Chapter 126: Yamato or Big Mom's Daughters - Who to Recruit First?
A grand celebration.
It lasted for three days and nights, filling all of Fishman Island with festivity.
Kuke, overwhelmed by the warmth of the mermaids, spent three entire days before he could finally break free from their enthusiastic embrace.
When he left, every mermaid came to see him off.
"Lord Kuke, Fishman Island will always stand by your side," King Neptune said humbly.
The last time Neptune faced Kuke, he had been respectful, but not sycophantic—there had been more of a sense of honor.
Now, after hearing everything from Jinbe, he learned that Kuke had become one of the Four Emperors, one of the strongest men in the world.
He was so happy he couldn't sleep for three days straight.
It felt unreal.
What had Fishman Island ever done to deserve the favor of a Sea Emperor? And to become the only island protected by the Sun and Moon Pirates?
Perhaps the answer lay in Princess Shirahoshi, who now stood there, bidding Kuke farewell.
"Set sail!"
All the Fishmen watched as the Radiant Eclipse departed.
"Why? Why do we have to bow down to mere humans like this?" a young great white shark Fishman grumbled unhappily.
Smack!
A slap landed on his head, nearly knocking him over.
Hody Jones looked up at Arlong, his boss and idol, in confusion.
"Shut up," Arlong scolded, pointing at his underling. "If I hear you say something like that again, you won't be my underling anymore."
"Why?" Hody Jones asked, still confused.
"Because... Lord Kuke killed the Fleet Admiral," Arlong said, his eyes filled with admiration.
Deep down, he had always harbored fear—fear of the Navy, especially Kizaru, who had crushed the Sun Pirates with overwhelming power. The memory of it still haunted him, filling him with shame and fear.
And now, Kizaru was a Navy Admiral, right below the Fleet Admiral.
Jinbe, witnessing the scene, looked at Arlong with surprise. He had heard Arlong planned to head for East Blue, but it seemed that with Kuke protecting Fishman Island, Arlong had regained the courage to stay.
The Radiant Eclipse began its rapid ascent through the sea.
They were heading to the New World.
This was their second journey to the New World, but this time, it was a true entry into the New World.
Kuke looked at his crew.
Gion, Stussy, Shakky, Hancock, and Belo Betty—already famous across the seas.
Alongside them were Hancock's two sisters, Lily, Nico Robin, and Makino.
Then there were the younger ones: Koala and Kuina.
And the new recruits, Violet and Baby 5.
Lookout: Violet [Paramecia-Type Glare-Glare Fruit, Bounty: 0, Power Level: 4865]
Kuke had received a special ability boost from her.
An enhancement to his vision.
Purely in terms of sight, he surpassed even Hawkeye.
Apprentice: Baby 5 [Paramecia-Type Weapon-Weapon Fruit, Power Level: 1979]
Kuke had become a master of weaponry.
Any weapon Kuke touched, he could quickly master.
These two boosts were better than nothing.
However, Monet and Sugar had not joined them.
The Donquixote Family was now history, and Doflamingo was dead.
They had chosen to stay loyal to their family.
Kuke glanced at his crew's stats.
Most had grown stronger.
Stussy, Shakky, and Gion had made the most progress—largely due to their fierce battle with Sengoku. Fighting was the fastest way to grow stronger.
Their improvement also meant Kuke's growth.
What Kuke valued most was his achievement points.
Achievement Points: 389,621
An explosive increase of over a hundred thousand.
He was only about 110,000 points away from 500,000. With 500,000 achievement points, he could unlock instant crew teleportation and ship teleportation abilities.
At that point, the Sun and Moon Pirates would be virtually unstoppable.
"Not bad," Kuke smiled.
He was about to break 400,000.
He was confident that in a few days, he would surpass that milestone.
Kuke estimated that the incident at Sabaody Archipelago would ultimately bring him around 450,000 points.
Five hundred thousand was within reach.
The achievement points earned from the Sabaody incident alone had surpassed what Kuke had earned throughout the entire previous year.
"No wonder the Fleet Admiral was worth so much," Kuke chuckled.
Of course, his death and resurrection had also been a major shock.
Breaking the Shichibukai system, Gion, Stussy, and Shakky showcased their unexpected strength—all of it had contributed to the massive increase.
After the event, everyone's bounty soared.
Kuke was now recognized as the fourth Sea Emperor.
Multiple factors had led to this influx of achievement points.
"Opportunities like this will be hard to come by in the future."
The first time he died and came back to life, it was shocking.
Doing it again wouldn't have the same effect.
Fortunately, there were many ways to earn achievement points.
The New World was filled with untapped opportunities.
And now, they were heading there to take full advantage.
His first priority was to recruit more crew members.
The stronger the crew, the more achievement points he could earn.
Recruiting powerful individuals would increase his own power as well, as he gained an equivalent boost.
Recruitment and strengthening the crew—this was Kuke's main interest and his most enticing prospect.
"Too bad, it's not easy for the current crew members to make rapid improvements anymore," Kuke thought as he looked at the women around him.
Most of them were already Devil Fruit users.
They couldn't consume another Devil Fruit to further increase their power.
There was another problem.
Recalling the original storyline, there weren't many good Devil Fruits left for Kuke to acquire.
"In the original story, the unclaimed powerful Devil Fruits are probably only the Flame-Flame Fruit, the Dark-Dark Fruit, and maybe the Gold-Gold Fruit," Kuke pondered.
With Doflamingo dead and the Donquixote Family destroyed, there was no guarantee that the Gold-Gold Fruit would ever appear.
The Flame-Flame Fruit eventually ended up with Ace.
Where and how it would appear, no one knew.
There were still seven years until Ace set sail.
Kuke didn't have high hopes for the Flame-Flame Fruit.
Only the Dark-Dark Fruit remained.
"If I can get the Dark-Dark Fruit, will I still lack powerful Devil Fruits?"
The one fruit Kuke wanted the most was the Dark-Dark Fruit.
With it, he would gain the ability to take other Devil Fruit powers.
"If I get the Dark-Dark Fruit, I could even replace the abilities of my crew members."
Not every crew member in the Sun and Moon Pirates had a top-tier Devil Fruit.
Nico Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit and Hancock's sisters' Zoan Fruits were only mid-tier abilities at best.
But once eaten, a Devil Fruit's power couldn't be replaced in one's lifetime—unless one died, causing the ability to disappear.
Blackbeard, after obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit in the original story, couldn't replace the Devil Fruits of his ability-wielding subordinates.
But Kuke could.
Because he had the system.
With the system's monthly resurrection ability, a dead crew member could have their power stripped, be brought back to life as a non-user, and then be given a stronger Devil Fruit.
Kuke had found a loophole.
Where would these stronger Devil Fruits come from? The only way was to use the Dark-Dark Fruit to take them.
Everything hinged on obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit.
If he got it, Kuke would be able to make every crew member a top-tier Devil Fruit user.
"The Dark-Dark Fruit eventually ends up with Blackbeard, but that's still ten years away."
Right now, it wasn't an option.
No one knew where the Dark-Dark Fruit was.
So, for now, the route of acquiring good Devil Fruits to enhance his crew's strength was blocked.
"First, let's recruit more crew members."
They still didn't have enough people.
Where should he start looking?
One option was the Beasts Pirates, and the other was the Big Mom Pirates.
As for the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates, they were of lower priority.
Yamato or Big Mom's daughters...
Kuke kept comparing his options.
Who to recruit first?
He tossed a coin into the air.
Heads for Yamato, tails for Smoothie and the others.
The coin landed on the back of his hand.
Kuke looked down.
The answer was clear.
The Beasts Pirates it was!
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DONT FORGET POWER STONE FOR EXTRA CHAPTERS
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 154+ at patreon.com/Emik01.
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