Explosive Tags and Soul Reaper Uniforms

About half an hour passed.

Kael did not see the mayor return after successfully raising the funds. Instead, Tashigi returned after finishing off the pirates.

"Good work, Tashigi."

Seeing the girl covered in dust and bloodstains, Kael hurried forward to greet her with concern.

However, upon seeing Kael, the female swordsman who had been brimming with killing intent immediately became a quiet girl holding a sword.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain Kael."

An excited expression appeared on Tashigi's face.

Through this pirate-cleansing operation, she had finally realized just how powerful she had become!

Nourished by spiritual power, her limbs seemed to possess inexhaustible strength.

Whether in speed or power, her sword swings had more than doubled compared to before!

And the Time-Slicing Rain sword technique, which had originally required her to rest for a while after every use...

She could now use it repeatedly, allowing her to cut down multiple enemies at once.

With abundant spiritual power supporting her, she had even become a launcher of flames and lightning, unleashing unfathomable Kido!

Although the Kido Tashigi currently knew were only elementary spells numbered below ten, that was already enough to take the lives of East Blue pirates!

Following the principle that pirates' lives were not lives, Tashigi had thoroughly tested all sorts of her techniques this time...

And gained an entirely new understanding of her own body!

She had now completely broken free from the barrier of women being frail and inferior to men in strength!

She had gained a power system uniquely her own!

And all of this came from her newly acknowledged captain—Kael!

Already one hundred percent loyal, Tashigi's respect for Kael became so overwhelming after thinking of this that it was beyond words!

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Kael was the god in her heart!

Arriving at Kael's side, Tashigi recalled his warning and forcibly suppressed the urge to salute, though she still gave her report properly.

"Reporting to Captain Kael, a total of fifty-four pirates from the Alvida Pirates were found. Thirty-two were killed, and twenty-two were severely wounded..."

"As for the equipment seized..."

"That's enough, Tashigi."

Kael smiled and waved a hand at her, interrupting her.

"This isn't the Navy. You don't need to report everything in such detail."

"Okay~!"

Tashigi narrowed her eyes and answered playfully.

Just then, she suddenly noticed a figure standing behind Kael.

It was Coby, the pink-haired boy who looked utterly lost.

"Huh?"

The girl narrowed her eyes, recognizing Coby as someone who had once mixed with the Alvida Pirates.

Her sharp Zanpakutō suddenly left its sheath, flashing with cold light.

"!!!"

For no apparent reason, Coby suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Tashigi was about to make her move and eliminate Coby, this fish that had slipped through the net...

Fortunately, Kael suddenly reached out and stopped Tashigi from drawing her blade.

"Right, Tashigi, let me introduce our new companion..."

"Coby, a deckhand with two and a half years of training."

Kael shifted aside, smiling as he completely revealed Coby behind him.

"From now on, he'll be the deckhand of our Dusk Pirates and will be responsible for all kinds of miscellaneous matters aboard the Tiga."

"You can order him around as much as you like."

"Coby, this is Tashigi, the strongest swordsman in our pirate crew!"

"Um... Captain Kael, I was only a deckhand for one year..."

Coby timidly corrected him.

"Come on~"

Kael waved a hand.

"Why worry about those details..."

After briefly introducing the two to each other,

Kael turned to Tashigi again and said:

"You came back at just the right time."

"There's nothing much left to do here."

"Take Coby back to the Tiga first and let him get familiar with the place. Have him stay in one of the rooms on the lower deck for now."

"You should get some rest. Once you're rested, continue training. There's still quite a bit of today's training time left."

There were three rooms on the deck of the Tiga, arranged across two levels.

The rooms to the left and right of the cabin entrance were the male and female dormitories Kael had prepared for the crew.

Above the male and female dormitories was Kael's captain's quarters.

The Facilities Shop did have crew dormitories.

Their function was similar to the captain's quarters, except the recovery effect was halved. However, both their living space and storage space were much larger than the captain's quarters.

After all, crew dormitories were meant for multiple crew members to live and rest in together, so they had to be spacious.

"No problem, Captain!" Tashigi nodded.

At the mention of training, anticipation instantly flashed through her limpid eyes.

Having experienced the benefits of training, she was now utterly obsessed with it!

Only two days had passed, and it had already given her such strength!

Tashigi could not imagine how powerful she would become...

If she continued training like this for an entire year!?

"Oh, right!"

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Seeing Tashigi lead the bewildered Coby aboard, Kael suddenly called out to her:

"Bring Coby to the training room with you later."

"Let him read the contents of the notebook first."

"This little guy's pretty pitiful too. You can tell him about our situation while you're at it."

"Hm?"

Tashigi let out a surprised murmur, instantly understanding that Kael wanted her to tell Coby about the Dusk Pirates' true circumstances.

But...

She turned back to look at Coby, who still appeared timid and submissive, and could not help wondering...

Can this kid really be trusted!?

Considering it was her master's—no... her captain's—order...

After a moment of hesitation, Tashigi decided to follow Kael's instructions and reveal the Dusk Pirates' secret to Coby.

After the two left, Kael casually found a folding chair, lay down by the harbor, and began waiting quietly.

The sky was azure, and puffs of white cloud drifted leisurely in the gentle breeze like pristine silk scarves.

The sunlight was neither too harsh nor too weak, just right, making people feel incredibly comfortable and sleepy.

Time slowly passed.

After waiting for more than an hour, the mayor Kael had been eagerly anticipating finally approached from afar with a group of young people, carrying a large bag of Beli and some supplies.

There was not much to say.

After moving the supplies onto the Tiga, Kael and the mayor exchanged Den Den Mushi contact information. Then it was time to say goodbye.

A fierce wind appeared from nowhere and swept past.

Following the tracks from which it had come, the Tiga slowly moved from Ville Town's harbor into the sea. It then turned in place and sailed toward the depths of the boundless ocean.

That outrageous maneuver left the townspeople the mayor had summoned to help Kael move the ship standing dumbfounded at the harbor.

The mayor of Ville Town rubbed his eyes hard in disbelief!

He had lived forty or fifty years, yet this was the first time he had ever seen a sailing ship turn around directly in place...

If not for the fierce wind that had pushed the ship into the water, he would definitely have considered this a once-in-a-lifetime sight!

Back aboard the Tiga.

After asking Little Tiga and learning that Tashigi had already taken Coby to the training room as instructed,

Kael happily took his bag of money and returned to his captain's quarters with a grin.

He stuffed twenty-five million Beli into the safe.

Adding the few million Beli he had left from before, Kael now had savings of more than thirty-three million Beli.

"Hmm... I'll keep the remaining three million Beli for the pirate crew's daily expenses."

"I'll use all of the remaining thirty million Beli on gacha pulls!"

Because a facility's level could not exceed the pirate ship's level, and upgrading the Tiga to Level 2 required fifty million Beli...

For Kael, the only thing that could produce immediate results without becoming a sunk cost...

Was the gacha screen, where he could gamble his life on luck!

Previously, he had only spent twenty million Beli and obtained an A-rank character card and an A-rank weapon.

He wondered...

What these thirty million Beli would bring him!?

With a thought, Kael opened the system without any hesitation and selected the gacha screen.

After considering it briefly, he decided to test the waters with the ordinary gacha machine first.

"Go! I choose you! Ten pulls!"

Ten million Beli abruptly vanished from the safe's storage space.

A series of notifications immediately flashed before Kael's eyes.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the E-rank item Demon Slayer Corps Uniform!]

[Congratulations! You have obtained the E-rank item Mikoto Misaka's Safety Shorts!]

[Congratulations! You have obtained the E-rank item Hinata Hyuga's Chest Wrap!]

[Congratulations! You have obtained the D-rank item Explosive Tag!]

[...]

[...]

[Congratulations! You have obtained the C-rank item Nemu's Soul Reaper Uniform!]

"Got something good!?"

Although he had not gotten another A-rank item, nor had even a B-rank item appeared...

Kael, who had suffered at the hands of mobile games before, was extremely satisfied with the results of this ten-pull!

Even the lowest-tier ten-pull had produced a D-rank and a C-rank item...

He was already more than content.

With another thought, Kael opened his inventory again and tapped on the information for the two new items.

[Explosive Tag]

[Type: Single-use Item]

[Rank: D]

[Description: A small slip of paper. Place it somewhere and activate it with your mind to instantly cause a violent explosion!]

"Just as I thought."

"This should be that Explosive Tag from Naruto that can't kill anyone."

"It's pretty comparable to cannonballs from the One Piece world."

In a good mood, Kael mocked it inwardly before turning his attention to the information on the other item.

[Nemu's Soul Reaper Uniform]

[Type: Clothing Equipment]

[Rank: C]

[Description: A Soul Reaper Uniform from Nemu, vice-captain of the Twelfth Division. Made using the advanced technology of the Twelfth Division, it possesses a certain degree of defensive power. By infusing it with spirit particles, its size can automatically adjust. Wearing it long-term can slim the waist, lift the hips, enhance the bust, and beautify the breasts.]