Seven days later.
"Sir, there's a pirate ship ahead!" Issho, who had been playing dice with Yeyin, remarked calmly.
"A pirate ship, huh? Don't even think of slipping away! This round, you're bound to lose!" Yeyin lifted his dice cup to reveal three sixes.
"Haha, it seems my luck is bad without Haki!" Issho chuckled, pulling out a beri note from his pocket and handing it to Yeyin.
"It's all part of the training," Yeyin said reflexively, then walked to the front of the deck.
"Hina, prepare for battle! Yakos, this fight is up to you all."
Having subordinates is nice—no need to fight personally. He could just focus on the cleanup.
"Understood, Commander Yeyin!" Hina and Yakos both replied, quickly gathering their troops and getting ready for combat.
Soon, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon.
"Commander Yeyin, this is Viper Xenosnake, a major pirate in the Tataya Island trading zone," Hina informed him as she brought out intelligence on the pirate. "He's one of the most prominent slave traders in the West Blue, with a bounty of 32 million."
Before long, the pirate flag became visible in the distance.
"The trading zone—is that for slave trading?" Yeyin asked, surprised. He had visited the trading zone but hadn't seen any slaves; it seemed to be all regular goods.
"Their clients aren't from the island, so they're rarely seen. But according to reports, they should have established trading partners," Hina explained.
"Established partners… and they don't seem particularly afraid of the Marines either. Interesting. Let's approach them but hold off on any attack."
Yeyin quickly changed the strategy and gave his order.
In no time, the naval ship and the pirate ship faced each other.
Swoosh!
Without hesitation, Yeyin used Moonwalk to leap onto the opposing ship.
"What brings a Marine commander to my ship?" Viper Xenosnake stepped forward, unfazed by Yeyin's arrival.
"Nothing much. I noticed your ship looked filthy, so I thought I'd do some cleaning," Yeyin replied as he immediately began his cleaning task.
Xenosnake had already prepared some beri to pay Yeyin off and send him on his way, but seeing Yeyin actually start sweeping the deck left him momentarily stunned.
"Captain, this is the Marine commander from Tataya Island," the first mate, Ida, reported to Xenosnake. "His name is Grote Yeyin. His background is unclear, but he's had interactions with Bege and Doflamingo."
"Grote Yeyin? Has he done anything notable?" Xenosnake asked.
"He defeated Urok, Graton, and Dinardo single-handedly and captured them. Also, there's someone strange on his ship, apparently the well-known Yakos, who should have also been defeated by him," Ida replied.
(End of Chapter)