One Piece: Marine to Warlord to Conqueror

”What should we do now? Should we just run for it?”

”I told you, calm down,” Dante said with a sigh, watching as Nami instinctively grabbed his arm, her usual confidence momentarily shaken by the news. ”Nothing’s going to happen. And even if it does, I’m confident we can get away.”

”Alright, alright! But we’re talking about the Hero of the Marines here! I’m sure our Captain Dante can somehow get him to cooperate.” Despite her sarcasm, Nami felt a little more at ease seeing how unshaken Dante was. She glanced around, puzzled. ”Where’s Robin? Why isn’t she here either? Did she sneak off on her own?”

”Robin’s handling something. She’ll be back later,” Dante said dismissively, waving his hand and offering no further explanation.

As for Garp...

To be honest, Dante wasn’t sure if Garp would play along with his plans.

Garp was known for being lazy, carefree, and a bit of a hypocrite, but there was no denying that as the Hero of the Marines, he had his own brand of justice.

In this world, there was no absolute good or evil. It was a world of gray, a world of filth.

The Marines had their share of corrupt individuals, and among the pirates, there were those with good hearts. Monkey D. Garp was one of those Marines who judged justice by his own standards.

As for the World Government and the Marines...

Frankly, the power the World Government had already displayed was enough to make anyone despair. If there was no better way to fix things, then the half-hearted justice Marines practiced now was the best they could manage.

They deceived their superiors while enforcing their own version of justice on the ground.

Without strength, you either became a pirate and lived in hiding, joined the World Government, or simply muddled through life.

As for Dante himself...

He was just exploiting the World Government and Marine Headquarters.

After all, this was a world ruled by the strong. The powerful could destroy everything in an instant, while the weak had no choice but to follow the rules set by the strong. Without power, everything was meaningless.

Dante shook his head, sighing as he glanced at the newspaper in his hand. ”At least it looks like we won’t be arrested for now.”

After all, Vice Admiral Garp had just eaten the tangerine focaccia he’d offered.

He looked up at Nami, who still seemed uneasy. ”If you’ve got nothing else to do, why don’t you go help with the refugees? We’ve rounded up quite a few this time, you know.”

---

”Dad, are they really not going to sell us?”

”I... I don’t know.”

”Then... can Katie eat? That’s fish and milk bread rolls. They smell amazing!”

”I... I...” The father wanted to refuse, but the desperate look in his daughter’s eyes made it impossible.

He didn’t know if this was all a trick, or if this would be their last meal as free people.

After this, they might be sold as slaves to those despicable nobles-or worse, the terrifying Celestial Dragons.

Though they were just refugees, living on this vast sea, he knew about those so-called gods... no, they were more like demons.

He’d heard that once you fell into the hands of the Celestial Dragons, you were no longer human. You lived like vermin, enduring unimaginable suffering.

But...

”Dad, I’m so hungry...”

Hearing his daughter’s plea, the Pike couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He held her thin body tightly.

His wife had already starved to death. He couldn’t let his daughter suffer the same fate.

But... As an ordinary man, he was powerless.

He remembered yesterday...

They had once been citizens of the Wittgenstein Kingdom-no, more like forgotten citizens.

To pay the exorbitant Heavenly Tribute, the king of the Wittgenstein Kingdom had seized their property and driven them to a remote part of the island, leaving them to fend for themselves in the barren wasteland.

Some said this was inspired by the legendary Goa Kingdom, the most beautiful country in the East Blue, which had expelled its ”useless” citizens to maintain its pristine image.

It was even said that the Goa Kingdom had earned praise from the Celestial Dragons for this.

He didn’t know how beautiful the most beautiful country could be, but how beautiful could a country that abandoned its own people truly be? Yesterday morning, they had been scavenging in the wasteland, and by evening, a group of pirates had stormed the island, bringing them here.

He remembered how he begging to be let go, that he had a daughter who wouldn’t survive alone, the bald pirate captain had paused upon hearing he had a daughter, then let out an excited laugh, shouting, ”You have a daughter? Bring her along too!”

What kind of monsters were these? They didn’t even spare little girls.

He had thought that after being captured, they would face unimaginable abuse or be sold into slavery. But instead...

This was what happened? Pike looked around, his nose catching the scent of food wafting through the air. Not just his daughter-even he couldn’t resist.

He was starving.

So hungry!

He wanted to eat! Just then.

*Clang, clang, clang~*

The sound of metal hitting metal snapped Pike out of his thoughts. He looked up, dazed, at the window that had appeared in front of him.

Was it his turn already? Had everyone ahead of him already gotten their food? Did they really get to eat?

His heart was full of doubt, but...

”Dad, Katie is so hungry!” The little girl, named Katie, who referred to herself in third person occasionally, glanced cautiously at the window, then looked back at her father with pleading eyes. ”Can we please eat?”

”I...” Pike looked down at his daughter’s eager eyes, then up at the food in the window. He swallowed hard, then glanced at the others who had already gotten their food and were sitting down, looking as if they were in a dream, guided by the Security Squad.

Maybe this really was a dream!

But even if it was, they had to eat their fill. With that thought, Pike’s cloudy eyes hardened with determination. He stared intently at his daughter. ”Eat! We have to eat our fill. This might be our last meal.”

He shouldn’t have said such things to a child, but there was no other choice.

”Even if we die, we’ll die with full stomachs. We can’t become slaves. That’s hell!”

But before his young daughter could ask what he meant, the sound of metal hitting metal rang out again.

Just as Pike braced himself, thinking he might be beaten for his words, a voice called out.

”Hey, hey, hey! I’ve been waiting for you for around 10 minutes now! I thought you were picking your food, but instead, you’re saying such things to a child! What’s wrong with you?”

Pike looked up, confused, at the plump old woman behind the window. She wore a white, loose chef’s uniform that did little to hide her large frame, and she held a ladle in her hand.

What did she mean? Was she worried they’d harm themselves? Before he could ask, she continued.

”Ugh, enough with all this talk of death! This is Cocoyashi Town, Captain Dante’s territory. There are no slaves here. You’re not here to become slaves.”

The food lady scoffed, then turned to the little girl, who was staring at her fearfully. Her wrinkled face softened into a smile.

”Don’t be afraid, little one. This isn’t a bad place. Starting today, you’ll have enough to eat, nice clothes to wear, and no one will bully you.”

”R-really?”

”Of course! I wouldn’t lie to you. As long as your father works hard, you’ll be just fine.” Seeing the hope in the girl’s eyes, the food lady chuckled, raising her ladle enthusiastically. ”Here, you can find work, earn wages, eat your fill, and wear nice clothes.”

”You can learn useful skills, sleep peacefully, laugh happily, and live joyfully every day!”

”If you have any talents, you can get an even better job and earn more. But even if you don’t, as long as you work hard, there are factories that will take you. We’re in desperate need of workers here!”

”Welcome to Cocoyashi Town, the most beautiful place in the East Blue.”

”Now hurry up and choose your food. You can eat as much as you want, but remember, don’t waste it, and don’t overeat. You’ll be busy tonight.”

”...”

Finally, under the old woman’s urging, Pike and his daughter filled their plates with food.

There was fish, milk bread rolls, delicious dishes, and tempting meat-food they had never tasted before.

As they sat down and looked at the food in front of them, it all felt like a dream.

’Was this real?’

”Dad, can we eat now?”

”Yes! Eat, Katie~” Hearing his daughter’s voice, Pike snapped out of his daze. He made sure this wasn’t a dream, then nodded to his daughter, who immediately began devouring the food with joy. Pike couldn’t help but smile.

Just then, he heard a commotion and turned to see another group of people entering. No, not another group-it was the others who had come with them earlier.

But this group had gone to... that’s right, they had gone to bathe.

Pike stared in shock at the people who, like him, had been dressed in tattered, dirty clothes but were now clean and wearing new gray outfits.

His eyes filled with disbelief.

”Dad, you eat too. It’s so good. This is the best food Katie has ever had.”

His daughter’s voice brought him back to reality. Seeing her cheeks bulging with food, Pike, who had been filled with worry and fear, couldn’t help but smile. ”Eat! Dad will eat too!”

He had been hungry for a long time, but the shock of everything had made him forget his hunger. Now, the gnawing pain in his stomach reminded him, and he eagerly began to eat.

But after just one bite of the milk bread roll, he froze.

”It’s so good!”

Tears welled up in his eyes, streaming down his cheeks and falling from the corners of his mouth.

If they worked hard, they could eat their fill?

Pike, tears streaming down his face, looked at his daughter, who was also crying. He took a deep breath and said with determination, ”Katie, Dad will work hard.”

”Yes!”

”I’ll work hard, even if it kills me!”

Pike looked up at the window where people were lining up again. His eyes were no longer filled with confusion but with determination and resolve. ’Thank you Cocoyashi Town... Thank you Captain Dante!’