One Piece: Reborn in God's Valley

Five days later, on the sea not far from Dressrosa.

The sun had yet to rise fully, and the air was a little chilly. 

A layer of gray mist hovered above the sea as a black pirate ship sailed swiftly with its sails fully unfurled, the recently departed Blackthorn.

This time, Ashen had only brought part of his pirate crew along.

Among them were Lafitte, acting as the navigator. Tesla, who was familiar with the sea routes. The newly joined crew member Kyros and Walton, who insisted on following Ashen out to sea.

The rest remained in Dressrosa to oversee the factory's renovation and safeguard the island.

At the helm, Lafitte was steering while studying a special New World Log Pose with three rotating needles.

Meanwhile, Ashen and Tesla sat leisurely on the deck, each holding a fishing rod.

"Captain, are you sure it's safe to leave just Parnell and the others behind?"

Tesla couldn't help but feel uneasy. After all, this was the New World. Ordinary pirates might be manageable, but if a major pirate crew came knocking, things could get dangerous.

"Relax. This journey won't take more than ten days, maybe two weeks. We'll be back before long.

Besides, Dressrosa hasn't drawn much attention yet. No other major factions should show up.

And don't forget, Abbas is still there. He used to be CP0, he's no pushover."

Ashen gave a quick flick of his fishing rod, and a half meter long sea fish landed squarely on the deck, flopping violently.

"Captain. Pirate ship ahead, heading straight for us."

Whoosh..

Just as Lafitte shouted, a cannonball was fired from the oncoming pirate ship, hurtling toward him. 

Clang…

Two slashes of dark sword energy, one horizontal and one vertical, burst from the Blackthorn like they had foreseen the attack.

With sharp precision, they intercepted the cannonball mid-air between the two ships, slicing it into four neat pieces.

Boom!

The explosion didn't come from the cannonball. It was the enemy ship. 

Ashen's sword slash, still roaring with momentum, had carved through the cannonball and gone straight through, cleaving their mast in half. 

The crow's nest came crashing down onto the deck, landing with a thunderous crash.

"Close in, Lafitte."

Without paying any mind to the panic erupting on the enemy ship, Ashen gave his command. 

Anyone who dared provoke the Helgrave Pirates wasn't getting off easy.

A few minutes later, the two ships were side by side, and Ashen finally got a clear look at the enemy.

Their ship was larger than Blackthorn, with over a hundred pirates aboard, all armed and eyeing them warily.

At the front stood a man in his thirties with a black spider tattooed on his forehead and a pair of mismatched swords, one long, one short, at his waist.

"Heh… I thought it might be someone serious. Turns out it's just you, you damn waste of space."

Ashen had already recognized them. This was the Maelstrom Spider Pirates, and the idiot in front was none other than Squard, one of the dumbest pirates in the seas.

"Haha... I couldn't get a good look earlier. Didn't expect you only had five guys and still didn't run. You've got guts, I'll give you that.

Everyone... Kill them.."

Squard didn't understand what waste of space meant, but it sure didn't sound like praise. Once he saw the enemy's small numbers, he immediately gave the order to attack.

"Oh yeah? Tear them apart."

Bang…Bang…

As soon as Squard shouted, his crew sprang into action, some firing guns, others flinging grappling hooks to climb aboard the Blackthorn.

…

"Captain. Should we wipe them out?"

After blocking the first wave of attacks, Tesla and the others looked to Ashen for the next move.

"Kill them. Leave no survivors. And don't get blood on the Blackthorn."

"Yes, Captain."

"Hahaha. Going out to sea with the captain is always a blast. Hey… Leave me a few to play with."

…

A few minutes later, the battle ended exactly as expected.

Aboard the Real Spider, Tesla stood atop a pile of corpses. He alone had wiped out half the enemy crew.

Walton and Kyros weren't far behind, each having killed over thirty men, clearly trying to outdo each other.

"Haha…. Lafitte, you need to step up. What's with that small pile?"

Walton laughed loudly at Lafitte's unimpressive body count.

"Hmph…. Mind your own damn business."

Lafitte scowled, clearly embarrassed. Even random pirates in the New World weren't easy to deal with.

"Well, Squard, how does it feel to get your whole crew wiped out?"

Ashen walked up to Squard, who had been deliberately left alive. The once arrogant captain now sat in shock, staring at his ship soaked in his crew's blood.

"Aaahhhhh…. You bastards. What did you do to my crew?"

Squard collapsed to his knees on the deck, wailing in despair.

"Pathetic. If you had the guts to start a fight, don't act like a victim now."

Ashen felt no sympathy for him.

"Who the hell are you? I swear I'll, gah…."

Before Squard could finish, Ashen slammed a boot into his chin. His tongue, sticking out in a rage, was bitten clean through by his own jagged teeth.

"Hmph… I hate people who talk with their tongue hanging out. Consider that a free correction.

Kyros, toss him into the sea."

Without sparing another glance, Ashen turned and walked back to the Blackthorn.

…

That afternoon, Ashen was in the training room aboard the ship, training Kyros in Armament Haki when the Den Den Mushi crackled to life.

"Oh-ho ho... Ashen. Didn't expect you to wipe out a pirate crew with a bounty over 100 million right after entering the New World.

I've been starving for news lately."

The voice belonged unmistakably to Morgans.

"You old bird. Still a professional peeper, huh? Got intel flying everywhere. Cut to the chase, what do you want?"

Ashen didn't believe for a second Morgans had called just to brag about his information network.

"Oh, it's nothing much. I heard from Umit and the others that one of your crew members invented a ship that can sail through the Calm Belt. Genius, truly.

So I was wondering… could you have him develop a transport vehicle for my newspaper agency, something that can avoid World Government surveillance? 

Don't worry, I'll make it worth your while."

Morgans had published plenty of anti-World Government stories in recent years, forcing him to constantly relocate. 

If he could get his hands on a stealthy transport method, he'd pay top berry for it.

"Not a problem. Once my factory's up and running, I'll put you at the top of the list."

"Much appreciated, Ashen. Oh, and you'll be pleased with tomorrow's headlines, I promise."

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