One Piece: Marine to Warlord to Conqueror

The next day...

More and more pirate ships gathered in the sea around the docked Mock.

”’Boulder Pirates... no good,’ Nami muttered, scribbling in her notebook. ’Their captain’s only worth 500,000 Berries, and the crew has no bounties at all. Even their ship is cheap-secondhand. Might fetch a million Berries if we resell it.’”

”’Sea Fish Pirates... slightly better bounty at one million, but the ship’s even worse. Just a rotten fishing boat. Probably only worth 300,000 Berries as scrap.’”

”’Ugh, where are the real pirates?’ she sighed. ’How many of these small fry do we need to hit our target?’”

”Tsk, tsk. This crew doesn’t even have one bounty among them. Are they just here for kicks? We should chase them off later, no point wasting food on them.’”

”...”

Dante watched Nami beside him, speechless, as she furiously scribbled in a small notebook. He glanced down at it.

’Good grief,’ he thought. ’She’s literally cataloging the bounties and ship values for every crew that shows up. And for the ones with no bounties...’ He noticed her disgusted expression after jotting down their ship details.

However...

”How do you remember all these bounties?” Dante asked, genuinely curious.

”Hmph!” Nami puffed her chest out proudly. ”Don’t underestimate me. If you want to snag the big fish in this sea, you need a keen eye! It’s a skill I’ve honed over last few years. But alas...”

She sighed dramatically, pouting.

”Before, I could only sneak aboard to steal treasure or trick them out of their ships. If I could just take the crew and the ship like you do, I’d have hit my targets ages ago!”

”You haven’t memorized all the wanted posters in the East Blue, have you?” Dante asked, incredulous.

”Pretty much,” Nami admitted with a nod. ”I used to collect them myself. But since becoming a Marine Petty Officer, it’s much easier – they bring me the new ones every morning.” She trailed off, then suddenly focused back on the sea, lowering her head over her notebook. ”Quiet now, a big one’s coming! Alvida Pirates. Captain Alvida, bounty: five million Berries! Ooh, and she just got a new ship recently! Not bad. Should sell for at least six million!”

With that, she kicked a nearby Mock pirate crewmate.

”What are you standing around for? Go greet them! That’s five million Berries walking up! They’re qualified to board the Mock. Get their captain over here, quickly!”

”Yes, ma’am!” The Pirate snapped to attention. Hearing Nami talk about millions had gotten him flustered, and he’d almost forgotten his duty for the day – welcoming the guests.

He quickly wiped his mouth, straightened his clothes, and puffed out his chest as he walked to the ship’s rail.

He was about to toss over the boarding rope – specially replaced for the occasion – but his eye caught the physique of the Alvida Pirates captain. The corner of his mouth twitched, ’She’s as big as a Sea King!’

Steeling himself, he threw the rope anyway, pulled their ship closer, and waved over two nearby crewmates to help secure it.

”Greetings, Captain Alvida! Only those acknowledged by our Captain Mock may come aboard to discuss the... ah... important matter of dealing with the 16th Marine Branch. You may board alone, or bring up to two of your crew.”

”Bring crew?” Alvida scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. ”No need. I’m more than enough.” She then turned to her men. ”You lot stay put! Anyone tries to run off, and you’ll answer to me!”

”Yes, beautiful Miss Alvida!” came the chorused reply.

Satisfied, Alvida turned and leaped onto the Mock’s deck. (E/N: I know it’s supposed to be ship’s deck, but I just couldn’t resist. I found this more funny.)

*Thump!*

The Mock listed slightly under her weight. The welcoming pirate felt his heart skip a beat.

Fortunately, in the end...

Alvida managed to board successfully.

The Mock Pirate let out a quiet sigh of relief before quickly composing himself. Gesturing grandly towards the ship’s interior, he announced, ”Announcing the arrival of the great pirate, Lady Alvida, with a bounty of five million Berries!”

”A most distinguished guest! Please, come inside!”

”We have refreshments within – peanuts, melon seeds, drinks, beer, even canned tangerines and tangerine jam! Please, enjoy yourself, Lady Alvida!”

This elaborate welcome clearly amused Alvida, who hefted her spiked club. She seemed pleased by the deference shown by the supposed ’overlords of the East Blue.’ She nodded and gave the pirate a heavy pat on the shoulder. ”Not bad,” she rumbled. ”Just what I’d expect from the top dogs’ crew. Your manners are appreciated. But I prefer Miss Alvida.”

”My honor, Miss Alvida.” The pirate winced inwardly, his shoulder aching from the pat, but forced a wide smile and gestured again. ”This way, beautiful Miss Alvida! Please, step inside!”

Only when the chuckling Miss Alvida had disappeared inside did he finally let out a breath and rub his sore shoulder.

He quickly plastered his best polite ’waiter’ smile back on. ’Don’t get mad, don’t get mad,’ he told himself. ’That’s five million Berries! Right... next guest. Plenty more to welcome. Can’t be rude.’

His eyes lit up again as he spotted the next ship approaching slowly, flying a flag with a skull cat emblem. He quickly smoothed his clothes once more and stepped forward.

...

”’Five million down...’ Nami murmured, eyes gleaming as she watched the next ship approach. ’Next up: the Black Cat Pirates! Their captain’s worth nine million Berries! Almost double the last one!’”

She sighed again, though. ”Shame about their old captain, Kuro of a Hundred Plans. He was worth sixteen million – almost as much as Arlong! Heard the Marines got him recently. What a waste... sixteen million Berries!”

Her eyes darted to the Black Cat ship docking now, and her excitement returned.

”Still! Their ship, the Bezan Black, is famous! It’s gotta be worth at least thirty million Berries! That’s a huge score!”

Hearing Nami, Dante’s eye twitched slightly. He’d almost forgotten about that particular character.

’Right,’ Dante thought. ’Kuro isn’t really dead. He faked it and is hiding out in Syrup Village, plotting to steal some rich girl’s fortune.’

But...

Dante turned his gaze to the docked Black Cat’s ship. His eyes narrowed slightly when he spotted a man on deck wearing a suit, glasses, and slicked-back hair.

’Didn’t expect him to show up,’ Dante mused. ’Kuro’s signature technique: Stealth Walk – an assassination technique allowing high-speed movement with feline silence.’

(E/N: Alternate name for that is Pussyfoot Maneuver, if this was one time reference I would’ve used that.)

’Learning the Six Powers had a high threshold, it wasn’t simple. Even at Marine Headquarters, not every officer mastered them. That’s why,’ Dante considered, ’even though I made the Six Powers the training manual for the 16th Branch, I knew very few would actually learn them. Most would probably only pick up one or two techniques, if that.’

’So... maybe Stealth Walk is another option? If they can’t master Soru, maybe they could learn Stealth Walk? It’s similar to Soru in some ways – both are high-speed movement techniques.’

Mulling this over, Dante watched the figure board the Mock. He stroked his chin. ’Alright then,’ he decided inwardly. ’That settles it.’

Meanwhile, Jango, the current captain of the Black Cat Pirates, and Kuro, the former captain, had boarded the Mock. It seemed the crew was deliberately concealing Kuro’s presence, not announcing him. After the standard welcome from the Mock Pirates, the pair headed inside.

Next...

”Nelly Pirates... not bad, six million.” Nami noted.

”Sword Pirates... thirteen million! Getting better!”

”Yaarg Pirates... only 600,000? Bah’”

(E/N: Yaarg Pirates are my fav name, it’s the most piratey name there is.)

As more ships arrived, Nami’s notebook filled rapidly with her meticulous notes.

’Definitely made the right call bringing Nami along,’ Dante thought. ’The real harvest hasn’t even begun, and she’s already calculated the potential profit down to the Berry.’

Nodding contentedly as she finished another entry, Nami anticipated a great harvest.

Suddenly, the bright, open sea began to darken, as if overshadowed by some approaching behemoth.

”What is that?”

”Could it be a Sea King?”

”Impossible! There are no Sea Kings in these waters. Did one wander off course?”

As pirates craned their necks, a mix of curiosity and fear on their faces, Nami also looked up in confusion.

Then, they saw it – ships sailing towards them. A lot of ships.

”Th-those are... pirate ships! So many!” someone exclaimed, finally seeing clearly.

It was a dense armada of pirate ships.

”It’s the Krieg Pirate Armada! Led by Don Krieg! How can they have so many ships? Incredible!” another pirate shouted.

All eyes turned towards the massive, black panther-shaped flagship at the head of the formation.

A wave of disbelief, shock, excitement, desire, and fear washed over the assembled pirates. All attention was captivated by the slowly advancing fleet.

Dante and Nami looked up as well.

But unlike the others...

Both narrowed their eyes, the corners of their mouths twitching almost slightly. Their eyes seemed to gleam with the light of Berries, reflecting the currency symbol itself as they stared intently at the approaching Krieg Pirate Armada.

In that moment, their expressions – and the greedy glint in their eyes – were identical.

”Petty Officer Nami,” Dante said, his voice laced with meaning she knew.

”Understood!” Nami snapped to attention and saluted, instantly grasping his unspoken meaning despite the lack of a direct order. ”Captain Dante!” she replied, her face suddenly serious.

’Fifty ships... plus that massive, three-story flagship...’ they both thought, practically calculating aloud.

’Just how much would all that be worth?!’

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