One Piece: Pirate Code

In the year 1507 of the Sea Circle Calendar, a shocking event occurred in the Holy Land of Mariejois. A Fishman named Fisher Tiger infiltrated the home of the Celestial Dragons, the "World Nobles," and freed thousands of slaves of various races held captive there, helping them regain their freedom. The World Government quickly classified this as the "Mariejois Attack Incident" and placed a high bounty on Fisher Tiger's head.

Newspapers widely publicized the event, with updates and reports dominating the front pages for an entire month. Even in East Blue, a region isolated by the Calm Belt, news about this incident was widespread. While the media in East Blue didn't necessarily care about the safety of the Celestial Dragons—in fact, some may have secretly wished for worse outcomes—they followed the instinct of journalism, chasing any sensational news.

In the village of Shimotsuki, at Isshin Dojo, William, Aramis, Gin, Vallon, and Edmond were gathered behind a rock garden in the dojo's courtyard, reading a newspaper. Naturally, they had also learned about the significant event.

As for why they were reading the paper here, it was simple. As the "leader," William didn't just add to his own workload; he studied navigation in addition to sword training, keeping himself extremely busy. There was no way he'd allow his followers to idle around. Therefore, he assigned Aramis the task of teaching the semi-literate Gin and the illiterate Vallon to read and count, with himself overseeing. Every afternoon, while William trained, the two took turns reading the paper to him, helping him stay informed while checking their progress.

As for Edmond, he joined purely of his own accord. The little gang that William led stood out from their peers at the dojo. As someone with prior experience with pirates, William tended to find others of the same age childish and felt a sense of superiority. These four young men, ages 16 or 17, bought houses and new katanas, living with a financial independence that was visibly envied by their peers. The four trained harder than the others at the dojo, and Aramis, Gin, and Vallon surrounded William with loyalty and discipline.

In short, these four displayed qualities that many associated with adults—maturity, purpose, financial stability, and orderly conduct—which made them distinctly different from the other students. For people, their age, and being unique often invited admiration. Most of their peers didn't understand the deeper intentions behind William's behavior and simply labeled them as "cool."

However, due to William's caution—primarily out of respect for Master Koshiro and a reluctance to recruit followers and attract undue attention—the dojo's other disciples had little success in joining their group. Only Edmond, the so-called "son of a pirate," persisted. Believing himself to be a "cool kid," he felt that he had grand ambitions that were misunderstood by the conservative-minded around him. After spending more time with William and his group, he felt he had finally found his people. Clinging to this sense of belonging, he eventually became a part of the gang, always hanging around with them.

Humans are social creatures, inevitably influenced by the opinions of others, and often use these as references for their own choices. Aramis, Gin, and Vallon followed William's instructions almost unconditionally, and his remarkable self-discipline and maturity during sword training naturally led Edmond to fall into the same role as Gin and the others.

Had William appeared older, or had he lacked Aramis, Gin, and Vallon as his initial followers, Edmond might not have made this choice so readily.

"One, two, three... nine! Nine digits," Vallon counted on his fingers, calculating with difficulty. "That's... that's a bounty of over 200 million!"

After a moment, he could only utter, "That's a lot of money!"

Edmond snatched the newspaper, practically pressing his nose to the page as he scanned the bounty amount, half-jealous, half-envious. "It's not that much, really. They inflated it. Without the break-in at the Celestial Dragons' residence, the bounty wouldn't be so high."

Aramis gave Edmond a sidelong glance and then looked away. After months together, he had grown used to Edmond's odd way of thinking. To Edmond, a pirate's bounty wasn't a sign of harsher hunting by the navy but a brilliant badge of honor.

"Just for breaking into the Celestial Dragons' place, the bounty's that high?" Gin asked.

"It's like raiding a farmer's chicken coop, causing chaos, and letting all the chickens loose—the farmer would hold you responsible," William said meaningfully. "But the Celestial Dragons aren't mere farmers; if you set their 'livestock' free, they won't just demand money."

"Livestock?" Edmond looked at the newspaper again, struggling to accept it. "These are people—thousands of them!"

"Thousands of slaves," William corrected. "To the Celestial Dragons, they're like livestock, maybe even less than that, because farmers depend on livestock for their livelihood, while the Celestial Dragons... keep slaves just for fun."

The four young men were momentarily taken aback.

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