Disbanding?

Leo had originally only wanted to do one thing: establish his authority.

But beyond that, he had done two more things.

They had happened naturally.

First, he had built up their confidence.

Leo had thought they would need to lose quite a few people before gaining that kind of confidence. But the Marines of this era were indeed not of particularly high quality. The pirates, who had only undergone fifteen days of emergency training, had been enough to deal them a devastating blow—though the muskets stored aboard the Kuja Pirates' ship had certainly played a major role as well.

Second, he had trained them in post-battle first aid.

He had taught them this knowledge for fifteen whole days, but Leo had no idea how much they had actually remembered.

This battle against the Marines was equivalent to a major exam. Whether they remembered Leo's first-aid knowledge, how many people they could save, and even whether they harbored prejudice against the Marines—these were all test questions.

What Leo wanted to forge was the ultimate people's army, one whose arrival would be cheered by the people lining the streets, whose presence would make them feel safe, and whose discipline they would never need to worry about.

Now, his prestige within this pirate crew had been established. Even Great Bay Blade William no longer carried as much weight in this pirate crew, in this force, as Leo did.

William seemed to have no objection whatsoever to having his power taken away, remaining so quiet that Wood and Barbaro could not understand him.

It seemed William and Leo had already reached an understanding about the future of the Cutlass Pirates.

This was no longer something they could question, so they quietly shut their mouths and obeyed Leo's arrangements.

The next tasks kept them busy for the entire morning: treating the Marines, tying up the sailors one by one, tallying their gains and spoils, and searching the Marine ship's cabins for Log Poses and various documents. All of these were extremely valuable.

Leo directed them nonstop, involving himself in everything. Clearly, he possessed the distinctive traits of a large government deep in his bones: worrying over everything, trusting nothing, and interfering in everything.

But this kind of worrying and interference was good, because there really were a lot of idiots in this world...

Even though Leo had repeatedly emphasized that they were to use washed strips of cloth to clean wounds and soak up blood, some pirates still threw used cloth strips into the clean boiling water.

The three buckets—one for the initial wash, one for wringing out the cloth, and the last containing clean boiled water—were immediately mixed up and contaminated.

Then there was the pirates' lack of awareness when it came to loot. They had nearly thrown the books from the captain's cabin overboard. If Leo had not been watching them, they would probably have tossed them out directly.

Finally, they were far too careless in their treatment of the wounded.

The pirates merely regarded the Marines as prisoners, even as test subjects.

It was absolutely impossible to expect them to empathize with the Marines, but deliberately hurting the Marines while bandaging their wounds was needlessly creating conflict.

Leo was running around frantically, and the Empress and her two sisters, who had been hiding in the cabin, finally emerged and revealed themselves.

Leo directly tucked the Den Den Mushi into his clothes. It was an extremely important strategic resource, and the Log Pose was the same. Watching Leo bustle about as though his pants were on fire, everyone wanted to help him but could not find any opening to do so.

What Leo was putting into practice was something unprecedented, a set of principles and rules entirely different from those of this world.

Only by first understanding his ideas could one understand the meaning behind what he was doing. Only by understanding why he did it could one truly devote oneself wholeheartedly to advancing this cause.

For example, Leo had never viewed the Marines as enemies. He believed that most Marines could be won over, so whenever he dealt with them, he made them feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze, making them feel that this man was completely different from those pirates.

Yet before defeating those Marines, his heart had been as hard as stone, and he had not considered their lives or deaths at all.

The Spade Pirates, who had watched everything from beginning to end, felt a chill in their hearts because they could not understand Leo's thinking. He seemed like a hypocrite, yet also like someone with a split personality.

But the Marines who had only seen Leo's friendly side—especially Iska, who watched him sweat profusely as he rushed about saving her subordinates—could not help developing a favorable impression of him, along with curiosity.

Her leg had long since been bandaged by the Spade Pirates' ship doctor, Masked. Leaning against the railing as she watched Leo's busy figure, she asked, "Who is he? How did you end up mixed in with the Cutlass Pirates?"

Because the Spade Pirates had not intervened at all earlier, Iska could not muster even a trace of hatred toward Ace. She was even so embarrassed by how she had wailed in Ace's arms earlier that her face burned. She did not dare ask Ace anything now and instead questioned Masked, who had bandaged her.

The two of them were old friends as well, though theirs was merely the ill-fated bond between a Marine and a pirate.

"Him? He's the mastermind who crushed you, the culprit behind this entire affair." Masked felt a chill down his back and wore a bitter smile. He lit a cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and seemed to relax greatly before speaking.

"Him? How could that be? He's so skinny and weak..."

"He's a freak who used a hundred ordinary pirates to defeat a hundred well-trained Marines." Ace sat on the railing beside her with one leg crossed over the other. He lightly pushed up the brim of his hat with a finger, carefully observing Leo's methods as he interjected.

"This has nothing to do with whether someone's fat or thin, how strong they are, or even Devil Fruits."

"This is practically magic."

The Spade Pirates' crew spoke one after another. Having watched the entire scene, they could only use the word magic to describe how those weak pirates—whom any one of them could have defeated twenty at a time—had transformed into an army that they might not survive facing even together. Just as they wanted to say more, Leo's shout interrupted everyone's movements.

"Fall in!" Leo had somehow moved to the railing at the other end of the ship. He raised an arm, palm pressed flat and held straight toward the sky, like a spear and like a banner. Every pirate instantly dropped what they were doing, and within five or six seconds, they had rapidly formed another square formation centered on his raised arm.

Both the Spade Pirates and the Marines stared in stunned silence, mouths hanging open. They wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Were these fucking pirates?

"Very good! It seems my training over the past half month was not wasted. Then you should still remember what I told you when we first met."

"I promised you that as long as you carried out all my orders, I would let you leave after we departed the Calm Belt."

"Now, it is time to fulfill that promise."

PS: First update. It's Monday—could I get some recommendation votes for encouragement? (Humble plea)