Chapter 8

The morning after the feast at Cocoyasi Village, the scheduled sail of the Black Pearl was delayed for some time. The reason behind the delay was the presence of Nami and Nojiko on the ship.

Since Sin was still sleeping, the crew had decided to wait for him to wake up and make the decision.

Sin was not really surprised when he saw what was happening. He had expected Bonney to do something like this after he had watched her spend so much time with the girls.

Bonney promised that she alone would take on all the responsibilities of Nojiko and Nami, and that they would not be a bother to the Crew, which led to her getting reprimanded by not just Sin, but Hancock as well.

Nami was too young to fully understand what she was getting into, and while Nojiko was older and understood the situation better, it was clear that she was only willing to come with them because of her little sister. However, Bonney was adamant about bringing them on their journey, and in the end, everyone had to relent to her wish. They knew her better than anyone, and also knew that she alone would not be able to take care of the girls.

The rules were rules, and there was no place for free-loaders on their ship.

Nojiko was given the responsibility of the Ship's Cabin Girl. She was to help with the cooking, help with the cleaning, and become the messenger of the Ship. Other than that, she was to study under Robin and start training to become, at least, a decent fighter.

The idea of so much work and responsibilities did scare her a little, but the little bluenette determinedly nodded when she saw Nami hopefully looking at her.

Nami, on the other hand, was going to study under Robin and Bepo to learn Navigation. She too had to take part in the exercises and get physically stronger, but she was spared from the duties of cleaning the cabins and helping in the Kitchen.

The first couple of days were very hard on Nojiko, as she had never before had to do so much work in her life. She was terrified after witnessing the cruel training of Kuina at the hands of Hancock, but luckily for her, she was deemed too weak to be ready for such training, and her exercises were limited to raising her stamina and body strength.

Nami, on the other hand, was having the most blissful time of her life. Once Robin showed her all the books on Navigation in the Ship's Library, the little girl just immersed herself in them. She started spending so much time there that Robin let her have her own space in the Library, where she did all her reading and worked on making maps as well.

On the third day, when they were a few hours away from Logue Town, Bonney bought a newspaper from the News Coo and read out a piece of news that surprised everyone on the ship.

"Blackstar Pirates, the new Dons of East Blue." Everyone laughed at the headline, and Bonney continued reading. "The Crew of Pirates who got famous after the news of them defeating the Kreig Pirates travelled across the sea, has yet again rocked the waters of East Blue. This time, their target was the Marines. Reports have come out, along with the official statement, regarding the destruction of the 16th Marine Branch of East Blue, responsible for the Conomi Islands. The Blackstar Pirates attacked the base at noon, two days ago, unleashing Canon Fire, which resulted in the death of dozens of Marines. After all the defences of the base were dismantled, the Captain of the Blackstar Crew, Black D. Sin, stepped onto the base and wreaked havoc using his Devil Fruit Powers, which left the Marines at his mercy. The Official Statement says that he was looking for the Captain of the Branch, Nezumi, and when he found him, he inhumanly tortured him right in front of the Marines. He got tired of playing with him after a while, and shot him right in the middle of the eyes, killing him in cold blood. Black D. Sin then proceeded to loot the Marines, taking away all of the 15 Million Berries that were in the safe before unleashing the Power of his Devil Fruit on the already ruined base, razing it to the ground. As per the reports, 87 Marines lost their lives, while more than 30 were left critically injured in the encounter. The motive behind the attack was determined to be the Crew's brimming lust for fame. Some reports say that they have managed to take down Arlong Pirates as well. The Marine Headquarters have issued an Official Bounty for the Captain of Blackstar Pirates, dubbing him as cruel, cold-blooded, and a highly dangerous individual. The public is requested to inform the authorities as soon as possible if they see a haunting Black Ship with Black Sails sailing in the waters, and they are advised to run away to save their lives." As she finished reading, there was no smile on her face.

But these things were just as they had expected.

"They hid the news of Nezumi's corruption," Bepo spoke in contempt.

"And they fabricated the numbers of deaths." Law indifferently said.

Sin had not gone on a rampage and killed so many Marines. The total number of deaths were less than 10, and before razing the base, he had already warned the Marines to evacuate the place, and all of them did as told.

Their lives did not really matter to him, but he knew that they were just foot soldiers who followed orders. Killing them had no benefit or loss to him, and he had already achieved what he was there for. The motive behind everything he did was indeed fame. And he had succeeded.

Black D. Sin

Dead or Alive

50,000,000 Berries.

The wanted poster had an image of him unemotionally looking at someone. And frankly, he looked just as terrifying as he was handsome in that image.

"Congrats Captain! You have officially the second-highest initial bounty in the Four Blue Seas!" Bepo laughed heartily as he saw the wanted poster. The first spot was still held by the now presumed dead, Nico Robin, who had received a bounty of 79 Million on her head at the age of just 8.

The rest of the crew started congratulating him as well, but Sin was intently looking at his wanted poster, and soon his body started shaking and electricity sparked from him, which scared the already fearful Nami and Nojiko even more.

"They dared to not put an image of me where I am smiling." He evilly chuckled, "Looks like I will have to ask them really nicely for it."

"Sin!" Bonney yelled at him, prompting him to stop with his evil laugh. "You are scaring them!" She pointed at the two little girls, who were disturbed after listening to everything in the report.

Sin stopped channelling his Lightning Power and pulled a tongue at her before brightly smiling at the two little girls.

"Sorry." He gently said to them, and somehow, it subsided the fear in their minds.

The crew celebrated their Captain's bounty with a round of Honey Mead and singing the famous pirate song, Bink's Sake.

An hour before their arrival in the vicinity of Logue Town, Hachi appeared in front of the crew and announced his decision, agreeing to join them.

Sin had already known what decision he would make. Given his personality, Hachi would not have been able to refuse the deal. He honoured his end of the deal and freed all of the Prisoners except for Arlong, Kurobi, and Chew.

The Fishmen were quite shocked at the turn of events, and when they learned about the deal Hachi had made for their sake, they had mixed feelings. Some called him a traitor to their kind, while others were silent and grateful to him. But none of them dared to outright shout at Hachi or attack him even if they were mad at him, and that was because they were scared of Sin and the rest of the Crew.

Hancock and Sin had made sure that they understood their place, carving the warnings on their hearts by displaying what their Devil Fruits were capable of.

All the Fishmen agreed to head back to the Fishmen Island and take the Sea Cow with them. Even if they did not want to leave Arlong, Chew, and Kurobi behind, they were not willing to sacrifice their lives in a futile effort of retaliation.

After they left, the crew had another round of celebrations, welcoming Hachi as the newest member of their crew.

Nami was not really uncomfortable around Hachi. Unlike the rest of the Fishmen, the Octopus Fishman had always been nice to her when she was being held a prisoner in the Arlong Park. But she was not fond of him either.

And Nojiko had gotten used to his presence by working with him in the kitchen these last few days. She did not like him, but she did not hate him either, so, she was not much bothered by his inclusion in the crew.

A couple of hours before nightfall, Black Pearl entered the waters of Loguetown, the Town of Beginning and the End. The birthplace and the final resting place of the Pirate King, Gold Roger. The man who was responsible for starting the Great Age of Pirates.