One Piece: Starting with Breathing Techniques

Liuhua Island, which is the island where Kiro and Robin are currently located.

Despite being a small to medium-sized island, Liuhua Island has attracted a large number of pirates.

All of this is due to Liuhua Island's unique geographical location:

As a transitional island near the entrance to the Reverse Mountain in the West Blue, Ruka Island is an indispensable stop on the way to the Grand Line.

In other words, every pirate crew that intends to enter the Grand Line will pass through Ruka Island.

Meanwhile, at the waste disposal terminal on Liuhua Island.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the mountain of piled-up waste.

Thud, thud.

"Damn it, this hellhole is filthy!"

A burly, fierce-looking man wearing a one-eyed eyepatch cursed under his breath, his face contorted with disgust, as he forcefully shook the dirty water off his shoes.

If Kiro were to see this person, he would recognize him immediately.

His face is exactly the same as the one on the wanted poster. He is clearly the captain of the Black Wolf Pirates, a Devil Fruit user with a bounty of 2400 million, named Garou!

The Great Pirate Era, which began two years ago, attracted a large number of powerful pirates to search for the legendary ONE PIECE, and Garou was one of them.

With the Dog-Dog Fruit, Wolf-Type, which he obtained by chance, Garou has almost no rivals in the West Sea, where strong individuals are rare.

Following the road he remembered, Jia Lang finally found his destination.

As they stopped walking, a very well-hidden door slowly opened in the inconspicuous ruins, revealing a dark passage.

Looking back at the empty space behind him, Jia Lang frowned. He had a feeling that something was watching him, but after confirming that no one was there, he leaned out and entered the hidden door.

Silence returned to the surroundings.

After nearly a few minutes, Garou suddenly reappeared from the hidden door, glanced around at the still silent surroundings, and then entered the passage with a sense of relief.

A moment later, footsteps sounded, and a young man with a sword at his waist appeared.

Seeing the hidden door in front of him, Kiro coldly slipped into the passage and followed him inside.

……

After climbing the long flight of stairs, a light appeared before Jia Lang's eyes, revealing a vast underground world.

Bright electric lights hang in the air, illuminating the entire underground space.

On both sides of the large passageway, several rows of iron cages, each as tall as a person, were neatly arranged.

And in each of those iron cages, there were actually living slaves!

Their faces were numb, and they were dressed in tattered rags, indicating that they had been locked up for some time.

Not only humans are present, but as one ventures deeper into the area, one can also vaguely spot rare and unusual races, such as the Dwarfs and the Mink Tribe.

Garang bypassed the slaves and easily made his way to a meeting room next to the corridor.

Several figures were already seated inside the room.

After Jia Lang saw the faces of the group clearly, he frowned.

One of the young men in a suit wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood up with a smile when he saw Jia Lang arrive.

"Mr. Garou, you've finally arrived!"

"It's because your meeting point is so remote, as hard to find as ever!"

Jia Lang didn't care at all and casually pulled up a chair and sat down.

Before the young man in the suit could speak, a gaunt man wearing a tall hat and carrying two long swords immediately made a sarcastic remark.

"I never expected Black Wolf to be so stupid that he couldn't even figure out a short distance."

"I don't even know how I became the captain of a pirate crew."

Upon hearing this, a dangerous killing intent flashed in Jia Lang's eyes as he looked at the swordsman carrying two swords.

The other party was an acquaintance he had fought many times, and also a great pirate from the West Sea.

Frostbite, captain of the Sword Pirates.

The reward is 26 million.

There were five people in total, including Jia Lang.

Aside from the young man in the suit, everyone present turned out to be a notorious pirate from the Western Sea.

Ignoring Frost's provocation, Garou looked at the young man in the suit with hostility in his eyes.

"Qige, why did you call these people along?"

"Wasn't it agreed that our pirate crew would handle the slave trade?"

The young man in the suit, Qi Ge, maintained his smile and spoke calmly.

"Mr. Garon, the auction in the Sabaody Archipelago is about to take place, and there is a great demand for slaves."

"I'm afraid your pirate crew alone can't meet such a huge demand."

Before Jia Lang could continue speaking, the young man in the suit named Qi Ge tapped on the table, signaling everyone present to be quiet.

"Our guild is very satisfied with the slaves you have collected over this period of time."

"I will send you the corresponding Pelé later."

"Now, let's talk about the next steps."

Qige clapped his hands, and immediately the waiter beside him distributed a list to everyone.

Several races were listed prominently, including the Mink Tribe, the Dwarf Tribe, and so on.

"These are the rare races that nobles value most."

"As long as you capture these slaves."

Qige held up five fingers:

"For each slave of a special race, I will give you five million Berries!"

"Of course, if we could capture merfolk, such an extremely rare breed of slave..."

"On behalf of the Thorn Merchant Guild, I, Qige, guarantee that anyone who captures a mermaid will receive one hundred million Berries!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room immediately began to breathe heavily.

Although they were all notorious pirates in the West Blue, their bounties were only twenty or thirty million Berries. They had never seen a bounty as high as one hundred million Berries!

However, as the darlings of the Celestial Dragons, the Merfolk have long become rare and have rarely appeared.

Considering the difficulty of capturing mermaids, the captains gradually calmed down.

"I am carrying two swords," Frostwyn suddenly asked.

"Wait, how did your chamber of commerce get in touch with the auction in the Sabaody Archipelago?"

"Doesn't the navy care?"

Upon hearing this, the captains present also became curious.

Their only responsibility was to capture slaves and hand them over to Qigo's Thorn Merchant Guild in exchange for payment.

They had no idea how the slaves evaded the authorities and were transported all the way to the Sabaody Archipelago.

Facing the curious gazes of the crowd, Qi Ge suddenly chuckled, her face filled with undisguised sarcasm.

"navy?"

"They're nothing but the Celestial Dragons' lackeys; why would they care about the Celestial Dragons' involvement in the slave trade?"

"Forget about interfering, they also have to protect our slave ships!"

Facing the astonished gazes of the pirates, Chigo proudly held up her fingers:

"You should know that the 71st, 72nd, and 73rd naval branches in the West Sea will all send naval warships to protect our ships all the way to the Sabaody Archipelago."

"The Navy? They're nothing but lackeys of the World Government!"

Having said that, Qige seemed to have lost interest in continuing the conversation.

He gestured to the waiter beside him, and several heavy boxes were brought to the pirate captains present.

Garou took the box, opened it, and saw a box full of Beli.

He smiled greedily, carefully counted the number of pelies, and closed the box after confirming that everything was correct.

The other captains were in similar situations, and they all wore satisfied smiles.

Qi Ge stood up, looked at the captains of the several pirate crews present, and put on a smile.

"It's a pleasure working with you all!"

"Same old rules as before: bring the slaves you've captured here on this day next month!"

"Don't worry, you'll be well paid!"

Before he finished speaking, a commotion began to rise from outside the conference hall.

Qige frowned, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and looked out of the hall with slight dissatisfaction.

boom.

The meeting room door was violently flung open, and a sweating waiter rushed to Qige's side in a panic to report.

"Something terrible has happened, sir!"

"Someone has broken in!"

Qige laughed instead of getting angry upon hearing this; the presence of the intruder did not make him anxious.

Because today he happened to have gathered several pirate captains who were cooperating with him here, and that unfortunate intruder obviously had no idea what he was about to face.

Chigo shifted his gaze to the pirate captains who had not yet left the field and feigned an apology.

"I apologize for disturbing your enjoyment. I hope you will take action and subdue the intruder."

Several pirate captains had clearly heard the waiter's report and knew that someone had invaded the base.

"Don't trouble your chamber of commerce with such a small matter."

The dual-swordsman, Frostwitch, spoke, a sinister grin on his face, clearly very satisfied with the Beli he had just acquired.

He didn't mind doing the Chamber of Commerce a small favor; as a notorious pirate in the West Sea, he was very confident in his own strength.

Passing by several captains, Frostwyn picked up his twin swords and strode out of the conference hall.