The following days saw exceptionally smooth sailing for the training ship.
The winds were calm, the seas peaceful, and no foolish pirate ships crossed their path.
Perhaps the month-long sweep had thoroughly established the reputation of this "Devil Training Ship."
Pirates across the North Blue had already fled in terror, all going into hiding.
The marine trainees aboard this ship were unlike any seen before.
Previous trainee crews had primarily focused on arrests and detention, but this vessel adhered to a policy of "kill and leave unburied"—any pirates discovered were swiftly and brutally eliminated.
In two more days, the training ship would depart the North Blue, pass through the Calm Belt, and return to the Grand Line.
A new day dawned, bright and sunny.
The deck was, as usual, brimming with energy.
"Let me tell you, back in the day, I led eight thousand subordinates and repelled an entire army of Sea Kings in the East Blue!"
Usopp stood atop a barrel, spittle flying as he boasted to Chopper, his hands gesturing to an absurdly exaggerated size.
"Wow! Eight thousand subordinates? And you repelled an army of Sea Kings?!"
Chopper's round eyes widened, filled with adoration.
"Of course! I am the great Captain Usopp!" Usopp proudly planted his hands on his hips, feeling like he had reached the peak of life.
Nearby, Zoro paid no attention to such boring bragging.
Shirtless, he was performing weighted squats with a massive barbell clenched between his teeth.
Beads of sweat rolled down his bronzed skin—his discipline made him stronger.
...
Meanwhile.
In an unfamiliar stretch of sea at the border of the North Blue and the Grand Line, a pitch-black pirate ship with a massive skull figurehead cut through the waves.
The captain of the "Hawkins Pirates," the magician Basil Hawkins, sat cross-legged at a small wooden table in the center of the deck.
His expression was indifferent as his slender fingers picked up a Tarot card and slowly turned it over.
[The Tower]
On the card, a tower was struck by lightning, flames gushing from its windows, the crown atop it teetering precariously.
Hawkins showed no emotion as he retrieved the card, reshuffled the deck, and drew another.
[Death]
A skeleton clad in armor rode a white horse, holding a banner, with countless fallen bodies beneath its feet.
Just then, a crew member scrambled over, his face as pale as paper, his voice trembling.
"C-Captain! Trouble! Behind us... there's a Marine training ship!"
Hawkins didn't even lift his eyelids, his voice flat and unruffled.
"No need to panic. Increase speed and evade it."
The crew member looked ready to cry.
"That training ship is the one led by Fleet Admiral Orion!"
Hawkins' card-holding hand paused slightly.
Maintaining his impassive expression, he reshuffled the Tarot cards in his hand and smoothly spread them out on the table.
He closed his eyes, his fingers hovering over the cards before finally settling on one.
He opened his eyes and flipped it over.
"Today, the probability of death... is zero."
"Captain! Stop pretending to be calm!" the crew member stamped his foot in desperation.
"That's the Fleet Admiral! How many major pirate crews in the North Blue have fallen to him this past month? If they catch up, we're all doomed!"
Hawkins lowered his gaze, appearing calm on the surface, but the hand hidden beneath the table was already clenched so tightly that cold sweat soaked his palm.
How could he not be panicked?
Over the past month, that Marine training ship, like a plague, had left nothing but devastation in its wake.
Any pirate crew discovered, regardless of their bounty or reputation, met the same fate—complete annihilation, with no survivors left.
It was precisely because he had obtained this intelligence in advance that he, like a frightened rat, had fled the North Blue in a panic with his crew, intending to hide in the Grand Line to avoid the storm.
But despite all his calculations, he never anticipated that this training ship would also be concluding its patrol and beginning its return journey.
Even more unforeseen was that the routes of the two ships would, damnably, overlap!
However—
Hawkins took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He held an almost obsessive confidence in the accuracy of his divinations.
The cards indicated he would not die today, so he definitely would not die.
The outcome was predetermined.
....
Meanwhile.
On the training ship.
"Sanji! Found anything?" Luffy shouted from the deck toward the top of the mast.
Sanji stood on the lookout platform at the mast's peak, scanning the surrounding sea with a telescope held in one hand.
Suddenly, his movements paused.
He then closed the telescope and leaped down from the mast, landing steadily on the deck.
"Luffy, a pirate ship has been spotted in the waters ahead."
"What?!"
At the mention of "pirate ship," Luffy's eyes instantly lit up.
He dashed to the bow in a single stride, raising his fist high with excitement.
"Where? Where?! I'll knock them all flying right now!"
"After them! After them!" Chopper joined in the commotion, hopping up and down on the deck, more excited than anyone.
"Finally, some action." Zoro set down his dumbbell, casually grabbing the swords leaning against the mast, his eyes burning with a thirst for battle.
"Just don't hold us back." Ace flexed his wrists, equally fired up.
The other trainees also stirred at the news, gathering on the deck one after another, rubbing their hands in anticipation, their eyes gleaming with desire for military merit.
Fleet Admiral Orion had made it clear: their performance during this training would be recorded, and they would be rewarded based on their achievements upon returning to headquarters!
Just as the trainees on the training ship grew restless, all entering combat readiness, the pirate ship fleeing at full speed ahead in the waters suddenly and eerily slowed down.
Finally, it even retracted its sails and came to a complete stop.
As the distance between the two ships continued to shrink, Trafalgar Law, who had been leaning against the ship's rail with his nodachi Kikoku, resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
Gazing at the pirate flag fluttering above the other ship, he remarked calmly.
"It's the Hawkins Pirates. Their captain is 'Magician' Basil Hawkins."
"Who cares what pirate crew they are!" Luffy cracked his knuckles, producing a series of sharp pops.
"We'll just knock them all flying!"
At that moment, Orion emerged from the cabin with Hancock, walking slowly.
When he saw the pirate ship so close ahead, seemingly waiting for them, he couldn't help but pause in surprise.
Besides training these kids, another purpose of bringing the trainees out this time was to capture the likes of Trafalgar Law and Hawkins—those supernovas who would stir up storms in the original storyline—in one fell swoop, ahead of schedule.
After patrolling the North Blue for a month without even catching a glimpse of Hawkins, they had assumed the guy had caught wind of their presence and fled early.
Yet unexpectedly, on their return voyage, he delivered himself right to their doorstep.
Soon, the training ship entered the waters where Hawkins' pirate ship was located and quickly closed in.
The moment the two ships' sides were about to touch—
"They're mine!"
"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"
Luffy was the first to lose patience, his entire body launching like a cannonball straight toward the opposite deck.
"Wait up, you rubber idiot!"
Zoro followed closely behind, Wado Ichimonji clenched between his teeth.
He kicked off the railing with both feet and leaped into the air.
"Toxic Pink!"
"Party Table Kick Course!"
Ace, Reiju, Sanji...
The trainees, who had long grown impatient, burst forth at this moment like tigers unleashed from their cages, or like a pack of wolves that had starved for three days and nights finally spotting fresh, fatty meat.
...
On the deck of Hawkins' pirate ship.
Watching the swarm of trainee marines descending upon them like a natural disaster, Hawkins—known for his calm and steady demeanor—could no longer control his perpetually dead-fish eyes, which widened abruptly.
The next second, just before Luffy's fist was about to smash into his face, he suddenly raised both hands high.
"I surrender."
Luffy, who had already charged right in front of him, forcibly halted his fist, his face full of confusion.
"Huh?"
---------
Read 50 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator