One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

The warship had plenty of supplies, including medical supplies, which were perfect for bandaging the wounded pirates.

Lily, as the navigator, was also temporarily in charge of logistics and supplies, and had already taken inventory.

In the captain's quarters, Lily, Ajin and Paru stood as Lily organized the inventory of supplies and said, "Based on the supplies from the warship, we can sail for about a week."

The 23rd Branch wasn't far from Campas, so they hadn't consumed many supplies, which benefited Sage.

"A week, huh?"

Sage nodded and looked at Ajin, "Are there any other towns like Campas nearby?"

He wasn't giving up.

Since they had encountered one wealthy town, naturally the next target should be equivalent.

"There are," Ajin said. "Ward Town and Maniro Town. One is a major timber town, the other has rich mineral resources. Both are large towns on par with Campas."

Lily spread out a map and located the two towns, saying, "One is east and one is north. Ward Town is closest, we can reach it by tomorrow morning."

"Good! Let's go to Ward Town first!"

Sage stubbed out his cigarette forcefully in the ashtray, took another swig of alcohol, and stood up to go outside.

On the deck, some pirates were painting the sails black, while the rest were resting and chatting occasionally.

"Men!" Sage clenched his fist and shouted loudly, causing the pirates to all look his way.

"One setback doesn't matter. At the next town, we'll be able to steal some money. Everyone keep your spirits up, we'll definitely achieve our goal. Now... let's have a party!"

"Oh!!" The pirates cheered loudly.

They may not have money, but they needed to boost morale.

Using half the supplies for a party would ensure the pirates' spirits.

Since they'd arrive tomorrow anyway, there was no need to be frugal. If necessary, they could restock supplies along the way.

The pirates brought supplies up from the hold, while those with some cooking skills busied themselves in the kitchen. Barrels of rum were brought out, and whether injured or not, everyone grabbed wooden cups and started drinking.

Pirates, by nature, had no strict management. They made a ruckus, shouting and yelling. Their lives consisted of either looting or on the way to looting - this was the daily life of most pirates.

Sage looked down at the lively scene of the pirates, the corner of his mouth curling up. Then, thinking of something, he turned to Lily and repeated: "You can't drink alcohol, okay? Juice is fine."

Although Lily had no intention of joining in, she couldn't help but argue after Sage's repeated comments: "I'm sixteen."

"So what if you're sixteen, sixteen is just starting high... oh." Sage paused, then realized: "Oh, you're sixteen. You're an adult."

The standards for adulthood in this world were different - eighteen for men, sixteen for women. By rights, Lily was already an adult.

But Sage still felt uneasy. He thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, drink less."

Lily shook her head, "Rather than joining the party, I prefer organizing navigation charts."

The warship had a fairly complete set of navigation charts, including a large map of the East Blue. As long as they cross-referenced, they wouldn't get lost.

Memorizing all the navigation charts and being able to make decisions in unexpected situations was the duty of a navigator.

...

Boom! Boom boom!

On the sea, three warships were chasing a black-sailed warship, constantly firing cannonballs that exploded near the black ship, creating huge splashes and causing the ship to rock violently.

Whoosh! Bang!!

A cannonball flew straight at the ship's hull, but Paru, standing at the stern, caught it with his round shield. It exploded on the shield, the violent impact force making him stagger and fall, but he quickly stood up and laughed at the pursuing warships: "Cannons are useless against me! I am the invincible iron wall Paru!"

He really could withstand cannons.

"Turn 90 degrees to port, the wind is strongest there!"

Lily shouted commands on the deck, then ran to the rear of the deck, looking towards Sage's position. "Sage, their sailing speed is the same, we can't shake them off."

Sage watched another cannonball being fired, stepped on the air, and kicked the cannonball back, exploding it on the warship's mast, setting it ablaze.

"Tempest Kick!"

Two pale blue slashes flew rapidly towards the other two warships, cutting off their masts and forcing them to reduce speed.

This action drew cheers from the pirates.

Captain Sage was truly the strongest!

Sage landed on the deck, his expression unchanged, his mood very calm.

It's fine, just some bad luck, he was used to it.

Compared to other fruitless endeavors, at least as a pirate he had acquired a warship and had food and drink. That was already pretty good.

Getting rich was just a matter of time.

They arrived at Ward Town the next day. Sage got up early, thinking about looting, whether gold and jewels or Belly, planning to get some money first. Then... as expected, the unexpected happened.

The town was destroyed as well!

The destruction was similar to Campas Town, with half of it gone.

Ward Town was known for producing timber. Although there were many forested islands in the sea, this town's wood was still famous. Their wood was resistant to insects, and when processed with special methods, it would remain uncorrupted for a long time.

Most of the East Blue's shipbuilding industry needed their wood. There was also a treasure tree that took thirty years to grow. This tree would never be infested by insects and was much sturdier than other trees.

Such a treasure tree, once grown, would naturally be sought after by shipwrights throughout the East Blue. But it had been stolen.

Looking at the devastated town, Sage accepted his bad luck and had no desire to loot. He had his men take some supplies, but they hadn't gone far before being chased by warships.

The reason the warships were chasing them relentlessly was simple - the pirates who had looted the town were like them, with only black sails painted and no distinctive pirate flag.

Sage didn't have a pirate flag because he hadn't decided on one yet, but why didn't the looters have a flag? This made the Navy think they had looted Ward Town, so they kept chasing them.

This led to the earlier scene.

Sage returned to the captain's quarters and said to Lily who had rushed over, "How long to Maniro Town?"

"Two days," Lily said. "Why don't we change location? Stop operating in the 23rd Branch's jurisdiction."

"There's still one more town! I can't believe it!" Sage said stubbornly. "We can't possibly fail to loot anything!"

He still had Maniro Town.

Three wealthy towns, could he really not steal a single coin?

As long as he didn't give up, he would eventually steal some money!

Prosperous towns were either natural harbors and transportation hubs with large amounts of trade, or had good specialties.

Campas produced canvas, Ward Town produced timber, and Maniro Town had rich mineral resources. Ship bolts and hinges, cannon materials and other components all needed raw materials from this town.

When Sage arrived, the town didn't exceed his expectations - it had been destroyed as well.

Maniro Town had a precious iron that, when forged, produced durable and flexible materials. If used to make cannons, they would never burst.

So, similarly painted black-sailed ships and black-robed people had destroyed the town and stolen the precious iron.

This time... Sage was being chased by five warships.

"Black Sail Pirates! Surrender immediately or we'll sink you!"

A voice from a loudspeaker on one of the pursuing warships reached the black-sailed warship.

"Tempest Kick!!"

Immediately, a large number of pale blue slashes burst from the black-sailed warship, cutting off the masts of the warships. One warship even had a huge gash cut into it, immediately sinking halfway into the sea.

This time, Sage's face was terribly gloomy.

"Damn it!"

Sage gritted his teeth and said, "Others steal the money, and I take the blame? That's not how the world works! Even if the king told me to take the blame, I'd rather die! No more looting, let's find those people!"

Being chased by the Navy was fine, it was natural for pirates to be pursued. The key was that he hadn't stolen anything, just got some supplies, yet he was constantly being chased by warships. It wasn't worth it.

Sage was furious.

He had to find those people, otherwise he couldn't swallow this anger!