44 – Bege “Bounty”

"Wah!"

In his castle form, Capone Bege suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, staring in disbelief at the longsword that had pierced deep into his body.

The fortress-like shell around him had provided no protection at all. Not only had it been pierced through by Sherwin, but it also seemed to have been blasted by a cannonball, blowing open a huge gap.

"Yo? Still not dead?"

Sherwin pulled out his blade, flicking off the blood as he raised an eyebrow and spoke.

Even though he hadn't used Armament Haki just now, he definitely hadn't held back either. That strike was aimed straight at Bege chest.

But perhaps because of Bege castle form, Sherwin misjudged the angle, or maybe Bege had used his Devil Fruit ability to somehow treat the injury. Either way, he had barely managed to stay alive.

Originally, Sherwin had intended to finish him off, then poke around with his hunting knife to see if he could dig out the Fortress-Fortress Fruit, but in the end, he didn't go through with it...

Because Uncle Cody stepped in to stop him.

"Leave it, Sherwin." Uncle Cody looked at Sherwin and the two Felynes with a surprised expression and advised,

"The other two families in Gules have already been wiped out. If the Capone family is destroyed too, things here will get really messy."

Sherwin frowned. To be honest, he didn't really buy that reason.

Uncle Cody had once been a Marine — and a very well-respected one at that. Sherwin didn't believe that his "nice guy" nature would actually apply to someone like Capone Bege, a mafia boss.

But either way, Uncle Cody had always looked after him and seemed to be hiding some kind of mysterious identity, so there was likely some deeper reason for stopping him...

"Well, since you're saying so, Uncle..."

Sherwin gave up on delivering the final blow, sheathed his blade, and looked calmly at Capone Bege—who had returned to his normal form but was still covered in blood—and said flatly,

"But, Boss Bege, don't you think you owe me some compensation?"

"Cough, cough…" Capone Bege spat out two more mouthfuls of blood, then clutched at the wound—which, now that he was back in his regular form, looked a little less horrific—and quickly yielded.

"You win. Say it. What do you want?"

In just this short encounter, the losses to the Capone family far exceeded what it had cost to deal with the other two families earlier, and he himself had nearly lost his life. What else could he do but admit defeat?

"Hmm…" Seeing Bege so quick to read the situation, Sherwin nodded in satisfaction, thought for a moment, then said,

"My Felynes and I want to set sail, but we're still short a ship. Also, I need a fine blade that suits me."

The odds of getting a Devil Fruit from stabbing Bege corpse were too low. It was more reliable to trade for a named blade and secure a summoning ticket fragment. Thinking it through, letting Bege go actually seemed like the better deal.

"No problem. Just a ship, right? I'll have someone take you to the port. Whatever you fancy, just sail it away! As for the blade, I'll have someone deliver one to you as soon as possible—three days at most," Bege agreed without hesitation.

To the Capone family, a single ship was nothing. Even if Sherwin picked the biggest one, Bege wouldn't bat an eye. In a world ruled by the seas, ordinary ships weren't particularly expensive.

And as for a named blade, it wasn't that costly either—especially since Sherwin didn't specify a high-grade one.

So Bege didn't even try to haggle. What he was more worried about was whether this guy would make any outrageous demands next.

Capone Bege stared at Sherwin with a dark, ruthless gaze.

Sherwin calmly met his eyes, gaze clear and... pure.

"..."

"..."

"…And?" After a long silence, with Sherwin showing no sign of saying more, Bege couldn't help but break the tension and ask.

He had no choice but to speak up first—his wounds still needed treatment.

"…What else?" Sherwin looked innocent.

"..."

"..."

"So all you wanted was a ship and a sword?!" Bege nearly coughed up blood again.

He had been beaten half to death by this brat… all for something so trivial?!

"Oh, right!" Reminded by that, Sherwin suddenly clapped his hands, as if he'd just remembered something. "You guys are rich, aren't you? Then let add… 50 million Berries."

"Pffft!" This time Capone Bege really did spit blood, and even had the urge to slap himself. Why did he have to open his damn mouth?

But in the end, he still agreed with a dark expression. "Got it. Once the sword arrives, I'll have someone bring both the blade and the money straight to you."

With that, Bege and his men hurriedly limped out of the hall, looking battered and afraid Sherwin might open his mouth again and say something that would spike his blood pressure even higher.

"Tch… did I lowball him?" Seeing Capone Bege agree so quickly and then rush off, Sherwin rubbed his forehead in regret.

He'd originally planned to ask for 300 million, maybe even 500 million, but worried that if he pushed too hard, Bege might flip the table.

So he'd just tested the waters with a small 50 million… and to his surprise, Bege had agreed without even flinching.

Well, his brows were still furrowed, but that was probably because of the pain—it had nothing to do with the compensation.

There was nothing he could do. Before crossing over, the largest sum of money Sherwin had ever handled was the down payment on a house.

And he'd only really encountered the prices in this world for a few days now—he still wasn't used to the runaway inflation of the pirate world. He didn't even have the concept of asking for a higher price.

To put it bluntly, it was like "the emperor golden shovel." Sherwin spending habits simply didn't allow him to open his mouth like a lion.

But Sherwin quickly brushed aside the frustration. After all, he already had the two things he needed most—a ship and a sword. As for money, he could figure that out later.

His golden finger wasn't some pay-to-win system, and Berries were just one of the indirect ways he could get summon tickets. They weren't that important.

The most important thing was...

"Sherwin-nii is amazing, meow!" Klee Meow leapt onto his shoulder, hugged his head, and started licking him.

"So, does this mean we'll have our own ship now, meow?" Even Sanji Meow excitedly climbed onto his other shoulder, gently patting his cheek with his tiny paw as he asked.

In front of the Felynes, things like Berries and famous swords had to step aside!

Cody and Bucks also walked over at this point. Although they already had some understanding of Sherwin strength, the battle just now had still given them quite a scare.

"I didn't expect you to be this strong, Sherwin," Bucks said, a little discouraged. It felt like all the years he'd spent training with the sword had been in vain.

After giving Sherwin a surprised once-over, Cody finally spoke. "Are you interested in joining the Navy? I can recommend you for advanced training at Marine Headquarters."

"No thanks, I still have to search for their kin. The Navy isn't the right fit for me," Sherwin refused once again, using the same excuse.

"If you join the Navy, you'll be able to use official intelligence channels to help search for them. Isn't that a lot more convenient than looking on your own?" Cody persisted.

"And once you graduate from the training camp, you can even choose to join a special unit with a lot more freedom."

If the Felynes really had been scattered across the pirate world, then Cody suggestion would actually be the most optimal choice.

But the problem was… those cats were summoned by Sherwin. Which meant using the Navy intelligence network would be pointless.

As for joining a so-called "more free" special unit… no matter how much freedom it claimed to have, you still had to follow orders from above. Even a unit with the highest autonomy like SWORD was no exception.

So Sherwin shook his head and pointed at the two little cats on his shoulders as he declined once more. "Still no. Neither I nor they enjoy being bound by others."

"That right, meow! Klee loves adventures, meow! …And bombs!"

"You didn't need to add that last part…" Sherwin pinched her little cheek helplessly.

"Adventures?" Cody gaze sharpened. "Are you planning to become pirates too?"

"Klee doesn't want to be a bad guy, meow!" Before Sherwin could explain, the little plush doll on his shoulder had already puffed up and protested angrily, "Klee only blows up the bad guys, meow!"

Sherwin shrugged. "I'm not even a little interested in becoming a pirate. If I really wanted to, I wouldn't have agreed to be your escort—I would've just robbed you outright."

That explanation was actually pretty convincing. Even more convincing was the fact that Cody knew just how much Sherwin spoiled Klee Meow—so he finally let out a small breath of relief and stopped trying to persuade him.

Still, he couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "So what are you planning to do in the future? Fifty million Berries might sound like a lot, but it doesn't go very far—especially if you're traveling around searching for people."

Sherwin had thought about that problem too. Even though his plan was to form an investigation team, this world didn't have a gathering hub with quest boards to earn money. So of course, he needed to find other ways to make a living.

Fortunately, there were plenty of ways to earn money in the pirate world. If he couldn't be a monster hunter, he could still be a bounty hunter.

"Other than bounty hunting, hunting sea beasts and Sea Kings, doing trade runs, or even running a mobile restaurant on the sea—all of those are good options. I could even write short stories and sell them to newspapers. Klee really enjoys the stories I tell her."

"That right, meow! Sherwin-nii stories are super fun! And Sanji-nii cooking is super yummy too!" Klee Meow cheered him on with her usual enthusiasm, then added, "Klee can also blow up fish and sell them, meow!"

Uh… let skip that last one…

Sherwin glanced sideways at the overly excited Klee Meow but ultimately didn't have the heart to crush the little plush motivation.

(Letting Bege go was something I had planned from the start. Some readers might think it too softhearted, but the protagonist doesn't have some tragic past filled with hatred. He someone who came from a peaceful era—his mindset wouldn't shift so quickly.

Besides, if Bege were taken out, it not just the later plot that would need changing more importantly, some earlier setups that can't be revised anymore would end up wasted.

Speaking of nonsense powers, Oda really isn't any worse than fanfic authors. He can take an Age-Age Fruit and create a move like "Imaginary Future," while the Time-Time Fruit only lets someone time-travel.)