Chapter 808: You're Big, I'll Bear With It
Chapter 808: You're Big, I'll Bear With It
Flying Rudder Pirate Crew.
If someone else had come up with this name, Kuro would have frozen them with Aokiji's Ice Age without hesitation.
But since it was Lida...
Forget it, it's a one-time thing.
As for the epithet, Kuro originally wanted to call himself the "Oldest King", but after reconsidering, it felt somewhat mismatched. In the end, he settled on "Heavenly King." The name "Heavenly Treasure Vault" already included the word "Heavenly", so standing in the skies, what else could he be called if not the Heavenly King?
With the name finalized, the group set off toward the port.
The bloodstains on the ship had already been scrubbed away by the arriving Navy crew. These sailors had exchanged their uniforms for rough pirate attire. All were Elite Marines from the New World—donning Navy uniforms made them elite soldiers, but stripped of them, they transformed into fierce pirates.
The moment Kuro's group arrived, the crew snapped to attention, standing rigidly.
"Slouch a little! What are you all standing straight for?" Kuro rolled his White Eye. "You guys don't look like pirates like this. Loosen up! If you can't relax, at least bring out some alcohol. Don't be so stiff."
"Only you're relaxed", Smoker muttered.
"Nonsense! My buddy Kuzan is even more laid-back than me!" Kuro shot back with another White Eye.
"That’s exactly why that idiot became a pirate!" Smoker gritted his teeth.
Kuro: "...".
"Alright, just act more like pirates. Don’t be so serious." Kuro waved his hand dismissively.
With that, he boarded the ship, lifted his eyes, and froze immediately.
On the brand-new sail was painted a skull, and on the skull sat a golden object shaped like a semicircular fan—a halo-like shine around it.
That thing looked like half of a ship's rudder, embedded right into the skull.
"Who painted this?" Kuro's eye twitched visibly.
"Me!" Lida lifted their head proudly.
"Why'd you paint this?" Kuro asked.
"Of course the Flying Rudder needs a rudder!" Lida replied matter-of-factly. "Look how nice it is! My artistic skills are pretty good, right?"
Kuro inhaled deeply, clenching his teeth.
It's my own doing!
This is entirely my fault!
I raised them! I spoiled them! I have to take responsibility!
"Board the ship!"
Kuro ascended the staircase extending from the ship's hull.
Pirate ships normally didn't have such stairways, but since they were Navy, they had brought their own tools. After all, it would be undignified to climb the ship like common pirates using ropes.
"Alright, now that the pirate crew is formed, remember—we're pirates now. You need to think from a pirate's perspective. For example, if we encounter pirates, we don't arrest them as Navy—we pirate-jack them. Understand?" Kuro addressed the disguised Navy crew.
"Hey, what's the difference? Aren't we still just fighting pirates?" Smoker called out.
"No, it's different. We’re flying this flag now, so we do things our way", Kuro said confidently.
"Whatever you say", Smoker sighed, covering his forehead. "Then let’s depart, Captain."
Kuro nodded, turning to the photographer still on land. "I’ll see the wanted posters in the news birds tomorrow, right?"
"No problem, Vice Admiral."
"Good. I'll wait for the newspaper. Let's go!"
Kuro waved his hand and turned toward the Captain's Room, raising his arm as he walked. "Departure, my men!"
"Aye aye!!"
The Navy crew snapped to attention once more, then rushed to their stations—hoisting sails, steering the ship's rudder. As the sails billowed, the ship left the shore and sailed toward the Grand Line.
Inside the Captain's Room, Kuro immediately found a seat. The previous owner had been a retired King, so the pirate ship wasn't small. As a King, the interior was tastefully arranged, and Kuro found the decor to his liking.
Besides a large bed, there were chairs and a sofa. Kuro even discovered a liquor cabinet. The Captain's Room was spacious enough that Kuro didn’t need to "bear with" anything.
The cabins also had private rooms for former high-ranking officers, so Lida and the others had places to sleep.
Except...
"Kuro, I don’t want such a small room!" Lida barged in, eyeing the large bed in the Captain's Room enviously. "I've never slept in a small bed before! I want this room!"
"Hey, I'm the Captain. Do you think I should sleep in a small room?" Kuro argued.
"I don’t care! It’s too small! I’m not used to it—I’m not bearing with anything!" Lida pouted.
Kuro sighed. "Fine, you stay here. I'll go to your cabin."
"Eh?"
Lida blinked, then said, "You don’t have to! The bed's huge! You don’t need to bear with it—we can sleep together!"
"Come on! What kind of situation would that be? I'm so big, you wouldn't be able to bear with me!" Kuro rolled his White Eye.
"You're big—I'll just bear with it", Lida said longingly.
Kuro shook his head, rising from his seat. "Stay here. I'm going to the cabin. If you find it too big alone, you can go to Tashigi."
"Tch!"
Kuro paused. "Hmm? Did you just make a 'tch' sound? Any complaints? Or are you feeling resentful? I already gave you my room."
"No! You must've heard wrong!" Lida quickly shook their head.
Kuro: "...".
"Just rest here."
He walked out of the Captain's Room, stepping onto the deck where he ordered a Navy crew member, "Go tidy up Commander Lida's cabin—I'm moving there."
"Aye aye, Captain!" The sailor didn’t salute, promptly heading to the cabin.
At the ship's bow, Smoker leaned against the railing, gazing at the Grand Line.
"What are you thinking about?" Kuro asked, casually swiping a cigar from the bundle strapped to Smoker's arm.
"Can't you smoke your own?!" Smoker snapped angrily. "Earlier in Zatanosen Island, you soaked in a hot spring at my expense too! You should be richer than me, right?!"
"We're both Base Commanders—what's rich or poor? I'm dirt poor lately!"
Kuro shrugged. "If you have connections, keep an eye out for gold sources. I need to commission some gold jewelry and sell it off."
"Gold?" Smoker raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you get gold? Oh, I heard you looted Gran Tesoro. Did you take it from there?"
"Careful, I'll report you! It wasn't looting—it was a reward, a bounty! It was directly allocated by higher-ups. I didn’t do anything!" Kuro shot back. "And where'd you hear this? Tina told you? You heard about the two billion I donated to Headquarters?"
Smoker glanced at the Grand Line again, his voice heavy. "Those pirates... why do they have so much wealth?"
"If they couldn’t make money, there wouldn’t be so many pirates", Kuro spat out the half-smoked cigar, biting into a new one. "Not everyone’s chasing dreams, you know. The world isn’t that pure."
(Apologies for the delay.)
(End of Chapter)
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