The Navy's Threat

"So what should we do?" On the Perfume Yuda, the Spade Pirates members had been untied at some point. They were wolfing down the food the Amazon Lily warriors had brought out on deck.

Their table manners truly came from the same mold. Even more incredibly, the wounds pierced through by the Amazon warrior women's arrows slowly began to heal after they ate. It was simply absurd.

Leo knew there was a gap in physical constitution between them, but he had not expected it to be this enormous.

It was like how Luffy and the others were constantly fighting the Shichibukai to the death, then, once the battle was over, held a feast and ate meat and drank as if nothing had happened.

If Luffy, as a rubber man, could store up pain and fatigue and use meat to restore his muscles and bodily injuries, then Zoro and Sanji's constitutions were outrageously strong.

For example, after Bartholomew Kuma repelled all of Luffy's pain and injuries, Zoro took them all head-on. Yet afterward, Zoro acted as though nothing had happened, eating and drinking as usual. Once the pain passed, that was that.

The people of this world, especially those who had trained, had constitutions as strong as oxen. Leo envied them immensely.

"There's another pirate ship behind us. It belongs to the Cutlass Pirates. They got lost in the Calm Belt, and we rescued them as well. I want to take them in and make them part of our fighting force."

Leo ate a little with them as he spoke.

Hancock sat beside him without eating herself. Whenever Leo wanted something, she would pick it up and bring it to his mouth. That kind of treatment was enough to make others green with envy.

Leo occasionally nodded and smiled softly at Hancock, thanking her for her devotion, before continuing, "But they're rather wild and hard to tame. Their lawlessness isn't the same as yours. You're all pirates, so you should know what kind of pirates they are."

Ace gave a muffled grunt through his mouthful of food, somewhat dissatisfied with Leo's wording, though it also represented his agreement with some of Leo's views.

"But after these past few days of training, they've completely changed. Their combat strength will be astonishing, stronger than ordinary Marines."

"Is that really so ridiculous?" Ship doctor Masked asked as he stuffed meat into his mouth, spraying saliva everywhere.

"You'll know when you see them." Leo smiled without explaining. Then, with a bang, everyone was suddenly startled. Ace had plunged face-first into his bowl and fallen fast asleep, snoring loudly.

"Did he choke to death?!" Ran asked uncertainly.

"No, it's an old habit of his. Seems like he picked it up as a child." Teacher Michael waved a hand, signaling everyone to ignore him.

He had a flintlock rifle strapped to his back, making Leo's eyes light up.

"Were those shots earlier fired by you?"

It could be said that Michael was the only person in the Spade Pirates who had injured the Kuja Pirates. Even Ace had been instantly defeated by Hancock without causing a single casualty, but Michael had not only knocked down an Amazon warrior woman, he had nearly killed Leo.

If he had been an enemy, he would definitely have been the kind Leo would kill without hesitation.

But now that he was a teammate, all his flaws became strengths. This sniper was strong, extremely strong, and exceptionally rare. So far, the only Pirate crews Leo knew of with snipers were the Red-Haired Pirates, Straw Hat Pirates, Blackbeard Pirates, and Spade Pirates.

The reason was that without a powerful team, it was impossible to protect a sniper. Only within such a powerful team could a sniper survive and grow.

But that created another contradiction: did a powerful team truly need a sniper?

And even if a powerful team could cultivate one, would they be willing to invest that much into him?

The truth was that almost no one was willing.

Other than the Straw Hat Pirates, most snipers already possessed formidable combat strength from the start. They had not become strong solely due to their team's protection; rather, they had been accepted by the team because they were strong.

That created a paradox.

That was also why snipers were scarce across the seas. They were a type of talent even the Navy did not have and could not be bothered to cultivate.

Yet at certain times, these snipers could turn the entire tide of battle around.

For instance, if Michael possessed stronger Observation Haki and Armament Haki, one shot could have pierced through Sandersonia's hair and blown Leo's damn head apart.

"And your task is actually very simple." Leo looked at them. He did not bother with Ace anymore. Given Ace's temperament and personality, the Spade Pirates probably had little to do with him in terms of day-to-day operations; it was these friends who handled everything.

"Get stronger as quickly as possible. Master Observation Haki and Armament Haki. Once you form a high-end fighting force capable of battling enemies at the rank of Commodore or Rear Admiral and above, that'll be enough."

Leo's words left the Spade Pirates members, who were stuffing themselves, somewhat unconvinced.

"It's only because you're too strong. We're not afraid of the Navy at all," said Wores, the Scorpionfish Man, who had nearly recovered. He wore an unconvinced expression as he took another huge mouthful of rice and chewed.

"The Navy Headquarters forces and branch forces are different. The Navy in the Grand Line and the Navy in the Four Seas are also different. And the Navy guarding key bases is different from the Navy hunting pirates outside. What you've seen is merely a small fraction of the Navy's strength." Leo shook his head, troubled by their shortsightedness.

"We know the Navy is strong, but only a small number of them can probably reach your level, right?" There were over fifty members in the Kuja Pirates, and every one of them could use Haki. That was already an extremely terrifying ratio, practically equivalent to fifty Grand Line Commodore-level officers. Meanwhile, the Kuja Pirates officers could rival Vice Admirals in the Grand Line.

But...

The Kuja Pirates only had six officers, while the Navy had at least twenty Vice Admirals!

With strength not even reaching that of a Commodore, where did these few get the confidence to look down on the Navy?

"But... the Navy we encountered before was really..." Ship doctor Masked shook his head. Thinking of the Navy's previous level, they had toyed with them as easily as playing a game. There had been no need to take them too seriously.

"You're weak, but your mouths are big. Fine, I'll give you a proper lesson on how the Navy operates and how it trains the next generation." Leo shook his head. This time, he was determined to correct their mistaken views.

PS: Sorry about yesterday. I couldn't keep writing. I was so sleepy. I don't know why, but I just couldn't focus, so I went to sleep.