One Piece: Blood Clan

"I'm gonna set sail too! I wanna be a pirate!"

Upon hearing Bors's words, Luffy roared at the top of his lungs.

Smack!

Bors landed a solid punch on Luffy's head. "You really think you can leave the seas just like that? Wait five years if you must! Besides, I might not even be a pirate—most likely I'll become an explorer. I'll circle back once I've made my name."

"Ow! That hurts! It hurts so much! Why do you hit like your grandpa does?! I'm rubber, remember?!" Luffy wailed, rubbing his aching head.

"You'll understand one day," Bors replied coolly. Then, turning to Ace, he added, "Ace, I'm off for now. In no time, you'll hear my name echo across the seas—just wait two years and see what you look like when you set sail."

"Okay!" Ace answered, his tone a mixture of awe and resignation.

"Then we must hurry—the party's starting!" Bors declared.

"!!!"

...

Bors led Luffy and the others to Maqino's Tavern—a farewell feast, for they wouldn't meet for a long time. Tonight, he vowed, they would eat their fill; every expense would be on him.

The next morning, before dawn had fully broken, Luffy and Ace helped see Bors off at the port. Neither showed much reluctance—after all, they'd surely cross paths again.

In fact, the longer the separation, the higher the chance they'd end up clashing. After all, there's only one Pirate King—and Bors wasn't exactly gunning for that title.

Back in East Blue Village, Bors arrived at the port and mused aloud, "Where's that custom-built ship of mine? It should have been here by now…"

Of course, as the richest man in East Blue Village, he wouldn't be setting off on a rickety little boat like some halfwit. He had invested two hundred million Berries to commission a sleek, medium-sized three-mast clipper from the City of Water—a ship of considerable quality. When asked how he'd arranged it, he scoffed internally at the idea of a "telephone bug" ever being able to make a call.

Just then, the phone bug in his possession buzzed.

"Hello?" Bors answered.

"Hello, is this Mr. Ikanu B. Bors?" the voice inquired.

"That's me. What's the matter?"

"We regret to inform you that your ship's delivery has been delayed—pirates attacked along the route. But rest assured, there are no quality issues. We've assigned a highly skilled shipwright to oversee the vessel," the operator explained.

"How long will the delay be?"

"Approximately half a day. We apologize for not meeting the scheduled arrival."

"Fine, I can wait half a day."

"Thank you for your understanding. Have a pleasant day," came the polite farewell.

Beep beep~

Bors hung up and strolled back indoors.

The sunlight outside was too harsh, and he'd already arranged for his new ship to be guarded at the port.

"Shipwright, huh? I wonder who that will be," he mused, excitement twinkling in his eyes. In truth, he'd longed for a worthy challenge ever since he'd left the East Blue.

Originally planning to set sail at fifteen, he eventually decided to leave at twelve—since no one in the East Blue seemed strong enough these days.

In the past five years, without counting his business ventures, the bounty pirates he'd captured alone had earned him an astonishing 1.1 billion Berries. In a region where even a few million isn't easy to come by, that figure was unprecedented.

One could say that East Blue now barely needed the Navy—Bors had single-handedly transformed it into a haven of order. For several years, no bounty pirates had dared emerge from Loguetown; even Smoker grumbled, thanks to Bors, there were hardly any pirates left for him to capture.

In what felt like no time at all, a luxurious three-mast ship appeared at East Blue Village's harbor. Its ornate hull, crowned by a massive bat-shaped prow, made it unmistakable—the very ship Bors had ordered.

A man with an exceptionally long nose leaped off the ship and called out, "Is Mr. Bors here? Your Ship has arrived."

Soon, someone had alerted Bors. Arriving at the port, he immediately saw the long-nosed man chatting amiably with the villagers.

"Is that Kaku? Not too shabby," Bors remarked. His Demon Eyes quickly assessed the man's combat power.

"Kaku's Dao Power: 1700"—a respectable figure, though still second-tier among the elite shipwrights of the Water 7 Island.

Compared to Bors, the gap was still massive.

At this point, Bors's attributes read as follows:

Name: Ikanu B. Bors

Age: 12

Race: Advanced Vampire

Level: 30 (100%)

Dao Power: 5800

Armament Haki: Level 1

Observation Haki: Level 2

Conqueror's Haki: Locked

Skills:

• Intermediate Swordsmanship (862751/1000000)

• Basic Physical Arts (95346/100000)

• Blood Thrust 1 (9527/10000)

• A Bi Slash (Self-Invented Skill): Concentrates all bodily strength to deliver an attack at 2–5 times his normal power. (Recommended to allow at least 30 minutes' recovery between uses as the technique relies on A Bi Maru; damage is halved when using A Bi Maru to trigger this skill.)

• Bat Transformation 1 (656/1000): Transforms into a giant bat, significantly boosting all attributes. (Enhanced by absorbing the blood of animal- or mythical beast–type Devil Fruit users.)

Pre-Evolution Requirements: Absorb 1000 units of Devil Fruit user blood and 10,000 units of normal blood—the higher the quality, the greater the post-evolution strength.

Items:

• Medium Blood Pack: 8000/10000 (stores up to 10,000 kilograms of blood)

• Small Blood Pack: 785/1000

• Blood Ring: 185/290 (290 cubic meters of storage; capacity scales with host power)

Missions:

• Evolution Mission: Reach level 30, meet pre-evolution conditions, complete the third evolution. (Reward: Large Blood Pack, plus one random skill.)

• Event Mission: Defeat "Red-Haired" (time-unlimited; reward based on completion time)

Bors's overall combat stats had greatly improved compared to before. He had now unlocked Armament Haki and attained Level 2 Observation Haki. His Dao Power far outstripped that of Kaku by nearly 100 million points. With Bat Transformation at his disposal, it was safe to say that in raw fighting capability, Bors now stood an order of magnitude above Kaku.

As if sensing something was ambling toward him, Kaku turned and spotted Bors. "You're Mr. Bors, right?"

"Do you know me?" Bors asked coolly.

"Of course. In the East Blue you're famous—you've earned the nickname 'East Blue Devil' by capturing so many pirates. Not only in the East Blue, but even in the Water 7, your name is known," Kaku replied.

Bors paused.

He hadn't realized that his reputation had grown so large.

Still, the moniker "East Blue Devil" didn't quite suit him.

In recent years, he'd been called "East Blue Devil"—a title earned by his ruthless methods.

After all, his bounty-hunting left no survivors.