Mihawk was brought into the castle and treated as an honored guest. When Ace and his group heard he was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, their jaws nearly dropped.
Ace enthusiastically struck up conversation with him, annoying the hawk-eyed man until his head was about to explode.
He'd known one other person this noisy before — Shanks.
A peaceful new day began, and Noyer started thinking about everyone's future plans.
With nearly two thousand people, the massive castle could barely accommodate them all when packed tight. The most troublesome issue was food — he could only keep sending people out to fish for seafood.
The two giant warriors from Elbaf, Nielf and Manelf, stayed on the ship to help with infrastructure projects. Noyer watched with interest as they worked enthusiastically.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the area below the giant's neck. The crimson Hoof of the Soaring Dragon — Noyer recognized this symbol, the Claw of the Celestial Dragons.
All Celestial Dragon slaves had to bear this mark, and it was extremely difficult to remove. Even the slaves Tiger had rescued merely had another mark covering it.
Noyer clutched his hair in distress. Did he also have to find a mark to cover it up? But that would still leave traces. Compared to covering it, he wanted the marks to disappear.
He had a sudden inspiration — he actually had a skill that could help. A special ability he'd obtained from meeting Chopper earlier, a healing power called Restoration Technique.
However, after experimenting with it a few times, he hadn't used this ability much. He discovered that its effect wasn't healing — it only worked on external injuries.
It was roughly equivalent to a top-tier cosmetic procedure.
Noyer waved at Nielf and called out, "Hey buddy, come here!"
The massive giant walked over and said in a muffled voice, "What is it, benefactor?"
Noyer lightly tapped his toes on the ground, leaping onto his shoulder, "Relax, I'm going to try an ability."
Nielf obediently stood still. Noyer activated the Restoration Technique on his neck. A faint green glow with a natural quality lit up, and the crimson Hoof of the Soaring Dragon gradually faded.
Nielf couldn't see behind him and exclaimed in amazement, "Benefactor, my neck feels a bit warm."
Noyer smiled with satisfaction. The compatriots who had escaped from Mary Geoise watched in disbelief.
The Hoof of the Soaring Dragon, such a difficult mark to remove, and their benefactor could erase it easily?!
Seeing that Nielf's neck showed no trace of the mark, Noyer jumped down and called out to everyone, "Come here, I'll erase everyone's marks!"
The crowd roared in unison, expressing endless gratitude as they gathered forward, waiting for their benefactor to remove the shameful mark.
They had thought the slave mark would follow them for life, even after escaping Mary Geoise. They'd mentally prepared to bear this darkness forever.
Who knew their all-capable benefactor would be this amazing — what couldn't he do?!
As each compatriot had their mark erased and ran around excitedly, faces bright and sunny, the gloom in everyone's hearts was swept away. They had no more burdens now, but they'd gained a boss to entrust their lives to!
By nightfall, after working busily all day, Noyer had finally erased every mark — not missing a single person.
After dinner, he looked at his brothers and sisters, now free of shadows, and smiled with satisfaction.
Mihawk sat across from him and said indifferently, "You care quite a bit about your subordinates."
Noyer stretched and reclined on the sofa, "However much you give, that's how much effort your companions give in return. It's worth being tired."
Mihawk pursed his lips, "That's why I don't want to form a pirate crew…"
Beside him, Ace boredly spun his hat and suddenly asked, "So Noyer, are you really going to be a pirate?"
Noyer helplessly spread his hands and smiled, "The World Government and Marines have declared me a pirate. Public opinion is in their hands — my objections are useless. I used to be a pirate hunter for convenience, but now I don't care about that little inconvenience anymore…"
Ace excitedly slapped the table and shouted, "Then! Will you become my crewmate?"
Noyer flatly refused, "Dame!"
Ace immediately deflated and asked dejectedly, "Why not?"
Because I don't want to join the Whitebeard Pirates with you…
Whitebeard could give Ace the fatherly love he longed for, but Noyer… Even though he wanted to, he couldn't…
Speaking of which, by treating Ace as his grandson, how much did Garp take advantage of Whitebeard and Roger?
Ace didn't notice him spacing out and continued, "Whatever, you already have your own companions. So what's your pirate crew called?"
Noyer was startled, "I haven't thought of one yet…"
Ace's expression froze, "Then you haven't made a pirate flag either?"
Noyer laughed sheepishly, "No."
Ace stared at him like he was looking at a monster, "How can you be a pirate without anything? The skull flag is a pirate crew's soul and spiritual symbol! A pirate crew's name is a badge of honor! You can't be careless about this."
Seeing him suddenly turn serious, Noyer realized this matter needed to be resolved quickly.
Unlike Ace, he hadn't chosen to become a pirate. The World Government had declared them pirates. A few protests wouldn't fix that.
But Noyer wasn't worried. If they were treating him as a pirate, he might as well form a pirate crew — the government had stopped believing in his hunter identity long ago anyway.
Perfect timing. Since he had nothing else to do, he could design things properly.
Noyer quickly gathered everyone together and held a meeting in the courtyard.
The meeting was titled "Pre-Establishment Preparation Affairs Full Member Congress", abbreviated as "The Redemption of Noyer, Who's Terrible at Naming".
The courtyard was packed. Everyone sat upright with solemn expressions, as if about to fight a tough battle. Quite a few even took out notebooks to record.
There were also special guests — Mihawk and Ace. Ace wore a serious look, as if participating in some sacred ceremony. Mihawk's face was full of bewildered question marks.
Were they children? Why was he being included?
Noyer stood at the highest point, gave a light cough, and spoke into a megaphone, "First item: determining the number of crew members."
As soon as he spoke, the audience below erupted like an exploding pot, chattering away in discussion.
Even Mihawk was dumbfounded. You all support your captain this much? And that guy Ace — why are you so excited?
Anyone watching would think this intense meeting was about overthrowing the world…
Although Noyer had rescued many people from Mary Geoise, only a handful wanted to join the pirate crew. After witnessing blood and evil intertwined, after seeing every kind of cruelty, most simply wanted to become ordinary people and live peaceful lives.
Of course, Noyer wouldn't force them to do what they didn't want. People have different aspirations in life…
After a simple count, many were filtered out.
Young children couldn't join. Most of the frail women didn't want to join either. Some had families they wanted to return to — Noyer would arrange to help them find their families later.
After picking and choosing, only about five hundred people joined. But this wasn't bad. He was quite satisfied — more people meant more strength.
Don't think strong people don't need subordinates. That's only true when their strength is sufficient, like Hawk-Eye, who doesn't need any help in battle.
But many things become inconvenient. In the original story, Hawk-Eye handling both parlor and kitchen duties was forced on him by his solitary life…
Red-Hair and Straw Hat's crews also followed an elite route, but they still had plenty of subordinates who could play special roles at critical moments.
Someone handed up the list of those willing to join. Noyer glanced at it and got a general idea. Sure enough, the siblings Nielf and Manelf had joined. Many others had been pirates before, and a few even had bounties on their heads.
This discovery made Enel quite envious. Despite his strength, he still didn't have a single berry in bounty…
A few people had even eaten Devil Fruits. Most were Zoan types, and the few with Paramecia abilities all had strange powers.
With the members roughly determined, Noyer officially began the core content of the meeting, "So then, what do you all think our pirate crew should be called?"
As soon as he spoke, the entire venue fell silent.
After a long while, Conis timidly said, "Can't we just call it the Noyer Pirates…"
Noyer agreed — that was the name he'd thought of too.
But Enel quickly shot it down, "No way! How can a pirate crew be named after a person? Thunder God Pirates sounds way better."
Wyper glanced at him without expression, "What about Blood War Pirates?"
"Too vulgar." Lucci objected, "Justice Pirates sounds better."
Enel protested, "Calling a pirate crew 'Justice' sounds awkward no matter how you think about it. Mine is still better!"
Wyper spat angrily, "Your crappy name is obviously just about yourself. Stop making trouble!"
Enel looked at him with delight, "So you also think I'm the Thunder God?"
Wyper: I think you're insane.
As Enel and the others opened up the discussion, everyone began voicing their opinions.
Watching the atmosphere heat up, Conis timidly pointed her fingers together, "I think keeping the name simple would be pretty good…"
Kalifa comforted her, "The so-called romance of men — we don't understand it."
Not far away, Noyer walked over to Robin to ask her opinion.
Robin stroked her chin thoughtfully, then said with a bit of pride, "How about the Dark Demon Pirates!"
Kalifa and Conis were stunned, "Why did the vibe suddenly become so evil!"
Noyer's mouth twitched. He really didn't know what to say.
After a long discussion, he decided it was time to make the final call, "Let's call it the Underworld Pirates. In a way, everyone here escaped from hell's gates — souls returned from death. Why not let the world remember your names after being reborn?"
The name wasn't exactly beautiful, but since the boss had decided, everyone considered it and gladly accepted.
The Underworld Pirates were officially established under Noyer, who was terrible at naming!
Noyer never expected his crew was even worse at it than he was. If he'd known, he would have hired Zoro at a high salary to come up with names — that guy's naming ability was truly impressive.
He could shake his head at any moment and improvise a whole rap… Wait, no — he could improvise and recite a whole string of poetry.
{T/N: In case you want an example: King of Hell Three Sword Dragon: 103 Emotions Flying Dragon Samurai Extreme… that's the name of one of his attacks.}
Next, Noyer moved on to the third item — designing the flag for the Underworld Pirates.
This didn't take much time. Among the people he'd rescued, there was no shortage of talented individuals. A few skilled artists quickly placed a draft before everyone's eyes.
The image showed a pale white skull with sharp angles. Its pitch-black eye sockets seemed to flash with faint red light. Wrapped around the skull was a fierce-looking gate painted with eerie patterns, its mouth wide open as if ready to drag people into hell.
Noyer and everyone expressed great satisfaction.
The more intimidating the pirate flag, the more these rough men loved it!
With the pirate flag and crew name settled, Noyer waved his hand and dispatched Wyper and Enel to make another trip to Water 7 to order a massive warship.
The Celestial Drake was only slightly larger than the Thousand Sunny — fitting five hundred people was basically impossible.
So Wyper and Enel — two country bumpkins who had never handled so many Berries since coming down from the sky — each carried two cases and nervously sat on the ship, retracing their route back to Water 7.
Noyer was slightly uneasy about sending these two, but there were no better candidates. Robin and Conis couldn't go. The newly joined crew members weren't familiar with the situation. And Lucci and his group's identities had already been discovered by Iceburg — if they went back, they'd be exposed immediately. So these two simpletons were the best option.
Fortunately, their strength made up for their lack of intelligence.
The first general meeting concluded. Noyer assigned tasks to the crew members, then began secretly getting busy himself.
Noyer quietly pulled Blueno aside and whispered, "Come with me."
Lucci froze, "Do you need my help?"
Noyer smiled and shook his head, "No need. I just want to borrow Blueno to make a trip."
Blueno got goosebumps, as if a chill ran down his spine.
Lucci seemed to think of something, "It's the second day — are you going to execute the second Celestial Dragon?"
Noyer nodded with a grin, "Sengoku is searching for me all over the world now, forcing us to stay hidden. But I need to provoke him one more time. When people act impulsively, that's when they show openings."
Lucci raised his eyebrows, "What do you want to do?"
Noyer smiled mischievously, "The more dangerous, the safer; the safer, the more dangerous…"
A suicidal plan was born.
◇◆◈◆◇
On a cloudless, star-filled night, the Holy Land of Mary Geoise was busily working on post-war recovery after someone's repeated disruptions.
At a burnt, blackened, towering spire, the air rippled in circles. A familiar Air Door opened.
From within came an excited shout:
"Hi-hai-hi! I, Noy… wait no, the Destroyer of Worlds has returned again!"
◈◈◈
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
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Take a look at the new books I'm translating on my profile, Cyberpunk 2077: A God-Level Skill Every Day and Infinite Worlds: Building the Strongest Harem! They are also on my website for $5 and $1.5, respectively!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)