Chapter 15: Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate

Hearing this, Xiang Keluo simply closed his eyes.

His opponent had demonstrated overwhelming strength, inflicting severe injuries that left him unable to fight again, while his subordinates had already turned traitor; naturally, he knew that what Gao Wen said was true.

But he was truly tired of the pirate's path.

Rather than indulging in endless slaughter, it was better to end it all right now.

Xiang Keluo closed his eyes, striking a pose as if offering his neck to the blade.

Gao Wen, however, was unwilling to give up just yet; whether it was the Spoon Death technique or Xiang Keluo's talents, he regarded them both as already within his grasp.

After a moment of contemplation, Gao Wen spoke:

"I heard from Zan Gao that you wish to shed these clothes and start anew with a different identity?"

Xiang Keluo opened his eyes; before dying, he didn't mind speaking a few more words:

"You are still young, harboring thoughts of achieving fame and fortune, making a name for yourself, or even seizing that elusive One Piece."

"When you reach my age, you will understand that endless slaughter holds no meaning other than eroding one's will."

"Only an ordinary and peaceful life is real."

As he spoke,

a trace of longing appeared on Xiang Keluo's face; there was a time when he too had such a life, only to bury it with his own hands in the end.

"Heh."

Gao Wen sneered disdainfully and retorted:

"Do you really think that simply taking off these clothes will allow you to escape being a pirate? Even in the East Blue, hailed as the most peaceful sea, how many towns are attacked every single day?"

"How much money do you have to fill the nobles' desires and the ever-rising Heavenly Tribute? Do you even remember why those people on your ship set out to sea in the first place?"

Xiang Keluo froze, his complexion growing even paler.

He was already an exceptionally intelligent person; how could he not understand such an obvious truth?

It was just that when people look at their 'white moonlight,' they view it through rose-tinted glasses, even subconsciously ignoring its flaws; now, brought back to reality by Gao Wen's questioning, Xiang Keluo had awakened from his dream.

A peaceful life?

That would be handing a knife to others; do you expect those nobles, pirates, or even the corrupt Marines to show mercy?

"Heh..."

Xiang Keluo let out a mocking laugh:

"This filthy world truly has no intention of letting anyone survive!"

Gao Wen continued:

"As long as you become powerful enough to make everyone fear you, you will naturally possess a peaceful life."

"I even know a living example; he was once a pirate, but now he has retired and lives the very life you desire."

"The Marines know of his existence, and the World Government knows of his existence, yet both sides have chosen silence; do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because he is the Dark King Lei Li, the former right-hand man of the Pirate King Roger; even if the Marines were to take action against him, they would need to carefully weigh the losses."

Xiang Keluo fell silent; he closed his eyes, lying on the deck, while the claw blades at his fingertips trembled continuously.

The air instantly fell into silence; all the pirates watched the scene before them in quietude, and Gao Wen also waited for Xiang Keluo's answer.

A few breaths later,

Xiang Keluo opened his eyes, gazing intently at Gao Wen with burning eyes:

"Then what is your objective?"

Gao Wen thought for a moment and said:

"First, head to the Grand Line and secure the title of Warlord of the Sea."

Xiang Keluo froze.

That Gao Wen would go to the Grand Line was within his expectations, but the identity of a Warlord of the Sea held a different significance in his eyes:

Escape from Marine pursuit!

If achieved, Xiang Keluo could also live a relatively peaceful life to a certain extent.

Although it was not as perfect as his original plan, Gao Wen's words had already proven that the plan was merely a self-deceptive fantasy.

Becoming a Warlord of the Sea, though still distant, was truly feasible!

Xiang Keluo pushed his glasses up with his palm, a unique light shining in his pupils:

"Though I am reluctant, please take care of me from now on... Captain!"

"Ah, Xiang Keluo, my first mate."

Gao Wen smiled slightly and pulled Xiang Keluo to his feet in one motion.

The latter had just suffered severe injuries, yet his waist remained straight as an arrow; standing beside Gao Wen, he instantly exuded the aura of a second-in-command.

The captain and the three officers had all surrendered.

Naturally, the members of the Black Cat Pirates had no reason to continue fighting.

Under the orders of Xiang Keluo and the others, they immediately laid down their weapons and declared their surrender.

The battle had lasted only a short dozen or so minutes from start to finish, yet the number of casualties on both sides had already exceeded one-third.

Fortunately, the Black Cat Pirates originally had three ships and a crew numbering close to two hundred; even after deducting the losses, Gao Wen now commanded nearly two hundred men under his flag.

Gao Wen organized the ship doctors within the pirate crew to begin treating the wounded.

The injured were arranged in neat rows on the deck of the warship, while ship doctors attached to the unit walked among the crowd, attending to everyone's wounds.

"Ah!"

A ship doctor directly poured high-concentration alcohol onto the wound of a pirate's thigh; the latter's body instantly tensed, his face turning the color of a boiled shrimp.

Gao Wen's eye twitched; if it were possible, he would still prefer to receive more professional treatment:

"Later, we still need to find a professional ship's doctor."

Conditions at sea are crude; for injured pirates, one can only stop the bleeding, disinfect with alcohol, and stitch the wounds, with survival depending entirely on fate regarding whether they can withstand infection.

As for those pirates whose injuries are too severe and essentially beyond saving, they are merely granted a quick death.

These pirates had long grown accustomed to this, and even Gao Wen felt no pity.

After all, even at great cost, the result would only be letting them die in prolonged agony.

Thus, the Black Cat Pirates were formally merged into the Gao Wen Pirates.

A few days later, Gao Wen publicly announced that Xiang Keluo would serve as the crew's first mate, while the Nyaban Brothers and Jango would remain as combatants.

Naturally, no one among the crew objected to this.

Gao Wen's original subordinates revered him like a god, and the former members of the Black Cat Pirates, having witnessed Gao Wen crush Xiang Keluo with overwhelming force, feared him even more than they had feared Xiang Keluo.

Merely the next day.

Gao Wen demanded that everyone begin cultivation.

Ordinary pirates followed Gao Wen in cultivating swordsmanship, while elites like Xiang Keluo, the Nyaban Brothers, and Jango, who possessed their own fighting styles, cultivated according to their own habits.

Having obtained a new goal, Xiang Keluo transformed into a workaholic, spending the entire day holed up in the warship's cultivation room practicing frantically; he even added a layer of padding to the cultivation room walls to avoid injury.

Gao Wen was naturally delighted by this.

After all.

With two hundred people cultivating together, including many new blood who had just joined the pirate crew, on the very night cultivation began, Gao Wen gained over forty points of Swordsmanship experience and thirty points of Physique experience.

The surge was so great that even he felt surprised.

"My original subordinates had nearly reached their potential limits; this experience must have come from the newcomers, yet based on proportions, these ordinary pirates should only be able to provide a little over twenty points of experience."

"Then the excess must be provided by the Bronze-tier Xiang Keluo?!"

"A Bronze-tier potential yields this much?"

Gao Wen did a quick calculation.

Xiang Keluo alone could provide him with nearly ten points of experience daily, and due to his greater potential, his total output far exceeded that of ordinary pirates!

"Then how strong will Sanji and Zoro be, starting at the Gold tier?!"

Gao Wen couldn't help but feel expectant.

Suddenly, the system's prompt sounded again in his ears:

"Skill Unlocked - Scoop to Death!"

"Spoon - LV-0: 6/100!"

(End of Chapter)