William and Gin, along with others, docked the small wooden boat and dragged Gore's body and the groaning Danton to shore.
On the two small boats, although Gin and William were facing Danton and Barmond, neither of them suffered any injuries. Instead, it was Aramis and Valon, who were outnumbering the two, who, due to their lack of skill, caused Aramis to be struck by a fatal blow from Gore on his chest.
William examined the injury and found it wasn't too serious, so he roughly bandaged it and told him to rest nearby.
In memory, One Piece was a typical fantasy-themed anime, meaning that the characters were basically powerful beings who could survive by wandering the world, easily breaking bricks with bare hands and smashing large rocks with their chests. The fight that had just startled William, who was only a white-collar worker in his previous life, might have been just a low-level encounter in the original work. This thought strengthened his resolve to find a place to learn more.
"Am I going to die from infection?!" Aramis' groan interrupted William's thoughts. "This place is so desolate..."
"Shut up!" Gin glared at him. "I told you and Valon to learn something from me and William to defend yourselves, but you two are too lazy. You both got injured dealing with Gore alone."
Valon, touching his bald head, muttered defensively, "I didn't slack off, though."
"Yeah, Valon is just too dumb! No matter how we teach him, he can't learn." Aramis, not bothered by Gin's attitude, bared his sharp little teeth, which stood out noticeably. "Besides, a smart person knows how to slack off!"
"Are you really that smart...?"
"Enough about that," Gin frowned, about to speak more, but William waved him off. He walked over to Gore's body, searched through it, and pulled out a diary, tossing it to Aramis, the only one who could be considered somewhat cultured among them. "Look through this, see if it has any details about the routes and islands."
"I don't think there's much chance," Aramis said habitually before starting to flip through the diary.
Pirates' looted treasure often couldn't be stored in legitimate channels. Furthermore, lawless pirates wouldn't risk placing their ill-gotten gains in a bank. Therefore, the common practice among pirates was to find a secluded, off-route island to hide their treasure, often in a secret spot. The stories of lucky souls occasionally finding treasure maps usually resulted from a pirate crew's destruction, with the captain or navigator leaking the information.
Pirates treated these remote islands as giant safes, and the information about their locations and routes was like the combination and key to the safe.
Although the Danton Pirate Crew was only a third-rate crew, even in the most decayed Eastern Sea, they had accumulated significant wealth over the years. William was naturally eager to take it. He was certain that Danton wouldn't leave it to a nearly-defeated crew to fall into the hands of the Navy, so it had to be on him, waiting for him to use it to make a comeback.
William walked over to Danton, who was already unable to see but could hear the sounds around him. When he sensed someone near, he hissed, "William? Is that you?"
"Captain." William crouched down, looking at the pitiful figure of the former pirate captain lying on the cold ground. Danton was pitiful, but William had seen his cruelty in recent days. This cruelty wasn't limited to common folk but also extended to the pirates on his ship. But to say that he deserved it all seemed too one-sided.
As Danton had said, he had originally been a simple fisherman, and when a person is pushed to the brink by society, the only option left—though seemingly simple—is crime.
After the death of Pirate King Roger, the Great Pirate Era began. Pirates of all kinds set sail, and the increase in numbers forced the Navy to withdraw forces from the four seas to focus on the Grand Line, a pirate hotspot.
This gave rise to less prominent pirates who didn't dare venture into the Grand Line, becoming more rampant. They ravaged one place after another, creating groups of impoverished people. Some might have firmly believed in their ideals and joined the Navy to fight pirates, while others, under the pressure of survival, might have chosen to take risks and become part of the group they once despised.
William wasn't pitying Danton, nor had he suddenly grown attached to this new world. He realized that the reason the original owner of this body was able to seize it was because of this environment—whether directly or indirectly—and it was impossible not to feel something.
Danton, unaware of William's thoughts, grew anxious at his sudden silence. "William, I'm like this now. You don't need to worry about me seeking revenge. Let me go, give me a way out."
"You were a man of some caliber once, enduring when your eyes were gouged out. Why are you like this now?"
The once mighty pirate captain, facing death, had no more dignity than the civilians he had slaughtered. He continued to whimper, "My eyes were removed when I was young due to illness. Those rumors were something I made up and spread to scare people. Now I'm just a stray dog, and you've broken my paws. Please let me go home. I have family. I have a child!"
William glanced at Danton's injuries, then looked around at the desolate surroundings. Aramis had aptly described it as a place where even birds wouldn't come.
"I don't want to deceive you," William said, looking down at the man who had discarded even the last vestige of dignity. "You won't survive with these wounds on this island. All I can offer is a quick death, but only if you tell me about the treasure map and notes. Did you hide them? Where?"
As soon as Aramis heard William ask about the treasure map, he slowly walked over, staring at Danton with his ears perked for his response. Upon hearing William's blunt words, he frowned slightly but was caught by William.
Danton, hearing that survival was impossible, fell silent, offering no response.
William smiled at Aramis, then casually picked up a stone from the ground and, as though absent-mindedly, began poking at Danton's arm wound, gradually applying more pressure to widen the injury.
Danton's body jerked violently with the pressure, and he let out a low scream. Aramis, feeling uncomfortable with his own chest wound, quickly turned his head away.
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