48: Section 48

Three and a half somersaults in mid-air, feet together, a perfect landing!

On the beach...

A few hermit crabs raised signs in unison, giving the supreme rating of [Perfect]!

Chapter 54: Captain Kuro' Lackeys

After drifting aimlessly at sea for two days, while accumulating Sea Stone factors and stockpiling more Jumpy Dumpties...

Even Su Ming...

Would start to feel bored after a long time.

Stepping onto the soft sand, the refreshing breeze from the island's dense forest made Su Ming so happy he almost performed another awkward dance.

The first sword after coming ashore, first slay...

Wait, no!

The first thing to do after coming ashore is, of course, to start a campfire!

And then, naturally, hunting.

Letting himself go a little, Su Ming started with zero frames, followed by a perfect jump from flat ground into the water, diving deep into the sea.

A short while later.

Su Ming returned to the campfire, not a drop of water on him.

In his backpack, a Sea King had already offered up its everything, neatly categorized.

Emmm...

That was categorization in the literal sense.

He took out a piece of sea beast meat nearly as tall as a person and placed it over the campfire.

Soon, the tempting aroma of meat began to spread.

At the same moment.

On a hundred-meter peak on the island, a pirate dressed like a hoodlum quietly shrank back and then sprinted several hundred meters.

He arrived at a secret camp at the foot of the mountain.

Coincidentally.

The barbecue banquet in the camp had just begun!

Dozens of pirates gathered in small groups, drinking heavily and devouring meat.

"Boss Kubla! The beach! Someone has landed on the beach!"

The pirate named Kubla said angrily:

"Bastard! We only have one boss, and that is Captain Kuro!"

Ah, right, right, right!

The other pirates rolled their eyes in unison.

If you could suppress the corners of your mouth—which are harder to keep down than an AK—just a little bit, we might actually believe your nonsense!

Eh!?

What the hell is an AK?

Forget it, that's not important!

"Who is it? The Navy?"

"Shouldn't be. Wasp Island is far from the main shipping lanes. How could the Navy find this place?"

"Don't worry! Let's tie those guys up first!"

"Hey, I'm just worried that the plan for Syrup Village might be noticed by the Navy... Don't forget, this is Boss Kuro's first plan since returning to sea!"

"Then... then what should we do?"

As they spoke, a swarm of pirates scrambled up the peak.

A moment later, Kubla curled his lip and said:

"There's only one person! What do you guys think?"

Silence for a moment.

The pirates' breathing gradually quickened.

One by one, they looked at the elegant and noble ship on the sea with the eager eyes of someone who'd been single for half a lifetime!

One person, one ship!

And it was a beautiful ship... The cruel grins on the pirates' faces widened.

"Let's do it, Boss Kubla!"

"That's right, that pretty boy looks brainless at first glance."

"Yeah, Boss Kubla, it's time for us to replace that old tub of ours!"

These repeated calls of 'Boss' caused Kubla to quickly lose himself.

Ten minutes later.

In the dense forest twenty or thirty meters away from the beach, dozens of pirates came charging out in a swarm, howling.

Su Ming was dumbfounded.

Su Ming was confused.

Su Ming was pleasantly surprised.

"An unexpected joy. To think there's even a pre-meal workout like this..."

Swish! —

The modao bristle-tusk, over three meters long, threw out a flash of light as its sharp blade sliced into the sand.

Su Ming took two steps forward.

Swung the blade!

A circular slash!

The suddenly blooming silver arc of light was like a silver moon falling.

Squelch! —

Flesh was easily sliced open.

Three corpses, scattered in pieces, stained a patch of the beach red.

The others who were slower nearly wet themselves at the sight!

They all stopped in their tracks, their bodies still in a charging posture, but their movements were trembling as they froze in place in unison.

Su Ming swung the modao, intending to wipe them all out.

However.

Thump! —

Without exception, the dozens of pirates threw away their weapons in unison and knelt on the ground in unison!

"Spare our lives, Big Brother!"

Emmm...

These lines seemed so rehearsed that they even threw Su Ming off.

Seeing Su Ming frozen in place.

The pirates were scared to death.

They couldn't see it, they really couldn't see it clearly!

Just as ridiculous as Boss Kuro back then!

No... the person in front of them was even more brutal than Boss Kuro; the boss's weapon wasn't this terrifying!

Waaaah! —

Mommy! —

There's a monster here!

Facing the pirates' gazes, which were as if they were looking at a monster, Su Ming asked uninterestedly:

"Who is your boss?"

"He is!"

The pirates all pointed to one of the corpses among the scattered limbs...

Uh, they were quite synchronized.

But it was also truly surreal.

He had wanted to complain for a long time; he originally thought Oda was being surreal, but it turns out... he was actually a serious realist, can you believe it!

"Never mind then. Who are you?"

A pirate raised his hand tremblingly:

“Pi, Pirates...”

"No shit, bastard!" Su Ming kicked him over and asked fiercely:

"I'm asking which group of pirates you belong to!"

"B-B-Black, Black Cat Pirates, Big Brother, we're from the Black Cat Pirates."

The other pirates, fearing they would be kicked if they answered too slowly, hurriedly revealed their true origins.

"Black Cat?"

Su Ming frowned:

"The Black Cat Pirates of Captain Kuro?"

"Yes, Big Brother!"

A pirate obediently confessed:

"However, our current captain is temporarily Vice-Captain Jango."

Jango, huh... a weakling with a 9-million-Beli bounty.

Captain Kuro was different.

He was a great pirate with a bounty of 16 million!

For a long time, Kuro's sinister brutality was a nightmare for the nearby Navy branches.

The good news was.

Kuro soon grew tired of being hunted by the Navy and tired of the days of endless fleeing.

So, Kuro intentionally killed everyone on a warship during a naval battle with the Navy, leaving only one young Marine soldier.

After being hypnotized by Jango...

That surviving Marine thought that through great sacrifice, he had wiped out the entire Black Cat Pirates.

Ultimately, following Kuro's arrangement, he took a pre-prepared scapegoat back to the Navy branch to report, and the great pirate [Kuro] was executed in public.

However.

The real Kuro, after faking his death, lurked in Kaya's house in Syrup Village!

And that Marine who luckily survived was promoted for his contribution.

Later, he even held the rank of Captain and became the highest officer of the 153rd Branch!

Yes, he was Iron-Jaw Morgan.

He was also the same Captain Morgan who, in Su Ming's words, was like a piece of shit.