One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

The air on Isaac Island suddenly froze, transforming into a palm several hundred meters in diameter, which instantly crushed dozens of pirates.

That's how the scene before us came about.

The Octopus Pirates, a group of pirates who were eager to fight but hadn't even had a chance to reap the rewards of their victory, were slapped to the ground by Rorschach, with some dying and others injured.

Even their captain, Karma, with a bounty of 390 million Berries, was unsurprisingly pinned to the ground and nearly crushed by the suddenly appearing, hundreds-of-meters-diameter air hand.

Even if Karma was slow on the uptake, she now knew that Rorschach and Enel were definitely not the thugs they claimed to be.

Knowing full well that they were the Whitebeard Pirates, the only ones who would dare to attack him and possess such terrifying strength are a handful.

Karma braced herself on the ground with her six arms, trying to lift her upper body.

He glared at Rorschach with hatred and said in a resentful voice, "Are you from the Beasts Pirates, the Red-Haired Pirates, or perhaps the Marines?"

Rorschach didn't answer his question. With a flick of his finger, several invisible air chains pierced through Karma and the bearded Northman's bodies amidst their screams, dragging them out, straightening their bodies, and suspending them in mid-air in front of Rorschach.

The civilians of Isaac Island, who had been captured by the pirates, had never seen such a terrifying scene before. They were so frightened that they lay on the ground and cried in despair.

Hearing the cries all around him, Rorschach felt a pang of unease. He immediately abandoned Enel and took Karma and Northman to the beach outside the town, where he left them on the sand.

Looking at the two who were once enemies but now shared the same fate, Luo Xia said coldly, "If you don't want to die, tell me everything you know about the Whitebeard Pirates."

"Don't even think about it! I would never betray my father..."

Before Karma could utter a word, she was like a flattened octopus, slammed into the depths of the beach by an invisible hand.

The pitch-black ink mixed with the bright red blood, gushing out from the pores of his body. He remained motionless, as if he were dead.

Rorschach pointed his finger at the trembling Norsman.

"You tell me."

"Yes, yes! My lord, please don't kill me, I'll tell you everything!"

Despite his rugged appearance and seemingly tough demeanor, Northman was nothing like the tough guy he appeared to be. He quickly revealed everything he knew without any concealment when questioned by Rorschach.

Then Rorschach learned more detailed information about the Whitebeard Pirates that Whitey Bay and the others hadn't mentioned before.

And why does Salk Island, Whitebeard's territory, look so peaceful and tranquil?

Why do the pirates like Karma treat the residents of Isaac Island in different ways?

Let's talk about the latter first.

Karma was indeed the biggest human trafficker under Whitebeard's command.

The Octopus Pirates' usual business involves selling pirates from rival pirate crews they have defeated, or people protected by rival forces.

Sometimes he also helps other pirate crews under Whitebeard by dealing with captured pirates and slaves.

It's ironic, really.

Fish-men, who were bought and sold as slaves, made up a large portion of the total number of slaves in the world.

But in reality, it is their own people who are buying and selling the fish-men.

Back in the Sabaody Archipelago, those responsible for catching fish-men and selling them to the world's nobles were the fish-men themselves.

Tiger, the merman who was hailed as a hero for breaking into the Holy Land and rescuing many slaves of various races, probably never imagined that the most active slave traders around the world today would actually be the merman race itself.

There's no way around it; the fish-men are just too mobile in this world where the sea is everywhere.

They can catch people on the shore, and they can catch fish-men in the water too.

Once a human settlement like Isaac Town is captured by Karma's Octopus Pirates, its population will be divided into several groups.

The elderly are the least valuable; they can't be sold, and they can't serve as effective labor for pirates, so they are usually killed directly.

Children under twelve years old are not fully developed mentally, so they can be taken in as fresh blood to replenish the pirate crew in the future.

Boys over twelve years old, as well as adult males, are the most sought-after slaves by major slave traders and mercenary groups, as they can be captured and sold for a good price.

Women, however, suffered the most.

Piracy is a profession that involves fighting and killing. Generally speaking, it is rare to find more than a dozen female pirates in a pirate crew of thousands.

Even if it existed, it wouldn't be something ordinary pirates could covet.

Because they weren't the captain's or first mate's women, but rather women who were big and burly, more like men than men themselves, and whose fighting power was even stronger than that of male pirates.

Pirates live a precarious life, constantly fighting, and the mental and physical torment they endure is already severe, so they need women to vent their frustrations.

Therefore, the fate of those women once they conquered a place is predictable.

These women were already considered lucky to be bestowed upon a single subordinate.

The worst-case scenario is that they might be violated by dozens, or even more, pirates until they die.

Rorschach and Enel, who had provided Karma with considerable assistance in the battle, were each rewarded with three women.

Then there's the Whitebeard Pirates, which Northman mentioned.

Northman was not a vassal of the Whitebeard Pirates, but even so, he greatly admired Whitebeard.

In his mind, Whitebeard was a great pirate who was unconventional, generous, and magnanimous, and who could protect his subordinates from harm. He was a truly benevolent person among pirates.

The Whitebeard Pirates consisted mainly of Whitebeard, assisted by sixteen division commanders, and 1,600 elite pirates with seniority and strength.

They generally live on the massive Moby Dick, without a fixed base.

Normally, the Moby Dick would rest wherever a vassal pirate crew occupied its territory.

With the disbandment of the Big Mom Pirates, Whitebeard now has 49 affiliated pirate crews, attracting a large influx of pirates.

A vassal pirate crew is equivalent to a subsidiary force of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Some people are so impressed by Whitebeard that they are willing to treat him as their father.

Normally, the Whitebeard Pirates do not interfere with the development of their subordinate pirate crews.

Because the pirate crews that were under Whitebeard's protection were grateful, they would send Whitebeard supplies and money every now and then, which was equivalent to offerings.

When these affiliated pirate crews encountered problems they couldn't solve, Whitebeard would send one of his captains to resolve them.

The more Luo Xia listened, the more familiar it seemed.

Isn't this exactly what he said when he met with Dragon last time—that the World Government is a super-large Yonko-style operation?

Throughout the Whitebeard Pirates, Whitebeard was worshipped like a god by his crew due to his immense personal strength and charisma.

He is the core of the entire pirate crew, much like Im in the World Government.

Marco and the others were the Knights of God, the Marines, who were gathered in front of Whitebeard's throne.

The Octopus Pirates and their affiliated pirate crews are the subordinate member states.

However, if a direct comparison is made, the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government are still quite different.

The Whitebeard Pirates treated their vassal pirate crews much better than the World Government treated its member states.

With the bond of kinship between father and son, the entire massive pirate crew can be united and firmly held together.

Unlike the world government and member states, which are simply based on interests, or even exploitation.

As for why the town of Salk, where the Octopus Pirates are based, is so peaceful and tranquil, Northman's explanation is:

Whitebeard's powerful presence deterred other pirate forces from setting foot on the island.

Karma, who, despite being tortured, still chose to relent, offered a supplementary explanation:

While Whitebeard himself didn't care what his vassal pirate crews were doing, he hoped that the places where he planted his flag would be peaceful and safe, just like his home island of Sphinx, untouched by war.

Therefore, even a wicked pirate crew like the Octopus Pirates try to manage their base in a gentle way, not wanting to incur the displeasure of their father.

This is why the people on Salk Island are so grateful to Whitebeard, and why the children idolize him so much.

In summary, Whitebeard is neither a good person nor a bad person in the traditional sense.

He's more like a patriarch, and the pirates under his command are his children.

He would accept his children, whether they were good or bad, as long as they did not commit the heinous act of killing their family members. As their father, Whitebeard would accept whatever they did.

He protected many islands, such as Fishman Island, Salk Island, and Sphinx Island, saving many people from the harassment of pirates and criminals.

His affiliated pirate crews also committed many of the same heinous acts as other pirates.

Whitebeard wasn't a great philanthropist among pirates, and even a great philanthropist couldn't support a massive pirate crew of 50,000.

Those who love him worship him as a god.

Those who fear him think he is more terrifying than a ghost.

This is Whitebeard.

Chapter 603 Rorschach's Conqueror's Haki Entanglement

Two days later.

On the unnamed island where the Moby Dick was located.

The battle on the beach continued, while the pirates watching either sat or stood, eating and drinking with wine and meat in their hands.

On the field, Palmer and Joz are facing off.

From the back-and-forth exchanges between the two, it was clear that Palmer, who had been fighting for two days straight, was already somewhat exhausted and was being forced to retreat by Joz.

As for Bepo...

Not far away, the giant polar bear was lying limply on the ground, its tongue lolling out, drooling over the roasted meat the pirates were holding.

This guy isn't really that useless.

In the past two days, both Pamel and Bepo have been used as practice targets by the Whitebeard Pirates, fighting against hundreds of people back and forth.

Even Bepo was forced into one-on-one battles by Ace, Vista, Thatch, Laco, and others.

My current wretched state is purely due to exhaustion.

Pamel was physically stronger than him, but he was also nearing his limit.

"These two Marines are really impressive. One has a Paramecia-type Power-Power Fruit, and the other has a Zoan-type ability, I don't know if it's an Ancient Zoan or a Mythical Zoan. They're just a brigadier general from a branch, yet they can hold their own against the captains in terms of strength. Vice Admiral Lanlin certainly has a lot of promising talents under his command."

Marco sighed.

Vista wiped the longsword in his hand and chuckled: