The five officers

Starting that day, Lind intended to take full charge of his subordinates' training. He had to improve their combat strength as quickly as possible.

Only once they grew strong enough could Lind farm in peace.

Lind considered his training plans as he walked toward the meeting hall beside the training grounds.

"Axel, Liana, Calvin, Rex, Allison, the five of you come meet me in the meeting hall. We need to discuss the squad members' training going forward."

Rather than interrupt his subordinates' training, Lind simply used Telekinesis to notify the five officers to meet him in the hall.

Soon, as Lind entered the meeting hall, the officers arrived as well.

Although humans in the world of the Pirate King were generally tall, people like Whitebeard and Charlotte Linlin were still relatively rare.

Lind's five subordinates were all roughly his size, ranging from 1.9 to 2.6 meters tall.

Axel was the swordsman who had previously cut his way across the battlefield with two machetes. At just 1.9 meters, he was the shortest of the five, and, like Kizaru, he looked rather sleazy.

Fortunately, he was extremely strong-the strongest of the five. Even among that entire batch of pirates, he had been second only to the Oni named Leo.

He came from a gang background and had fought his way from the West Blue to the New World with two machetes, earning a bounty of ninety million through his street-fighting swordplay.

In an era when Beli had yet to depreciate, a pirate with a ninety-million bounty was definitely stronger than most of the future Supernovas.

Although he was already thirty, Lind believed that, with his guidance, Axel still had an excellent chance of becoming truly powerful.

Liana was the black cat Devil Fruit User. At two meters tall, she was the same height as Lind, a very beautiful female pirate with a stunning figure.

Her long, wavy black hair made Lind feel that calling her Black Cat Detective earlier had been rather presumptuous. She was clearly Rui Kisugi, the eldest of the three sisters from Cat's Eye.

(Rui Kisugi is first from the right.)

He just wondered whether she would lose her looks when she grew old. After all, this world was not particularly kind to elderly women.

Rui Kisugi-no, Liana-was the only sniper among them, and she was also very capable in close combat. With a bounty of eighty million, her overall strength was second only to Axel's.

At twenty-three, she had considerable potential as well. The only problem was that she had already eaten a Devil Fruit, and an ordinary Zoan Devil Fruit at that, which limited her future development to some extent.

Calvin stood 2.1 meters tall and had rugged features. His speech and actions usually carried a hint of military discipline.

He came from the Flower Country in the West Blue and excelled at Taijutsu. During the earlier elimination trials, his powerful Armament Haki and Five Extremes Fist had made him stand out.

Lind suspected that Calvin might have come from the Eight Treasures Navy, though he had no idea why Calvin had chosen to join the Rocks Pirates.

Calvin was the youngest of the five at just twenty-one, with a bounty of sixty million. He had yet to eat a Devil Fruit, making him the one with the greatest potential.

The remaining two, Rex and Allison, were both thirty, just like Axel.

At 2.6 meters, Rex was the tallest of them. His entire body was packed with intimidating muscle. A martial artist by background and an expert in Taijutsu, he had a bounty of seventy million.

Allison stood 1.9 meters tall. She was an elegant-looking beauty with short hair, skilled in swordsmanship and somewhat knowledgeable about medicine.

She had previously been a ship's doctor. After her treatment killed her captain, she joined the Rocks Pirates and was eventually recruited by Lind.

Her current bounty was fifty-six million, making her a powerful female pirate in her own right.

Lind looked at the five people before him with satisfaction, delighted inside. Every one of them was talented, a cornerstone of his future empire.

"First, tell me how this past month's training went!"

Once all five had sat down, Lind spoke first.

"Yes, Boss."

"At present, the division has ninety-two members besides us!"

"Thanks to the training methods and equipment you designed, all ninety-two have now mastered Armament Haki, and over fifty have mastered Observation Haki!"

"The members of the Seventh Division have now essentially reached the average strength of the core elites in the other divisions of the Rocks Pirates!"

"I believe that in another month, when the Seventh Division sets sail, we'll definitely be strong enough to overpower most pirate crews and Marine units!"

Axel was the one speaking. Although he looked very much like Kizaru, he had none of Kizaru's habit of slacking off.

He had worked diligently over the past few months, handling matters large and small extremely well. Most importantly, he was strong, too. He was easily Lind's most dependable subordinate at present.

The other four officers also respected Axel, so naturally, he was the one to deliver this sort of report.

"Very good. You've done excellent work this month and have basically met my expectations. For the next month, I'll personally oversee the training!"

"The five of you are still a little lacking in strength, too. You'll need to work hard to improve over the next month!"

"This is a miraculous fruit I found on a deserted island earlier. I named it the Dragon Banana. Eating it improves your physical capabilities!"

"With these Dragon Bananas and some physical training, your strength will definitely improve tremendously over the course of this month!"

Lind opened the crate he had carried behind him with Telekinesis, revealing a whole crate of Dragon Bananas.

These were all supplies Lind had brought with him when he left the deserted island. Although a special resin kept them fresh, they were now nearing the limit of how long they could last.

Because Lind's physique was already extremely powerful, the Dragon Bananas were becoming less and less effective. He usually only ate a few occasionally as fruit after a meal.

He had barely used any of his stock over the past few months. Seeing that it was about to spoil, he decided to use it to improve his subordinates' strength.

The same went for his other fruits. Many that did not store well were about to spoil, and Lind planned to deal with them as soon as possible.

Whether he fed them to his subordinates, dried them, or canned them, he wanted to avoid wasting them as much as possible.

At the same time, Lind planned to return to that deserted island in a few days to deal with the Divine Dragon Coconuts growing there.

He would take his subordinates along. After all, he could never keep all his miraculous fruits a secret, and they needed to have a source.

By taking his subordinates there, he could present them as nature's bounty rather than the product of his special ability.

As for disposing of the Divine Dragon Coconuts, one reason was that the Fruit Ability Lind publicly displayed was that of the Telekinesis Fruit;

The other was that the Divine Dragon Coconuts were simply too effective. Although he did not know whether anyone else could reach his level of strength through them, Lind still wanted to be selfish for once.

Until Lind became sufficiently powerful, the Divine Dragon Coconuts were destined to remain a secret.

For the foreseeable future, Lind and Great Kun would probably be the only two who knew.

Seeing the traces of disbelief on their faces, Lind continued:

"The sea is vast. You never know what treasures you might find out there. Doesn't Sea King meat improve your physical capabilities, too?"

"You'll understand how effective they are once you try them. Besides this crate, I have plenty more in my room-definitely enough to take your physiques to the next level!"

After hearing Lind speak again, they stopped overthinking it and hurried to thank him.

"Thank you, Boss! We'll train hard, grow stronger, and make a name for the Seventh Division!"

"Boss is mighty! Boss is the most handsome! Boss is invincible!"

"May Boss reign for ages and unite the four seas!"

They all chimed in, pouring out flattery as though it cost them nothing.