The Pirate: I Became a Legend After Seeing Proficiency Chapter 16

The two Black Merchants had already gone numb. When they heard someone push the door open, they thought it was the same group of pirates as before. They had suffered terribly at their hands.

Unexpectedly, their fortunes had changed. That group of pirates had actually been dealt with by someone else.

The joy of being rescued surged into their hearts at once.

"Big brother!!"

"Please save me!!"

"I'll give you ten million Beli!"

"Save me first! I'll give you twenty million Beli!"

"I'll pay one hundred million Beli!!"

"I'll pay two hundred million!!"

"Wait~~~"

Money moved the heart. Nami was desperately short of cash right now, so when she heard that, she didn't even need Dongze to urge her on.

She burst straight out of the barrel.

"Hey! Big sir! I'll save you! Give me the money!"

"I'll give you a fifty-percent discount!!"

Looking at Nami, whose eyes had turned into Beli symbols, a hint of amusement flashed through Dongze's eyes.

His expression instantly became Number Two Kizaru. "Oh my! There were actually people inside the barrel! How amazing!"

Hearing Dongze's words, the three people present simultaneously rubbed the corners of their eyes. Anyone would get angry at Kizaru's irritating expression.

Especially Nami, the person involved. Her face flushed. "Liar! Weren't you calling for me just now?"

"Oh my! You saw through me."

"Do I really look that stupid?"

"But let me tell you, little girl, that isn't how you do business!"

"I was the one who defeated the pirates outside!!"

Even when facing the unknown Dongze, the sheer amount of Beli involved made Nami want to fight for it. She was still carrying a debt of one hundred million Beli!

"What does it matter? I'm a victim too. Asking for a little emotional-distress compensation isn't excessive, right?"

"Hahaha!!"

She really was the Cat Burglar from his memories.

But he had already heard that group of pirates say that they had found these Black Merchants because someone had informed on them.

Judging from the current situation...

"Hey, little girl, I heard they were captured by pirates because someone leaked their whereabouts!"

"Who do you think that person was?"

Hearing Dongze's words, the two men and Nami all shuddered at the same time.

Black Merchants had run rampant for a thousand years without falling, not only because of their business methods, but also because of their schemes, which were practically flawless.

Those words first made the two men think of their fellow merchants' bloodless methods. Just imagining them made them shiver involuntarily.

They did not think of the little girl before them.

Nami, however, thought, Oh no! Could he have seen through what I did?

That was right. Nami was the one who had informed the pirates. By chance, she had learned that a group of Black Merchants had manipulated the prices in a nearby town, leaving her own Orange Grove unable to buy even fertilizer. So she had passed the information she had accidentally obtained about the Black Merchants to those pirates.

Now that she heard Dongze's words, she felt that there was a deeper meaning behind them. If the Black Merchants learned that she had leaked the information, they would definitely tear her limb from limb in their fury.

"Hehe! Big brother, what are you talking about?"

"..."

"Oh my! Mr. Dongze! Who are these people?"

"Black Merchants!"

"They're a group of incredibly irritating people. But they're troublesome to deal with—the pirates haven't killed them yet!"

Hearing Dongze and Robin's exchange, the two men instantly became as frightened as quails. Even Nami retreated into a corner with terror on her face.

Seeing their expressions, Robin's lips curved up. "Mr. Dongze, your hobbies are truly unique. Where did all the heads of those people outside go?"

Nami and the two Black Merchants grew even more terrified when they heard Dongze.

"Eek~~"

They had thought Dongze had merely knocked those men unconscious. They had never expected this outcome. And from Dongze's tone, he clearly had no intention of letting them go.

Then Nami heard that devilish whisper: "I'm guessing you were the one who leaked the information!"

Dongze did not need to say anything more. The two Black Merchants filled in the rest of the story themselves.

"What? It was her?"

"Bastard!! No wonder there was someone here!"

"You filthy bitch! Once we get out, you'll pay for this!!"

Chapter 23: Sowing the Seeds of Revolution—Aokiji Takes Action!

Ten minutes later, Robin carried Nami out of the cabin.

Looking at the sleeping Nami, Robin asked in confusion, "Mr. Dongze! They were only two Black Merchants. Why did you have to scheme against this little girl as well?"

In the cabin just now, Dongze had exposed Nami as the informant. The two men had threatened her and even said they would take revenge on those close to her.

They wanted money in exchange for their lives.

In the end, they had arrogantly revealed the identity of the power behind them—the Heavenly Yaksha, Doflamingo.

The top broker of the Underworld, Joker.

As the leading figure of the Underworld, he controlled the terrifying black-trade network of the pirate world. It was no surprise that he was the boss of these two Black Merchants.

Dongze guessed that this was the true reason those pirates had never truly made up their minds to kill them.

At this time, Doflamingo had already obtained the position of Shichibukai through the Heavenly Tribute.

His reputation was also extremely prominent.

The threats from the Black Merchants and the pressure from Doflamingo, the Shichibukai, had almost left Nami unable to breathe. What could an ordinary person do against a Shichibukai?

She had struggled painfully between killing them and not killing them.

In the end, Dongze's words—"Only by killing them can your family remain safe"—became the final straw that broke her reason.

Nami had tied the two men up and turned them over to the authorities.

Robin, however, was much more perceptive. She saw through Dongze's scheme. If Dongze had not exposed Nami's identity, she never would have faced such a choice. That was why she had asked him about it.

"She's unexpectedly strong."

Looking at the little girl sprawled over Robin's shoulder, Dongze could not help sighing.

As for what had just happened, Dongze had his own plans. He did not have much time left to linger leisurely. The pressure brought by Robin's old man was immense, and he had to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

The liberation of thought, however, was a long-term movement.

So he could only bury this seed among ordinary people.

As for Arlong and his people, who had done evil throughout the East Blue, he had little to say. After being enslaved by the Celestial Dragons for so long, their thinking had become radical and extreme. They had turned into rabid dogs that preached racism everywhere.

The Celestial Dragons claimed to be descendants of the creators, sacred and inviolable. Attacking them was a crime, and even striking a Celestial Dragon could bring an Admiral of the Marines into action.

These Fish-Men did not dare resist the Celestial Dragons. Instead, they had come to the East Blue and imposed the same system on the villagers of Cocoyasi Village.

They had enslaved the village for ten years. If Nami had not finally stirred up the last trace of courage in the villagers through her actions, they probably would not have dared resist even at the moment of death!

It was just like modern society, where some people claimed that the air in America was sweet, that white-skinned monkeys were born superior, and that black-skinned pigs were born with stronger genes.

Whatever they could not surpass, they attributed to bloodlines and race. Such absurd claims were complete nonsense.

Had they never heard that, in ancient times, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had ruled the world and opened the first chapter of Chinese history?

From then on, China had soared into greatness.

Qin Shi Huang, who unified the Central Plains after building upon the achievements of six generations—his extraordinary talent and grand vision, had he not been limited by his lifespan and the restrictions of his era, I believe that black dragon banner would have been planted across the entire world long ago.

Wherever the sunlight shone was Qin territory.

With unyielding iron bones forging the spirit of Han, Emperor Wu of Han had sent a red-tasseled spear piercing through Mount Langju Xu and proclaimed, "Those who offend mighty Han, no matter how far away, shall be exterminated!"

They had dominated an entire era. In their presence, those white-skinned monkeys and black-skinned pigs probably would not even have dared fart.

When all nations came to pay homage during the glorious Tang Dynasty, China had been the center of the world. Those white-skinned monkeys and black-skinned pigs could only come to the Great Tang as slaves. Had they never heard the term Kunlun slaves?

Even during the Great Song, its GDP had ranked among the highest in the world. Its wealth could even have purchased half the world.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the cavalry led by Genghis Khan, the Heaven's Chosen, had cut straight across the entire Eurasian continent.

And there was also the legendary Ming Dynasty, along with the celebrated voyages of Zheng He across the Western Ocean.

Looking back carefully, the Chinese bloodline passed down for five thousand years had never once been dimmed. In every era, it had been a symbol of supreme strength.

Yet today, some people claimed that it was incapable of this or that. To put it unpleasantly, the problem was with you, not with your ancestors.

If your ancestors came here, they could beat the shit out of those people.

Hold your chests high and raise your heads. When have we ever been weaker than others?

Fight harder and complain less. That was what we should do. As for those sycophantic faces that worship foreigners, those white-skinned monkeys and black-skinned pigs jumping around and making a scene—why not use facts to tell them that your father would always be your father?

That was getting a little off topic. What Dongze wanted to leave them with was the spirit of daring to resist. Sometimes he wondered: if the villagers in the several nearby towns possessed the resolve to choose death over submission and resisted the Arlong Pirates, would things still turn out the same as in the original story?

If Arlong really slaughtered the people of those villages, then once it was exposed, not only they but all the Fish-Men in the world would be plunged into a deadly crisis.

"Those who are not of our race will inevitably have different hearts." That principle was especially obvious in this world.

Even an ordinary World Government would never allow such a thing to happen, let alone the World Government of this era.

One could imagine that such an act would certainly provoke public outrage. When that time came, disaster would await them, and they would have only one possible outcome.

If someone with ulterior motives guided things a little further...

The result would be "extinction."

Even possessing Poseidon would be useless. More than eighty percent of this world's population was human, and nearly all of the top-level powerhouses were human as well. When the conflict between the races became so sharp that only one side could survive, would those human powerhouses remain unmoved? Would they allow people to point accusing fingers at their backs? Even Whitebeard probably could not bear such responsibility.

Dongze's actions were meant to ignite Nami's bloodlust. Some people had knelt for so long that they were probably no longer capable of standing, so he had used a somewhat unpleasant method.

Nami was also the soul of Cocoyasi Village. He planned to use her to spread the seeds of revolution, giving himself another contingency for the future.

This time, however, he was with her, so he definitely would not allow anything to happen to the villagers. He still had that much confidence.

After Robin carried Nami back to the ship, Dongze raised the sword in his hand and struck through the air. A Slashing attack nearly one hundred meters long tore through the sky, vanished in the blink of an eye, and struck the pirate ship.

The pirate ship was cut in half.

The ship then followed the fate of the pirate ships before it and gradually sank into the depths of the sea.

Looking at the Slashing attack, a strange light flashed through Robin's eyes. Although she was not a swordsman, she had read a couple of books about Swordmasters.

She had some understanding of Slashing attacks as well.

Slashing was an extension of a Swordmaster's sword techniques. It made up for their inability to attack from a distance and was an exceedingly mysterious technique. Only the swordsman himself knew exactly what it was. It was a finishing move that naturally emerged once one's Swordsmanship reached a certain level.

But improving this technique was extremely difficult. Just as in the original story, the battle-hardened Zoro had to unleash his full power to cut Fujitora's meteorite in half after pulling it down from space, while Hawkeye could reduce it to powder with a basic swing. The difference between them was obvious, and it also showed from another angle how difficult this technique was to improve.

But how many days had it been? Just a few days ago, she had seen Dongze dive deep into the sea and kill a Sea King with a Slashing attack. Today's attack was nearly ten times larger than that one.

Thus, Robin stared blankly at Dongze and kept asking herself inwardly: Just how monstrous is my current employer? To what level has his true combat strength reached?

At that moment, far away on the Red Line, at the Marine Headquarters in Marineford, Admiral Aokiji received a mysterious phone call.

It had come from the spy working under him.

"Mr. Aokiji, she's gone!"