And once that's done...I'm going to get stronger. I'm going to grind my rokushiki until they're maxed out. I'm going to unlock [Rankyaku] again and then max THAT out as well. I don't need to be at a level where I can beat them. I need to be at a level where I can crushthem.
Korka was right. Someone needs to clean up this fucking ocean. The Marines aren't up to it. Their power is too focused on the Grand Line. The Revolutionaries aren't up to it. They're spread too far and too thin fighting other battles already. The common people can't do it. Not by themselves.
So it's gonna have to be me.
Ding!
New Quest Alert!
Quest: Pirates. Criminals. Rapers, plunderers, and scum of every kind. No more. It's time to sanitize the South Blue. Capture or kill wanted men in South Blue who's bounties total at least One Billion Beri. Progress: (10,402,500/1,000,000,000) Reward: 99,000 Exp, +25 LUK, and ? [ACCEPT/DECLINE] As far as South Blue is concerned...I'm calling an end to this 'Great Age of Piracy'.
Yeutton Port, Caeba Kingdom, South Blue Petty Officer Abrella let out a despondent sigh as she lazily picked at her salad in the bases cafeteria. Across the table one of her juniors, Seaman Pittman, continued to moan and groan about the failed date she had went on over the weekend and Abrella listened halfheartedly as she knocked a small tomato around with her fork.
"And then he tried to feel me up after just one date!" The Seaman huffed indignantly. "I guess if the night had been going better I might have been up for it, but it wasn't!"
"Uh huh." Abrella muttered, popping a crouton in her mouth.
"And then to just get all grabby-handed out of the blue? It's like, can't you read the mood guy! Ugh!" Pittman paused to blow a lock of hair out of her face and cross her arms in annoyance. "So. That made my Saturday a bust. What about you Petty Officer? Anything exciting in your life?"
Abrella raised her drink to her lips and sipped away the last few ounces. "Nope." She answered succinctly and then began gathering her trash together. "Well," she drew out, rising to her feet. "Time to get back to it. Another exciting day of staring at the wall."
"Mou, you shouldn't complain so much Petty Officer." Pittman said with a pouted lip. "Some of us wish we had jobs as cushy as yours." "Yeah yeah...lucky me." Abrella replied with an exaggerated eye roll. "I'll see you later Pittman."
"Bye Petty Officer!"
Abrella dumped her trash and began the slow walk back to her post. Manning the bounty office was still as dull an assignment as it had ever been. A 10 hour shift containing only about 10 minutes of work. Nothing really but puzzle books to keep her company most of the day. There was a new hunter in town, a young man named Vince, who occasionally stopped by to shoot the shit for a few minutes and liven up an hour... but Abrella hadn't seen him in about a week and a half.
'Probably moved on just like the others.' Abrella hummed in thought.
Waldstein. Duan. Sandoval. Zhao. Graves. Jack. And now Vince. It seemed as though every time someone began to fit into the mold of being a 'regular' around here they would then just stop showing up one day. Whether it was because they grew bored of the business or left to hunt bigger fish Abrella didn't know. It was even possible that some had met miserable ends at the hands of their targets. How would she find out? 'Dead men tell no tales' wasn't a saying for no reason after all.
'I at least hope Zhao and Jack are doing well. Sandoval...well...some people you miss less than others.'
Little did she know that one of the faces on her mind was waiting for her right around the corner, idly picking at his nails.
Abrella's head subtly shifted in surprise. "Jack?"
20 days have passed since my failed -and foolishly impulsive- attempt at revenge on Eustass and his ilk. 18 days since Odenkirk and his subordinates decided they could no longer justify staying and packed up, leaving Kivuruk to fend for itself again. A few of my fellows cried for them to stay but, in truth, it was generous of the Lt. Commander to stop and render aid at all in the first place. He was commanding a warship after all, not a humanitarian vessel. Many other Marines wouldn't have bothered.
I've been running myself a bit ragged these last three weeks. Trying to get a torched village back on its feet is no small amount of work. I didn't make any attempt to hide the existence of my [Inventory] from my fellow Kivuruk-ians. Its usefulness in ferrying supplies from one isle to the next is simply too great a resource to bother trying to hide it. The lie about becoming a 'Storage Human' from a Paramecia Fruit flows smoother off my lips every time I tell it.
Timber. Tools. Food. Blankets. More food. And a hundred other things that needed buying have obliterated the savings I once had. The small fortune I'd amassed was enough to last me personally well over a decade. Take that sum and apply it across a village though and its gone in less than a month.
I'm not complaining. I was happy to spend it. Seeing the embers of hope begin to rekindle in my friends faces makes every Beri worth it. But my rapidly dwindling funds does mean that a cash infusion is suddenly necessary.
Hence the pirate captain propped against the wall behind me with a bag over his head.
'Sorry guy.' I internally voiced without meaning it. 'Someone had to get the short end of the stick.'
It was nothing personal to this pirate in particular. His crimes, while undoubtedly numerous, weren't anything special or notably vile when compared to those of his fellows on this sea. He was just the one unlucky enough to be the first black flag Kiwi and I stumbled upon while we were out flying.
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