‘Shanks?’ ‘One of the future Four Emperors?’ Gavin froze.
His eyes flicked to the straw hat on Shanks’s head, then he turned again and looked toward the flag hanging from the single-masted ship anchored just offshore.
Seeing Gavin stare so hard at his ‘pirate ship’, Shanks thought he was looking down on it for being small and hurried to explain.
“That’s my ship, the Red Force!
Well…
resources are limited right now, so getting a ship like this is already pretty good.
We’ll definitely upgrade it in the future!” Talk about a pillow showing up right when he was getting sleepy.
Gavin sighed inwardly.
He had still been worrying over whether he should head out to sea as a pirate or become a bounty hunter.
As for joining the Marines… Yeah, no.
Absolutely not!
He had already transmigrated into another world.
There was no way he was going to run off and become someone else’s overworked pack mule.
Especially not under the Marines’ version of justice.
Before transmigrating, Gavin had complained more than once while watching this anime.
Sure, a small number of powerful, unusual Marines did carry out their own personal sense of justice, but the “justice” of most Marines revolved around the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
A Celestial Dragon got punched?
An Admiral was deployed.
Information about the Poneglyphs leaked?
Call in an Admiral candidate.
As long as something even brushed against the World Government or the Celestial Dragons, the Marines acted with terrifying efficiency.
But when civilians were in trouble?
Sorry, the Den Den Mushi emergency hotline is currently busy… When the Den Den Mushi connects—”All right, your report has been recorded.
The Marines will send support, but please prepare yourself mentally.
After all, the Marines can’t do everything.” Their slow response was partly because the Marines really did not have enough manpower, but overall, the Celestial Dragons were definitely the beloved daddies of most Marines.
“Join us, Hickman!
I’ve heard about what happened to you.
If you become my crewmate, I can help you get revenge!” Shanks tried to persuade him.
“No problem.
I’ll join you.” “Yeah, it’s totally normal for you to be resistant and have questions.
After all, pirates are—” Shanks suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence, his eyes going blank.
‘Wait.’ ‘What did he just said?!’ Shanks suddenly felt a little miserable.
He had clearly prepared a three-step plan to convince Hickman!
He had barely started the first step, which was reasoning with him.
Following the normal flow, shouldn’t Hickman have rejected him with something like— ‘I am the rightful prince of a kingdom!
I would never sink so low as to become a pirate!’ Or maybe… ‘Pah!
Filthy pirates!
I am a noble, and I will never associate with your kind!’ Then Shanks would move him with emotion, explain the benefits of becoming a pirate, and casually smear the nobles and Marines along the way!
Finally, he would emphasize again that, as captain, he was offering crew benefits like helping him take revenge.
And just like that, another legendary pirate recruitment story would be added to the sea!
The Red Hair Pirates would gain a powerful new member, and Shanks himself would be standing on a whole different level.
It was a win-win!
“Um… sorry, what did you just say?” Shanks asked carefully.
Gavin glanced at Shanks, who was staring at him wide-eyed with snot nearly running from his nose, then pointed at himself and smiled.
“I said I’ll join.
I was worrying because I had nowhere to go anyway, so if you’re still short on people, I can come aboard.” The way Gavin saw it, rather than wasting his energy building a pirate crew from scratch, he might as well join a ready-made one and take it easy.
Instead of becoming the main captain, being the vice-captain sounded much more comfortable.
Just look at companies back in his old world.
Aside from the leaders at the very top, the people stuck in the middle who suffered the most were always the ones with the main responsibility.
When something went wrong, the big boss called the person in charge over and scolded them.
After getting scolded, the person in charge turned around and scolded the poor workers responsible for the problem.
As for the deputy?
As long as they had no ambition to keep climbing higher, that was the most comfortable position in the entire circle.
If something went wrong, the main person took the hit.
If work needed doing, the underlings handled it.
Gavin had a very positive view of the future Four Emperors’ crew, and he firmly believed one thing: as long as he secured the vice-captain position early, he would never have to worry about food, drink, or comfort in the future!
Besides, this was the early founding period of the Red Hair Pirates.
Anyone with half a brain knew which mattered more: helping someone in the snow or adding flowers to an already perfect brocade.
And the world of pirates was not like his previous life.
Shanks definitely would not turn around and stab him the moment they reached shore.
“Oh, you’re joining?
Ahahaha!” Shanks laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head with his right hand.
“Sorry, sorry!
I thought a strong guy like you would look down on a small pirate crew that was just founded.” “After all, a slash that powerful…” Looking at the sword scar beneath his feet, which stretched deep into the forest, Shanks’s face was full of shock.
“I can’t do that.
If it were Captain Roger or Rayleigh, they probably could.” “But it really is strange, Hickman.
If you had power like this, the Hickman Kingdom shouldn’t have lost to Goa.” Gavin canceled Nozarashi’s Shikai, then used the white cloth to wrap the broken-looking blade again.
After that, he found the precious head worth four and a half million Berries and followed Shanks toward the small boat.
Under the deepening influence of Kenpachi’s memories, Gavin realized that killing people did not seem to bother him much.
“Just think of it as a special ability I awakened after getting pushed too far.” After casually making up an excuse, Gavin asked, “Other than me, who else is in the crew right now?” Shanks picked up the oars and began rowing the boat, lifting his chin with obvious pride.
“Of course we’ve got people!” “I’ve already gathered a doctor, musicians, and a navigator.
Bonk Punch and Monster are amazing musicians!” “As for Building Snake and Hongo, I only recruited them a few days ago.
They’re our navigator and ship’s doctor.
And now, with you here too, Hickman, we’ve got one hell of a crew!!” ‘They were all familiar names.’ Gavin thought to himself.
‘Those were Shanks’s future veteran crewmates.’ Based on the traditional structure of an Emperor’s crew—the 1-3-6-1 setup— One Emperor captain, three top fighters, six senior officers, and one officer candidate in charge of odd jobs.
The Emperor captain was naturally Shanks himself, while the original three top fighters should be Benn Beckman, Yasopp, and Lucky Roux.
But from the look of things, Gavin would have to take one of those spots now.
If the power granted by his cheat ability was included, his position might even have to be adjusted higher.
Maybe the future Red Hair Pirates could become a two-Emperor crew with a 2-3-6-1 setup instead.
“Everyone!
I found us another new crewmate!!” While Gavin was thinking, the small boat had already reached the side of the Red Force.
Several ropes dropped from above, and the iron hooks at their ends caught the small boat before hauling it up.
“Let me introduce him.
You should all know who this is, right?
The last prince of the Hickman Kingdom, Hickman D.
Gavin.” Shanks hooked an arm around Gavin’s shoulders, his face filled with undisguised pride.
“You all saw that slash just now, didn’t you?” “Keh-heh!
Hickman was overwhelmed by my charisma, so he willingly agreed to become our vice-captain!” “You guys had better be grateful and show more respect to your captain, from now on!” Gavin also came back to his senses.
“Hello, everyone.
I’m Hickman D.
Gavin.
Glad to be aboard!” The three men quickly ran over, moved in perfect sync, and kicked Shanks away before wrapping their arms warmly around Gavin.
“Hahaha, Hickman, you’re seriously strong!
Why don’t you just become the captain instead?
We can make that brainless idiot the cleaner!” Hongo laughed as he patted his own chest.
“I’m Hongo, the ship’s doctor of the Red Hair Pirates!” “Hongo’s right!” A bald, heavily muscled man grinned.
“I’m Bonk Punch, musician and boxer.
My fists are pretty damn strong!” “Squeak, squeak, squeak!!” A small monkey climbed onto Bonk Punch’s shoulder and hurriedly pointed at itself.
“Hickman, this is Monster.
He’s my partner, a very smart monkey!” Monster puffed out his chest and lifted his head proudly.
“Squeak!” “I’m Building Snake.
Just call me Snake.
I’m the navigator for now, and I’m good with kicking techniques and two-sword style.” Building Snake stretched out his fist toward Gavin, wearing the same friendly smile.
“Nice to meet you.
Just call me Gavin and—” Gavin had barely gotten the greeting out when the sound of rapid movement came from behind him.
“You bastards, prepare yourselves!
This is punishment from your captain!!” Shanks rushed past from the side and casually tossed his straw hat to Gavin.
“Gavin, hold my hat for me!
The captain is about to teach these three idiots a proper lesson!” “Take this!!”