Kane’s eyes lit up.
The more he looked at Plegrim, the more pleased he felt.
To achieve his vision, he would need the full support of all his Ghost Gods.
It was great that they could act independently.
Otherwise, if he had to micromanage everything, how could he ever start a revolution?
He might as well go home, find a wife, and settle down.
“Good idea.
Let’s do it your way.
From now on, unless there’s a major upheaval or something that threatens the big picture, you can make your own decisions.”
“Thank you for your trust, my Lord.
I will deliver the Shipping King’s entire empire to you.”
Plegrim had been about to explain his reasoning for pushing Pilaf up the ladder — but Kane approved it on the spot.
That settled it.
Plegrim was now fired up.
The truth was, his push for Pilaf had a bit of a personal angle.
When he eventually became the new Shipping King, he wouldn’t be able to handle everything himself.
He’d need subordinates to manage various affairs — and that’s where Pilaf’s value would show.
Pilaf’s rise would be entirely driven by Plegrim pulling strings from behind.
He’d be marked as Plegrim’s man — destined to be his most loyal subordinate in the organization.
Plus, Pilaf was genuinely capable.
He was the perfect workhorse.
Plegrim naturally wanted to cultivate him, so he could keep contributing and take on more responsibility down the line.
With the plan set, they parted ways.
Kane returned to the auction hall to rest.
A few days later, at Dark Sail Island’s harbor.
“Hero, I’ll never forget your kindness for the rest of my life!”
“Big brother, come visit me sometime!
I’ll have my mom make you something delicious!”
The merchant ship slowly pulled away from the shore.
The people on deck gazed at Kane with reluctance, their words of thanks never ceasing.
These people, freed from the chains of slavery, had returned to their freedom.
The gratitude in their hearts was beyond what outsiders could imagine.
“Captain Gordon, you must deliver them all safely to their homes.
Otherwise, I’ll come find you.” Kane pointed at the tall, thin man in fine clothes.
His voice was soft, but it sent a chill down the man’s spine.
“Lord Ghost Hand, rest assured!
I, Gordon, am a man of my word.
I’ll get everyone home safely!”
This was the last group.
Law and the others had been busy these past few days — sorting and categorizing the freed slaves by their home addresses.
The ones responsible for escorting them home were Kane’s old acquaintances — merchant captains he’d met during his escort jobs.
They got to repay favors and deepen their relationship with Kane, while also getting paid.
One delivery run earned them more than a regular shipping trip.
If they weren’t familiar with the process, it didn’t matter — Kane sent them to Marine Branch 108.
With Rear Admiral Kuro’s connections, they’d definitely get their money smoothly.
“Good.
Now it’s our turn.”
“Alright!”
“Setting sail!”
Bepo and the others jumped onto the Polar Submarine excitedly.
The submarine started up.
Law came over: “Not going to say goodbye?”
Following his gaze — the red-haired woman from the battle stood on the shore, watching them intently.
Behind her stood over a hundred pirates.
Kane smiled and waved.
She smiled back brightly and raised her hand in return.
“Will we meet again?”
“If fate allows!”
The ship sailed farther.
The harbor faded from view.
Law couldn’t help asking: “I thought you’d invite her aboard.”
“There are too many of them.
The submarine can’t hold them all.”
Kane replied and turned into the cabin.
Seeing he didn’t want to elaborate, Law didn’t press further.
The submarine’s capacity wasn’t a lie — but it wasn’t the whole truth either.
The real reason was that Kane wanted to maintain his current mobility.
He’d already mentally prepared himself for a confrontation with the World Government.
He had the will and the courage.
But in the end, whether he’d come out on top in that war — nobody could say.
And once he set foot on the Grand Line, there was no turning back.
This was a supernatural, willpower-driven world.
Failure wasn’t an option — you couldn’t retreat from the New World, or return to the Four Seas to regroup.
Look at Crocodile and Moria.
Crocodile got crushed by Whitebeard and retreated to the first half of the Grand Line.
He never lost his courage to stand up to Whitebeard — but he threw himself into hunting for Ancient Weapons.
His Haki had degraded so much that even Luffy could touch him.
Moria got crushed by Kaido.
He didn’t lack courage either — he constantly thought about returning to Wano to take down Kaido.
But his will crumbled.
His power degraded even worse than Crocodile’s.
He ended up as a reclusive shut-in in the Florian Triangle.
So Kane wanted to train himself.
Only when his strength reached a certain level would he enter the Grand Line — and charge straight into the finals.
In short, he’d explore first.
If he did end up failing, at least this transmigration wouldn’t have been a waste.
To do all that, maintaining mobility was critical.
Because Kane wasn’t the type to swallow his pride.
In normal situations, he was easygoing — but if something really happened, he couldn’t be like Shanks, Luffy, or Zoro — standing silent while someone poured alcohol over his head, or taking a beating without fighting back.
If anyone dared to do that to him or his crew — he’d draw his sword and cut them down!
“Playing the fool to catch the smart” wasn’t for everyone.
Most people who tried it ended up actual fools.
Kane didn’t want to gamble on which type he was.
So his bounty was bound to exceed the average in the Four Seas — drawing heavy Marine attention.
With the Polar Submarine, he could always escape if things went south.
But if he built a large fleet in the Four Seas, things would get complicated.
If he couldn’t win, how would he escape?
Abandon the fleet and save only the people on the submarine?
Kane couldn’t do that.
So in the early stages, he had to stick to the elite path.
Still, the sea was vast.
If fate allowed, they’d meet again.
The red-haired woman had ambition — she was bound to head for the Grand Line someday.
And when that time came…
“Brother Kane, is this the right way?”
Bepo held up his hand-drawn sea chart, showing it to Kane.
He pointed at the map, then at the sea.
To be honest, if Bepo tried to make a living with his cartography skills, he’d starve!
Luckily, the two had some rapport.
After staring at it for a while, Kane managed to figure out the coordinates on the map.
He began explaining to Bepo — taking him through a practical navigation lesson.
Kane’s navigation skills were entirely self-taught.
Being able to teach Bepo proved he’d achieved a decent level of proficiency — at least enough for the North Blue.
The reason he’d learned navigation was simple.
Before he started picking up kids left and right, he knew he’d need some knowledge to set sail.
Later, the real motivation came from a new discovery about his Observation Haki.
Kane was a natural-born Observation Haki user — an extremely rare talent that often came with special abilities.
For example: Queen Otohime of Fish-Man Island could sense others’ emotions with her natural Observation Haki, and even project her consciousness into others — influencing their values.
Aisa from Skypiea’s Shandia tribe had an incredibly wide range — covering the entire sky island.
The legendary pirate Redfield could easily read others’ thoughts and memories — an incredibly broken ability.
As for Kane — his natural Observation Haki special ability was discovered by accident on a voyage with Wolf.
It was an instinct — a compass-like intuition that guided him toward the right path.
In other words, even as a self-taught amateur, he could outshine the vast majority of navigators on that path alone.
With such a talent, he’d be a fool not to develop it — so studying navigation became a natural next step.