A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn
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Chapter 12
Title: Truth?
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Captain Pegasus gazed at Max and his two friends, a nervous Ray and smirking Negan.
Pegasus felt something was strange and had some worries, but decided to not tell them anything about it yet. "Y'all have been promoted. Max, you are a Captain now, so I am no longer your boss, instead, we are equal. As for you two, you will both become Lieutenants."
"Okay." Max's reaction was dull, he didn't care about these things too much.
"Hot diggity damn, moving up in the world. Ma would be proud." Negan, like always joked around.
Ray on the other was the ever polite marine. "Thank you, sir."
"Oh, and Max, we don't have a Free Marine Base in North Blue for you to be in charge of. So you will have to apply and see if the Headquarters will approve to have you one built." Pegasus offered.
Max shakes his head. "No need, I don't plan to settle down yet. I will be entering the Grand Line soon anyway."
"What?!!" Captain Pegasus was shocked at that, so was Ray, but Negan on the other hand smirked.
"Don't worry, I don't plan to do so any time soon. But in the future that is the plan, staying in North Blue won't be beneficial in the long run. For me, ranks, achievements, I don't care for any of it. There is only one truth in this world..." After saying that, Max turned around and left, "Anyway, see you around."
Negan's smile couldn't get any wider as he looked at Max.
….
As he walked out Max immediately started his plans, he wanted to get a warship and go out there and so the best training in this world. The people here grew stronger the more they fought, not only would their Haki get stronger but their bodies, spirit, and their techniques will be honed.
Of course, fighting weaklings will get him nothing. But if they were of similar strength or the enemy was stronger, only then could he get the best results.
Still, physical training would be good, even though it will be quite hard to find something challenging to do from now on. Max's strength had already developed to something inhuman, he could do some things that seemed divine from his 1st world.
But this wasn't enough, he planned to at least be able to fight against a Yonko and hold his own in the future. That would be a place where he could be comfortable. At least for some time.
….
-Max POV-
While I was walking out, I noticed Negan following me. The young man, like always, had his spiked bat over his shoulder and a grin on his face.
I had no idea what the guy wanted, but I didn't bother to stop him from following me around. What mattered to me the most was just how fast I can grow and if he could keep up with me. But he was a funny guy, so he will be nice to keep around.
Still, though, I needed to move up in this place. Because while most people kicked back and waited for retirement at the Captain Rank, I wasn't like that. My goals weren't so small. And while I wasn't the kind of guy who wanted to change the system and rule the world. Because both options didn't sound fun and more like I would be putting a lot of work on myself with no real reward.
I think I have been in this world for around half a year… or almost that. My progress hadn't been bad, but it wasn't satisfactory either. Time wasn't on my side so I had to rush some things.
Any plan that I make will probably be smashed to pieces anyway, so I decided to make some short-term goals and long-term goals instead. Long term, were things like becoming as strong as an Admiral and gaining the Vice Admiral Rank. Short-term goals, priority number one was to learn Geppo and get access to Haki. Hopefully, both of my short-term goals aren't too far off.
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Half a year passed quite fast as the days went by. Bellamy, a new infamous Pirate Captain had set sail this year and was wreaking havoc all over North Blue. He was on his ship with all of his crewmates, Bellamy was a tall man with tan skin and short, unkempt blond hair.
He looked at the sea and took in a fresh breath of air. "Yes! This is it! This was the adventure that we all wanted, thankfully we got out of that wretched town!"
His crew agreed with him and the second in command even gave a toast for his captain. But their fun was interrupted when the helmsman informed them, "Bellamy! There is a Marine Ship Incoming!"
"Huh? Just shoot it down." Bellamy said dismissively, "I am not bored or drunk enough yet to take care of such trash marines."
*Gulp!* *Gulp!* *Gulp!*
That was when large intakes of liquid were heard, they looked towards the culprit and saw a man with slicked-back hair and a spiked bat next to him. The man's musculature was very developed, showing that he wasn't just your everyday marine as he also wore a coat.
"Damn, this is some bad liquor." He said shaking the now empty bottle of alcohol before he took the barrel and started drinking from it.
"Who the hell are you?!!" Yelled out Bellamy in anger.
The man looked at the Pirate Captain for a split second before going back to drinking.
"His name is Negan." A voice said right from behind Bellamy, everyone looked at him and their eyes widened in shock.
The new man initially didn't look anything too dangerous, he had slightly spiky brown hair, and his body barely reached over 1.82 meters (6ft) which wasn't anything special as Bellamy himself stood at 2.4 meters (~7'10").
Bellamy immediately used his Spring-Spring Fruit and kicked off the ground, charging towards the brown-haired man in an instant.
*fwish!*
But suddenly, with a blink, Bellamy felt a hand grasp the back of his head.
*Baaam!*
The ship shook as Bellamy's head smashed on the deck.
"By that way, my name is Max, nice to meet you." Max still introduced himself politely to the rest of the Pirate Crew, even though he had smashed their Captain's head so hard that he was knocked out and bleeding profusely.
Negan at the same time started munching down on the food they had out without shame. "Damn, their cook sucks. There is no seasoning and some of it it's cold in the middle."
Max chuckled. "Since when did you become such a critic?"
The Bellamy Pirates couldn't move a muscle, the captain they had thought unbeatable was taken down in one casual hit and the assailant looked around the ship with greedy eyes before saying. "Anyway, we will be confiscating all of your wealth. So start making your case as to why I should spare and even possibly let you go."
"Hell yeah! We are gonna rob some pirates!" Negan yelled out in excitement, happy to be doing his favorite thing in the world.
"It's not robbery, it's called confiscating." Max jokingly reprimanded Negan.
"Well to me that just sounds like a fancy way of saying robbing while still being okay in the eyes of the law," Negan refuted with a smirk on his face, he then turned towards Bellamy's Crew, "Oh by the way guys…" he noticed the women, "and gals, if the boss man decides to let you go, don't forget that you will start paying to us in the monthly. No skipping either or we use you pretty little heads' bounties as payment."
"C'mon now Negan, you are making it sound like we are running some kind of racketeering ring." Said Max as his hands broke through the wooden deck and he started tearing the ship apart to find the treasure rooms, he wasn't concerned with how badly he damaged the ship, Max just wanted to get the job done faster. He had other pirates to stea-... confiscate from.
"Oh, we both know better boss, we are just some good marines taking the money from despicable pirates. Everything we do is legal."
...
Negan and Max kept exchanging jabs at each other jokingly to pass time while tearing down the Bellamy Pirates' ship.
….
A/N: Max isn't doing anything unlawful... as he said, it ain't stealing, just confiscating... for personal usage. So yeah, he is robbing pirates with extra steps so it is legal enough.