Odd-Job Worker—Coby

"Hey, kid!"

From the raised platform, Kael shifted his gaze and suddenly looked at Coby, speaking in an unfriendly tone:

"You seem to be a member of the Alvida Pirates too, aren't you?"

"I saw you holding up Alvida's frame earlier!"

Carrying a musket, Kael leaped down from the platform and walked straight toward Coby.

"...Huh?! Wait, wait, wait..."

Coby, who had thought he could take this chance to escape the Alvida Pirates, immediately waved his hands in panic. His face filled with terror as he shouted an explanation:

"You've misunderstood, sir!"

"I... I'm not with them! They forced me onto their ship!"

"I'm really not a pirate!"

Though he was some distance away, he had seen it all clearly...

The female swordsman who had just rushed into town had slit the throats of the two pirates behind the townspeople with a single stroke.

They had not even been given time to react before their deaths were declared.

It was clear enough just how swift and ruthless this group was when dealing with pirates!

Thinking of this, terrified that Kael might shoot him, Coby dropped to his knees without another word.

He pressed his forehead and hands against the ground, crying pitifully and humbly:

"I'm really not a pirate! Sir! I'm really not a pirate!"

"Please! Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

Tears mixed with snot streamed down Coby's face, picking up dust from the ground...

He looked utterly miserable.

Several townspeople who had yet to disperse heard the crying and turned to look over.

But once they saw Kael and the kid who had been holding up Alvida's frame, they quickly slipped away again.

It had nothing to do with them. Let him cry all he wanted.

At this moment, the weak-willed Coby had been so frightened that he had completely lost his senses, leaving only the instinct to beg for mercy.

His pathetic appearance was so pitiful that it became irritating.

"..."

Kael, who had not even raised his gun, suddenly froze.

Seeing Coby crying like that, the corner of his mouth twitched twice.

"As expected of the future King of Deserters."

"Dropping to your knees the moment things look bad. You really are something."

Kael swore...

He had only wanted to scare the kid so he could better deliver what he wanted to say next.

Who could have expected Coby to be so sensitive that he would be scared into such a state?

"Enough! Stop sniveling! Cry again, and I'll put a bullet through you!"

A deafening gunshot suddenly rang out.

Kael fired a blank shot behind Coby.

Of course, it was only an ordinary lead bullet.

He was not wealthy enough to casually waste Seastone bullets.

Frightened by the gunshot, Coby indeed stopped crying.

Trembling, he raised his head blankly and saw Kael looking at him with a complicated expression.

In truth, Kael himself was feeling rather emotional at that moment...

It had to be said.

Being born into the right circumstances really was a skill.

Who would have thought that such a sniveling coward possessed the rare talent for a special type of Observation Haki?

Up until Kael's transmigration...

There were not even enough people in the entire pirate world with special-type Observation Haki to count on both hands!

Roger and Luffy, who could [Hear the Voice of All Things]; Usopp, with [Super-Focused Farsight]; Enel and Aisa of Skypiea, with [Massive Coverage Range]; and...

Coby, who could [Sense Emotions].

In the original story, Coby, who had initially planned to desert, sensed the anguished "voices" of far too many people dying.

Moved by empathy, he committed the outrageous act of stopping Akainu from continuing to kill pirates.

It could be said that the emotions of those deaths gave Coby the courage to step forward at that moment.

But clearly, he had pointed his ass in the wrong direction.

Just as every Marine had their own justice...

Coby's justice was, in truth, weak justice disguised as kindness.

He did not want to die, nor did he want to see anyone die, whether they were comrades or enemies.

But that was obviously unrealistic.

Kael could understand his fear of death.

Very few people could face death with a smile.

That was why Luffy's smile when Buggy was about to execute him in Loguetown had shocked Smoker so deeply.

But Coby's move of stopping Akainu during the Summit War had undoubtedly gone against the Marines he was loyal to and betrayed the soldiers who had sacrificed themselves.

Then again, despite making so many mistakes and possessing so many flaws...

After Akainu took office, Coby was still able to thrive in the Marines, his rank and strength continuing to rise...

Aside from having a master with an absurdly powerful backer in Garp, his talent truly had reached world-class levels.

Saying he had the potential to become one of the Four Emperors or an Admiral might be a little exaggerated.

But even Smoker, a graduate of the Marine Elite Academy with a Logia Devil Fruit, had managed to become a Marine Vice Admiral...

Coby, who mastered the Six Powers and both forms of Haki in three years, would at worst become an Admiral candidate in the future.

Most importantly, in Kael's eyes, Coby's appearance and temperament belonged to a very common type of anime character.

Tsunayoshi Sawada, the original owner of Hyper Intuition, was someone very similar to Coby—a weak-willed but kind-hearted character.

And Coby was also a pure physical-combat fighter...

There was bound to be no shortage of character cards compatible with him!

His weak personality would make him easier to command and control.

His immense talent proved he would never become a wasted investment.

To Kael, the Coby before him was absolutely an excellent candidate for a useful tool!

The Dusk Pirates had to have this kid!

That was why he had intended to scare Coby first, then bring him under his control.

He just had not expected Coby to be so easily frightened.

Before they had even exchanged more than a few words, he had dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.

But then again...

A fifteen-year-old boy who had been kidnapped at fourteen and spent a year doing odd jobs on a pirate ship...

He only wanted to survive. Looking a little miserable and pathetic was not some kind of mistake.

Considering that he was only sixteen during the Summit War arc...

Perhaps after he matured, Coby's weak personality would improve somewhat.

Besides, once a character card was loaded, it could make someone one hundred percent loyal to Kael...

At the very least, Coby would never resist Kael's decisions as he had in the original story.

Unfortunately, Kael did not possess the infectious charisma of the Sun God Nika, nor did he have that much breath to waste on Coby...

For now, he could not awaken the courage buried in Coby's heart.

For the current Kael, the best way to subdue Coby was force plus temptation!

After all, he had something Coby could not refuse...

The Marine position he had gotten from Sengoku two days ago!

He would have Coby join a pirate crew, then make him a Marine...

Kael believed Coby would never refuse that temptation!

Under the threat of the dark gun barrel, Coby quickly stopped crying.

At Kael's gesture, he shakily got to his feet.

Kael put away his musket and looked over the still-underdeveloped Coby before knowingly asking:

"You really aren't a pirate?"

"S-Sir, I really am not a pirate."

Looking as if he were about to cry again, Coby recounted his painful experience.

Perhaps because the experience was too humiliating, his eyes went blank as he recalled it, as though he had suffered a social death.

"About a year ago, I was out at sea fishing when I accidentally boarded a transport ship belonging to the Alvida Pirates..."

"And then..."

"Alvida forcibly kept me on the pirate ship, making me obey their orders and work as an odd-job worker."

"But I can guarantee it!"

"I have absolutely never done anything evil!"

Coby held three fingers together and swore to the heavens.

Though making such a promise to pirates was laughable, Kael had not made things difficult for the people of Ville Town, so Coby instinctively saw him as a good person.

"Mm."

After hearing Coby's words, Kael pondered for a moment and nodded before saying:

"You've worked as an odd-job worker for a year, huh?"

"Looks like you have plenty of experience in that line of work."

"I-I suppose..."

Not knowing how to respond, Coby scratched the back of his head and gave an ambiguous answer.

But Kael's next words left him standing there in a daze.

"Perfect. My ship happens to be short one errand boy."

"From today onward, you are the odd-job worker of the Dusk Pirates!"

"..."

"Whaaat?!"

"No, sir..."

Coby's mouth fell open, his face twisting into an exaggerated expression as he tried to say something.

But he quickly saw Kael's expression shift. Kael frowned and said to him:

"What? You don't want to?"

"..."

"I do! I want to!"

With a smile uglier than crying, Coby hurriedly suppressed his grief and forced himself to sound happy.

"It is my honor to serve you, sir!"

He had just escaped the tiger's jaws only to enter the wolf's den. How could Coby possibly be willing?

But right now, keeping his life was more important.

He did not want to become a loathed corpse like the pirates of the Alvida Pirates.

Kael nodded in satisfaction at Coby's answer.

"Wait here with me. Once the mayor and the others have gathered the money, we'll set sail!"

"Yes, sir."

With his extensive experience serving Alvida, Coby quickly found his place. Resigned to his fate, he stood beside Kael.