"Jiehahaha! I'm so envious of John and the others for being able to plunder the wealth of an entire country. And here we are, left with the leftovers they've plundered and having to hand over 70% of it. It's like they're skinning us alive!"
Shiki the Golden Lion complained.
By the end, he even let out a fierce curse.
" Wahahaha, little lion, you've got some nerve these days. You're even daring to badmouth your own captain!"
From afar, Rocks' booming laughter rang out.
" Tsk~!"
Shiki the Golden Lion let out a disdainful snort and then forced a smile.
" Jiehahaha! Captain, how could I? You know you're the most beloved captain to me!"
Shiki gave a half - hearted flattery.
God knows how nauseated he felt after saying that.
" Well! Not bad!"
Rocks didn't pay much heed to him and instead eyed the two large transport ships behind them.
After years of plundering at sea, Rocks could tell at a glance that these were the ships used by the World Government to transport the Heavenly Tribute from various countries.
" Wahahaha! Good job, indeed. You're my trusted subordinates! Great! Once the count is done, 30% of this will be yours. You can do whatever you want with it!"
Rocks said as he looked at his four trusted lieutenants.
" Jiehahaha! Then, thanks a lot, Captain!"
Shiki the Golden Lion said with a barely noticeable glint in his eyes.
" Wahahahaha, we're brothers. What's with the thanks!"
After checking the Heavenly Tribute, Rocks turned around and walked off.
Charlo stared silently at Rocks' back for a long while.
After Rocks disappeared from sight.
" Tch! Cheapskate! With so much Heavenly Tribute, he only gives us 30%. Why doesn't he choke on it?"
Shiki rarely spat out the cigar in his mouth.
Charlo had also gone inside to have a look.
The Heavenly Tribute on these ships was only about over four billion berries.
Thirty percent of that was only about a billion.
After dividing it among the four of them, each would only get one or two billion berries.
For those lieutenants with a large number of pirate crew members to support, it was just a drop in the bucket.
It wasn't nearly enough.
Especially for someone like Shiki the Golden Lion.
There were nearly three or four hundred people in his division.
What could one or two billion berries do?
Even for Charlo, it wasn't enough.
He would still have to go out and plunder on his own later.
Charlo returned to his own ship.
This ship had been moored here for nearly three months.
Every time he went out to sea, Charlo would either just commandeer a random ship or catch a ride on another lieutenant's ship.
It wasn't that Charlo didn't want to use his own ship, but because this ship had absolutely no combat capabilities.
It was not only slow but also poorly defended.
After all, it was just a semi - finished product.
After all, Charlo had planned to set sail at the age of eighteen.
Unexpectedly, he had to do it three years earlier.
However, there were also many shipwrights on Hatchinos.
Charlo had also asked them to come here to finish building this ship for him.
Now, three months had passed.
Looking at it, the ship was almost completed.
"How much longer until this ship is finished?"
Charlo walked up to an old man.
This old man used to be a pirate too.
He served as a shipwright on a pirate ship.
Then, after that pirate group was annexed, he joined another pirate crew.
Finally, he ended up on Hatchinos.
Due to his advanced age, he became a shipwright on the pirate island.
He was responsible for ship repair and construction.
For pirates, ships are essential.
So he was living quite comfortably.
When he heard that the captain of the Eighth Division of the Rocks Pirates, the overlord of this island, needed his ship repaired,
he came forward to offer his services.
After all, you need a backer on this island.
And what better backer could there be than a cadre of the Rocks Pirates!
Getting in with Xia Luo would definitely do him no harm.
"Lord Xia Luo! This ship is almost finished. It'll probably be ready for delivery in about two or three days!"
Old Jack bowed respectfully and said to Xia Luo.
"Alright! Contact my crew when the ship is ready!"
After Xia Luo said that, he turned around and left.
Watching Xia Luo's figure,
"What a young and powerful guy!"
"Boss!"
"Boss!"
As Xia Luo walked around, people greeted him everywhere!
After all, this was the base of the Eighth Division, and as the captain and the one in control here,
wasn't it only natural for the crew members to greet him?
Moreover, these crew members were his subordinates who had set sail with him from Kame Island.
They all knew him.
It wasn't easy for these guys to sail with him.
Xia Luo was never one to treat his subordinates badly.
In the past three months, Xia Luo had gone out to sea several times. Every time he plundered treasures, he would distribute some to his subordinates. It wasn't much, only about five hundred thousand berries per person.
If they didn't spend extravagantly, that would be enough for them to live well on this island for a month.
After all, those women in the red - light district only cost one hundred thousand berries for a night.
This is a great place for these energetic crew members.
Life on the island was boring.
Some pirates liked to hold banquets to pass the boring time.
Some pirates spent their dull lives in the red - light district.
Besides spending time with the maids every day, Xia Luo also trained his swordsmanship.
In his daily battles with Shiki and Wang Zhi, Xia Luo found his own shortcomings and then trained himself specifically to address them.
His Armament Haki had also improved.
He could already perfectly harden his entire body.
But to achieve internal destruction,
Xia Luo often failed to master it.
Bang!
A loud noise.
A big tree that needed two people to hug snapped.
But Xia Luo showed no sign of happiness.
Because what he wanted wasn't for the tree to break, but to cause internal damage and shatter the tree's core.
But no matter what he did, it was useless.
Looking at the bare area around him, where he had been practicing his punches and where trees had fallen everywhere,
"Why can't I do it!"
Xia Luo looked at his fist and the Armament Haki on it and murmured.
"It seems that it's really difficult to learn internal destruction without a teacher! I should go find the Kurozumi Kugai siblings. They're samurais from Wano Country and should know how to train it."
With that thought in mind, Xia Luo didn't hesitate and headed towards the base of the Seventh Division.
"Sir... Sir Xia Luo!"
"
Seeing Xia Luo approaching, the young pirate at the door immediately stood up straight and respectfully said.
But one could still detect nervousness from his words.
"Are Heitan Muchan (a pirate's name) and her brother here?"
Xia Luo looked at the pirate guarding the door and asked.
Xia Luo's gaze made the pirate too afraid to look him in the eye.
"Ca - Captain and the others are all in!"
The pirate stammered.
"Take me to see them!"
Without even looking at the pirate, Xia Luo commanded.
"Y - Yes, sir! Sure thing!"
Facing Xia Luo's request, the pirate didn't even dare to refuse. He immediately opened the gate and led Xia Luo inside.
As soon as Xia Luo entered the camp, he felt something different.
There were many pirates' qi.
But none of them were strong.
They didn't even have one - hundredth of Xia Luo's imposing manner.
Xia Luo didn't even spare a glance at these third - rate pirates. Then he walked straight towards Heitan Muchan's main tent.
"What a powerful swordsman! Is this what a sword master is like?"
Xia Luo could sense them, and naturally, they could sense Xia Luo too.