The Whitebeard Pirates' Flag

Tashigi knew Conqueror's Haki existed, but Rune had controlled it precisely, taking out only the pirates.

The ordinary people on the island had not been affected at all.

"Who's in charge here? Come out and see me."

Rune's voice rang out, and before long, a trembling old man was pushed out from the crowd.

"Is this the first time these pirates have come here?"

"This group is here for the first time, but many other pirates have come before..."

The old man shook his head. "They often came here to plunder our wealth, and they killed many of us..."

"Then they really deserved to die."

Rune smiled faintly and looked at Tashigi beside him.

"As a Marine, is there anything you want to say?"

Tashigi turned her face away, unwilling to pay Rune any attention. She had boarded the pirate ship for the sake of her colleagues' lives, not because she truly wanted to join Rune's crew.

Rune did not care. He casually used Dark Water, drawing Tea Beard's unconscious body over.

Under Tashigi's puzzled gaze, Conqueror's Haki gathered in Rune's hand before he clenched it hard.

Tea Beard, already unconscious, was killed without ever waking up.

Seeing Rune act so decisively, the old man who had been pushed forward grew even more frightened. Tea Beard was already a terrifying pirate, yet in Rune's hands, he had not even possessed the ability to resist.

Such a vicious pirate...

The old man did not dare think any further.

"Do pirates often come to this island to plunder your wealth?"

"Y-Yes..."

"All right, I understand."

Rune smiled faintly. "Prepare lunch for us, along with some fresh water and food. That won't be difficult for you, will it?"

The old man shook his head. Since Rune was willing to discuss it with him, he was already far better than Tea Beard. Whenever Tea Beard came, he would first smash things up before making demands.

Rune had simply made his request directly, though he was still taking their things...

But at least no one would die anymore. That was still a good thing.

"I thought you were different from them, but in the end, you're exactly the same."

Tashigi looked at Rune with disgust, but he could not be bothered to explain. He took Luffy and Bonney to eat, holding a feast on the island.

Rune noticed that many of the island's ordinary residents and children looked at him with fear. A few had hatred in their eyes, but they did not dare make a sound and could only watch Rune's group from afar.

Bonney and Luffy ate a great deal, making up for the boredom of so many days at sea. Once the two had nearly finished eating, Rune went to find the old man again.

"You have Transponder Snails here, right?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Good. Give me one of your Transponder Snails. If other pirates come to this island in the future, use it to notify me."

As Rune spoke, he smiled faintly at the old man. "Also prepare a piece of black cloth and some white paint. You have those on the island, right?"

"Yes, I'll have someone prepare them right away."

Before long, everything Rune requested had been prepared. He then painted the Whitebeard Pirates' symbol onto the black cloth.

"Hang this flag in the most conspicuous spot on the island. If pirates come again in the future to plunder your wealth, use the Transponder Snail to notify me."

"This is?"

The old man did not quite understand.

"Flying this flag means that you have accepted the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates. Of course, you can also wait for the Marines to come protect you. I don't really care..."

"We are willing to accept the Whitebeard Pirates' protection! We are!"

This small island was of limited value, and the Marines would basically never come to protect them. Otherwise, pirates would not have visited the place so often.

Though he did not know what the Whitebeard Pirates were, since they were willing to protect them, they would at least have some ability to resist those pirates in the future.

"Oh, right. There should be some weapons on the Tea Beard Pirates' ship. Move them all ashore and arm yourselves a little."

As Rune said this, the old man looked at him differently than before. Though he understood that accepting the Whitebeard Pirates' protection might mean paying them tribute regularly in the future,

it was still better than being robbed in turn by groups of pirates as they were now.

"Then... then how much wealth do you want? We've been robbed many times already, so we can't offer much..."

"Didn't I already say?"

Rune smiled faintly. "Food, fresh water, and Transponder Snails for communication. As for wealth... I don't care."

There would not be much wealth on this small island, and Rune could not be bothered to rob these poor people. He planned to cut off all the Tea Beard Pirates' heads and have Tashigi exchange them for bounties later.

Tashigi had seen his strength. Smoker possessed the combat power of a standard Marine vice admiral, and Rune could now kill Smoker in an instant. Although Smoker had been careless, it would still be difficult to take Rune down unless an admiral was dispatched.

Not to mention that Kuma was aboard the ship and could escape directly with the Paw-Paw Fruit's power.

Rune was not worried about Tashigi informing the Marines either. Unless she could contact an admiral, she would not dare do so.

But there were only three admirals. They could not be on standby at all times, nor were they likely to listen to her and come arrest Rune.

Admirals were not that idle.

The worst outcome would be Tashigi running off with those bounties, but...

"If you run away directly, then the next time I encounter Marines, I'll kill them without hesitation."

Rune looked at Tashigi and made her use her sword to cut off the Tea Beard Pirates' heads one by one. Though Tashigi found it humiliating, she had no choice.

"If you work for me and do not disobey my orders, then when we encounter Marines in the future, my crew and I will spare their lives if the situation allows it."

Tashigi remained silent, only continuing to kill the Tea Beard Pirates one after another. She could not understand Rune at all and did not know why he insisted on keeping her aboard the ship.

"Work hard. Once I find a suitable fighter, I'll let you go."

Rune smiled faintly. "You should be able to tell that I'm not the kind of pirate you think I am, right?"

"What's the difference?"

Tashigi looked at Rune. "Didn't you also take the island's..."

At that point, Tashigi froze.

Rune truly had not plundered any wealth...

"They provide some food and fresh water in exchange for the Whitebeard Pirates' protection. Isn't that a perfectly fair deal?"

Rune smiled. "Besides... if the Marines could not protect them properly, would this sort of thing have fallen to us? If you had to choose between protecting one Celestial Dragon and all the ordinary people on this island, you know better than I do how the Marine higher-ups would choose, don't you?"