Of course, not all pirates could be caught—and Kuro had no grand ambition to rid the world of them.
The battleship exited the Calm Belt and entered the Grand Line.
Aside from Klahadore, who looked a bit excited, the others remained calm.
Smoker and Tashigi had both trained at Marine Headquarters and had been to the Grand Line before. Lida was born there.
Kuro looked indifferent. What was so exciting about a stretch of ocean that others had already sailed countless times?
.
..
...
In a town on an island, inside a restaurant.
Kuro yawned.
"Smoker, the ocean's huge—how are you supposed to find Straw Hat? Why don't we just head to Headquarters? You can pull some strings for me, and while you float around the Grand Line, I'll head back to East Blue."
The island was called Rune Island. There was a small town there where the Marines had docked to resupply.
Smoker stared out to sea through the window and replied seriously, "He couldn't have sailed that fast. Even with a Log Pose, he'd need time to record the island's magnetic field."
The Marines' greatest advantage was their intelligence network—far superior to the pirates'. Smoker already knew Luffy's route. He had taken out a bunch of bounty hunters at Whiskey Peak.
But after that, there were no more leads. The ocean was simply too vast—it was nearly impossible to find a single ship.
Even just the Grand Line alone felt enormous to Kuro. The size of this world was absurd.
"Captain Smoker, supplies have been procured!" a Marine entered the restaurant and saluted.
"Lida, finish up—we're heading out," Kuro said to Lida, who was still stuffing her face.
"Mmmhm," Lida nodded with cheeks full and began eating even faster.
The group exited the restaurant.
"Wait, where's Tashigi?" Smoker looked around and didn't see his subordinate.
"No idea," a Marine replied. "She was just here a moment ago."
"Stop! Don't run!"
Suddenly, a voice called out nearby.
They turned to see Tashigi, sword in hand, chasing a man toward them.
"Tashigi, what are you doing?!" Smoker shouted.
"Captain Smoker, catch him! This guy is super suspicious—he's been actively avoiding us!" Tashigi called back.
"Tch, what a pain. Surround him!" Smoker ordered.
Just then, Kuro's eyes locked on the man's waist—there was a sword hanging there.
Whoosh!
In a flash, Kuro appeared in front of the man. He tripped him with his leg, and as the man fell, Kuro snatched the sword into his own hand.
"Thank you, Mr. Kuro! You really saved me," Tashigi bowed gratefully.
"No, I should be thanking you," Kuro replied, gripping the sword's hilt and drawing it. "You're an expert on swords—tell me, what is this?"
The blade had a slight curve, no fuller (meaning its center of gravity hadn't been adjusted), and its edge had a pattern like fiery clouds.
"This is—" Tashigi paused and quickly flipped through her notebook. Soon, her eyes lit up.
"Kashu! It's Kashu, one of the fifty 'Skillful Grade' swords!"
"Kashu…" Kuro looked down at the man and recalled—this was one of the swords Tashigi had obtained from a Baroque Works officer after entering the Grand Line.
It was one of the named blades, ranked even higher than Tashigi's own sword, Shigure, which wasn't counted among the top 83.
"Thanks to you, this sword is mine," Kuro said with a smile.
"What are you talking about—it was yours to begin with! And someone as skilled as you should absolutely wield a named sword!"
Tashigi had always felt it was a shame that someone as talented as Kuro didn't have a named blade. She had planned to give him one if the chance ever came. Now that he'd gotten one himself, she was delighted.
Her goal had always been to reclaim named swords from the hands of bad guys—and someone as righteous as Mr. Kuro naturally deserved one.
A named sword, for free—what a steal!
Rather than slowly forging a blade with Haki, Kuro preferred something ready-made.
With this new sword, he was one step closer to his dream of a safe, easy life.
"Oh? You scary bastard, getting your hands on a fine blade—your power just jumped another level," Smoker said with a cigar in his mouth.
He glanced at the man. "Tashigi, who is this?"
"No idea—he just called himself Mr. 11. He's been deliberately avoiding me. I've been watching him for a while. That's not normal behavior," Tashigi replied.
"Suspicious, huh? Take him back to the ship for questioning," Smoker ordered, leading the group back to the battleship.
The ship set sail once more. As for Mr. 11, he didn't say a single word after being captured.
The more silent he remained, the more suspicious it seemed.
But staying silent was useless—the Marines soon intercepted a transmission using a wiretapping Transponder Snail.
"Mr. 0… Straw Hat… Nefertari Vivi…"
Smoker listened and pondered. "Vivi… I remember that name. She's the princess of Alabasta. Why would she be involved with Straw Hat? No matter. At least now I know their destination—Alabasta."
"Alabasta? I heard that country's going through a rebellion," Tashigi said.
"Doesn't matter. Our job is to catch pirates."
Smoker turned to a Marine. "Contact Headquarters and request a permanent Log Pose to Alabasta. We're heading there."
Lida looked a little surprised. "Alabasta, huh…"
"What? You've been there?" Kuro asked.
"I stayed there for a while. Cactus is so gross," she replied with a disgusted face.
Gross? You're gross for eating cactus!
Kuro twitched his mouth and gave Lida a disdainful look.
"Alabasta…"
Kuro wasn't opposed to going there. If he remembered right, Marines didn't need to intervene in Alabasta. It was an internal kingdom matter—even the World Government couldn't interfere.
"Just treat it like a free show—a little vacation."
Alabasta was a fully independent kingdom. It was landlocked with few port cities and didn't really require Marine presence. Plus, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea under the World Government, Crocodile, was stationed there—so it should be relatively safe.
What no one knew was that the biggest pirate… was actually in Alabasta.
Steal a purse, get executed. Steal a country, become a noble.
In terms of piracy, Crocodile and normal pirates weren't even in the same league.
.
..
...
Alabasta—Nanohana, the port city closest to the sea.
Kuro and the group had already arrived.
"I'm gonna find something to eat. You go do your thing," Kuro said to Smoker with a wave, sword strapped to his waist.
"Take me! Take me!" Lida cheered, quickly following.
Klahadore followed as well.
Even though he'd joined the Marines, he still felt awkward being around just them. He was more comfortable sticking with Kuro.
"Lazy bastard," Smoker sighed helplessly. "Whatever—I wasn't counting on you anyway. Tashigi, gather intel. See if you can find any trace of Straw Hat."
"Yes, Captain Smoker!"
The Marines began gathering intelligence, while Kuro took the others around town—mainly trailing behind Lida as she wandered everywhere.
"Golden apples, golden apples! One bite and you'll live forever!"
At a stall, a vendor shouted, holding up an apple.
But none of the three bought it. Even though Lida looked young, she had been fending for herself since she was eight. Naturally, she had street smarts.
However, she was interested in the regular fruits being sold at the stall.
"Kuro, give me money. I want to buy something to eat."
Lida held out her hand and looked at Kuro.
"Give you money?"
Kuro blinked, then widened his eyes. "What about your own money?"
"I spent it all."
"Huh?" Kuro stared at Lida.
"Yup." Lida nodded.
A moment later, from within the crowd, came Kuro's clearly raised voice.
"You spent nearly ten million Berries?!"
Kuro was in disbelief. "That's ten million! Do you even know what that means?!"
Seeing Lida put on a pitiful expression without replying, Kuro turned to Klahadore. "What happened?"
"Well… Miss Lida would throw money around and take whatever she wanted, regardless of price. It was usually far above value. So…"
Klahadore looked troubled.
Lida already had a massive appetite, and now she was spending like crazy. Kuro thought he had overestimated her spending, but he still underestimated it.
Ten million… That's enough to cover a tenth of a high-end ship made from Adam Wood. She had eaten through it in just a few days.
"What are you, the user of the 'Eneru Eneru no Mi'? You should've eaten the 'Devour Devour no Mi' instead. If you hadn't already eaten a fruit, I'd go take down Wapol and find one for you!"
Kuro gritted his teeth in frustration.
Why even eat food—if she could devour anything, at least it would be more economical.
Lida tugged on Kuro's pant leg and pouted. "Kuro, I'm hungry. Give me money."
Kuro smacked his forehead. "I don't have any either. I gave away my last savings back in Loguetown. I thought your money would be enough, so I didn't save more… Sorry. I underestimated you."
"Then what do we do? I'm hungry."
Lida's eyes rolled as she made a suggestion: "How about we dine and dash?"
Klahadore pushed up his glasses, clearly tempted.
"You're Marines! Have some shame, will you?!" Kuro nearly shouted.
"…Enough. Come with me."
Kuro sighed and turned to head in another direction.
"Where are we going?" Lida asked curiously.
"To find a kindhearted person to give us money!"
"A kindhearted person? Where?"
"Wait for me!" Lida chased after him.
In this world, there's something perfectly legal—gangs.
Kuro had no money, but gangs did! Gangs cared about 'honor'—they'd definitely 'help' them out.
Aside from gangs, Alabasta had another major power, and they operated in this port city too.
"But first, change your clothes. If we're dressed like Marines, those people won't make a move."
Kuro entered a clothing shop and changed into a desert-style outfit, and so did the other two.
Klahadore paid for the clothes—he was the only one with any money.
After the wardrobe change, Kuro took the two through the city, especially down alleyways.
His Observation Haki, like Lida's, covered a wide area, making it easy to scan the city. The problem was their energy signatures were too similar, so he couldn't pinpoint anything.
This wasn't like Loguetown, where criminals were holed up in one place with hostages. And he wasn't someone with x-ray vision.
So they could only search through alleyways—like hunting rats. That's where bad guys and rats often showed up. And with Lida around, "catching some fish" wouldn't be hard.
With such a cute kid, there were bound to be generous "good Samaritans."
"Hey hey hey, stop right there!"
After walking through a few alleys, just as they entered a new one, a voice rang out behind them. Several men appeared at the entrance, blocking the alley. A tall man walked up, grinning menacingly:
"Hand over your money."
"See? There they are—the kindhearted people." Kuro pointed at them.
This is your idea of "kindhearted"?
Lida gave Kuro a disdainful look. "This is robbery."
"Yep, I'm robbing you!"
The thug thought she was talking to him and laughed harder. "You're outsiders, right? Let us teach you the rules here—strength rules all!"
"I quite like that kind of rule." Kuro nodded. "Klahadore."
Klahadore sighed—he knew this wouldn't lead to anything good.
But these small fries…
Klahadore didn't even use a weapon—within moments, all ten or so guys were lying on the ground.
Lida sat on someone's back, trying on a massive gold ring that was clearly several sizes too big for her hand. Then she pocketed it and counted the cash.
"Kuro, it's not even 100,000 Berries. So little." Lida complained.
"Shut up! If not for you, would we even need this kind of 'charitable aid'?!" Kuro yelled.
"One gang isn't enough—just hit a few more."
Kuro glanced at the unconscious thugs and said, "Thanks for your aid. We'll be back next time."
Then, the group continued wandering the city.
There were plenty more "kindhearted" folks like those in this city. After a few more alleys, Kuro and crew ran into more people. As their "aid fund" increased, they encountered "good Samaritans" more frequently.
Kuro had Lida wear the jewelry and cash in a clearly visible way. Seeing her, people would think: Wow, a kid in need of "help"—and would rush over to "donate."
Of course, there were also the types who tried to "rescue" Lida from poverty by taking her somewhere "safe."
Like now—a man in this alley tried to take her away for a "better life."
That kind of guy… Kuro personally "thanked" him.
"O-Our Baroque Works… won't let you get away with this…"
The man on the ground gasped, barely conscious.
He was so beat up he barely looked human.
"One more word, and I'll turn you into a 'tragic tale,'" Kuro snorted, while Klahadore collected their "aid" and handed it to Lida.
"Ugh…"
Lida didn't really want to accept this kind of money, but money was innocent. She reluctantly accepted it, counted it, then said to Kuro, "We've got a million now!"
Boom!
Just then, a pillar of fire rose up in the distance, swirling with thick white smoke.
"Huh? Who's setting off fire in broad daylight?" Lida looked over, curious.
"Fire…?"
Kuro looked too, frowning. "That white smoke… Smoker? Huh. I think I remember something like this happening."
"Should we go check it out?" Klahadore asked.
"No need. We still need to find more kindhearted people. We can't leave without money."
Lida muttered under her breath, "Who was it earlier that said Marines should have shame…"
Kuro shot her a glare. "And who am I doing this for?!"
Whatever, he thought. He brought her out himself and promised she'd be fed.
Kuro took a deep breath and kept walking forward.
(*****)
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