Chapter 49: Vivre Card
Jeka was not a newcomer to the New World; he had joined the Rocks Pirates several years ago.
However, the Rocks Pirates were more like a pirate alliance, with many cadres maintaining their own small groups. This was a very normal phenomenon.
The reason the Rocks Pirates could remain together was not friendship or affection, but power.
In this crew, everyone essentially worshipped strength. Those without sufficient power would naturally attach themselves to stronger individuals, and most of the monstrously powerful cadres had their own factions.
Rocks D. Xebec was completely unconcerned about this.
What was wrong with pirates worshipping power? On this vast sea, those without strength were nothing.
Moreover, he himself possessed absolute power; otherwise, he would never have been able to gather so many monsters under his banner.
The person Jeka followed was Charlotte Linlin.
Because of her childhood experiences, Charlotte Linlin wanted to create a nation that could accommodate all races, and she was therefore very fond of unique races. However, although Jeka was a half-Fishman, he did not become a core member of this future Yonko's crew.
Compared to Edward Newgate's habit of adopting sons everywhere, Big Mom trusted blood ties more.
Although she was still a member of the Rocks Pirates, she had already given birth to several children. Even Katakuri, who would later gain great fame, was now almost 10 years old.
Though not yet 10, Katakuri had already built a considerable reputation within the Rocks Pirates.
He inherited part of Charlotte Linlin's talent and possessed monstrous strength. While that power was still immature in the eyes of true titans, for many ordinary pirates it was already something unattainable in a lifetime.
His overwhelming strength once made him act recklessly, but it also led to his sister being hurt. As a result, Katakuri's personality had gradually become much more restrained.
The minor incident involving the Night Fire Pirates was not something these cadres needed to concern themselves with.
To be honest, although most Supernovas had the potential to become great pirates, the premise was that they had to survive first. A Supernova killed by a Pirate Hunter was not worth attention, and even if such news reached their ears, it would only become a joke.
The profession of Pirate Hunter simply carried no prestige.
Most who hunted pirates in the name of justice joined the Marines, while those who did it for money were easily blinded by profit. Once they realized that robbing ordinary people carried less risk and still brought income, who would continue risking their lives fighting pirates?
As a result, Marine bounties were not truly meant for bounty hunters, but instead encouraged pirates to challenge famous figures for higher bounties and reputation.
The destruction of the Night Fire Pirates went unnoticed by those at the top, but to Jeka, it was extremely important.
After all, Horo was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user. If recruited, he could become a powerful asset for Jeka's own development.
Jeka clearly understood that although he had pledged allegiance to a great pirate like Charlotte Linlin, his position was awkward. For that reason, he needed to form his own faction and accumulate personal strength.
Horo, as a Logia-type user, was undoubtedly a good choice. With a Logia's high baseline strength, and once he learned Busoshoku Haki, he could at least become a reliable subordinate.
But now that plan had been ruined by Ren, and Jeka had also lost a pirate crew he had recently recruited, which made him furious.
However, from another perspective, if he could recruit the Pirate Hunter who defeated the Night Fire Pirates, it might completely compensate for the loss.
Indeed, compared to killing Ren, Jeka preferred to recruit him.
In Jeka's view, this was not impossible. Most Pirate Hunters were notorious in their own right, and those driven by money usually valued their lives greatly.
After all, no matter how much money one had, it was only useful if one remained alive.
Jeka did not believe a Pirate Hunter could be stronger than him. Even an ordinary Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral was no match for him.
"But how are we supposed to find that Pirate Hunter? The newspapers didn't record his appearance," someone asked. This person was also a newcomer who had just arrived from Paradise.
"Newcomers are still newcomers. Don't you know about Vivre Cards?" another pirate scoffed. "There are still quite a few whose Vivre Cards haven't burned away."
Dicas and his crew, who were defeated by the Night Fire Pirates, were themselves rookies who had not been in the New World long. They did not know Haki, and their Vivre Cards had only recently been made, not even distributed until this voyage.
Thus, the female pirates captured by Ren did not know about Vivre Cards at all. Otherwise, under Ren's control, they would not have kept silent about it.
Now Jeka ordered his subordinates to retrieve those Vivre Cards.
Captain Dicas's Vivre Card had completely burned to ashes, but another card was still fluttering vigorously, showing no sign of damage.
"Only Owl is left?"
A pirate leaned in and recognized the owner of the intact card. She was called "Owl," though her real name was Shiyado.
She had been the only true combatant aboard Dicas's ship, and she was a Zoan-type user of the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Owl.
After the Night Fire Pirates defeated Dicas, they captured several female pirates, but only she was qualified to have a Vivre Card made.
She was also the pirate who had previously helped Ren locate the Goro Goro no Mi.
Jeka watched the piece of paper in his hand flutter toward a single direction, already pointing the way to Ren's location.
"That woman Owl had a bounty too, 30,000,000 Berries. He didn't hand her over to the Marines—looks like that Pirate Hunter is quite the lecher," someone laughed, noticing that the Vivre Card was clearly not pointing toward a Marine base.
"Hey, hey, she can't really be considered good-looking, can she?" someone retorted. Indeed, Shiyado's appearance was ordinary, with eyebrows even thicker than Crayon Shin-chan's.
"It seems that Pirate Hunter is heading back toward Paradise."
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