Chapter 19: The Ship

"I'm going to sea too! I'm gonna be a pirate!" Luffy shouted enthusiastically after hearing Ryu's declaration.

Thud!

Ryu delivered a swift punch to Luffy's head. "You? Setting sail? Wait another five years, at least! Besides, I'm not necessarily becoming a pirate. Most likely, I'll be an explorer. I'll circle the world and come back."

"Ow! Owowow! (┬┬﹏┬┬) Why does it hurt so much?! You hit as hard as Gramps! And I'm made of rubber!"

"You'll understand someday," Ryu replied cryptically. Turning to Ace, he added, "Ace, I'm leaving now. You'll hear about my exploits soon enough. I'm looking forward to seeing you set sail in two years."

"Got it!" Ace nodded with determination.

"Well then, since I'm leaving soon, we should make the most of our time." Ryu grinned mischievously.

"Huh?"

"It's party time!"

"!!!"

Ryu brought Luffy and Ace to Makino's tavern for a farewell feast. After all, it would be a long time before they saw each other again.

Tonight, Ryu planned to treat them to an extravagant meal—on his dime, of course. As the wealthiest man in Boro Village, he wasn't about to skimp on such an occasion.

The next morning, the trio rose early. Ace and Luffy accompanied Ryu to the port. There was no trace of sadness in their eyes; they knew they'd meet again eventually. Still, the longer the gap between meetings, the higher the chances of conflict when they did reunite. After all, there could only be one Pirate King—and though Ryu had no interest in claiming that title, fate often had its own plans.

Back in Boro Village, Ryu arrived at the harbor, only to find himself puzzled. Where was the custom ship he'd ordered?

As the richest man in town, he certainly wasn't planning to embark on a rickety little boat like some vagabond.

No, Ryu had spared no expense. He'd spent a staggering 200 million Beri commissioning a mid-sized, luxurious triple-mast schooner from Water 7.

How had he arranged this, you ask?

With a Den Den Mushi, of course!

Who doesn't know how to use a phone these days?

Bzzt bzzt bzzt~

The Den Den Mushi in his pocket suddenly rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Mr. Ikano D. Ryu?"

"Yes, that's me. What's up?"

"We regret to inform you that the delivery of your ship has been delayed due to an encounter with pirates en route. However, rest assured, the quality of your vessel remains uncompromised. We've assigned one of our strongest shipwrights to oversee the journey personally."

"How much longer until it arrives?"

"Just half a day. Apologies for not meeting the scheduled arrival time."

"No problem. Half a day is manageable."

"Thank you for your understanding. Wishing you a pleasant day ahead."

Beep beep~

Ryu hung up and headed back home. Standing under the sun wasn't exactly comfortable, and besides, he'd already arranged for someone to keep watch over the port.

"A shipwright, huh? Wonder who it could be."

Despite the delay, Ryu felt a flicker of excitement.

For years, he'd dominated East Blue without challenge. Originally, he'd planned to set sail at fifteen, but the lack of worthy opponents had pushed that timeline up to twelve.

Over the past five years alone—excluding profits from commerce—he'd earned a staggering 1.1 billion Beri by hunting pirates. In East Blue, where even pirates worth a few million were rare, amassing such wealth through bounty hunting was unprecedented.

To put it simply, East Blue no longer needed Marines. Thanks to Ryu's efforts, the region had become far more peaceful than it ever was before. For years, not a single bounty-worthy pirate had dared leave Loguetown. Smoker often grumbled about how Ryu's presence left him with nothing to do.

Half a day passed in the blink of an eye. A magnificent triple-mast schooner appeared at the port, its prow adorned with the carved head of a giant bat.

It was unmistakably Ryu's custom-made vessel. From aboard the ship, a man with an extraordinarily long nose leapt down.

"Is Master Ryu here? The ship you ordered has arrived."

Meanwhile, someone had already informed Ryu. Not long after, he arrived at the port to find the long-nosed man chatting amiably with the villagers.

"Kaku, eh? Not bad," Ryu muttered to himself.

Activating his Demon Eyes , he quickly assessed the man's combat potential.

Power Level: 1,700

"Not bad," Ryu thought. Kaku was considered the second-strongest among the shipwrights of Water 7.

But compared to Ryu? The gap was astronomical.

Here were Ryu's current stats:

Name: Ikano D. Ryu

Age: 12

Race: High-Tier Vampire

Level: 30 (100%)

Power Level: 5,800

Busoshoku Haki: Level 1

Kenbunshoku Haki: Level 2

Haoshoku Haki: Unlocked

Skills:

Intermediate Swordsmanship (862,751/1,000,000)

Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat (95,346/100,000)

Blood Spear: (9,527/10,000)

Abyssal Slash (Self-created Skill): Focuses all strength into a single strike, unleashing 2-5x normal attack power. Recommended cooldown: 30 minutes. Damage halved when used with Abyss.

Bat Form 1 (656/1,000): Transforms into a giant bat, boosting all attributes significantly. Ability improves by consuming blood from Zoan or Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit users.

Evolution Prerequisites: Absorb 1,000 units of Devil Fruit user blood + 10,000 units of regular blood. Higher-quality blood yields greater post-evolution strength.

Items:

Medium Blood Pouch: 8,000/10,000 (can store 10,000 kg of blood)Small Blood Pouch: 785/1,000Blood Ring: 185/290 (290 cubic meters storage space; size scales with host's power)

Quests:

Evolution Quest: Reach Level 30, fulfill prerequisites, and complete third evolution. Reward: Large Blood Pouch, Random Skill x1.

Event Quest: Defeat Shanks. Time limit: None. Reward varies based on completion time.

Compared to before, Ryu's abilities had grown exponentially. He'd unlocked Busoshoku Haki and advanced Kenbunshoku Haki to Level 2.

Kaku might know Rokushiki techniques, but how could he possibly compete? Their Power Levels alone told the story—and that was before factoring in Ryu's Bat Form.

In practical terms, Ryu's combat prowess far exceeded Kaku's by several orders of magnitude.

Realizing this, Ryu lost his initial excitement. If it had been Rob Lucci, perhaps he'd have considered testing his skills. But Kaku? Not worth the effort.

Sensing something watching him, Kaku turned and spotted Ryu immediately. "Ah, Master Ryu, I presume?"

"You know me?"

"Of course! You're quite famous in East Blue. Over the past five years, you've captured countless pirates and earned the title 'Hunter of the East Blue.' Your reputation extends even to Water 7."

Ryu blinked in surprise. Unbeknownst to him, his fame had spread so widely. Though, he mused, the nickname "Hunter of the East Blue" didn't quite fit. From what he'd heard, people referred to him as the "Demon of the East Blue." After all, any pirate unfortunate enough to catch his attention ended up dead. His merciless reputation had earned him that moniker, and it suited him far better.