Chapter Four: The Disappearance of Rudy

The dark clouds parted, and sunlight streamed down.

Yet when the nerve-racking downpour was obliterated by a single sword strike from Chu Yi, not a single person aboard the ship felt relieved at the rain’s disappearance. Everyone on board, including Tiger and Mihawk, stared at Chu Yi in stunned silence, unable to recover for a long while.

It was not until several seconds later...

“Wow!”

A wave of uproar rose from behind Chu Yi and reached his ears.

“You’ve got to be kidding! One sword... He actually cleaved the sky apart with one sword! Is this... is this the human whom Boss Tiger acknowledges?”

“Big Brother Tiger was right. The strong among humans really are incredible. Today has truly opened my eyes!”

“Our captain is... is amazing!”

“That’s right! He’s our captain!”

“Captain Shura! Captain Chu Yi!”

After establishing his might with a single strike, Chu Yi first heard the astonished cries of the crew behind him. Before long, however, their shock and commotion transformed into voices of acceptance.

When half the fish-man crew aboard the ship had begun to acknowledge him, Chu Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled faintly to himself.

“This world...”

“As expected, it truly is a world where the strong are revered!”

Indeed.

In the world of pirates, strength was something that commanded respect.

Even merfolk and fish-men who harbored deep antagonism toward humans could not help but admire the strong among them.

Whitebeard, for instance, who protected Fish-Man Island, was the human most beloved by its merfolk and fish-men. If Chu Yi wanted to win the acknowledgment of these fish-man sailors, the first thing he needed to do was not protect or aid them, but to subdue them with his strength and make them feel respect through fear.

Judging by the results...

It seemed to have worked rather well.

Chu Yi did not expect every fish-man sailor to acknowledge him. If half of them could feel genuine admiration, he was already quite satisfied.

Of course, admiration did not mean obedience, much less loyalty.

The single sword strike that had shocked everyone on board had merely caused half the fish-man crew to feel admiration for him. Once the incident with the downpour had passed, they went on with their usual work. It was only that, whenever they encountered Chu Yi, a few of them would occasionally greet him.

It was undoubtedly a good beginning.

At the very least, Chu Yi had taken the first step toward subduing these fish-man sailors, had he not?

Afterward, as he watched the crew bustling about the ship, Chu Yi slowly made his way toward his cabin, intending to get some rest. He had not expected that, because of his earlier sword strike, Tiger, Jinbe, and Mihawk would surround him and block his path.

“That was a beautiful strike.”

Mihawk was the first to step in front of Chu Yi. He nodded with a smile, then his brows drew together as he said solemnly, “But that strike just now... Chu Yi, it seems to have consumed a great deal of your strength.”

“Indeed!”

There was no need for Chu Yi to maintain a captain’s dignity in front of Mihawk. He smiled easily and replied directly, “That is my strongest sword technique at present. I call it ‘Heavenbreaker.’ If I had not lost the ability to use my Devil Fruit, I could have unleashed a strike like that several times. But now...”

“Hahahaha! Just once was enough to make my legs go weak!”

“Mihawk, could you support me for a moment? I feel like I’m about to collapse onto the floor!”

“Mm.”

Mihawk nodded, stepped forward, and lightly supported Chu Yi. The two of them then sat cross-legged on the deck without the slightest concern for appearances.

Immediately afterward, Tiger’s broad palm landed on Chu Yi’s shoulder. His eyes were filled with pride as he said, “Kid, I knew I hadn’t misjudged you. Even without your Devil Fruit, you’re still powerful. At the very least, defeating you would require me to expend some effort!”

As he spoke, Tiger looked toward Jinbe and asked with a smile, “Jinbe, you’re convinced now, aren’t you?”

“I...”

“I’m convinced!”

Jinbe lowered his head in shame and apologized to Chu Yi. “Shura, I admit that I was somewhat dissatisfied with you being captain while Boss Tiger could only serve as your vice-captain. But now I’m convinced. In terms of strength, courage, and breadth of spirit, you truly are somewhat stronger than Boss Tiger... just a little.”

“So I sincerely accept you as my captain. If I ever try any more tricks in front of you, Boss Tiger, please teach me a lesson!”

“Ha! Do you think I would go easy on you?”

Tiger chuckled, then spoke to Chu Yi once more. “All right, enough of that.”

“Kid, it may take you some time to become familiar with everyone aboard our ship. Since you haven’t rested yet, I’ll introduce a few of the ship’s officers to you first, so that no further misunderstandings arise.”

“Hmm... There’s no need to say much about Jinbe, is there? You two already know each other!”

“Hey, you few over there! Stop sneaking around. Let me properly introduce you worthless brats to our captain!”

The moment Tiger finished speaking, several fish-men slowly emerged under Chu Yi’s rather knowing smile. Their faces were full of embarrassment, and they approached like schoolchildren who had made a mistake.

At this point, Tiger hardly needed to introduce them. Drawing on his memories of the original story, Chu Yi could recognize most of them.

The one standing in the middle had a fierce-looking face.

Although he acted obediently in front of Tiger, like a schoolboy who had done something wrong, his gaze became vicious the moment he faced Chu Yi.

He was the sawshark fish-man, the boss whom the Straw Hat Pirates had encountered in the East Blue—the very Arlong who had oppressed Nami for years.

Moreover, Chu Yi could clearly tell that among the fish-man officers Tiger had introduced, Arlong was the one most dissatisfied with him and the one most likely to cause him trouble.

As Shura, Chu Yi was extraordinarily sensitive to killing intent.

Before Tiger had exposed Arlong and the others for eavesdropping, Chu Yi’s Observation Haki had already been the first to detect Arlong’s presence. The reason was naturally...

Arlong harbored murderous intent toward him!

As for the other fish-men, there was Hatchan, the octopus fish-man who had also appeared frequently in the original story. Though slow-witted, he was extremely obedient. After witnessing Chu Yi’s earlier sword strike, Hatchan had been one of the few fish-men to offer his goodwill first.

Now that Tiger had given him a reminder, aside from Tiger and Jinbe, Hatchan might well be the only person aboard whom Chu Yi could order around.

After casually memorizing the names of several fish-man officers, Tiger realized that Chu Yi needed to rest after displaying his strength and dismissed Jinbe and the officers to attend to their duties. Chu Yi, Tiger, and Mihawk chatted idly for a while before either retiring to rest or going off to train.

The next few uneventful days passed quickly.

People like Chu Yi and Mihawk spent most of their time training, with little else to occupy them. After all, journeys across the sea were boring for the most part. As for many of the unambitious fish-man sailors, once they finished their work, they simply ate their fill and slept. They hardly seemed like people who had come out seeking adventure at all.

They were practically shut-ins!

But those calm and uneventful days lasted only a few days.

Just three days later, Chu Yi’s keen eyes spotted an island shrouded in dark clouds.

There...

Was unmistakably their destination!

Darkness Island!

Rumor had it that a world-shaking secret was hidden on Darkness Island, one connected to a mysterious treasure. It had once lured countless pirates who had reached the New World to seek it out.

But...

On Darkness Island, where there was never any daylight and night endured forever, the secret it concealed was far more complicated than a mere treasure.

The island’s other mystery was this:

No one had ever remained there for more than three days.

Once the three-day limit passed, anyone staying on Darkness Island would vanish from the world forever, as though swallowed by the island itself.

Therefore, when Chu Yi’s ship finally reached the shore, only Chu Yi, Mihawk, and Jinbe set foot on the island. The rest of the crew remained aboard their vessel to avoid any unforeseen danger.

Tiger stayed on the ship as well. One reason was to protect the fish-man sailors; the other was that he needed to watch over the two captives, Smoker and Rob Lucci.

To Chu Yi and the others, Smoker and Lucci were opponents they could dispatch with ease.

But to these fish-man sailors, Smoker, a user of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, and Lucci, a master of the Six Powers, were genuine monsters.

In that case, splitting into two groups was inevitable.

Even so, Chu Yi had never expected that the instant he stepped onto Darkness Island, the island in the New World would give him such a harsh welcome.

At that time, no more than three minutes had passed since Chu Yi, Mihawk, and Jinbe had disembarked and left the ship.

It was precisely then that—

Whoosh!

A chill wind swept over them.

As the cold wind struck, Chu Yi’s body shuddered violently.

The next instant...

“Hm?”

Turning to look toward the ship moored along the shore, Chu Yi suddenly discovered that, within the range of his Observation Haki...

Rob Lucci’s presence had vanished!