Chapter 15: One Day a Pirate, Always a Pirate

Upon hearing this, Keluo closed his eyes.

His opponent had demonstrated overwhelming strength, severely wounding him and leaving him incapable of further combat; his subordinates had already turned against him—he knew Gao Wen’s words were true.

But he was truly tired of this path as a pirate.

Rather than sink further into endless killing, it would be better to end it all now.

Keluo closed his eyes and assumed a posture of surrender, neck bared for execution.

But Gao Wen was unwilling to give up; whether it was the Spoon Death or Keluo’s talent, he saw both as already within his grasp.

After a moment of silence, Gao Wen spoke:

“I heard from Zan Gao that you want to take off this outfit and start over with a new identity?”

Keluo opened his eyes; before death, he had no objection to saying a few more words:

“You’re still young—you still have dreams of glory, of making a name for yourself, even of seizing that elusive One Piece.”

“When you reach my age, you’ll understand: endless killing serves no purpose but to wear down the will.”

“Only an ordinary, peaceful life is real.”

As he spoke,

a look of longing appeared on Keluo’s face—he had once lived such a life, only to bury it himself in the end.

“Hah.”

Gao Wen sneered in reply:

“Do you really believe that taking off this outfit lets you escape being a pirate? Even in the supposedly peaceful East Blue, how many towns are attacked every day?”

“How much money do you have to satisfy the nobles’ greed and the ever-rising Sky Metal tax? Do you even remember why your crew originally set sail?”

Keluo froze, his face growing paler.

He was a man of supreme intelligence—how could he not understand such an obvious truth?

But people always view their white moonlight through a filter, unconsciously ignoring its flaws; now, with Gao Wen’s questions ringing in his ears, Keluo awoke from his dream.

Peaceful life?

That’s just handing the knife to someone else—do you expect nobles, pirates, or even corrupt Marines to spare you?

“Hah…”

Keluo sneered:

“This filthy world doesn’t even want you to live!”

Gao Wen continued:

“As long as you grow strong enough to make everyone fear you, you’ll naturally have peace.”

“I even know a living example—he too was once a pirate, now retired, living the life you long for.”

“The Marines know of his existence. The World Government knows of his existence. Yet both have chosen silence. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because he is Rayleigh, the Blackbeard—former right-hand man of Pirate King Roger. Even the Marines must weigh their losses before acting against him.”

Keluo fell silent, closed his eyes, lay on the deck, yet his claw-blade fingers trembled continuously.

The air grew still; all the pirates stared silently at the scene, and Gao Wen waited for Keluo’s answer.

After several seconds,

Keluo opened his eyes, gazing intently at Gao Wen:

“Then what is your goal?”

Gao Wen thought for a moment, then said:

“First, head to the Grand Line and claim the title of Warlord.”

Keluo was stunned.

Gao Wen heading to the Grand Line was expected—but the title of Warlord held another meaning in his eyes:

Escape from Marine pursuit!

If achieved, Keluo could live a relatively peaceful life, at least to some degree.

Though not as perfect as his original plan, Gao Wen’s words had proven that plan was nothing but self-deception.

Becoming a Warlord was still distant—but now, it was truly feasible!

Keluo pushed his glasses up with his palm, his pupils gleaming with renewed light:

“Though I resent it… from now on, I’ll rely on your guidance… Captain!”

“Ah, Keluo, my second-in-command.”

Gao Wen smiled faintly and pulled Keluo to his feet.

Though Keluo had just been severely wounded, his spine remained straight, standing beside Gao Wen—already radiating the aura of a second-in-command.

The captain and three lieutenants had all surrendered.

The Black Cat Pirates had no reason to keep fighting.

At Keluo’s orders, they dropped their weapons and declared surrender.

The battle had lasted only a few minutes, yet casualties had already exceeded one-third of both sides.

Fortunately, the Black Cat Pirates had originally possessed three ships and nearly two hundred men; even after losses, Gao Wen now commanded close to two hundred.

Gao Wen organized the crew’s ship doctors to begin treating the wounded.

The injured lay in neat rows on the warship’s deck; ship doctors moved among them, tending to each wound.

“Ah!”

A doctor poured high-proof alcohol directly onto a pirate’s thigh wound—the man’s body tensed instantly, his face turning the color of a boiled shrimp.

Gao Wen’s eye twitched; if possible, he still preferred professional medical care:

“We’ll need to find a proper ship doctor later.”

At sea, conditions were crude: after stopping the bleeding, pirates were disinfected with alcohol and stitched up—whether they survived infection depended entirely on fate.

Those with fatal injuries were simply given a quick death.

The pirates were already accustomed to this; even Gao Wen felt no pity.

After all, even at great cost, it only prolonged their suffering before death.

Thus, the Black Cat Pirates were officially absorbed into Gao Wen’s crew.

A few days later, Gao Wen publicly announced that Keluo would serve as vice-captain, while the Cat Brothers and Zan Gao would remain as combatants.

Naturally, no one objected.

Gao Wen’s original subordinates revered him as a god; those who had witnessed his crushing defeat of Keluo’s former crew feared him even more than they had feared Keluo.

The very next day,

Gao Wen ordered everyone to begin training.

Ordinary pirates trained swordsmanship under Gao Wen; Keluo, the Cat Brothers, and Zan Gao—the elite fighters with their own styles—trained according to their own habits.

With a new goal, Keluo transformed into a training fanatic, spending all day locked in the warship’s training room, even adding padded lining to the walls to avoid injury.

Gao Wen was perfectly content with this.

After all,

With two hundred men training—including many new recruits—the first night saw Gao Wen gain over forty points in swordsmanship and thirty in physique experience.

The surge was so dramatic, even he was surprised.

“My original men’s potential had nearly reached its limit—this experience must come from the newcomers. But by ratio, ordinary pirates should only yield about twenty points.”

“Then the extra must be from Keluo’s Bronze-level potential?!”

“Can Bronze-level potential really produce this much?”

Gao Wen did a quick calculation.

Just Keluo alone provided him nearly ten experience points per day—and due to his higher potential, his total output far surpassed that of ordinary pirates!

“Then how strong would Sanji and Zoro be, with Gold-tier potential?!”

Gao Wen couldn’t help but look forward to it.

Suddenly, a system prompt echoed in his ear:

“Skill unlocked—Spoon Death!”

“Spoon—LV-0: 6/100!”

(End of Chapter)