One Piece Shadow Army - Chapter 24
On the patrol ship.
Curls slowly withdrew his gaze from the sinking ghost ship. Although the Silver Moon Kingdom’s treasure was enormous, it would be hard to see the light of day again once it sank to the bottom of the sea.
Just as Curls was letting his guard down, a cold voice suddenly sounded on the patrol ship.
“Is it over?”
Curls felt a chill run down his spine.
This voice was not from the unconscious Lieutenant Kahn, and the other navy soldiers had not yet woken up. This meant there was an extra person on the patrol ship!
Curls turned his head to look.
Under the clear moonlight, a figure could be seen sitting on the left side of the patrol ship’s deck.
The figure had slicked-back hair, wore a black suit, and had round glasses that reflected the moonlight.
Despite not being tall and appearing rather frail, Curls felt he was in immense danger.
Because he had seen the wanted poster before, he knew the identity of the person before him.
It was Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates!
A pirate with a bounty of sixteen million Berries!
Even in the original One Piece storyline, this was a character with considerable fame.
According to the plot, Captain Kuro, tired of the constant naval and bounty hunter pursuits due to his growing fame in the East Blue, devised a fake death plan and infiltrated Syrup Village under a new identity.
But why was Kuro here? Had his fake death plan not started yet?
Kuro had recently been quite irritated.
Due to his increasing fame in the East Blue, he was frequently hunted by bounty hunters and the navy, which greatly annoyed him.
In desperation, he had his crew sail the pirate ship to the area near the Calm Belt to find some peace.
This area, being close to the Calm Belt, was very dangerous and desolate, allowing him some respite.
However, he did not expect to encounter a navy patrol ship here.
He had come over in a small boat, intending to deal with the navy on board, only to find that most of them were already unconscious.
This was puzzling.
Soon after, he saw a young navy soldier bringing back a severely injured navy officer, while the ancient ship beside them split and sank into the sea.
What had happened here?
Curls knew things were about to get complicated. He placed the unconscious Kahn on the deck to avoid disturbing the lieutenant during the fight.
Curls picked up Kahn’s famed sword and said slowly, “Lieutenant, I’ll handle this battle for now.”
Although the cursed sword was also a fine weapon, its strange nature could cause unexpected trouble, so Curls decided to use the lieutenant’s famed sword to deal with Kuro.
Hearing this, Kuro adjusted his glasses, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he spoke coldly, “Aren’t you a bit too confident?”
Curls raised the fine blade, its sharp edge pointed directly at Kuro.
“Why don’t you try and find out?”
Kuro, wearing his cat-claw gloves, habitually pushed his glasses with his wrist.
“Interesting. I’ll give it a try then!”
On the patrol ship, the battle was about to begin!
Curls gripped the blade tightly with his right hand and charged at Kuro with incredible speed, delivering a slash.
Kuro blocked with his ten-bladed cat claws, the crisp sound of the clash echoing on the patrol ship.
Although [Lannlos] could easily handle Kuro, Curls had exhausted his mental strength and couldn’t summon shadow soldiers at the moment. He had to rely on his own strength to fight Kuro.
As a pirate with significant fame in the East Blue, Kuro’s ability to evade capture by the navy and bounty hunters attested to his strength.
But Kuro found it puzzling.
This young navy soldier was clearly a rookie, yet his strength far surpassed that of some naval officers, making it impossible for Kuro to defeat him quickly.
How interesting!
“Silent Step!”
Kuro pushed his glasses again, and his footsteps started moving at high speed—a unique assassination technique that rarely any navy could counter.
Seeing Kuro’s figure disappear ahead, Curls grew more vigilant.
Suddenly.
The sharp ten-bladed cat claws attacked from the left, and he quickly blocked with the famed sword.
Before Curls could counterattack, Kuro disappeared again with Silent Step.
From behind, Kuro’s figure appeared silently.
The sharp cat claws poised to strike would severely wound Curls if they landed.
But Curls was prepared.
“Shadow Shield!”
A solid circular shield formed from shadow power appeared behind him, blocking Kuro’s attack.
Curls quickly turned and slashed, and although the sharp blade didn’t injure Kuro, it did tear a seam in his suit.
Kuro retreated, looking at Curls with a serious expression. “Are you a Devil Fruit user?”
“You guessed right!”
Curls stood with his blade at the ready.
Kuro adjusted his glasses again, and a bold, perfect plan began to take shape in his mind, making him smile strangely.
“Though I don’t know why the navy on your ship is collectively unconscious, I have a story. Would you like to hear it?”
Curls frowned.
Kuro didn’t wait for a response and started his monologue:
“On this moonlit night, your patrol ship encountered the Black Cat Pirates. Captain Kuro killed all the navy soldiers, but you, a rookie who had eaten a Devil Fruit, managed to capture Captain Kuro. How does that sound?”
Curls suddenly remembered the timeline. It was now the year 1517 of the Sea Calendar, three years before the main One Piece storyline began.
At this point, Kuro was planning his fake death to escape the constant navy pursuits.
According to the original plot, Kuro sneaked onto a navy ship in a small boat, killed all the navy soldiers except for Morgan, and had his hypnotist, Jango, hypnotize a crew member to impersonate him.
The hypnotized navy officer Morgan then believed he had captured Captain Kuro.
Thus, “Captain Kuro” was executed, and Morgan was promoted to captain, while Kuro infiltrated Syrup Village under a new identity, perfectly executing his plan.
Originally, Morgan would have been the surviving navy officer, but now it seemed Kuro intended to make Curls the surviving navy.
Was it because of him that the plot deviated?
Curls understood that the plot could change when key events turned differently, leading to new outcomes.
And now, he was the catalyst for that change!
With this realization, Curls’ eyes grew more determined as he launched another attack on Kuro.
“Sorry, but I’m not like Morgan, a brainless and arrogant fool!”
Morgan? Who’s that?
Kuro was puzzled but didn’t dwell on it. He engaged Curls in another round of combat.
His first step was to defeat this Devil Fruit-using navy, then have Jango hypnotize him for the next phase of his plan.
Kuro adjusted his glasses one last time, his voice cold, “Let’s end this! Out of the Bag!”
In an instant.
Kuro’s figure vanished, leaving only afterimages as the surroundings bore the marks of his cat-claw attacks.
This was Kuro’s strongest technique.
A high-speed, indiscriminate attack using Silent Step and his cat claws, capable of killing a large number of enemies. It was so fast even the user couldn’t control what they struck.
Curls body immediately bore several wounds, blood flowing freely. He wanted to counterattack but couldn’t find Kuro’s trace.
“Shadow Bind” required him to sense the opponent’s shadow directly, but Kuro’s high-speed movements made it impossible.
His strength was still too weak!
This technique, akin to Shave, was beyond his ability to counter.
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