Chapter 20: Pirate Plans

I woke up to the sound of a familiar loud voice.

"Oi!! Wake up, Nue!!"

"—Nn… Ahh~…"

Rubbing my head, I slowly sat up at Kaido’s shout. My body ached—battle wounds. Nothing serious for me, but passing out meant I’d taken enough damage to hit my limit.

Kaido was probably in the same boat. The familiar island scenery and the restless atmosphere around us told me as much. And soon—

"Hmm~, we lost, huh… Did everyone else already retreat?"

"Dunno. But the enemies are gone."

"...Guess it’s over, then. Let’s head back to the ship."

"Yeah… Damn…! My whole body’s killin’ me…!! Next time we see those bastards, I’m slaughterin’ ‘em…!!"

"Yeah, yeah. Next time."

And so, Kaido and I took to the skies again. Flying high gave us a clear view of the situation. The air felt unusually tense, and when I looked around—ah, that explained it.

"Whoa, it’s a Marine fleet."

"Hah?! …Alright, then next—"

"Hold it. Let’s hear the captain’s orders first. We might not even fight."

"Tch…"

I stopped him before he could charge headfirst into another battle. Kaido was always itching for a fight, and if he spotted an enemy, he’d dive right in—but when he wasn’t drunk, he had some common sense. Even he hesitated at the idea of taking on an entire fleet alone.

…If he were drunk, though? He’d already be swinging.

That recklessness was part of his charm, and I didn’t mind backing him up when it happened. But right now, we were still apprentices of the Rocks Pirates. Following the captain’s orders came first.

So we searched for the ship—ah, there it was. Still anchored. Huh? Roger’s ship was already out at sea, but… wait, had less time passed than I thought? Kaido and I really were recovering faster these days. Then again, we did get knocked out on the regular… Maybe Rayleigh and the others had held back?

…Yeah, that was probably it.

Annoying as that thought was, I kept it to myself. Telling Kaido would just set him off.

As we flew toward the ship, though—I sensed an overwhelming presence below.

"Ah, it’s the captain."

"Hm? —Oh, yeah. Boss is there. And that Roger guy’s knocked out cold."

"Aah… So he really couldn’t beat Captain Rocks, huh…"

Seeing Roger—unconscious, eyes rolled back, covered in blood—I let out a complicated sigh. Kaido noticed immediately.

"What? You wanted Boss to lose?"

"Nah, not like that… It’s just, he seemed strong enough to challenge the captain, y’know? I thought he’d put up more of a fight… Kinda anticlimactic."

"Yeah, that guy looked tough. Still wasn’t enough for the boss, though."

"I mean, I knew he was strong—we’ve seen him fight these past few months. But damn… Captain’s just on another level…"

We exchanged idle remarks midair, the conversation tinged with awkwardness. Neither of us could quite articulate the frustration simmering beneath the surface.

"—Damn it all…! Why the hell am I so weak?! Pisses me off…!!"

"…………"

"Oi, Nue!! Ain’t you pissed?! I’m so mad I could scream…!!"

…Yeah. I get it.

But unlike Kaido, I was calm. Thinking. Planning how to climb higher from here.

It went without saying—our goal was to become real pirates. The strongest pirates. To live freely, build the strongest crew, and do as we pleased.

We were getting stronger. Maybe even ahead of schedule. Maybe there was no need to rush.

—But I knew.

We didn’t have much time left as apprentices.

No matter what, we would strike out on our own. Become real pirates—not trainees, but true forces of the sea.

What then? Where would we go? What would we do?

We could figure that out when the time came… but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to start planning now.

Now that I thought about it, Kaido and I had never really talked about the future. Every day was just fighting, drinking, gossiping, and random chatter.

Kaido probably only cared about getting stronger right now. But… this was a good opportunity. If I started laying the groundwork—

"—Alright! Kaido! Once we’re back on the ship, we’re having a strategy meeting!!"

"…Hah? A what?"

As he stared at me in confusion, I floated in front of him and grinned.

"—A strategy meeting… for becoming real pirates. For our future… ♡"

---

Shattered trees. Crumbled boulders. A fractured earth.

The once-open plaza had expanded—widened by the sheer ferocity of the battle.

The man who had wrought this devastation stood over his fallen opponent, his grin deepening as he sensed the surrounding presences.

"Gehaha... Seems your crew made it out alive. Impressive. Not to toot my own horn, but escaping my men ain’t easy. Even if you held me back, most pirates would’ve been crushed in an instant."

Rocks spoke to the unconscious Roger as if expecting a reply. None came. But that didn’t matter.

"You were impressive too. Lasted about ten minutes, didn’t ya? Just not dying in an instant is commendable... But more than that—you actually wounded me. Haven’t had that in a long time...!!"

Wiping a thin red line on his cheek—a sword scar left by Roger—Rocks chuckled. It was the first injury he’d sustained since forming the Rocks Pirates. Countless pirates and Marines had died without leaving even this much of a mark. Without Haki strong enough to rival his own, even touching Rocks was impossible.

"Gehaha, fine Haki you got there... Unshakable faith in your own strength... I can tell. You really thought you could beat me, didn’t you? Didn’t you, Roger...!!"

He stared down at the unconscious man, whose body still seemed to face him defiantly. Rocks’ grin widened.

"…………You said somethin’ during the fight, didn’t ya? ‘I’ll be the greatest pirate in the world!!’—somethin’ like that. So you really thought you wouldn’t lose to me, huh? Gehaha... Even after seeing my power—"

He paused, casually drawing a pistol from his waist and spinning it in his hand. His finger rested on the trigger.

"But—GEHAHAHA...!! Sorry, but the world ain’t handin’ itself to the likes of you, Roger...!! GEHAHAHA!!"

The barrel pointed squarely at Roger’s forehead. One pull, and it’d be over.

"Overturnin’ the world ain’t easy. Even I’ve had to claw my way up over years... And with strength like yours? Impossible...!!!"

BANG—

But the bullet didn’t strike Roger.

Instead, it pierced the skull of one of his own unconscious crewmates.

"—Or so I would’ve said. Nothin’s impossible in this world... Annoyin’ as it is, I can’t laugh at your dream...!!"

The words carried a strange mix of admiration and resentment—as if acknowledging a kindred spirit. Rocks himself felt it. This man... was like him in ways he couldn’t ignore.

"...That’s why, for my own ambition, I should kill you here and now... But—GEHAHAHA... Where’s the fun in that...?"

Holstering the pistol, Rocks turned his back and began walking toward his ship.

"A man like you’s too rare to erase from the world... Soon enough, everything’ll be mine. I’d love to have a pirate of your caliber under me—but if not, it don’t matter. Either way, you’ve only got three paths left: join me... die... or— "

For the briefest moment, Rocks entertained the possibility.

A near-zero chance.

But in this world... nothing was absolute.

And that—that—was what made it fun.

"—GEHAHAHA...!! Well then... Next time we meet, I’ll hear your answer, Gold Roger...!!"

With a devilish laugh, Rocks departed, leaving Roger alone on the ravaged battlefield.

———

Minutes later.

"Hah... Hah... Finally shook ‘em off...! You alive, Roger?!"

Rayleigh, panting and bloodied, reached his captain’s side. Roger was unconscious, battered, but breathing. Confirming this, Rayleigh hoisted him onto his back and broke into a run.

"Damn reckless idiot...! But I’m no better...! In the end, I couldn’t win either...!!"

He cursed Roger—but his frustration was directed more at himself.

As the first mate of a crew aiming to be the greatest in the world, his strength and judgment had fallen short. To reach the top, they needed to overcome even this. If the battle turned against them, he should’ve thought harder, fought smarter.

Had they been overconfident? Underestimated the so-called "strongest crew in the world"?

The wall before them was high. A mere decade of sailing wasn’t enough.

They had to grow stronger.

Until they surpassed Rocks... the title of "greatest" would remain a distant dream.

Gritting his teeth, Rayleigh nearly missed the weak voice from his back.

"...Ray...leigh..."

"!! Roger! You awake?!"

But the words that followed weren’t a reply—they were a vow.

"...Next time... I ain’t losin’... partner...!!"

"!"

For a moment, Rayleigh froze.

Then, understanding, his eyes hardened.

"—Yeah... Next time... we win...!!"

For now, they’d retreat. Regroup. Heal.

And rise again—to challenge them... to challenge the world itself—

As pirates.

The battle between the world's strongest Rocks Pirates and the infamous Roger Pirates in the New World ended in victory for the Rocks crew.

However, with the sudden appearance of Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp's fleet, the Roger Pirates managed to escape without casualties, while the Rocks Pirates shook off Marine pursuit and sailed back across the Calm Belt to the four seas.

As for me and Kaido...

"—Alright! Brainstorming session on how to build the strongest pirate crew! Wooo!!"

"—The hell's wrong with you? Did you suddenly turn stupid?"

"Don't call me stupid!! I'm just trying to make this fun!!"

In the ship's hold—which had basically become our room since we slept there anyway—we sat face-to-face to discuss my ideas. Kaido looked confused, but I pressed on.

"We're missing a lot of things to become proper pirates! Let's list them and figure out how to fix it!!"

"Missing shit? Obviously—it's strength. If we're strong, everything else falls into place."

"Well yeah, that's the most important, and we'll keep working on it... but haven't you thought about anything else?"

"No point thinking about useless crap."

...Wow.

Typical Kaido.

Muscle-headed to the extreme—not that I expected anything less. But he can think, so I decided to walk him through my ideas step by step.

"...I mean, if we're going independent, we'll need more crewmates, right? Sure, we could wing it, but shouldn't we plan how to recruit them?"

"Just grab strong guys. Let weaklings join if they beg. If strong guys refuse, beat 'em into submission."

"Wow! Only Kaido could think like that! So lawless! I mean, sure, that works, but... maybe we could get better recruits if we put in some effort? Like, find promising kids to train, or scout based on intel..."

"Kids? Weak brats are useless. Only strong ones matter."

We're basically kids too, though...

But I guess we're strong for our age, so it's fine. Still, classic Kaido. As I thought—he doesn't care if they're kids as long as they're strong. Not that he hates children, just weaklings in general. I mean, he hasn't gotten mad at me for talking like this. After all this time together, I know how he ticks.

...Alright, note that down.

I scribbled in the notebook I'd stolen from town earlier—titled Pirate Crew Plan (a work in progress). It was pretty thick, so plenty of space for ideas.

"Okay, so crewmates are settled for now. We can figure out how to train them later."

"Make weaklings strong? Just throw 'em into battles. Weak ones die, strong ones survive. Use the survivors."

"Well, there are weapons and gadgets to boost strength... but we'll think about that later. Anyway, if we're going independent, we'll need a ship, right? And to buy one, we'd need—"

"Just steal a ship. Plenty out there on the sea or in towns."

"What?! I mean, yeah, but... wouldn't it be cooler to design our own? Like, make it look badass, customize the interiors... build rooms and stuff..."

"You planning to build a damn house? Who cares about interiors?"

"I do!! Even if we steal one, it has to have a bath!! And I'm sleeping on a fluffy bed!!"

"Annoying... Do what you want. Don't care."

Ugh.

His dismissiveness irked me.

Kaido's attitude was... well, pirate-like, but our priorities differed. To me, our own ship was part of the romance—something to pour our hearts into. Fine, maybe we'd steal one at first to save trouble, but it had to have a bath. I could endure cold showers for now, but why should I? A pirate shouldn't deny themselves life's luxuries.

Bath: non-negotiable.

Kaido, as future captain, didn't care either way, so this was my call.

Next up—

"Alright, so we'll either steal or buy a ship with a bath... But first and foremost, we need money. Kaido, do you have any?"

"The hell would I have money? If I want something, I take it."

"Such a pure pirate mentality! Not that I'm any different! —But still, stealing everything isn't always practical. Like with ships, sometimes you need to trade or commission one, and that requires money. Plus, being a pirate without a single berry to your name just feels... off, don't you think?"

"Then we’ll steal the money too."

"Well, yeah, unless we find treasure, that’s the way. —Actually, I’ve been quietly saving up! Look!"

I pulled out a large jar hidden behind some cargo in the hold. Normally, I used it to stash my "Mystery Seeds," but now it was filled with money I’d pilfered bit by bit during our travels.

"! You’ve been hoarding this whole time? How much is in there?"

"Hehe~ Surprised? I’ve even used some to buy us drinks now and then! As for the amount... probably around 3 million berries now?"

"That’s not enough to buy a ship."

"Might get us a cheap little one... Still better than nothing. Let’s keep saving—this’ll be our independence fund. So Kaido, if you find money or valuables, bring 'em back. Just a little at a time, though. Too much at once and someone’ll notice."

"...Tch. Fine."

To my surprise, Kaido agreed—grudgingly, but still. I’d half-expected him to refuse outright. Guess even he understood money had its uses. For supplies, bribes, maybe even hiring help... Not to mention the gems I’ve hidden separately. Cashing those in would boost our funds, but we never stay on islands long enough to sell them safely. Once we’re independent, though...

I was about to close the notebook when—

"—What about the name?"

"...Huh?"

"The crew’s name. That’s the most important part."

I froze, caught off guard. I hadn’t expected him to bring this up. Honestly, I’d assumed he would name it himself—so him asking me felt... oddly touching. Like we were really building this crew together.

But the answer was obvious.

A grin split my face as I spoke it aloud.

"...Ahaha, isn’t it obvious? —The Beast Pirates!!"

"—Heh. Good taste. Was thinking the same thing."

Kaido smirked back, and with a flourish, I updated the notebook’s title:

Beast Pirates Master Plan.

Our days as apprentices weren’t over yet—but for the first time, the future felt real.