Half a month passed quietly.
The ferocious beasts on Green Hell Island suffered heavy blows from the Rocket Team, and their numbers plummeted.
Those animals capable of crossing the sea to attack the Twin Islands were nearly wiped out. Because of the Rocket Team's presence, the security of the Twin Kingdom rose sharply.
Of course, the Twin Kingdom had no idea this was happening. Ever since their guard squad had been slaughtered by the island's monsters, they had never dared to set foot on the island again.
The overall strength of the Rocket Team members increased noticeably. Some gradually grew proficient with their techniques, and the addition of Breathing Methods made their future potential far greater.
"Bonez has gotten darker again. Are you trying to forge yourself into a Black Blade?"
In theory, a Black Blade is tempered through Armament Haki. Bonez hasn't even mastered Armament yet, but he keeps getting darker. He used to have the complexion of someone from South America or South Asia—now he's getting closer and closer to that of an African.
"I can feel my body getting harder and my strength growing stronger."
As long as his power increased, Bonez didn't care about his skin tone at all.
On the entire ship, only Vane's attacks were effective against him. No one else—including Tant's Lion Bullet—could even scratch his skin.
The gap between senior cadres and junior cadres was gradually becoming clear. In Vane's eyes, only two people on the crew had the potential to become senior cadres. Bonez went without saying. The other was Dice.
Tant ranked third in both bounty and strength, but his potential was limited. If he could reach the level of the Tobiroppo in this lifetime, he'd already be extremely lucky.
Dice, on the other hand, even relying purely on physical strength and Haki, had the potential to reach Tobiroppo level. Add a suitable Devil Fruit, and becoming a senior cadre would only be a matter of time.
"Though it looks like your body's growth rate has started to slow down."
Bonez's current height and build had already surpassed his original appearance. That was the result of focusing on physical development. Vane had once thought that after unlocking his body's potential, Bonez might grow to three meters tall—after all, he was still young. But recently, the increase in his size had clearly slowed.
"I'm already satisfied with my current build. And even though it doesn't look like I'm still growing, I can feel my density constantly increasing…"
You'd better pray you never get appendicitis or some other illness that requires surgery…
"It's mine! That's mine!"
"No,
It's mine…"
Two crisp and childish voices started arguing again.
Perona and Sugar—the two youngest on the ship.
One with pink hair, the other with algae-green hair. Just by color alone, the two little girls didn't quite get along—and sure enough, they hadn't become best friends.
Or rather, sometimes friends, sometimes rivals… Both loved cute things, so squabbles were frequent.
At first, they only fought over dolls. Later, when their tempers flared, they fought over anything. Perona liked desserts, while Sugar liked grapes. Since they'd fight just for the sake of fighting, meals for them now had to be prepared in duplicate.
"You can fight, but Perona is not allowed to use her Devil Fruit ability."
Perona obeyed Vane's orders quite well and indeed didn't use her ability. It was just two ordinary little girls bickering.
Without Devil Fruit powers, they were evenly matched.
Scenes like this added a touch of warmth to life aboard a pirate ship. Everyone liked these two little girls.
Vane had once mocked Red-Haired for raising a little girl on a pirate ship. Now Vane himself was raising two.
Monet watched her younger sister and Perona pinching cheeks and pulling hair. She felt somewhat uneasy. After all, the other girl was a Devil Fruit user and surely held a high position on the ship.
Having just joined Vane's crew, she naturally thought about everything with extreme caution.
Watching the two of them scuffle, Vane said, "We can find a Devil Fruit for Sugar in the future. That way she won't lose out when fighting Perona."
She was just a little girl. He definitely couldn't let her eat some Devil Fruit that would ruin her looks. If her appearance went crooked, what would be the point of raising her?
Today, Rocket Team members gradually returned to the ship. Many were injured, and several were seriously hurt—so much so that Martha let out a sharp, furious cry.
"None of you ever know how to take care of yourselves!"
"Alright, be thankful no one died."
Even Tant had trouble dealing with those ferocious beasts. For ordinary members, even in teams, casualties were likely. The fact that no one died truly was something to be grateful for.
"Perona, Sugar, Bear Guard, Tant, and the injured stay on the ship. The rest of you—get ready to move money!"
"Boss, I want to go move money too. Let Dice stay on the ship!"
"No. Dice isn't capable of holding things down alone yet. It's safer with you staying."
If any ferocious beasts remained on the island, Tant had enough strength to handle them and protect the ship. Dice was still a step behind.
...
Twin Kingdom, Crown City.
The prestigious Crown City usually had spotless streets.
But today was different. Many "dirty" commoners entered the city. Some didn't even have shoes, leaving muddy footprints with every step.
Their emotions were complicated—fear, excitement, and numbness.
Some had trained for a long time for this very moment. Others were unwilling, forcibly shackled and driven here by the kingdom's army.
"It's that grand event of the year again."
"These commoners are filthy."
"Feels like there are fewer people this year compared to last year."
The Blood Kin Slaughter Festival. This bloody banquet was held annually in Crown City. Nobles attended to enjoy the spectacle of flesh and blood flying. They also participated in gambling.
The location was at the very center of Crown City—a vast area surrounded by a semicircular, five-story-high structure. The nobles watched from above.
The commoners were driven by soldiers to slaughter each other below.
Either kill your opponent and leave, or be killed together by the soldiers in the arena.
"The gaps between these floor tiles are black-red."
The nobles gradually gathered atop the building. Vane was also on the fifth floor. He wore fine clothes and a mask. These people who judged status by appearance had no reason to doubt his identity.
Looking down from above, with Vane's eyesight, he could see that while the surface of the bricks showed nothing unusual, the hard-to-clean gaps between them were filled with dark red bloodstains.
"So scary~~ I don't want to die."
"Sister, I have to fight Sister… no, no…"
"Little brother…"
Fear and sorrow spread through the crowd. Vane's ear twitched—his Observation Haki actually picked up their voices.
What's going on?
Vane activated the Transparent World and looked at a noble not far from him. The moment the noble's heart appeared in his vision, his inner thoughts were captured as well.
Noble's inner thoughts: "These filthy commoners are only useful at this time of year."