Galan shot a glance at Enrod, then began speaking in a clear, steady voice:
"Garfield Caesar. Age: 32. Alias: The Duke. Captain of the Garfield Pirates. Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user, the Glass-Glass Fruit. Born in the South Blue's Tobius Kingdom, he's the sole heir of a fallen noble house. Bounty: 570 million Berries. His base of operations is on Mount Four Island, at the center of the Fernal Archipelago. He commands 3,000 elite crew members and leads seven subordinate pirate crews."
"Five hundred and seventy million? That's some serious firepower," Aeridar remarked in awe. "And he's got control over an entire archipelago? How many islands are we talking about? None of them belong to a nation?"
"The Fernal Archipelago consists of eleven islands of varying size. The smallest one's just about five square kilometers," Galan replied promptly. "Because they border the Calm Belt, the shores are often attacked by giant Sea Kings. Whatever countries once existed there were wiped out centuries ago. All that's left are ruins, wild beasts in the forests... and the natives. Garfield Caesar enslaved them all."
He didn't bother with flourishes, this was all publicly available intelligence. Anyone who bothered to dig would find the same.
"An entire eleven-island chain... That's a hell of a domain," Aeridar said with genuine admiration. "If I weren't already planning to conquer a kingdom, I'd be tempted to go after that guy myself."
"Sea Kings regularly attack, though," Oliver drawled, a lazy tone masking a hint of curiosity. "How does he handle that kind of problem?"
After all, even a single Sea King can be over a kilometer long. Some are island-eaters, massive enough to devour whole landmasses. Rumors even spoke of Sea Kings with bodies so vast they could harbor entire islands inside them.
"The Fernal Archipelago is rich in high-quality iron and copper ore," Enrod explained, glancing at the paired blades 'Nagamitsu' and 'Yubashiri' at Oliver's waist. "Caesar enslaved the natives to mine and built heavily fortified strongholds across all the islands. He's established factories through foreign trade, factories that can produce cannons and firearms. Using fortress-grade artillery and interconnected firepower networks, he's made the archipelago a deathtrap. Even Sea Kings steer clear."
"If we hadn't used the enslaved natives to disrupt his defenses from the inside," Galan added with a heavy sigh, "we never would've broken through that firepower net for a close-quarters battle."
He shook his head, visibly burdened. "Those people were already suffering under Caesar's rule. Now that they've failed in rebellion... the retaliation will be brutal. Especially those who actively fought, execution is all but certain."
"He turned an entire archipelago into a steel-clad fortress... That's no small feat," Aeridar murmured, impressed. But the fate of the natives didn't seem to move him much.
"Glass-Glass Fruit... doesn't sound all that powerful," Arlan muttered skeptically. "Glass is fragile. Even a regular guy can shatter it."
"No," Enrod snapped, instantly refuting the claim. "It's extremely powerful."
"That bastard can affect things outside his own body, turn them into glass. We nearly mistook it for a Logia-type power," Galan added grimly. "And thanks to the region's abundant metallic ore, the glass he produces is infused with metal elements. It's tough, really tough. Not even a 24-pound cannonball could break it."
He still vividly recalled that battle, the glass tide sweeping across the terrain, sunlight refracting off it in beautiful but deadly brilliance.
It was like fighting in a shimmering deathtrap. The White Mane Pirates had lost over two hundred men that day. Out of a crew just over three hundred.
Enrod and Galan had watched their comrades, friends, get swallowed up by that glittering nightmare.
"Turning other things into glass? And glass tough enough to tank cannon fire? What kind of ability is that!?" Arlan and Oliver were stunned.
"It's Devil Fruit Awakening," Aeridar said in a low, serious voice. "That bastard's power has awakened. No wonder he's that strong, he's a real monster."
Only a handful of known Paramecia users had awakened their powers, and those who had were monstrous. Doflamingo and Gild Tesoro, both operated on a near-Admiral level, capable of island-level destruction. Though Tesoro wouldn't reach his peak until ten years later, even now he was formidable.
Doflamingo was the more dangerous of the two, and even he required a full-on Admiral assault to be stopped, and not without cost. If one of these awakened Paramecia users went all-out, it was rarely a clean fight.
"Devil Fruit Awakening? What's that?" Arlan, Oliver, Enrod, and Galan all looked at Aeridar in confusion.
"Awakening is the next stage of a Devil Fruit's power," Aeridar explained solemnly. "It allows the user to affect the environment, not just themselves."
"So that's it... No wonder that guy was so strong," Enrod said, and Galan nodded grimly.
It explained everything. He wasn't just powerful, he was unnatural. Their last battle had been a complete one-sided massacre.
Seeing the slump in both men's shoulders, Aeridar tilted his head.
"So, what's your next move?"
Enrod and Galan glanced at Aeridar, then at each other. After a moment, Galan answered:
"Our old pirate alliance has dissolved. If we hadn't run into you, Aeridar-sama, we planned to return to the East Blue and rebuild from scratch. But after crossing paths with you on Fish-Man Island..." He paused, inhaling deeply. "We'd like to become a subordinate crew under your banner. If... you'd have us."
Galan wasn't bluffing. That really had been their plan.
They hadn't expected to run into Aeridar of all people, but given they were all East Blue natives, and knowing full well how unforgiving the New World could be, pledging loyalty to a powerful pirate seemed the smart choice.
Enrod, after all, had been defeated by Aeridar two years ago, it wasn't exactly shameful to follow someone who'd already bested them.
"A subordinate crew, huh..." Aeridar bit his lower lip, staring quietly at the two men before him. His voice was calm, almost distant. "Fine. But let me be clear, I won't be helping you get revenge. That pirate you're after is not someone I'm eager to provoke without reason."
"No problem at all. Just having your protection is more than enough," Galan said, nodding with visible relief.
Revenge wasn't something Galan had seriously considered anyway. No one in their right mind would cross a pirate with a 570 million bounty, control over a full territory, and an army in the tens of thousands, just for the sake of a broken crew.
TN: Why does the Author not follow the naming conventions of One Piece? Shouldn't he use the captain's name as the pirate crew's name? Instead of Garfield Pirates, he should've used Caesar Pirates. Or maybe, there was a reason. That's also why, I don't just casually change names when translating.
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