The Black Bear

"Creak... creak... creak..." 

I woke up to the sound of footsteps on the deck. I lifted the blanket and looked out the window facing the ship's deck. 

The first thing that caught my attention was the massive ship anchored next to mine, flying a pirate flag with a skull and large claws. 

The second thing was the sight of nine people boarding my ship and heading toward the cabin. 

"No choice but to fight, then," I sighed, taking control of my ten large nails and a set of regular nails I used for training. The nails hovered beside me as I waited for the right moment. 

The pirates split into three groups, each heading to a different location. The first went to the storage, the second searched the nearby rooms, and the third climbed to the upper deck toward my room. 

The group heading for my room consisted of three people—one fat and two who looked average. 

When they reached the top, they found only one door. The three exchanged glances, and the fat one whispered to one of them, "Open the door quietly." 

One of them stepped forward, opened the door, and peeked inside. "It's empty," he said, turning to his companions. 

When the fat one heard it was empty, he went in first so he wouldn't miss anything valuable. 

The moment all three entered, I—perched on the ceiling—looked down at them and sent three nails piercing through the backs of their skulls, killing them instantly. Before their bodies could hit the floor, I gently lowered them to avoid making noise. 

I left my room and headed for the stairs, where I encountered another group of three pirates coming up. "Seems they didn't find anything valuable below, so they're heading up here too." 

I did the same thing—levitated, stuck to the ceiling, and killed them silently as they passed beneath me. 

"I saw nine people board my ship. Since I've killed six, three remain—plus however many are still on their ship," I thought as I descended to find the last three. 

After searching the rooms carefully but finding nothing, I headed to the storage. 

In the storage, three pirates were enjoying my wine. 

I had originally planned to give that wine to the giants on Little Garden in exchange for advice, but after seeing the dangers there, I abandoned the idea. Since then, the wine had been sitting in storage. 

The three were so engrossed in drinking that they didn't even look back. Like their comrades, I gave them a quick death. 

Now I had two choices: fly away on my ship or board theirs. 

Under normal circumstances, I would have left—I'm cautious by nature. But right now, I was in financial trouble. The money I had ran out in the Kingdom of Medicine, so it seemed I'd have to board their ship in search of valuables. 

I didn't exit directly onto the deck—someone might have been watching from their ship. Instead, I opened the window, flew out, and boarded from the opposite side. 

As soon as I climbed aboard, I saw four pirates passed out near empty wine bottles—just as I expected. One stood at the edge of the ship, looking toward my boat. 

I sent a nail through the back of his head, then finished off the four sleepers. 

Eleven dead so far. This was only the second time I'd killed anyone—the first was one person who got in my way in Loguetown. 

Killing eleven pirates didn't weigh on my conscience at all. They were pirates—I wouldn't care if a thousand more died. 

--- 

*Conard's Perspective (Captain of the Bear Pirates):* 

A few days ago, we stopped a merchant ship to plunder it. Who would've thought we'd find a Devil Fruit aboard? 

I decided to retire from piracy. I'm over forty, and with my savings plus the profit from selling this fruit, I'd have enough to live comfortably for life. 

The problem was my crew. I needed a way to get rid of them—twenty men, not counting myself. 

Earlier, one of my men mentioned spotting a small boat anchored nearby, so I sent whoever wanted to raid it. Ten left, but they were taking too long. 

I glanced around and saw eight of my men completely drunk. As I was lost in thoughts of my future, the door opened. 

I thought the boarding party had returned—but instead, I saw a naked young man with something long between his legs. 

Several large and small nails floated around him. "A Devil Fruit user," I thought, staring at him. 

"Who the hell are you, weirdo?" 

--- 

After killing the guard and the four sleepers, I searched for a window or another way in but found nothing. So I entered through the door. 

It was risky, but at worst, I could escape by flying. 

Inside, I saw more unconscious pirates and one sitting on what looked like a fancy couch—probably the captain. 

He called me a weirdo—probably because I was naked. Not that I cared. I hadn't had time to dress after they boarded my ship. 

Not wanting to waste time, I sent nails toward the pirates on the floor. 

The captain shouted at them, but how could drunkards dodge my nails? Even at their best, they wouldn't have stood a chance. Unsurprisingly, the nails pierced their bodies and killed them. 

I glanced at the man who seemed to be the captain. His face was expressionless—no shock at my abilities, no anger at his crew's deaths. 

"Aren't you angry about your crew dying?" I asked. "Just so you know, the ones who boarded my ship are dead too." 

This kid killed my men. I was planning to do the same in Alabasta, but I still needed them to sail the ship there. Whatever—let them die. It'll be harder to move alone, but I'll manage, the captain thought, staring at Luca. 

"Are you a pirate hunter?" 

Instead of answering, he asked me a question in return. So I did the same. 

"Do you have a bounty?" 

"Yes, I am the Black Bear Conard with a bounty of 59 million Berries. Did my bounty tempt you to come take my head?" The captain introduced himself proudly, standing up from the couch and removing the black coat he was wearing. 

"With those nails, it seems you're a Devil Fruit user. What's your ability?" 

"Magnetic manipulation," I lied to him. 

"But it seems your fruit has made you too arrogant to face a pirate crew alone. Also, you're not the only one with Devil Fruit powers." His skin began turning into black fur, his muscles swelling enormously, and his hands transformed into terrifying bear claws. Within seconds, he had turned into a huge black bear standing before me. 

He spoke in a fierce voice: "I'm a user of the Black Bear Zoan ability. Your luck has run out, boy." 

I looked at this massive bear and thought about escaping. But how long would I keep running away? Every time I face danger, my first thought is to flee. So today, right now, I will fight. 

"Come at me, you disgusting pirate," I pointed at him. 

The pirate charged at me with speed that didn't match his massive size. I controlled the metal objects in the room - swords and guns - and directed them toward him. The swords struck his body but only left some surface scratches. 

"My fruit gives me extremely tough skin, so those little nail tricks of yours are useless against me," the bear spoke arrogantly and swung his claws at me. 

I manipulated the air to wrap around his body, but he easily broke free. However, that second was enough for me to dodge his attack and move away - I didn't want a physical confrontation with a wild bear like him. 

The bear looked at me strangely and asked, "You lied to me about your ability." 

I didn't answer his question - I'm not stupid enough to tell you about my powers. 

I raised my head and noticed a large glass chandelier hanging in the room, so I lured the bear to the spot I wanted and dropped it on him. 

It left some wounds but not enough to kill him. 

I picked up one of the guns and shot him, but it only left a small bruise on his shoulder. 

"Didn't I tell you these little nail games won't work on me, kid?" 

"His abilities give him strong defense. I don't have anything with enough penetrating power to get through this defense. I need a solution," I thought as I flew around dodging his attacks and occasionally hitting him with something. 

How could I bypass this defense? There was indeed one solution - go to my ship, eat the Flame-Flame Fruit, return and burn him to death. But I'd prefer escaping naked to Alabasta over that solution. 

There was another solution - lure him to water and throw him into the sea. It was difficult but the only solution I could think of right now. 

I exited the room and stood on the ship's deck. As expected, he followed me and stood on the deck. 

"Don't think you can leave so easily, boy." 

He continued attacking me fiercely as I kept moving closer to the ship's edge. 

The bear charged at me, swinging his claws again. But this time, I used the air once more to slow him down, dodged his attack, manipulated the wood he was standing on, and threw him toward the sea. 

"Wha- what is this?" The bear's eyes filled with terror as he sensed the danger, reaching out hoping to grab the ship's edge. But I destroyed it with a kick to leave him no hope. 

"Damn you, kid!" the bear screamed as he fell toward the sea. 

As he fell, he didn't make any movement and sank to the bottom like a hammer.