman had once been the most beautiful woman in Loguetown's taverns during her youth. She had countless suitors, including wealthy merchants and even nobles, yet she had only ever loved one shipwright.

To marry Granny Siya, that shipwright had specially built a ship for her as a token of their love. Yet the day after the ship was completed, he was accidentally struck and killed by a stray bullet after getting caught in a conflict between pirates and the navy.

Granny Siya had been heartbroken. To commemorate her lover, she converted that ship into a merchant vessel, selling only the kind of wine he had loved most—Morning Love.

In the blink of an eye, several decades had passed. Granny Siya had gone from a beauty known to all into a kindly old woman.

Hearing Lynn's words, Granny Siya smiled happily.

Just then, the lookout on the ship suddenly shouted, "Granny, a ship is approaching from the nine o'clock direction!"

Lynn and Granny Siya stood up and looked over, spotting a black pirate flag.

A skull with a cat's head.

A name surfaced in Lynn's mind—

The Black Cat Pirates.

Captain: Hundred Plans Kuro, bounty: Sixteen Million Berries!

Unlike ordinary pirates, Captain Kuro's greatest strength was plotting and scheming.

One day in the future, he would grow tired of his drifting pirate life and stage his own death, secretly infiltrating Usopp's hometown, Syrup Village.

Kuro would then spend three years earning the trust of Kaya, a wealthy young lady, under the identity of the butler Klahadore, intending to seize her property. In the end, he would be defeated by Luffy.

Judging by the timeline, Kuro should still be the captain of the Black Cat Pirates.

But what interested Lynn most was Kuro's famous technique—Silent Step!

It was an assassination technique that allowed one to move at high speed like a cat.

Compared to Soru, one of the Marine Six Powers, which one was faster?

Excitement gleamed in Lynn's eyes.

But Granny Siya thought Lynn was merely an ordinary young man and hurriedly warned him, "Their captain is a vicious pirate with a bounty of Sixteen Million Berries. Don't say a word. Leave everything to Granny."

Soon after, the Black Cat Pirates' ship, The Sea King, drew alongside Granny Siya's merchant vessel. Several ropes were thrown over and secured the two ships together.

Two figures jumped over from The Sea King.

One was fat, the other thin, and both wore Cat Claws on their hands. They were the Black Cat Pirates' combatants, the Cat-type brothers with a combined bounty of seven million Beli—Buchy and Siamese Cat Sham!

Sham looked around, spotted Granny Siya, and took the initiative to greet her.

"Hey, old woman, you know our rules, right?"

"I do, I do."

Granny Siya nodded hurriedly, took out a bag of Beli from her clothes, and handed it to Sham.

Lynn was somewhat curious about what was going on, and a sailor beside him explained in a low voice:

"Unlike pirate crews that rob you the moment they see you, the Black Cat Pirates won't attack ships as long as they're paid enough passage money."

Another person added, "But if the money isn't enough or you resist, everyone on the entire ship will be killed!"

Sham counted the money in the bag, then frowned. "Why is there so little?"

Granny Siya forced a smile. "Business has been bad lately. There have been far fewer orders for wine, and the money in there is already enough for the passage fee, according to Mr. Kuro's rules..."

"This is only Captain Kuro's share!"

Sham pointed at himself and Buchy, baring his teeth in a grin. "Don't my brother and I get anything for our hard work?"

"Well..." Granny Siya looked troubled. "All the money on the ship was used to purchase this batch of wine. Next time, I definitely..."

"No need to wait until next time, old woman!" Sham knocked on one of the crates of wine beside him. "My brother and I happen to be thirsty. Give us half the cargo on this ship!"

Granny Siya's expression changed at once. "You can't..."

Over here, Sham was still demanding more from Granny Siya.

Meanwhile, Lynn, hidden among the crowd and disguised as a sailor, silently observed the Black Cat Pirates' ship, The Sea King.

The Black Cat Pirates on the deck were watching the show, but two key figures were absent.

First Mate: the hypnotist Jango.

And the captain: Hundred Plans Kuro himself.

Lynn was fully capable of beating Buchy and Sham, along with the rest of the Black Cat Pirates, senseless. But doing so would inevitably throw the situation into chaos, which would be far too dangerous for Granny Siya and the other sailors.

The most dangerous of all was Kuro's strongest technique, Death Scatter.

It was an indiscriminate attack launched using Silent Step. With high-speed movement and the bladed Cat Claws on his hands, it could kill large numbers of enemies.

But the move had a terrifying flaw: it was so fast that even Kuro himself would not know what he had cut down.

Whether friend or foe, anyone within range became Kuro's target!

There was simply too little space on the deck and nowhere to hide. If Kuro used Death Scatter, it would inevitably cause widespread casualties.

Lynn absolutely did not want Granny Siya and her sailors to be dragged into battle and reenact the tragedy that had befallen her lover.

Therefore, until he found Kuro's whereabouts and ensured he could defeat him in a single strike, Lynn could not make a move.

He could not give Kuro a chance to use Death Scatter!

Yet no matter how Lynn searched, there was still no sign of Kuro on the deck of The Sea King.

Was he not aboard? Or was he inside the cabin?

On the other side, Sham refused to back down and insisted on taking half of Granny Siya's cargo.

Granny Siya continued pleading with Sham, but he had already lost patience.

Riiip!

Sham's Cat Claws left five deep scratches across the merchant ship's deck.

"Old woman, are you asking for trouble?!"

Her beloved merchant ship had been damaged, and Granny Siya's expression immediately darkened.

"You care about this ship a lot, don't you?" Sham noticed this and raised his Cat Claws again. "In that case, I won't hold back!"

Whoosh!

The Cat Claws slashed toward the mast beside them.

In that instant, a figure rushed out from the crowd, seized Sham by the face with one hand, and slammed him onto the deck.

Buchy froze for a moment and tried to come to his aid, only to be caught by that person's other hand.

"People like you don't deserve to drink the wine from this ship!"

Lynn's face was grim, and the vigilance in his heart rose to its peak.

Even if I can't find Kuro, I have to at least move the battlefield onto The Sea King!

At the same time—

Hero Skill: Astonishing, ready!