One Piece: Heaven-Defying Talent

Hearing this, Volcano sighed. "Once could be coincidence, twice might still be coincidence, but three times? That's intentional. We've got a traitor among us, someone tipping off Joz."

"Who leaked our plans?" Volcano growled, looking around at the Marines. "If you still call yourself a man, step forward and own up!"

Among the Marines, a young man stepped forward, tossing aside his cloak of justice. Smiling, he addressed Volcano. "Sir Volcano, wouldn't it be better if you joined Master Joz? Then you'd be working under Lord Chiba. Isn't that much better than staying with the Marines?"

Volcano's face hardened. "So it's you. I should have guessed."

The young Marine, barely fifteen or sixteen, was a Rear Admiral named Gaia—a swordsman who had risen quickly through the ranks. Once an unremarkable Marine, he'd been assigned as a guard in Chiba's laboratory for two years, following Chiba everywhere and becoming one of his most loyal followers.

Volcano looked at Gaia with disappointment. "Gaia, when Chiba left, he didn't even take you. Why betray the Marines, betray us?"

Gaia laughed. "Master Chiba may have left, but my loyalty remains with him. The gold is my gift to him, and Joz has promised not to harm any of you. He kept his word, didn't he?"

"Lord Volcano, Lord Ghost Spider, come with me to see Lord Chiba," Gaia suggested.

Ghost Spider turned to Volcano. "Perhaps it's time we…"

But Volcano cut him off. "Ghost Spider, if we join the pirates, what about our families? Do you think the Celestial Dragons or the Five Elders will spare them?"

Gaia laughed. "There's no need to worry about that."

"What do you mean?" Volcano asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I've already arranged to have your families safely relocated," Gaia replied, handing them a slip of paper. "The location is equidistant between Marine HQ and Chiba's territory. The choice is yours."

He then turned to Joz. "Captain Joz, leave them two warships."

"No problem!" Joz laughed. "Alright, boys, load up the tribute from that last ship! We're heading out!"

"Yes, Captain Joz!" The pirates cheered and began loading the gold.

"Captain Joz," one of the pirates called out, "we've got so many treasures this time, especially medicinal materials. How did the Celestial Dragons gather so much?"

"No need to wonder," another pirate said. "They probably want to copy Master Chiba's research, creating foundation pills and such. But they don't have his skill. These herbs will only reach their full potential in Chiba's hands."

Joz laughed as they finished loading the tribute. He looked back at Volcano and Ghost Spider. "If you don't make up your minds soon, Gaia might take your place as my deputy captain!" With that, Joz and his pirates sailed away with nine warships laden with treasure.

On the journey back, Joz turned to Gaia. "Aren't you worried about the Marines going after your family?"

Gaia smiled. "I've made sure they're well hidden. No matter what the Marines do, they won't find them."

Joz chuckled. "You're a meticulous one, Gaia. Marine lost a good talent, and we gained one! How about you become my deputy captain?"

Gaia shook his head. "Captain Joz, we agreed—you'd take me to see Master Chiba. I won't betray him by taking a role that's meant for his command."

Joz laughed heartily. "Alright, alright! You're a loyal one. Chiba's lucked out with you, Gaia. Let's drink to that!"

They raised their glasses, and the rest of the pirates toasted Gaia as well. Gaia's stamina was impressive; even drinking with the whole crew, he didn't falter. By the end, even Joz was a little tipsy and fell asleep soundly.

---

With only three days left before Chiba's three-month deadline, the captains of the pirate crews began returning, each bringing their spoils.

Initially, Chiba planned to count only medicinal materials, but some brought back treasures instead. So he adjusted his calculations: the value of medicinal materials would be counted normally, while the value of other treasures would be halved.

At the low end, some had gathered goods worth 80 million Berries, while the top amount collected reached 390 million Berries.

Soon Bartolomeo and Cavendish returned with a fully loaded warship.

Bartolomeo laughed. "We scored two billion Berries' worth of goods! And most of it is medicinal materials. The awakened multi-fruit form is as good as mine, haha!"

Beside him, Cavendish snorted. "We had to pool our resources for this."

"Still, the multi-fruit awakening is ours either way!" Bartolomeo said, ordering his crew to unload the cargo. They piled it high, like a mountain, leaving the other captains in awe.

"I didn't know Bartolomeo and Cavendish could pull off such a haul!" one pirate murmured.

"Looks like the multi-fruit awakening is going to Bartolomeo and Cavendish this time," another agreed.

Bartolomeo grinned, looking over at Vista. "Uncle Vista, looks like your plan didn't work out. We got lucky and stumbled upon some very generous 'donors' worth two billion Berries! I doubt even Joz has this much."

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.