Chapter 76: 《One Piece:The True Codex》Chapter 75: No Shared Fortune
In the Calm Belt, a battered warship struggled to move forward on the still waters.
The ship's ram had been broken off, and the holes in its hull were patched up with mismatched wooden planks, forming a patchwork quilt of repairs. What should have been an imposing vessel now looked comical from a distance.
With no wind to fill the sails, the crew had furled them and extended two rows of oars from the ship's sides. Accompanied by faint shouts of rhythm, the oars moved in unison, carving two white trails across the sea's surface.
Behind the ship, the sea was stained red with blood. The massive corpse of a Sea King, as large as a small mountain, floated up and down in the water. On the deck, the ship's captain, Selkirk, lay sprawled out, soaked and panting heavily.
Selkirk appeared to be in his thirties. His scarred, bare upper body revealed countless battle marks. Due to the lack of sufficient food, his body fat had diminished, making his muscular frame even more defined.
Beside him stood the ship's first mate and navigator, Caruso, who paid no attention to his captain's exhausted state. Expressionless, Caruso turned to a nearby crewmate and ordered, "The blood will soon attract other Sea Kings. We need to leave immediately. Tell the rowers below to put in more effort—we must pick up speed!"
The pirate nodded and left without so much as a glance at his captain.
Only then did Caruso turn to Selkirk and sneer, "If you had eaten the Devil Fruit, would you have been able to dive into the water and stop the Sea King from attacking our ship? We'd all be dead by now."
"If it were a Logia-type or something with a useful ability, I might not have needed to go into the water at all," Selkirk replied as he slowly sat up.
"If," Caruso scoffed.
The conversation quickly fell into an awkward silence. The tension between the captain and his first mate was palpable, and anyone on the ship could see that the two didn't get along.
The Swordfish Pirates was a name chosen by Selkirk himself. Caruso had no part in the decision, offering neither suggestions nor participation, as he wasn't one of the ship's original crew members.
Sailing the Grand Line meant constant vigilance against harsh weather and frequent battles. Selkirk's original navigator, first mate, and several other senior officers had all perished in a brutal fight. Caruso and many of the current officers and crew had joined the pirate group later.
Without the bond of shared hardships, there was naturally no camaraderie to share in success.
The Swordfish Pirates had stumbled upon a Devil Fruit during an unexpected stroke of luck. This windfall, combined with the crew's growing frustration with the harsh conditions of the Grand Line, led them to decide to risk leaving.
However, while the officers agreed on leaving the Grand Line, they differed on the specifics of their route.
Selkirk wanted to eat the Devil Fruit himself. With the power of the fruit combined with the skills he had honed in the Grand Line, he believed he could quickly rise to prominence in another sea as a major pirate. He was confident that the fruit's value, estimated at 100 million Beli, could be recouped in no time.
But Caruso vehemently opposed this idea. The effects of a Devil Fruit were unpredictable—a gamble with outcomes ranging from extraordinary to disastrous. The worst-case scenario would leave Selkirk as a "land duck" (unable to swim), with little to no improvement in his combat abilities.
Even in a mediocre scenario, it would take significant time and effort to develop the fruit's powers. Caruso and those aligned with him argued that this would hinder their immediate goal of crossing the Calm Belt.
Of course, the real and more pressing issue was that the Devil Fruit was a single, unique treasure. Its power could only benefit one person. Allowing Selkirk to monopolize such a valuable asset left Caruso and the other dissenting crew members feeling deeply resentful. It wasn't about scarcity—it was about inequality.
Moreover, if Selkirk's already formidable strength were further enhanced by the fruit, his authority would become even more unshakable. Repaying the crew for their contributions would be entirely at his discretion.
Caruso and his supporters proposed a different plan: sell the Devil Fruit once they reached their destination. Their target was the weakest of the four seas—the East Blue. With their current strength, they believed they could establish themselves at the top of the pirate hierarchy there without even using the fruit. Selling it would fetch an ideal price and secure their future.
This disagreement left the ship in a state of tense stalemate. The Devil Fruit, which could be rendered worthless with just a single bite, was locked in an iron box. Selkirk held the key, while the box was kept in Caruso's quarters—a compromise born of mutual distrust.
Selkirk, though unwilling, had no choice. While he was the strongest on the ship, navigating the Calm Belt and adapting to the unfamiliar waters of the East Blue required Caruso's expertise. For now, Caruso's importance outweighed his own. As captain, Selkirk's primary role was to dive into the water and fend off Sea Kings to ensure the ship's safety.
Despite considering Caruso a scoundrel, Selkirk couldn't deny his competence. It was Caruso who had calculated that this season was the peak of Sea King activity, allowing them to navigate the Calm Belt relatively unscathed.
Still, Selkirk vowed to replace Caruso with a more reliable navigator once they reached the East Blue and familiarized themselves with the region.
Shaking off the seawater, Selkirk felt the cool breeze against his skin, raising goosebumps. His eyes scanned the deck for a towel.
Wait—a breeze?
Selkirk abruptly turned around, locking eyes with Caruso, who wore an expression of surprise and delight. For a moment, their shared joy was evident, but they quickly turned away from each other and ran off in opposite directions to alert the crew.
They had crossed the Calm Belt!
"Finally, I can get rid of that bastard!"
Both men thought the same thing as they hurried off.
Meanwhile, the Red-Beard Pirates had reached the vicinity of the Calm Belt without incident. Under William's guidance, the ship proceeded cautiously to avoid wandering Sea Kings.
For nearly half a month, they had navigated the edge of the Calm Belt, their nerves on edge. During this time, they hadn't encountered any other pirates—or even a trace of humanity. The crew's morale was understandably low, and many had begun to lose faith in Barbarossa's plan.
Barbarossa himself had grown increasingly irritable. Over the past few days, he had used his Devil Fruit powers to strangle several crew members over trivial matters. Their corpses now hung from the ship's ram like oversized wind chimes, tongues lolling out and eyes rolling back as the wind occasionally spun them around. The sight was both grotesque and terrifying.
Sailing the Calm Belt was dangerous enough, but Barbarossa's actions only added to the psychological strain on the crew.
Even as the hanging bodies began to rot and emit a foul stench, no one dared to suggest taking them down, fearing Barbarossa's wrath.
The once-mighty pirate who had ruled the East Blue through connections with ministers and Marine base commanders was gone. In his place was a tyrannical, bloodthirsty beast—a madman who inspired both fear and alienation among his crew.
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