"Well, let me make you an offer," Joz said with a smirk, looking at the two Marines. "Join my pirate crew and become my deputy captains. Your strength may be a bit lacking, but I think you could manage as my lieutenants."
If he could bring these two Marine vice admirals under his command, his reputation would skyrocket. The name of "Shiny White Spider Joz" would spread like wildfire—two Marine officers serving under him, a pirate under Chiba's command!
Vice Admiral Ghost Spider and Vice Admiral Onigumo exchanged glances, holding back their irritation. What nerve, they thought. Here was Joz, a mere pirate, subordinate to Chiba, daring to suggest that they, Marine vice admirals, join his crew. It was ridiculous.
"Thank you for the offer, Joz," Ghost Spider replied through clenched teeth. "Please give our regards to Mr. Chiba." Mentioning Chiba was an attempt to gain some leniency, hoping Joz would let them go out of respect for his captain.
As expected, Joz's expression softened slightly. "Alright, I'll pass along your message. But you know, you're in for serious punishment when you get back. Tell you what, I'll give you one more option that could make your punishment a little lighter."
Ghost Spider and Onigumo looked at each other, both wondering, What's this guy playing at now?
"Listen, you're not the only ones transporting heavenly tribute. I'm sure you know the routes of other shipments. Give me those routes, and I'll target them instead. That way, you won't be blamed if the tribute gets robbed—it'll be someone else's problem."
They gaped at him in disbelief. What kind of "suggestion" is that? If the Marine higher-ups found out they'd leaked transport routes, they'd be lucky to avoid prison.
Joz noticed their hesitation and laughed. "Come on, there's no one else here. Tell me, and I'll keep it to myself. But if you refuse… well, then maybe you really will become my deputy captains."
The two Marines grimaced, realizing Joz wasn't going to let them go unless they cooperated. If they didn't share the routes, he might actually kidnap them and force them into his crew. Resigned, they finally gave in.
"Besides us, Bastille, Smoker, Doberman, and Gion are responsible for escorting other shipments," Onigumo admitted. "They travel in pairs—Bastille with Smoker, Doberman with Gion. Their routes are…"
He explained the details of each route and gave a summary of the strengths and abilities of the four Marine officers. Joz nodded, satisfied.
"Alright, I'll leave you to your transport duties," Joz said, grinning. "I won't be robbing your ship again."
He turned to his crew. "Alright, men! Let's go!"
The pirates cheered, following Joz as he set off toward the next target on the routes they'd been given. As soon as Joz and his crew were out of sight, Ghost Spider and Onigumo hurriedly contacted Sengoku for help.
"You two idiots!" Sengoku's voice roared over the line. "You lost the tribute again?!"
On the other end of the call, Sengoku was furious. If he wasn't so short-staffed, he would have thrown the two of them in a cell himself.
"I'll give you one last chance," Sengoku said coldly. "Get out of that area, reload the tribute, and take a different route. Make sure that last shipment reaches Mariejois without fail. If there's one more mishap, you both know what's coming."
---
Ten days later.
Three warships cut through the waves, with Doberman and Gion chatting on the deck.
"Have you heard? Ghost Spider and Onigumo were robbed by Joz twice," Doberman laughed. "They couldn't even handle him. Pathetic."
Gion frowned. "Don't be so cocky. Joz's strength has skyrocketed since he ate that artificial String-String Fruit awakening crafted by Chiba. He's said to be at Marine admiral level now. Honestly, it's no surprise they lost to him twice."
Doberman nodded. "You're right. We should stay alert too. We can't afford to get targeted by pirates."
Suddenly, both men fell silent, realizing the irony of their situation.
"Can you believe it?" Doberman muttered with a wry smile. "Here we are, Marines, afraid of being attacked by pirates. What a joke."
Gion nodded. "Once, it was the pirates who feared the sight of Marine warships. Now, it's us wanting to avoid them. It's absurd."
And they both knew it was all because of Chiba's defection to the pirates.
As their warships continued sailing, they noticed another Marine vessel heading toward them from the distance. On its deck stood a large figure, wearing a Marine cloak and hat pulled low, shadowing his face. Behind him, Marines lined the deck, watching intently.
Doberman felt a chill run down his spine. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
"Me too," Gion replied, wary. "Order them to stop. Tell that ship not to come any closer."
The message was sent, but the ship ignored it, pressing forward at full speed.
Doberman shouted, "Stop immediately, or we'll open fire!"
Again, there was no response. Sensing something was wrong, Doberman barked, "Fire!"
Cannons roared, but as the shells hurtled toward the approaching ship, a massive net appeared, woven from fine, shimmering threads that caught each shell and flung them back.
Boom! Explosions erupted around their warships, sending geysers of water into the air.
"Turn around! Retreat!" Doberman shouted, but his heart sank as he saw three more pirate ships moving to block their path.
"Dammit!" Doberman cursed, recognizing the figure on the opposing ship.
The Marine figure removed his hat, revealing the grinning face of Joz, the Shiny White Spider of Chiba's crew.
Joz leaped onto Doberman's deck, his white webbed threads glistening under the sun. "This batch of tribute? It's mine," he declared with a wicked grin.
[•———•——•———•]
𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧
✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.