New Crew Members

"There's another batch of people being taken away!"

"Bah, noblemen's lackeys again."

"..."

"Those two look somewhat familiar..." a man said as he watched Ryan and Beli slowly approaching in the distance.

Seeing Ryan and Beli approach, the group began weakly complaining and hurling insults at them.

Looking at the people locked inside the steel cages, Ryan was deeply shocked. At a rough glance, there were at least several hundred people, and many of them still had whip marks on their bodies.

All the adult men had their hands and feet bound with rope. Ryan even saw a group of people bound with chains.

When Ryan and Beli approached, someone suddenly cried out in delight.

"Benefactor!!!"

"Are you here to rescue us?"

The speaker was the man who had just found Ryan somewhat familiar from afar.

Ryan also recognized him as one of the people he had rescued before. He smiled.

"It's you. Sorry! I didn't know this was their headquarters. I almost delayed your rescue."

The man hurriedly waved his hands. "It isn't your fault, Benefactor. We didn't expect it either. We thought we'd be able to go home right away. Who would have thought..."

"It's fine. It's all over now. I've already sent everyone outside on their way."

Hearing Ryan's answer, the group was utterly shocked. Even those bound in chains turned their gazes over.

The man at the front kept sizing up Ryan and Beli, seemingly considering whether Ryan's words could be trusted.

"We'll rescue you now."

With that, Ryan drew the sword at his waist and cut a huge opening in the iron cage with a few swift strikes, large enough for several people to pass through together.

The moment Ryan stepped into the cage, everyone smelled the thick scent of blood on him.

Only then did they realize that this wasn't a red outfit at all, but clothing dyed red with blood. Several people immediately began vomiting, unable to endure the intense stench of blood.

Seeing people vomit as soon as they saw him, Ryan said helplessly, "You actually vomit at the sight of such a handsome man. I really don't understand."

"It's because of the smell of blood on you," someone nearby reminded him.

That made Ryan feel much better. He had thought it was because he wasn't handsome enough...

Realizing that most of these people were ordinary civilians, Ryan had nothing more to say. After all, he couldn't expect everyone to meet his standards.

After spending two years killing, Ryan could no longer smell the blood on himself. In the words of his previous life on Earth, he had already become immune to it.

Everyone emerged from the cage.

Ryan was now troubled by how to handle the aftermath. The people had been rescued, but there were so many women and children here.

Ryan had no problem fighting and killing, but dealing with this sort of situation was beyond his abilities.

Just as Ryan was at a loss, the leader of the group bound in chains seemed to notice his predicament. He spoke to Ryan.

"Young brother, why don't you rescue us too? We're Marines. We can handle the arrangements afterward."

"That's right. They're all good people. They were locked up here because they resisted Rong!" someone who knew him added.

"Colonel Fili is a good man. He isn't with the Marines outside."

"All right, then." After several strikes, the chains were completely severed.

"Young brother, thank you for rescuing us. Who are you people?"

"The Ryan Pirates," Ryan said indifferently.

"Pirates!!!"

Someone immediately cried out in alarm, their face filled with terror. Most of these people had suffered at the hands of pirates.

However, there were exceptions. Two children in the corner actually looked excited when they heard that Ryan was a pirate.

Seeing people show fear toward their benefactor, one of those Ryan had rescued before shouted loudly, "Ryan Benefactor and his people are good people!!!"

"They were the ones who rescued us from the Pino Pirates before. Now they've rescued us again."

Hearing that Ryan was a good person, those who had shown fear immediately felt deeply ashamed.

After all, Ryan was their savior, yet they had shown fear toward him.

This scene made Ryan sigh inwardly at how much harm the pirate era had inflicted on ordinary people. They had reached the point where merely mentioning pirates struck terror into their hearts.

"Then I'll leave this to you. Make sure you settle everyone properly. Otherwise, I can kill Rong, and I can kill you too." Ryan threatened him.

Colonel Fili assured Ryan, "Rest assured. We're different from Rong. We're righteous Marines."

"All right, then. I'll leave this place to you. We're heading out." With that, Ryan took Beli and prepared to walk outside.

"Wait! Can you help me open this?" A boy called out to Ryan as he was about to leave.

Ryan turned around. Two boys were walking toward him. The first thing he saw was a red-haired boy wearing handcuffs and a pair of glasses on his head, similar to swimming goggles from his previous life.

Beside him was a blond boy with delicate features who kept his head lowered. He seemed somewhat shy.

Seeing the handcuffs on the boy's hands, Ryan asked in confusion, "Seastone?"

"That's right. You should be able to break them, right? You look pretty strong!" The red-haired boy looked at Ryan expectantly.

"It's not 'pretty strong.' He's incredibly strong!!!" Seeing the red-haired boy question Ryan's strength, Beli shouted at him.

Seeing Beli, who was about his age, reprimand him, the red-haired boy immediately became angry.

"Who are you to lecture me? I'm asking him for help, not you."

Beli: "Fuck, you've got some nerve talking back." As he spoke, he raised his hand, about to teach the ignorant brat a lesson.

Ryan stopped the fist that was about to land on the red-haired boy.

"It's fine, Beli. By the way, how did you end up wearing seastone handcuffs? Are you a Devil Fruit user?"

"Of course. I'm a Devil Fruit user, you know."

Seeing the red-haired boy's smug expression, Beli raised his hand again to hit him. The red-haired boy retreated a step in fright.

Ryan couldn't help finding it amusing. This boy seemed to be Beli's natural enemy. Beli usually wasn't this hot-tempered, so why did he lose his temper so easily whenever he encountered this boy?

"All right, I'll take off the handcuffs for you. But how did you become a Devil Fruit user? You don't look like someone who could afford to buy a Devil Fruit."

"I stole it!"

Ryan and Beli: "..."

Ryan coated his arm and the blade of his sword in Armament Haki, then severed the handcuffs on the boy's wrists with two strikes.

Colonel Fili was utterly shocked when he saw this. He recognized what had coated the boy's sword: Armament Haki.

Furthermore, Ryan had cut through the handcuffs without injuring the boy in the slightest. There were hardly any people in Marine Headquarters capable of such control!

And judging by that boy's young face, he was at most fifteen years old—perhaps even younger. He had talent, strength, and a sense of justice. What a pity he was a pirate. If only he were a Marine!

An idea emerged in Fili's mind: bring this boy into the Marines and use justice to persuade him to join.

Otherwise, with Ryan's talent, another great pirate would appear on the seas within a few years.

With that thought, Fili shouted at Ryan, "Ryan, how about joining the Marines? After what you did tonight, you'll definitely have a bounty placed on you!"

Ryan and Beli couldn't help laughing at that. "No thanks. I have no interest in the Marines. I don't want to work for the World Government."

Seeing his rejection, Fili hurried forward several steps. "You can think it over carefully!"

"Take one more step, and I'll cut you down!"

Fili's steps immediately froze in place, and he didn't dare move forward. Looks like I can't persuade him with justice.

Ryan and Beli walked out just like that.

After seeing Ryan and Beli leave, the red-haired boy and the blond boy exchanged a glance and followed them.

The moment they stepped outside, the sight of corpses strewn everywhere shocked them.

The Marine base's training ground was littered with severed limbs. There were hardly any intact corpses. A swordsman's slaughter was truly bloody; otherwise, swordsmen would not be known for having the greatest destructive power.

Seeing the two boys follow them out, Beli gestured toward Ryan.

"That red-haired guy... I don't know why, but every time I hear him speak, I get angry."

Although the two boys were shocked by the scene before them, they gritted their teeth and chased after Ryan and Beli.

"Why are you two following us?" Ryan stopped and asked.

The blond boy approached Ryan cautiously and said, "I want to follow you and learn swordsmanship. I really like swords, but I'm not very strong."

"This..."

Looking at the boy's fervent gaze, Ryan didn't know how to refuse him for a moment.

"I've never taught anyone before! Besides, we'll definitely be leaving soon, so I can't teach you for more than a few days."

"That's fine. I can follow you. Wherever you go, I'll go."

"But we're pirates!"

"So what if you're pirates? Kid has always wanted to become a pirate."

Looking at the two boys before him, Ryan was stunned. Kid?

Wasn't that the future Supernova? Looking more closely at the red-haired boy, he could indeed see traces of the future Kid. Then who was the blond boy?

"What's your name?"

"Killer."

Sure enough! Although he looked nothing like the future Killer, perhaps that was because of the mask. His blond hair, however, was exactly the same.

But how could he run into them here? Ryan began seriously considering whether he should let Killer board the ship.

As a future Supernova, Killer's talent and potential were beyond doubt. Ryan was only worried that their personalities and tempers wouldn't mesh, making him difficult to get along with later.

But when he saw Killer's fervent gaze, it was exactly like the look Ryan himself had worn when he had begged Rayleigh to teach him swordsmanship. Ryan made his decision then and there.

"All right, come with me."

Killer happily jumped up. Feeling everyone's gazes on him, he reverted to the shy Killer he had been at the beginning.

Killer sincerely thanked him. "Thank you!"

"What about you?" Ryan asked Kid.

"Wherever Killer goes, I'll go," Kid replied.

Seeing that Kid wanted to board the ship too, Beli couldn't take it anymore. "No, I object. You're too weak!"

"Who do you think you are? Do I need your permission to board the ship?"

"I said no, so no! I'm the vice-captain!"

"Looking for a beating?"

Seeing Beli's temper flare up again, Ryan couldn't help laughing. Why did the usually honest and simple Beli lose control so easily whenever he encountered Kid?

Looking at the three of them, Ryan suddenly had an evil idea.

"All right, I agree."

"Ryan, you?"

"Having a few more people on the ship will make things livelier. Besides, don't you dislike this brat? You can beat him whenever you want on the ship." Ryan flashed a roguish grin.

Beli's eyes lit up.

Kid's body trembled, as if something had locked onto him.

Then he met Beli's honest smile.

Kid: "Is this guy sick?"

Two people had come, and two more left with them. The four of them walked out of the Marine base together.

Looking at the hair colors of the three people before him—red-haired Kid, green-haired Beli, and blond-haired Killer—

Ryan thought that perhaps their hair colors were the reason Kid and Beli disliked each other. Red lights meant stop, green lights meant go; red and green were natural opposites.

From now on, he could call Kid Red Light, Beli Green Light, and Killer Yellow Light. All three traffic lights were here.

The three of them had no idea that Ryan had just assigned them nicknames.

The Traffic Light Trio, which would later become famous throughout the pirate world, was officially formed on this night.