OP: My Aircraft Carrier Evolves#72+73: I'll Bet Your Gun's Empty! The Kano Country's Happo Navy

Vito's smile vanished. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't you try pulling that trigger?" Jin said, his voice calm and confident, his eyes locked on Vito's. "Maybe it won't fire."

"I'll bet... your gun doesn't even have bullets in it."

Vito was stunned.

No bullets??

He had the urge to check the cylinder, but he was afraid it was a trick, that the king would make a move the moment he was distracted.

As a counselor, he was a good judge of character. But he couldn't read a thing from the king's face.

And the guards... they were all so calm.

A seed of doubt was planted in his mind. But he tried to maintain his composure. "And you're so sure of that?"

He didn't fire, because he knew that Bege wanted to capture the king, not kill him.

Jin produced a gold coin. "I'll bet you a gold coin."

"You, on the other hand, are betting your life."

Vito's pupils contracted.

He felt a terrifying aura erupt from the young man, a pressure that seemed to squeeze his very heart.

His hand, the one holding the gun, began to tremble.

Fear.

It had been a long time since he'd felt this.

Jin reached out and, as Vito watched, frozen, he took the custom-made revolver from his hand.

He hadn't fired. He hadn't resisted.

Robin, Law, Reiju, and Maya all watched, curious. So... was it really empty?

"Alright," Jin said, holding the gun. "Let's see if there are any bullets in here."

He aimed the barrel at the sky and pulled the trigger.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Six shots.

Huh??

Robin and the others were all confused.

Vito was completely dumbfounded.

"You win," Jin said, tossing the gold coin to him. "You're a fool. A fool who thinks he's smart. One day, that cleverness of yours is going to get you killed."

The gold coin landed on the deck with a sharp clink.

Vito's head was spinning. A wave of humiliation washed over him.

He suddenly drew a backup pistol and aimed it at Jin.

"Heh! I have another gun!" he sneered. "What do you have to say now? That this one has no bullets either?"

Jin was still perfectly calm. "Would you believe me if I did?"

"No!"

"Alright then," Jin said. "Let's bet again. I'll bet your gun... won't fire."

"Hahaha..." Vito laughed. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? You think you can trick me twice?"

The humiliation had made him forget Bege's orders. He had to win this bet. He had to get his pride back.

He aimed slightly off, not for the head, but for the shoulder.

"You're finished!"

He pulled the trigger.

But...

The gun didn't fire.

What?

Vito's face twisted in terror. Sweat poured down his face.

Move... I can't move? My body... it's completely frozen?

In an instant, some invisible force had seized control of him.

"I win," Jin said, looking down at Vito. "Your life belongs to me now."

"Kneel."

'To you? Never.' That's what Vito thought.

But his body, against his will, knelt on the deck.

"Tell me," Jin said, "where is Capone Bege?"

Vito grit his teeth, trying to keep his mouth shut.

But the words came out anyway.

"The Godfather is..."

"Capone Bege?" Robin said, her eyes narrowing. "His power base in the West Blue is extensive. He's a notorious figure."

After spilling everything, Vito collapsed to the deck, his face pale with terror.

He had betrayed Bege. And betrayal was punishable by the most brutal, merciless execution.

"Kill me..." he said, his voice filled with despair.

"Death is easy," Jin said. "But you lost your life to me. And that means you don't get to choose when you die."

Using the mark of the demonic carrier, Jin contacted Crocodile.

"Capone Bege is a major player in the West Blue," Crocodile's voice came through. "If we can control him, the Bounty Hunter's Guild can be established in the West Blue in no time."

"Oh? He's that important?"

"He has deep ties to the Five Families of the West Blue. And the Five Families are closely connected to the various nations of the West Blue. If the Guild is going to expand there, we have to go through them."

Jin understood.

—————————

Early morning.

The sea was calm.

"Godfather! T-trouble!" a member of the Fire Tank Pirates burst into the dining hall.

Gotti grabbed him by the collar. "What's with all the shouting? You got a death wish? Don't you know you're supposed to be quiet during meals?"

Capone Bege, tying his napkin, glanced at them. "Gotti, let him go."

Gotti released the man.

Bege grabbed him and held a knife and fork to his throat. "This had better be important."

The crewman swallowed hard. "It's Vito... it's Counselor Vito..."

"Vito? What about him?" Bege was perfectly calm.

"He's... he's coming back. With a ship."

"Hm?" Bege's eyebrows furrowed.

Something this big, and he hadn't sent a signal, hadn't contacted him? That wasn't like Vito.

"Did he capture the king?" Gotti asked.

"I... I don't know..." the crewman stammered.

"Godfather?" Gotti said.

"Go see for yourself," Bege said calmly.

On the deck, Gotti raised a spyglass and saw Vito in the distance, standing at the prow of a ship, waving at them.

His serpentine tongue was unmistakable.

"Have him stop," Bege ordered. "Send a small boat to check for traps."

"So cautious," Jin mused, watching from the conning tower. "Ai, full speed ahead. Don't let him get away."

VMMMM!

The boilers roared. The engine surged. The demonic carrier's speed rapidly increased to forty knots.

"What?"

"That ship is fast!"

"Look out! Open fire! Stop them!"

The two massive cannons at the bow of the Fire Tank Pirates' ship erupted with smoke and fire at Bege's command.

But the demonic carrier was too fast. Their accuracy was terrible.

The distance between the two ships closed rapidly.

"Law! Robin! Maya! Reiju! Niji! Ichiji! Yonji!"

A broadcast echoed across the deck, and it split open.

Law and the others were ready, along with the Vinsmoke brothers and a large contingent of Germa 66 clone soldiers.

As the two ships passed each other, the demonic carrier's side suddenly shot out a mass of sticky candy, latching onto the other ship.

The Paramecia Sticky-Sticky Fruit.

The massive kinetic energy of the two ships pulled and strained, but they were held fast.

"Alright, you meatheads! Time to work!" Ai shouted.

A battle theme began to play.

It was intense, but Law couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Every time the king went into battle, he played a different battle theme. At first, it had been embarrassing.

Now, he was used to it.

He leaped into the air and landed on the other ship's deck.

"Engage! Take them down!"

A horde of thugs in black suits, armed with guns, cannons, rocket launchers, and swords, poured out from the ship.

"ROOM!"

"Tres Fleur!"

"Poison Pink!"

"Sparking... Valt!"

"Black Leg..."

"Winch Guillotine!"

Six figures charged into the fray. With a single, coordinated attack, they took out thirty or forty of the thugs, sending them flying.

"You bastards!" Gotti roared. "You'll pay for that!"

He was a tall, powerful man, and he raised the massive, three-barreled machine gun that was mounted on his right forearm.

DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA...

Fire and bullets erupted from the barrels.

Bege was also furious. He knew who his opponent was. To capture Vito and then attack him at his own base... it was a humiliation.

He had to strike back.

He threw open his coat.

His chest and abdomen opened up like a door.

The sounds of battle echoed from within, and more thugs poured out.

The Paramecia Castle-Castle Fruit.

He was a living fortress, able to store anything, including himself, within his body. Anything that entered his body would shrink, and it would return to its original size upon leaving.

It was like a lesser version of the Munch-Munch Fruit.

Jin was very curious to see what would happen when the Munch-Munch Fruit fused with the Castle-Castle Fruit.

<><><><><><><><>

West Blue, in an undisclosed sea.

The water was stained red.

The battle was over.

Jin hadn't even lifted a finger. Law, Robin, and the others had easily dispatched the current Fire Tank Pirates.

Even four years from now, when Capone Bege was counted among the eleven Supernovas, his individual combat strength was never as overwhelming as the others.

He was the "Godfather"—a strategist, a commander.

His crew operated less like a pirate band and more like a disciplined army.

They all wore uniforms.

They were armed with a variety of firearms—machine guns, rocket launchers, and so on—and were divided into different combat units.

And his Devil Fruit wasn't the kind that boosted individual strength.

It was a mobile war fortress. He wasn't enough on his own; he needed soldiers to fight his battles.

This approach worked well enough in the West Blue and the first half of the Grand Line.

But in the New World, it wasn't enough.

It was like a sports team that relies on teamwork. They can have a great regular season, but in the playoffs, when they go up against a team with a superstar... they usually lose.

A superstar can single-handedly break through a team's defenses.

And eventually, the team shatters.

It was the same with Bege's crew. That's why, two years after the Summit War, he fell behind in the race to become the Pirate King.

And now, his luck had run out.

He had run into Jin, who outclassed him in every way.

Strength, influence...

His castle was a joke.

Jin didn't kill him.

At the next port, he handed him over to Crocodile.

As for the rest of his crew...

They were all used to fuel the boiler.

Of course, Jin had no intention of letting Bege live. Once Crocodile was done with him, he'd be melted down as well.

The man was unpredictable, just like Blackbeard.

When he was weak, he could endure any humiliation.

But the moment he became strong, he would turn on you.

Two years after the Summit War, Bege had joined Big Mom's crew... and had eventually betrayed her.

If he was left alive, the grudge from today's defeat would fester. He would come back for revenge.

He was a loose cannon.

Bege and Crocodile might have seemed similar on the surface, but they were cut from a different cloth.

Crocodile still had a dream. He might have claimed not to trust anyone, but he was capable of change. He had saved Mr. 1 and the others. He was an old-school pirate.

Bege, on the other hand, had come up from the criminal underworld. The only things he cared about were profit and ambition. He was rotten to the core, a man who would do anything to get what he wanted.

In any case, Jin trusted Crocodile. He didn't trust Bege.

It was a personal preference.

And a gut feeling.

To be on the safe side, Jin left a wisp of the Hell's Red Serpent's green flame inside Bege—the same power he used to control Vito.

So why not just control Bege with the green flame, like he did with Judge?

The control wasn't absolute. It was affected by distance and the target's willpower. The farther away you were, the stronger their will, the weaker the control.

For example, the Seven Stars Sword had been able to control Saga, but it couldn't control a seasoned warrior.

That's why Jin rarely let Judge leave the carrier.

—————————

In the tavern.

Daz Bonez watched as Capone Bege, now in Seastone cuffs, was led away. Crocodile and Jin chatted.

"Your next stop is the Kano Country, isn't it?" Crocodile asked.

"Yes."

"The Kano Country dominates the eastern coast of the West Blue," Crocodile said. "It's a vast, mysterious, and powerful nation, with a formidable military. Even in the New World, it would be considered a superpower. Some even say it's the second most powerful nation in the world, after Elbaf. It's home to many powerful fighters. Foreign ships are thoroughly inspected upon entry, and they show no mercy to those who resist."

"That's why it's so independent, even among the member nations. The Marines have a hard time even entering their waters. It's a major player in the politics of the West Blue."

"Aside from their official army, the Kano Country also has several powerful pirate forces. One of them is the Happo Navy. You'll need to be careful of them. They call their leader the 'Don.' The current Don is Chinjao. His bounty is over 500 million Berries. He once went head-to-head with Garp, his drill-like head against Garp's iron fist. But even Chinjao isn't the strongest in those waters."

"Is that so?" Jin said, surprised. "Well, I'll have to see for myself. My status should get me in the door."

—————————

After a night of storms, the morning was bright and clear. The sea was calm.

Governor Madison stood at the prow of his ship. He wore a cloak and a tricorn hat, a sword hanging at his waist, and he gazed out at the sea.

It was a vast expanse of blue, like a sapphire mirror.

His flagship was followed by ten other pirate ships, a formidable fleet.

The Kraken's Tongue Pirates.

Madison was from the Ilisia Kingdom. He had originally worked on a merchant ship. About ten years ago, he had fled to escape his gambling debts, disappearing without a trace.

Years later, when the name Madison was heard again, he was a member of the infamous pirate group, the Kraken's Tongue.

Through his own strength, cunning, and experience, he had killed the former leader and had taken his place as the new governor.

The Kraken's Tongue were a ruthless band of pirates, but their bounties were surprisingly low. The World Government paid them little attention.

Behind the scenes, the Kraken's Tongue had a contract with one of the powerful nations of the West Blue.

Yes, just like the Vulture Pirates in Kilauea, they were "official pirates," state-sponsored and protected.

But there were strings attached.

If they wanted to run wild, they had to obey the orders of their patrons.

Like now.

The territorial dispute between the Kano Country and the Pasosa Kingdom had been going on for centuries. After the start of the Great Pirate Era, the Ilisia Kingdom and other nations on the western coast of the West Blue had formed an alliance with the Pasosa Kingdom, sending armed merchant fleets to trade with them.

To further their territorial ambitions, the Pasosa Kingdom had set its sights on an island in the waters south of the Kano Country: Shasta Island.

The Pasosa Kingdom coveted the island for its secrecy and strategic location. They intended to occupy it.

And the vanguard of their attack was the Kraken's Tongue Pirates, led by Governor Madison.

The entire fleet was three thousand strong.

This was the true power of the Kraken's Tongue.

It was composed of a number of smaller pirate crews. To avoid attracting the attention of the World Government and the Marines, they usually operated independently, scattered across different seas.

But recently, they had been summoned for a naval battle.