chapter 23

the first battle Arowen ever participated in was not bad, he didn't get injured given how weak his opponents were, after all this is only the beginning of the grand line, the pirates in these parts either just made it into this place or weaklings who didn't have what it takes to move further in

so when the marines won, they started looting the pirate ship for anything that may prove to be useful, Arowen also didn't shy away from such practice, some people with an idealistic view may say

'ooh! how are you better than pirates!!'*in a sassy way*

well the only response Arowen would give is a big FK U, but let's not digress from the subject, Arowen wasn't part of the crew and his rank was higher, so he didn't have to follow the orders of the captain and neither did the captain have to listen to his orders, as in the sea the captain has the highest authority regardless of ranking

Arowen didn't have to follow the orders, so he started roaming the pirate ship, meanwhile, the crew had to hurry and start making repairs on the ship, the ships were made in such a way that parts could be replaced and repaired easily without bringing harm to its structure, after all in this world of one piece, naval battles happen all the time and the world is pretty big so if the ship is damaged and it faces another battle, abnormal weather, or any such a thing it would mean the end for it and its inhabitants, that is why ship making is very advanced and the ships were made to be easy to repair

now going back to Arowen, he started to roam around the pirate ship to see if there was anything that may be interesting or valuable after all you never know, and so he went down to the first level, in this part of the ship there was a long corridor with plenty of rooms with no doors on each side of the ship except for one, and so he started going about from room to room, checking them quickly, the rooms seemed to be the living quarters of the pirates and you may have guessed it, but they were filthy and smelled so bad, it is understandable that water is precious out in the sea but it shouldn't get this bad, at least from time to time they should've cleaned there clothing with seawater even if it damages the fabric over time, they could have looted some more or whatever

brief, Arowen didn't bother with checking the rooms thoroughly, he was disgusted and just glanced quickly to no avail, the pirates are not trustworthy and the rooms didn't have doors so most probably the pirates would keep anything precious on there person, so he moved to the last room with a door, the room was of course locked, so he kicked the door and with his strength, it broke from the hinges and he was met with a filthy kitchen, the plates were dirty, the other tools as well and in a corner, a fat and short mother-fker was shivering

"don't kill me, I am not with them please! they forced me to cook for them!" the fat man begged for his life, but Arowen didn't believe him, the guy may have been forced to join at the beginning but Arowen was sure he blended just fine judging from the bundle of keys at his waist

"shut up and get outside" Arowen said in a steely voice giving no chance to the fat guy to argue while putting his hand on the sword to deter him, after all, Arowen isn't stupid enough to swing a sword in a tight place like this

the fat guy seemed to get the message and moved to the door, but just as he brushed past Arowen he took out a dagger and swiped at Arowens throat

'cliche!' Arowen thought as he sent a kick in the guy's face, knocking him out easily, then Arowen dragged him to the deck by the hair for the other marines to take care of and went back inside the ship

now Arriving in the second level he was faced with another door, so he kicked it as well and it was ripped from its hinges, this level seems to be a storage place, a disorganized one, after all, pirates aren't known for their great sense of organization, the place was filled with crates and fabric,

"so, they looted a merchant ship recently, let's look around"

Arowen went around the crates, opening them one by one to see if there was anything interesting, the crates held some art, food, decorated pots, jewelry, iron it was diverse, but to Arowen the crates with spices were the most valuable, he took a bag he found earlier, it seemed to be made of sturdy material and had quite a large capacity and was filled with pockets so he took it, then he took a good quality fabric, cut it to pieces, made small cloth bags and filled them with spices, one of each kind, then he continued to look until he found a small iron chest 30cmx30cm, the chest was locked and seemed to be well made, and with no key in sight he cut it carefully with his sword so as not to damage what is inside

the surprise on Arowens face wasn't small by any chance, who would believe that he would come into contact with such a treasure at his first encounter with pirates at the beginning of the grand line, inside the iron chest Arowen found a fruit, but not any fruit, this fruit had swirls all around it, it was white in color and looked like a kiwi, it was a legendary devil fruit, one of the specialties of the one-piece world, it could give a person supernatural powers and improve his physical constitution raising the limits his body could bear which is why all devil fruit users have impressive physical strength and endurance

Arowen quickly looked around him, to see if anyone was in the room with him, and seeing that no one was around, he quickly looked for another small chest, he found a wooden one easily, then wrapped the fruit with a cloth after cushioning the box, and tucked it in his bag, and with that, he finished the second level and went to the third and last level

another door barred his way, and what did he do? he knocked it down with a kick hehe, inside this level the stench was horrible, it smelled like rotten eggs and the air was damp and cold, inside this level, Arowen was met with a traumatizing sight, that is if he was the sensitive type of guy, but it nonetheless disturbed him, and pained his heart quite a bit

inside there were women barely clothed with vacant eyes, and covered in unholy fluids, but wasn't what pained him the most, in fact, such a sight wouldn't faze him that much, what really got to him were the children in the same condition, he loved children and seeing them in such condition enraged him so much, tears went down his face,

Arowen turned away from the sight, he may kill a man or a woman without batting an eye, he may even be able to torture them, but children where a red line, he would kill them only if he is forced and even then he would hesitate, to see them like this broke his heart, he went back to the deck and without even saying a thing he went to the pirated fire in his eyes and killed them all then went back to his cabin leaving only a few words not paying attention to the other marines

"go and salvage what you can" he said in a tired voice, the marines of course didn't understand from his ambiguous words, and were left speechless, but when they went down to the third level, they understood his words and actions, but they were used to it, in the seas pirated would do whatever they want and such cases aren't rare