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It was another quiet night on the eastern shore of Rubber Island.
More than a month had passed since training began, and the eleven men who had followed Aero had undergone a drastic transformation.
Thirty days ago, they struggled to walk while wearing training gear made of iron plates weighing several hundred pounds. Now, they were sprinting wearing suits over a thousand pounds heavy and throwing punch after punch at Aero with synchronized teamwork.
Despite their efforts, Aero dodged every attack with ease. Not a single blow landed.
The past month had been uneventful but productive. Their days were spent in training, without any major interruptions. Occasionally, the Den Den Mushi at the casino rang, but it was never anything important.
With Buggy acting as the local enforcer and informant, nothing ever got out of hand at least not unless a pirate crew came ashore, and that hadn't happened.
Even the giant beasts, which Aero half-expected to appear during training for some real combat drills, hadn't shown themselves once.
Whenever the men reached their physical limits, Aero allowed them short breaks only to push them again soon after. This relentless cycle brought visible progress.
Meanwhile, Aero had grown more adept at controlling his Wind-Wind Fruit. He could now use his powers for extended periods without exhaustion.
Dylan, still clad in his weighted iron training gear, sat down with the others and began eating. No one had bothered to take off their gear they were too used to the weight by now.
Aero approached. The group immediately stopped eating and looked at him.
He gave them a calm, firm order:
"After this, strip off your gear. Grab your weapons. We're going hunting for beasts."
"Beasts?"
"You mean… giant beasts?" someone asked, half-hoping they were wrong.
Aero nodded. "Exactly."
The moment the confirmation came, they stuffed the last of their food into their mouths and rushed to their packs, pulling out their weapons. Most wielded long blades, a few carried hammers, and some, still unarmed, relied solely on their fists.
Dylan's weapon was a clawed gauntlet with five curved blades attached to a glove, similar to something out of a horror movie. His progress had been the most impressive. His body, once lean and pale, had bulked up. His face had tanned.
If he once looked like a spoiled noble, now he resembled that noble's personal bodyguard.
Aero still carried the red short blade at his waist, though he rarely needed it. His true strength was the Devil Fruit that flowed through his veins.
After a month of testing, he now understood the path he had to take.
Logia-class fruits like his practically guaranteed a place at the table assuming the user wasn't an idiot.
Just look at Ace with his Flame-Flame Fruit Whitebeard's Second Division Commander. Even before joining Whitebeard, Ace was already a powerhouse.
Then there was Crocodile with the Sand-Sand Fruit.
And, of course, the Navy Admirals monsters, each of them.
Dressed in black robes, Aero and his team pushed deeper into one of the last patches of forest left on Rubber Island.
Though most of the original jungle had been cleared out for rubber plantations, the remaining trees were still full of vitality.
Their boots crunched over dry, decaying leaves. Everyone was tense, weapons drawn, alert for any movement.
They knew the stories. They'd heard about the beasts. Terrifying to ordinary people though now, they were hoping to test just how far they'd come.
Aero stopped at the base of a massive tree and turned to face the group.
"It's time to prove what that training was worth. Find the beast. Kill it."
Excitement swept through the group like wildfire.
They'd felt the changes in their bodies, their strength, their reflexes, and they were ready to test it all. Even in the dim moonlight beneath the canopy, Aero could sense their eagerness.
But first, he had something else to say.
"You all know where we came from. We were pirates."
"I'm a pirate. From the moment I was recruited by Scar, I became one of you."
"But he was just the man who opened the door for me. A month ago, he was killed by the Navy. And I made sure an entire battleship followed him to the grave. That was my thanks."
Back then, Aero had simply wanted a distraction so he could escape. But his powers spiraled out of control. By the time the wind died down, the entire vessel had been wiped out.
He hadn't meant to destroy a warship… but he did.
That revelation sent a chill through the group.
Some didn't believe it.
Others? They stared at him with awe.
They knew their leader was strong he had a Devil Fruit, after all. But to singlehandedly annihilate an entire warship? That was another level.
Dylan, meanwhile, had long suspected it.
He'd read the newspapers. He knew a mysterious tornado had taken out a Navy ship in these waters and Aero's Devil Fruit was wind-based.
Devil Fruit users were rare, especially in the East Blue. Putting two and two together wasn't hard.
As the group whispered among themselves, Aero stepped up to the massive tree beside him and calmly placed a palm against its trunk.
"Boom!"
A shockwave of wind burst from his hand. The bark exploded inward, leaving a massive crater on the tree's surface.
The whispers stopped.
They stared in silence, wide-eyed.
Good. Sometimes, a little show of strength was necessary.
"The captain's death has been avenged. Now it's time to think about our future," Aero said, glancing briefly at Dylan.
"I'm starting a new crew a real pirate crew. But I don't want weaklings. I want people who can knock down a Marine and still keep standing."
"If anyone here doesn't want to be a pirate anymore, that's fine. Turn around. Walk away. Come back to the casino tomorrow at sunrise. You'll still have a place guarding our base."
Aero's eyes scanned the group.
And he waited.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
~Thank you for reading!