Chapter 12 - Be Ruthless

"Bob, I don't mean to keep asking questions, but I have two left."

Dave quickly said something before they went any further.

"Shoot."

"Huh?"

Dave was confused, what was he supposed to shoot? He didn't even have a gun.

"Um.. it basically means go ahead."

"Ah ok. So, first off where do you plan on having your main base?"

"Right here. We'll have two main bases, one here and another one in the New world."

Dave and John were both confused. Ron didn't show any reaction.

"It's the second half of the grand line. A place we'll eventually have to go."

"Oh, ok. But why here?"

Dave paused for a second as he realized he just asked another question. It wasn't even the question he wanted to ask.

"I mean… not that."

"I don't mind the questions. Reason being is this place is far from the grand line and their is only a minor marine base here. If it was anything major, they'd have some sort of admiral stationed here. We can stay here build our strength and expand outward."

"That's not a bad idea. I'm more worried about how we'd build an intelligence network."

John was the one who spoke up this time.

Bob thought about that, it would be difficult but he believed he'd be able to make one.

"I'm working on that, but this is what I have so far. We'd recruit different people, regardless of gender or age, as long as they are able to pass a certain test. After they pass, i'll train them how to follow their targets without being spotted, extract information they need, as well as learning of new information without working as hard. They'll then be deployed to different islands or stay on the same one, and just blend into society. They'll listen to people talk and gossip, while they follow anything that might be important. They'll be paid on the type of information they submit."

"Speaking of pay, that was my next question. How exactly is everyone going to be paid? Where would you even get the money? You have around 100 million beli waiting for you on the other side of the island, but those guys still need to be turned in for you to get paid. Money is the biggest problem right now, without it you can't create a base or do any of your other plans."

Dave brought up the biggest issue of Bob's idea.

He lacked the funds to even get started.

"I was going to lead into that point but at a later date. I plan on starting a pirate hunting group, temporarily. We'd just go hunt pirates. We can either travel to different islands, hold there and capture whatever pirate dares step foot on the land or we can roam the seas searching for them. If we had an intelligence agency set up, we could hunt them down quickly, but we don't. For now, we'll use the bounty from the Greybeard pirates to build our base here. I believe a 100 million is more than enough for what we need."

As Bob was walking he suddenly stopped.

"Ron, did the bandits have some sort of lair or hangout? I know they were extorting money from the citizens, they probably had it stashed somewhere. I'm sure the Greybeard pirates have their stash on their ship. The tavern owner on the other side said they spent most of it at the tavern, so i'm going to assume its not much left. However, there is also the base commander, I need to pay him a visit. He's been taking a portion of whatever they collect, so he should be loaded as well."

Ron nodded his head.

Before he killed Olf the bandits always hung out at the same spot in the mountains. They let down their guard which is why he was able to kill them off easily.

"Wait, Bob. About that bounty hunting crew you were speaking of, how about you let me join it as well. I might be older than most, but I can hold my own with a blade."

John spoke up before everything got settled.

"Sure, later on we'll test out your skills. It's a bit early, but i'll teach you and Ron about haki. It'll come in handy later on."

"Haki?"

"Yeah.. i'll explain later. Now isn't the time. Besides, i'm not expecting you to master it in a day. It takes time, years even."

Bob himself didn't really know too much about haki, but he was sure if he put in enough work he'd be able to activate it.

He didn't believe he himself had conquerors haki and didn't really care. As long as he had armament he'd be fine… probably.

"Alright so we'll split up here. Ron you take John to the bandit lair, see if you can find any treasure. If so just leave it there or guard it until later tonight. There are too many eyes watching in broad daylight, you never know if someone might stab you in the back.

Me and Dave will go visit the base commander. Maybe even pick out a spot of land to build our base."

"Alright, I have no problem with that plan. Let's go Ron."

John said as he started walking to town with Ron.

As Dave and Bob were walking back to the other side of town, Dave brought up a question.

"Bob, why didn't you include me when you said you'd teach them about haki?"

"Oh that? It's because you're not much of a fighter, or at least you don't seem like the type. If you felt left out, i'm sorry."

"Me and fighting? Yeah, no thanks. But I think if your plan succeeds i'll need to learn how to protect myself. Got any tips or tricks? Maybe some words of advice?"

Dave asked.

Bob nodded.

"A man once had a son, his son was born a cripple. His legs didn't have bones in them, but he was intelligent. He kept his opponents on their toes with his ideas. Be like him, use whats in your head to your advantage, don't let others tell you, you can't do something. Be ruthless, show no mercy."

Bob remembered a character in an age where vikings tormented England. Ivar The Boneless, he was an amazing character.

Dave scratched his head.

"Be ruthless… I don't know if I can."

"If it ends up being you or your enemy. Always chose yourself no matter the cost. Anyone that stands in your path kill them. You don't need to be physically strong, outwit them. If you can't win, run away and plot for next time."

Bob couldn't even believe what he was saying. Be ruthless? He was just trying to copy Ragnar. Dave was no Ivar, but he did seem to possess some intelligence. That would carry him far.

"Be ruthless… be ruthless.."

Dave kept on repeating those words as if he was in a trance.