A Madman Beneath the Social Hierarchy
Ahua, A-Tao, and A-Luo were either in the kitchen or lying on the deck, bored and bragging about nothing.
The Sea was just this boring. Only those islands filled with the unknown could restore their energy.
Just then, A-Luo, who was in the lookout, held up his telescope and shouted down.
"Ship, dead ahead at twelve o'clock! Pirate Ship spotted."
At A-Luo's shout, everyone aboard perked up.
On this unbearably boring Sea, there was another kind of fun.
Of course, that was running into another pirate crew!
Since both were small sailing ships, they moved quickly, and it wasn't long before the two ships met at sea.
Ahua looked at the pirate flag on the other Pirate Ship.
Holding a stack of Wanted Posters, Ahua flipped through them repeatedly before finally stopping at one that wasn't particularly eye-catching.
He looked up at the pirate flag again, pushed up his glasses, and said calmly,
"The Crazy Bull Pirates!"
"Captain, 'Kubi Rad.'"
"Bounty: fifteen million Beli."
Then he pulled out a stack of newspapers from behind him, took one out, and began,
"Judging from the news over the past few months, Kubi Rad only went to sea a few months ago. He's a rookie pirate."
"A rookie pirate?"
Kuta stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "Then for this guy to have a fifteen-million-Beli bounty on his first Wanted Poster, he's either very strong or extremely cruel."
A cold glint flashed through his eyes as he spoke.
Clearly, he leaned toward the latter.
In the East Blue, where the average bounty did not exceed ten million, someone receiving such a high bounty on his first Wanted Poster could only fit one of those two situations.
Even Krieg only had a bounty of seventeen million Beli.
Who knew what kind of cruel things this man had done to receive such a high bounty?
He looked up at Ahua, signaling him to continue.
Ahua looked at the newspaper and went on.
"Don't be fooled by the fact that this guy has only been at sea for a few months. He's already robbed six Towns."
"Hmm!"
Just then, Ahua's eyes suddenly lit up, and he spoke hurriedly.
"Because every time this guy finishes robbing a Town, he transforms into a huge bull-headed monster covered in long hair and rampages through the Town he robbed."
"That's why the Marines gave him the title of Crazy Bull."
"A bull-headed monster?"
"Could this guy be the Devil Fruit User Kuta was talking about?"
A-Luo and A-Tao had originally had no interest whatsoever in the captain of this so-called Crazy Bull Pirates.
After all, they weren't the ones who had to deal with him.
But after hearing Ahua's words, they both revealed excited expressions at the same time.
A Devil Fruit User!
This was their first time encountering one!
What they didn't know was that they had actually met Devil Fruit Users long ago.
One was the Okama King, "Emporio Ivankov."
Ivankov was a miracle worker who had eaten the Hormone-Hormone Fruit.
His Devil Fruit ability could control the human body's temperature, pigmentation, growth, and emotions, modifying people from within. He could even change their sex and turn them into new humans—in other words, okama.
If Ivankov had used his Devil Fruit ability when fighting Kuta, Kuta would probably have been defeated even faster!
The other was the man who had always followed Ivankov, "Inazuma," who could be both male and female.
Inazuma was a new human whose body had been changed by Ivankov's Devil Fruit ability.
He had eaten the Scissors-Scissors Fruit and was a scissors man.
His ability allowed him to turn any part of his body into scissors, which could cut through anything.
Anything he cut with his ability could then be used like cloth for a certain period of time.
At present, it was still uncertain whether he could cut living things the way he could cut through the ground.
If he could cut living things as well, then his ability would be practically invincible.
The things he cut with his ability were different from those cut by the Op-Op Fruit.
Things cut by the Op-Op Fruit could be restored.
Even human bodies that had been cut apart would be no different from normal afterward.
But the Scissors-Scissors Fruit was different.
It could only destroy things. If it could be used on human bodies, then anyone could be killed with ease.
With such a bugged ability, it should be impossible to use it on living things, right?
Chapter 32: A Madman Beneath the Hierarchy
The Crazy Bull Pirates.
At that moment, the deck of their ship was covered with sleeping pirates.
These pirates were companions Kubi Rad had found over the past few months. In truth, they were merely thugs from the Towns he had robbed.
Because they had played too late the night before, these men were still fast asleep.
Only the few pirates in the lookout and the steering cabin were still dutifully performing their duties.
In truth, they wanted to sleep like the men on the deck, but unfortunately, it was their turn to stand watch today!
Their ship had no specialized positions. Everyone took turns standing watch.
Just then, a nameless pirate in the lookout spotted the Freedom.
"Dead ahead. Pirate Ship spotted."
He raised his telescope and saw that the other ship flew a pirate flag he had never seen before. He merely called down lazily and didn't take it seriously.
But when he thought of how bloodthirsty and cruel their captain was toward other ships and people, he couldn't help shivering even though he was one of their own.
He turned to look at the rapidly approaching Freedom and silently mourned for the people aboard the other ship.
"What a bunch of unlucky bastards! Of all the places in the endless Sea, they had to run into our pirate crew."
As he thought this, a bloodthirsty glint flashed through his eyes.
If they had been acknowledged by Kubi Rad and allowed aboard, how good could they possibly be?
Every one of them was a lawless, utterly unscrupulous bastard and thug.
Captain's cabin.
A succession of snores rolled outward without pause, like "waves of thunder rumbling across the horizon before a rainstorm."
A middle-aged man lay sleeping on a sofa.
The man was around thirty-five years old and looked utterly ordinary.
If there was anything unusual about him, it was the explosive muscles covering his body and the countless scars of all sizes across his naked skin.
This had to be the captain of the Crazy Bull Pirates, "Kubi Rad," right?
Even asleep, this man radiated an intensely vicious aura, like a gigantic beast.
Outside the captain's cabin.
A nameless pirate hesitated over whether to wake his captain.
There was no one aboard the Crazy Bull Pirates who wasn't afraid of Kubi Rad.
Creak—!
After hesitating only briefly, he still firmly pushed open the shabby wooden door to the captain's cabin.
Compared with failing to report the discovery of pirates, waking Kubi Rad was hardly a serious matter.
Kubi Rad wanted fame. He wanted to surpass Arlong and Krieg in reputation and become the strongest man in the East Blue.
So he constantly attacked various Towns and other pirate crews, including merchant ships.
As a member of the Crazy Bull Pirates, he naturally knew all this!
He opened the door and cautiously walked over to Kubi Rad, calling softly several times first.
When that failed to wake him,
he had no choice but to shout loudly at Kubi Rad, "Captain, Captain..." "Hmm!"
The snoring suddenly stopped.
Kubi Rad opened his bloodshot eyes and glared at the nameless pirate, his face filled with murderous hostility.
He said nothing, merely staring silently at the nameless pirate.
If this man failed to report something interesting, there would be no need for him to remain aboard his Pirate Ship.
Under Kubi Rad's blood-red gaze, cold sweat poured down the nameless pirate's body.
He lowered his head, not daring to meet Kubi Rad's eyes, and spoke at lightning speed.
"Captain, a Pirate Ship has been spotted dead ahead."
"A Pirate Ship?"
At this, the hostility on Kubi Rad's face receded. He slowly sat upright.
He took out a Cigar, lit it, and inhaled deeply.
Then he stood, picked up the brown coat beside him, and draped it over his shoulders.
"Let's go! Let's see who's on the other side."
With that, he walked out excitedly.
"I hope the people on the other side can make this worthwhile!"
When the two ships met, they both lowered their sails and stopped on the Sea.
Ahua, A-Tao, and A-Luo stared straight at the tall man standing at the bow of the other ship, their eyes full of curiosity.
"Is this a Devil Fruit User? He doesn't look strange at all!"
Kuta, meanwhile, jumped directly onto the other ship and stood on the railing at its bow.
His main purpose this time was to let Ahua, A-Tao, and A-Luo get a good look at what Devil Fruit abilities were like.
That would give them a reference for when they became Devil Fruit Users in the future.
He wasn't here to fight a pirate crew that, in his eyes, was nothing at all.
He grinned and praised Kubi Rad.
"Yo! Crazy Bull Kubi Rad, with a fifteen-million-Beli bounty."
"How scary!"