Management

Chapter 023: Management

"Boss, we're alive?!" Amidst the cheers, one of the Cutlass Pirates' executives, a tall, thin man with a mustache, asked their captain, "Great Bay Blade" William, in disbelief.

"Mmm..." William's face was also dreamlike, as if waking from a stupor.

"We're alive!"

"Hahaha!!" The pirates below couldn't hold back any longer and erupted in loud cheers.

"Oh yeah!!!" If the Kuja Island warrior women hadn't confiscated their muskets and swords, they would have already tossed their weapons into the air.

Looking around, seeing only sweaty, smelly men, they decided against it.

They celebrated excitedly for a full three minutes. When they calmed down and exchanged glances, a sense of dejection washed over them.

"Those women are truly strong."

"Why are they so powerful? Muskets seemed completely useless against them..."

Although the battle was lightning-fast, with over thirty men killed almost instantly, they had still fired their weapons.

The power of muskets back then was too weak, even inferior to bows and arrows, let alone accuracy. After the smoke cleared, they had no idea where their shots had gone.

It was only natural that they had achieved nothing against the Amazon warrior women.

However, stray bullets were the most dangerous thing on the battlefield. Even those with Haki could be killed by a stray shot if they weren't careful.

Of course, as time went on, things became more absurd. Most people's physiques would only suffer scratches instead of serious injuries.

But... why?

William and his executives wore expressions of deep thought. They couldn't understand why they had been spared. However, there was one thing they understood clearly: their survival was entirely due to that man.

That man held a very important position within the Kuja Pirates, and he was very interested in them. That's why they were allowed to live and even had a chance to leave the Calm Belt.

They didn't know that if they had possessed a Flame-Flame Fruit, they would have certainly been able to leave the Calm Belt in the future. However, the question of how many of them would remain and how many lives they would have left before leaving the Calm Belt would be a huge question mark.

This man had saved them, but he had ulterior motives, which made the Cutlass Pirates quite uneasy.

Yet, this man who made them uneasy was currently staring at the Flame-Flame Fruit in his hand, his expression so conflicted it was almost twisted.

"If you're going to be so troubled, why not just eat it?" Hancock couldn't stand watching any longer. Leaning back on her throne, languid and exuding an astonishing allure, she propped herself up and looked at the conflicted Leo, asking lazily.

In her opinion, Leo's physique was too poor. Without a Devil Fruit, it would be difficult for him to survive on this dangerous sea.

However, she didn't know the reason for Leo's turmoil.

In Leo's view, although Devil Fruits existed in this world, it wasn't because they ate Devil Fruits that they became powerful. Rather, they would be powerful no matter what Devil Fruit they ate, and they would be powerful even without eating one.

Agents like those from CP9, trained to the brink of Haki, possess Zoan Devil Fruits that make them incomprehensibly strong.

Meanwhile, figures like Dark King Rayleigh can fight evenly with Kizaru, a Logia user, using only their physical prowess. Conversely, many who ate powerful Devil Fruits don't wield immense strength. The most typical example is Miss Valentine from Crocodile's Baroque Works. She can freely control her body weight, from one kilogram to ten thousand kilograms, yet instead of delivering a ten-thousand-kilogram punch, she jumps to crush people.

Such a powerful ability used in this manner is the most typical case: a weakling who eats an even better Devil Fruit isn't necessarily destined to become strong.

Does he truly possess the heart of a strong person now?

Is he prepared?

He didn't know, so he was lost, conflicted, and hesitant.

Then, he placed the Devil Fruit back into the treasure chest and increased his training regimen.

If it doesn't kill you, train yourself to death!

He had truly gotten serious. Although he was already leaning towards eating the Flame-Flame Fruit, he felt he didn't deserve it yet.

He recalled Luffy's training intensity on Amazon Lily Island. While he was nowhere near deserving the same level of training as Luffy, his current regimen was indeed too little.

He had to push and squeeze his potential even further.

However, even his training only lasted from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon. Around three o'clock, he had to take the rescue boat with food to the Cutlass Pirates.

The Cutlass Pirates hadn't had a drop to drink yet, but fortunately, they didn't need to fight or sail. Even the Navigator, helmsman, and captain were taking a rare day off. They all slept until the sun was high in the sky. Upon waking, they felt somewhat tired. After a period of stretching exercises on the ship, they all retreated below deck to escape the sun.

And by this time, it was almost three o'clock.

When Leo finished his tasks, he had the Cutlass Pirates row the rescue boat over to move the food. The process of them moving the food and then leaving with the rescue boat was too complex for the ordinary Amazon warrior women to understand.

However, Rindou, as a management staff member on the ship, understood the operation a little.

She was with Leo in the rescue boat today, helping the pirates move the food. With a cigarette in her mouth, she said to Leo, "I think I'm starting to understand why you had them move it over first, and then move it back."

"Oh?" Leo turned his head, looking at her with great interest. "What do you understand?"

"After moving their food over, if they have to wait a few hours to eat, they won't have much energy to fight. And whether they can eat on any given day depends on our mood. This way, we have a tight grip on their lifeline. If we left the food on their ship, they would act on their own, and they wouldn't have a direct understanding of being captured by us." But if they're starved for a meal, they'll know who's boss.

"Anything else?" Leo knew that in this world, there were no management talents or books, no such thing as management studies. That's why, with his slight understanding of management, he had gained such favor with the Celestial Dragons.

But if someone could learn management studies, he would surely save a lot of trouble in the future.

He couldn't help but feel the urge to test her.

PS: First update. Double updates will continue today. Please vote with recommendation votes.