Chapter 135: Robbing the Sunny Pirates!
As Yakos approached, Ryuunosuke grabbed a towel from the side and casually wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Welcome, Captain Yakos of the Sunny Pirates," Ryuunosuke said as he strolled over to the recliner. He plopped down lazily and picked up a glass of red wine, sipping it like he owned the world.
"Sunny Pirates, huh? That name sucks. Change it."
"Change the name?!" Yakos blinked, startled. "Our name was bestowed by the World Nobles. It can't be changed! And besides, there's never been any conflict between us and you— the Dragon Hunter Pirates."
"If you push this, you'll bring the wrath of the World Nobles down on you!"
Ryuunosuke snorted.
"The wrath of the World Nobles?" He chuckled. "Why would I give a damn about that?"
The words hit Yakos like a thunderclap. Even the Four Emperors tread carefully when it came to the Celestial Dragons. Who the hell was this man to talk like that?
But deep down, Yakos knew he couldn't argue. Ryuunosuke's strength was undeniable—just from the earlier exchanges, it was obvious. Even without using abilities, this guy could probably crush him with sheer physical might.
"Najenda mentioned that there's some cargo on your ship that's off-limits," Ryuunosuke continued, shifting the topic without warning. "Slaves, right?"
Yakos hesitated. "This shipment… it's for the World Nobles…"
"I want it."
Ryuunosuke cut him off without a second thought.
"You what?! This cargo belongs to the World Nobles, you can't—"
"I'm not asking for your permission," Ryuunosuke interrupted again, his voice flat and commanding. "I'm telling you how it's gonna be."
"I don't care what dirty business the Celestial Dragons are up to. But last time, when they came after me… I'm guessing they were behind that."
"These slaves? Consider them compensation."
"And next time they come at me? I'll go straight for their throats."
Before Yakos could respond, Ryuunosuke vanished—only to reappear right in front of him a heartbeat later.
He grabbed Yakos by the collar and, in a flash, the two appeared on the deck of the Sunny Pirates' ship.
"I'll let you keep one ship. You've got ten minutes to get your crew out of here. No slaves leave with you."
"If you take longer than that, any crew members still here will be considered cargo too."
With that, Ryuunosuke vanished again.
Yakos was left sitting alone on the deck, stunned.
Tap, tap, tap...
The sound of hurried footsteps snapped him back to reality.
"What are you doing?!" he barked.
His crew was scrambling—moving food, sorting supplies, and… freeing the slaves?
"Captain, should we be loading the cargo or preparing to fight the Dragon Hunter Pirates?" one of his men asked nervously.
"Fight?" another scoffed. "You wanna die?"
The words stung, but they weren't wrong. Right now, trying to fight was as good as suicide.
"You guys…" Yakos gritted his teeth. He felt utterly humiliated.
"…Fine. I'll help too."
He rolled up his sleeves and joined the effort.
Within ten minutes, the crew cleared a ship and prepared to set sail. As a slave transport vessel, it had been stocked with plenty of food and supplies to keep the "cargo" in pristine condition. Now, all of that would be left behind.
"Captain, they're gone," Najenda reported as she watched the last Sunny ship disappear into the distance.
"What should we do with the slaves?"
Ryuunosuke didn't answer immediately. He stood still, thinking.
They didn't need money. They weren't short on resources. Weapons and equipment were in abundance.
So why take the slaves?
After a moment, he spoke.
"Sort them. If there are any capable of fighting, keep them. Let them do odd jobs. After a year, they can choose to leave or stay."
"As for the women, send them back. I don't care if they want to stay—unless they can fight, I don't want freeloaders."
Most slave women were captured for the sick entertainment of nobles. Beautiful, shapely, but ultimately useless in battle.
"Men with strength can be trained into guards. At least that's something."
"And if there are any rare races... those might be worth keeping."
"Chrollo likes collecting weird shit," he added with a shrug.
"I don't eat much, and I'm super useful!" Akame shouted with a pout, mouth full of meat as she waddled over.
"Uhh…" Ryuunosuke scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I wasn't talking about you. You're good, Akame. You're definitely useful."
Najenda, Akame, and Kuina were all girls—but none of them were the delicate kind. Still, sorting the slaves wasn't something Ryuunosuke wanted to do personally.
"Hawkins, handle it."
The man looked like a villain anyway—perfect for this kind of job. Slaves would probably be too scared to lie to him.
A short while later, Hawkins returned with a full report.
"Captain, the stats are in," he said.
"There are 321 male combat-type slaves with decent potential. They'll need training, but they could become solid fighters."
"187 females. About half of them were sold by their own families. They don't want to return and have requested to stay and work."
"The rest are being sent home by Urzi. Most come from small towns or villages along the Grand Line, though a few are from the West Sea and North Sea. Urzi's expanding routes to those areas."
"As for rare races: two long-arm tribe members, four iron-heads, two Mink, and two fish-men."
Ryuunosuke raised an eyebrow at the mention of mink.
"Mink?"
That piqued his interest.
Most people underestimated the mink tribe, but on Zou Island, they ruled with pride. They had once served as loyal retainers of the Kozuki Clan—technically still loyal to Momonosuke now.
But when transformed under the moon into their Sulong forms, their combat power spiked insanely.
"Especially that damn weird electro claw thing," Ryuunosuke muttered.
"Hawkins, bring the two mink to me," he said after a moment's thought.
This tribe had value.
No way in hell was he handing them over to Momonosuke.
That'd be a damn waste.
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