I, Gawain, Navy Lieutenant Commander

Kuro's request naturally failed, and it could not have succeeded.

Setting aside something as beyond common sense as a Devil Fruit, even the best doctor had to follow the basic laws of nature.

Having lost Kuro, a leek with Bronze Rank potential, Gawain's daily harvested experience once again returned to its expected level.

It stabilized between twenty and thirty.

Looking at those numbers,

Gawain fell into deep thought for a time.

The experience provided each day by Kuro's training alone, despite him being only Bronze Rank,

had already reached more than ten points.

That meant that as long as there were two people on the ship with Bronze Rank potential, the experience they provided each day

would equal that of more than a hundred people aboard whose potential had yet to be exhausted.

The gap between people was secondary. The bigger problem was that, under such circumstances, an overly large pirate crew had instead become a burden.

That was especially true when Gawain was planning to head for the Grand Line.

Not to mention anything else, just the daily food, drink, sanitation, medical supplies, and ammunition for several hundred people

was an enormous expense.

The supplies aboard the Warship Gawain had seized had originally been enough to feed over a hundred people for a month. After merging with the Black Cat Pirates, however, they had instantly shrunk to enough for only ten days.

Not to mention that with dozens of wounded aboard, the ship's medical supplies had long since been depleted.

"Before heading to the Grand Line, claiming the title of Shichibukai, and establishing a stable base of operations,"

"an elite crew like Straw Hat, Red-Hair, or Roger's would be most beneficial for my abilities."

"After all, the experience provided by one Kuro with Bronze Rank potential is enough to rival that of seventy or eighty ordinary pirates with Black Iron potential, and his harvesting period is clearly much longer."

"Not to mention the possible seeds of Silver, Gold, or even Legendary potential in the future."

With that thought, Gawain made up his mind.

As long as the subsequent plans went smoothly, he would recruit a few more crew members with outstanding potential. Once he had streamlined the crew and built an elite team composed of members with at least Bronze Rank potential, he would enter the Grand Line.

Besides, for those pirates whose potential had been exhausted, rather than heading to the Grand Line to die, they might as well remain in the East Blue. With their decent strength and Gawain backing them, they could at least make a living.

Still, the rate at which the ship's supplies were being consumed exceeded Gawain's expectations. Just three days later, food and medicine were declared critically low.

Inside the captain's cabin,

Gawain and several officers had all gathered there, their expressions grave.

"Captain, the remaining food will only last us five days. It is barely enough to get us back to the base on Para Island, but the medical supplies and ammunition there have already run dry."

"If those injured brothers don't receive treatment in time, more than half of them won't make it. We..."

Jango reported the pirate crew's condition with a solemn expression. In the end, he was not a man as cold-blooded as Kuro. He did not want to watch those subordinates die in such agony.

The Catman Brothers were the same. Seeing that Gawain had no reaction, they hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Quite a few of these men were trained by you before, Captain. They can be considered elites. Letting them die like this would be a terrible waste."

Gawain raised a hand to signal for the three of them to be quiet, then looked at Kuro.

"Do you have a reliable procurement channel?"

Kuro nodded.

"Our weapons and medical supplies were previously provided by Harbinger at Raven Port."

"However, something happened to him recently. He was just pulled out of the Navy's hands, and I'm worried he may be a hook the Navy has put out."

"Doesn't matter."

Gawain did not waver in the slightest.

"If the Navy dares to reach out, then we'll chop off their hand!"

"Hmph."

Kuro pushed up his glasses, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.

Gawain's answer was exactly what he had expected. In fact, instinctively, he felt that this was how it ought to be.

Only such boldness was worthy of Gawain's terrifying talent and monstrous strength.

Jango and the Catman Brothers exchanged glances and all breathed sighs of relief.

At the same time, beyond fear, their gazes toward Gawain gained a measure of respect.

In this day and age, there were captains willing to go this far for their subordinates, but there were definitely not many.

The next day,

Gawain's fleet split into two groups.

The three Pirate Ships originally belonging to the Black Cat Pirates, commanded by the Catman Brothers and Jango, carried the wounded and some members without combat ability back to the base on Para Island.

Meanwhile, Gawain led Kuro and a shipload of elite pirates aboard the Navy Warship toward Raven Port.

There were still quite a few Navy soldiers' uniforms and Morgans's uniforms left aboard that Warship.

Gawain had his men change into the soldiers' clothes, while he changed into a resized version of Morgans's uniform. In an instant, every pirate aboard the ship had taken on the appearance of Navy personnel.

Gawain in particular had been born with a handsome face. After changing into a Navy Lieutenant Commander's uniform, he gave off an upright aura from the inside out.

Judging by appearances alone, no one would believe he was not a Navy officer.

Kuro's mouth twitched.

If Gawain had not already become captain, Kuro would have suspected that he was a Navy undercover agent.

"It's the Navy's loss that you became a pirate."

Kuro sighed in admiration. Seeing Gawain's somewhat strange expression, he could not be bothered to dwell on the matter any longer.

He, too, changed into a Navy officer's uniform. Combined with his refined looks and gloomy temperament, he unexpectedly gained a somewhat upright air as well.

"Perfect."

"With the way we look, the two of us are more like proper Navy officers than most actual Navy officers."

Gawain patted Kuro on the shoulder. The latter smiled faintly.

"Yes!"

"Sir!"

At the same time,

near Raven Port,

a massive fleet of nearly twenty Pirate Ships slowly docked in a bay.

After confirming that no one was tracking them nearby,

Admiral Creek, clad in golden armor and sporting short light-purple hair, emerged from the enormous ship at the center of the fleet and stepped onto the deck.

He raised a telescope and looked toward the port at the edge of his sight.

Even from dozens of nautical miles away, he could still see the countless merchant ships coming and going, each one loaded with goods from the Four Seas and even the Grand Line.

It was flourishing beyond compare.

As Creek looked at the distant sight, greed inevitably surfaced in his eyes. Then he lowered his gaze to the sea chart in his hand.

"Raven Port is one of the ports East Blue merchant ships must pass through, yet there isn't a Navy branch stationed nearby. As long as we take this place, we'll have the transportation lifeline of dozens of nearby cities in our grasp."

"Even if we sit around and do nothing, countless Berry will flow into our hands every day."

"Then I can build an invincible fleet. Not even the Grand Line will be able to stop me!"

At that moment,

a gaunt man wearing a striped headscarf and resembling a vicious ghost slowly approached Creek's side and said flatly,

"Captain, what do you need me to do?"

"The usual."

Creek glanced at the man and grinned viciously.

"Akin, take some men and disguise yourselves as Navy personnel to infiltrate Raven Port. Once you eliminate the forces capable of resisting from within, we'll coordinate from inside and out and take it in one blow."

"Yes."

Akin nodded.

"However,"

"there's a small problem with the Warship we seized earlier. It needs some time to be adjusted, so it may delay us for a few days."

"Mm."

Creek nodded.

"Hurry up. The longer we delay, the more likely something will change. No one can predict what might happen if we drag this out."

"Yes!"