[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-if-you-don-t-try-hard-how-can-i-become-pirate-ki":3,"chapter-if-you-don-t-try-hard-how-can-i-become-pirate-ki-if-you-don-t-try-hard-how-can-i-become-pirate-ki-chapter-440":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","If You Don't Try Hard, How Can I Become Pirate King?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2340424,4574,"Chapter 440","if-you-don-t-try-hard-how-can-i-become-pirate-ki-chapter-440",440,"\u003Cp>Late night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somewhere in the New World’s waters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The currents surged violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At a glance, only the deepest darkness could be seen, like a beast with its jaws wide open, ready to swallow the entire world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only on a lone deserted island could faint flickers of firelight be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crack—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The firewood burned, emitting sharp pops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crocodile, utterly disheveled, sat silently beside the fire, his companions beside him having escaped with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked around, his gaze sweeping over pale, bewildered faces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did he realize that those still following him were none other than the original members of Baroque Works from Alabasta.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sasha, Mr-4 Bepo, Dorofei, Mr-5 Jem…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those prisoners from Impel Down whom Crocodile had considered his elite core had, the moment the battle erupted and the gulf between enemy and ally became clear, betrayed him without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some fled with the Cross Guild’s wealth; others knelt at the feet of the being known as Wang the moment they saw him, begging only for a chance to survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Morality? Dignity?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For pirates, those were the most meaningless things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crocodile’s years of planning, his ambitious Cross Guild, had vanished without a ripple before Im’s near-cataclysmic power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a gap of absolute strength—even Crocodile now felt despair, and he ignored the hot soup Sasha handed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boss, no matter what, you must eat something first, or you won’t have the strength to seek revenge.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when Sasha’s voice reached his ears did Crocodile slowly look up at the faces before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What met his eyes were faces, battered but not hopeless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s right!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boss, we’re all here, no matter what!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marianno forced a smile, her eyes fixed on Crocodile with desperate hope—but how could Crocodile miss the confusion and fear lurking in her gaze?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr-4 sat quietly to the side, just as he always had, waiting for Crocodile’s orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t clever, and his combat power paled in comparison to the monsters of the New World.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he possessed something Crocodile had never felt—or rather, something he once had, but had long since discarded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Loyalty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s right, Captain, we still have to build our paradise. I…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr-4, unusually shy, spoke with an expression that clashed violently with his bulky frame and the giant baseball bat behind him, looking almost comical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Crocodile couldn’t laugh. He listened silently as Mr-4 spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to open a pizza shop, hehe~~~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahahaha~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What a wonderful dream.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps in their despair, they had lowered their guard, freely exposing their vulnerability before their companions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I! I’m going to become a world-famous painter!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marianno beamed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr-5, who had been silent until now, spoke up:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for me… I think I want to be a firefighter?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone paused, surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Mr-5 was a Bomb-Bomb Fruit user—anything on his body could trigger an explosion; he was practically a walking arsonist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet his dream was to become a firefighter?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good dream.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crocodile nodded at him. From these people before him, he felt something he had never felt before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can’t fall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I fall, they won’t survive in the New World on their own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crocodile reached into his coat and pulled out a bent cigar, lit it, and drew a deep breath. His expression returned to its usual calm composure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he sipped the hot soup, he weighed his next move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Cross Guild is destroyed. The remnants are powerless and will face double suppression from the Marines and the World Government.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Without a powerful force to protect them, their fate will be either drowning in the sea or spending the rest of their lives in Impel Down.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And incidents like the forced breach of Impel Down are merely rare events born from a convergence of countless factors.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It might not happen again for decades, or even centuries.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crocodile silently analyzed the state of the seas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to secure a path to survival for those beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The era of the Four Emperors has ended. From now on, the seas will have only two poles.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though the World Government’s control over the seas has weakened far from its former strength, its tiger’s roar still lingers—it remains a mountain nearly impossible to shake.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Britannias controls the New World; General Gao Wen’s combat power is unmatched, and his Knights of the Round Table gather the strongest monsters the seas have ever seen.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The next ruler of the seas will be born from these two powers!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If we don’t choose soon, Sasha and the others will face endless pursuit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The World Government will never tolerate me. Katakuri must face the World Government while also watching out for Kaido—he’s barely holding on himself. Mihawk? He’s always been a lone wolf; he’s no help.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Given the current situation, I have only one path left… it’s…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ironical.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crocodile sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew perfectly well his best choice right now was Britannias.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his intellect and strength, even in Britannias—where monsters walked like dogs and only Warlords could shake the ground—he could still thrive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the thought of bowing to that man…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crocodile’s heart burned with unbearable resentment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bold words he’d spoken when captured now came back like boomerangs striking him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tch…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who the hell would bow to that monster?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boss!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marianno softly called out. Crocodile looked up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, at a distance, Mr-4 was awkwardly fiddling with his camera, face flushed with frustration. After several minutes of fumbling, he finally managed to adjust it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One, two, three!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cheese!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst the group’s cheers,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a slightly warm photograph slid out from beneath the camera.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After passing it around and laughing together, the photo finally reached Crocodile’s hands. He glanced down—and his lips twitched involuntarily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the photo, Crocodile was surrounded by the group, his face filled with confusion and bewilderment, utterly devoid of the dark, fearsome aura of a former underworld boss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahahaha—!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve never seen Boss look like this before! I don’t care—this photo is mine!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marianno snatched the photo from Crocodile’s hands. The others, unwilling to let it go, surged forward in playful chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Laughter and noise filled the area around the fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crimson glow of the flames lit Crocodile’s face—his once dark, menacing features now held a rare softness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. I’ll bow. After all…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s not the first time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Achoo!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Britannias.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Wen sneezed, wondering which cursed fool was secretly cursing him. After confirming no anomalies nearby, he turned his attention back to the matter at hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression grew more serious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You really mean to do this?!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1083,"2026-06-20T23:03:54.258Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e95772903a73525ac1c576ec5fcf9b898f515eaefca187897adbd21e56843cb9","if-you-don-t-try-hard-how-can-i-become-pirate-ki-chapter-441","if-you-don-t-try-hard-how-can-i-become-pirate-ki-chapter-439",469,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fif-you-don-t-try-hard-how-can-i-become-pirate-ki-cover.jpg"]