"Keep 30% of these stolen treasures for the ship's treasury. The core cadres get 20%. The rest of you will split the remaining 50% evenly amongst yourselves."
York waved his hand dismissively, directly distributing the literal mountain of gold, jewels, and Berries piled on the grass of Grove 27.
Actually, when he was ruling Skypiea, he had established a very strict, complete set of laws. But the Crimson Harvest Pirates had grown too fast. With the crew now consisting of diverse, bloodthirsty thugs from the Blue Sea, implementing a rigid reward and punishment system right now would likely cause a mutiny.
He needed to use battle after brutal battle as a meat grinder to weed out the incompetent, keeping only the elite who proved both strong and loyal. Once the Grand Fleet's numbers were refined and his personal prestige as an Emperor was absolute, reforming the crew's legal system would proceed smoothly.
"WOOOOOOOO!!!"
"Thank you, Captain York!!!"
"Captain York is the most generous man alive!!!"
Hearing York's treasure distribution mechanism, the recruits—who had just lost nearly half their numbers in the Sabaody street wars—instantly forgot their trauma and cheered wildly.
In the Grand Line, pirate crews with fair distribution were extremely rare. The vast majority of captains took the lion's share—usually 70% to 80%—leaving the officers with 10%, and the ordinary grunts to violently scrap over the remaining scraps.
York immediately giving half the plunder to the lowest ranks caused their loyalty to surge exponentially.
Listening to the flattering cheers, York did not get carried away. He knew very well that loyalty bought with money could easily be lost because of money in the future. To forge an unbreakable bond with these cutthroats, he needed to do more than just pay them.
Once the cheers subsided, York raised a hand, continuing to explain the detailed rules.
"Those who suffered light wounds in today's battle will receive an extra half-share from the treasury!" York announced loudly. "Those who were seriously wounded will receive two extra shares!"
The crowd went dead silent, listening intently.
"As for the comrades who died in battle today... they will receive five full shares of treasure as a condolence payment!" York declared, his voice carrying over the wind. "I will personally find a way to send this money to their families. For those who died without families, I will have their share buried in their hometowns!"
York crossed his arms, staring down at the bloody, battered crew.
"Does anyone have an objection to this rule?!"
York waited patiently for a greedy pirate to step forward and complain about dead men getting paid.
However, after a few seconds of stunned silence, the hardened, murderous pirates inexplicably burst into tears.
"Captain York! Sob Captain York!!!"
"You are our savior!!"
"You are the first Captain who ever treated us like actual human beings!!"
Watching a massive crowd of scruffy, blood-soaked murderers openly weeping, York couldn't help but fall silent. He rubbed his temples.
'What kind of absolute garbage captains were these guys sailing under before?' York thought.
Regardless, the outcome was perfect. He had secured their absolute devotion.
Turning away from the recruits, York walked over to the holding area where the 3,000 captured rival pirates were kneeling in chains.
In terms of overall combat experience, these 3,000 New World hopefuls were definitely superior to the original recruits he had picked up in Mock Town. But because Kaido, Dragon, and Stussy's combat power was simply unreasonable, they had been effortlessly crushed and taken captive.
"I don't have much to say to you," York said, his voice cold and devoid of the warmth he had just shown his crew.
"Surrender your loyalty and join my Grand Fleet, and you live."
York drew his sword, resting the tip on the grass.
"Refuse to join, and you die. I only have one night's patience. Give my Squad Leaders your answer before we set sail tomorrow morning!"
With that, York turned and walked back to the flagship, leaving a small detachment of guards to watch the prisoners.
At the same time, the surviving Crimson Harvest recruits began to spread out across Groves 1 through 29. They weren't looting anymore. They were searching for the bodies of their 700 fallen comrades.
Throughout the night, the recruits worked tirelessly, cremating the dead and placing their ashes into wooden urns to be sent back to their hometowns. The solemn task made the originally boisterous pirate crew much quieter and far more united by daybreak.
The next morning.
While they were busy with the cremations, a few dozen captives had managed to slip their bonds and escape into the Mangrove roots under the cover of night. York hadn't bothered to stop them. He didn't lack manpower, and cowards who ran wouldn't survive the New World anyway.
The remaining 2,900 captives had all made their choice.
York instructed Scott, his newly minted First Squad Leader, to untie them.
"Very good!" York addressed the massive crowd. "From today on, you are our brothers-in-arms!"
Over by the galleys, Ivankov, Ginny, and Kuma led a team of cooks, bringing out massive pots of fragrant stew and fresh bread to distribute breakfast to the starving captives.
By noon, the integration was complete.
The original recruits—each respectfully carrying a wooden urn of a fallen comrade—lined up and boarded the massive 360-meter flagship. The 2,900 newly absorbed pirates followed closely behind them.
The Crimson Harvest Pirates now boasted an active combat force of nearly 4,000 men.
"HOIST THE SAILS!! SET SAIL!!"
The blood-red sails bearing the skull and golden wheat fluttered in the wind. The colossal flagship slowly pulled away from Grove 27.
Standing at the bow, Kaido raised his hands. Massive, swirling clouds of dark purple flame erupted from his body, coiling underneath the wooden keel. With a deep groan of timber, the Flame Clouds slowly lifted the giant ship entirely out of the ocean.
York planned to bypass Fish-Man Island entirely and enter the New World directly over the Red Line.
As a transmigrator without a "system" to magically protect his ship, York had absolutely no interest in risking the underwater route. Without a master coating mechanic like Silvers Rayleigh, taking 4,000 Devil-Fruit-vulnerable pirates ten thousand meters under the sea was a suicidal gamble.
The enormous pirate ship slowly ascended into the clouds.
Outside the perimeter, the Marines—who had served as glorified security guards for a full two days—were finally ordered to secure Groves 1 through 29.
"It's too tragic..." a Marine captain muttered, covering his mouth.
Bodies littered the streets. Blood had flowed for two days straight and hadn't dried, pooling in the massive craters left by Kaido's club. Apart from the slaves who had been deliberately released and the few captives who had fled, there was not a single living soul left in the lawless zone.
The Vice Admiral in charge of the Sabaody branch couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
"A pirate crew with such vicious, systematic methods... this is unprecedented."
The former overlord, Rocks D. Xebec, was brutal, but his brutality was usually collateral damage—the aftershocks of his battles or the environmental destruction caused by Whitebeard's tremors. He rarely ordered the deliberate, systematic extermination of everyone in a specific area.
But York... York had practically sterilized the underworld of Sabaody. Even the iconic resin bubbles generated by the Yariman Mangroves had taken on a sickly, blood-red hue from the mist.
"Truly terrifying..." the Vice Admiral sighed. Feeling a heavy sense of dread, he waved his hand. "Clean up the bodies. Burn them if you have to. We cannot allow a plague to spread to the civilian groves."
High in the stratosphere.
As the flagship ascended past 10,000 meters to cross the Red Line, the thousands of Blue Sea pirates began to experience severe oxygen deprivation and altitude sickness.
"I... I can't breathe..."
"Is this a curse?!"
"Captain York... have mercy..."
Watching the massive crew collapse on the decks, genuinely believing he was trying to suffocate them to death, York sighed speechlessly. He picked up the Transponder Snail.
"Calm down, you idiots! It's just high-altitude sickness! If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have wasted money feeding you breakfast!"
The panic subsided as the ship finally crested the Red Line and rapidly descended into the turbulent, unpredictable waters of the New World.
"Ah... I'm alive..."
"Captain York wasn't lying. We're fine now..."
People in this world possessed absurd physical resilience. Despite 4,000 people—including the severely wounded—experiencing extreme altitude sickness, not a single person died during the crossing.
Once they hit the water, York called Kaido into the navigation room.
"Kaido. Do you have an Eternal Pose to the Vodka Kingdom?" York asked quietly.
Kaido was startled. His massive frame tensed. "Aren't we going to Hachinosu Island to kill Ochoku?"
"Ochoku isn't urgent," York replied, leaning against the map table. "As the saying goes, death isn't scary; waiting for death is the true torture. Let Ochoku suffer the mental agony of waiting for us. I want to help you avenge your past first."
Kaido fell dead silent. He clenched his massive fists tightly.
For years, he hadn't actively thought about returning to the Vodka Kingdom to slaughter the King who had betrayed him to the Marines. On one hand, he knew Xebec would never have wasted time helping him settle a personal grudge. On the other hand, the relentless wars of the Rocks era had kept him too busy to care.
He hadn't expected York to remember the story of his betrayal. Let alone prioritize it over an Emperor's territory.
Kaido's nose stung. He gritted his teeth, forcing down the sudden, overwhelming surge of emotion. He turned around, silently rummaging through a heavily locked cabinet in the corner of the room.
He pulled out a dusty glass sphere.
"This is the Eternal Pose to the Vodka Kingdom," Kaido rumbled, his voice thick with suppressed rage.
York took the compass. He walked out of the navigation room and stepped up onto the balcony of the poop deck, holding the glass sphere high above his head.
"LADS!!!" York's voice boomed across the 360-meter deck. "OUR FIRST DESTINATION IN THE NEW WORLD IS SET!"
"We are sailing to the Vodka Kingdom! The land of endless war!"
York drew his sword, pointing it toward the violent New World horizon.
"I am going to take you to destroy that kingdom! We are going to plunder their throne!"
Down on the main deck, 4,000 pirates—their loyalty now absolute—collectively let out a deafening, bloodthirsty roar.
"DESTROY THE KINGDOM!!"
"PLUNDER THE THRONE!!"
"LONG LIVE CAPTAIN YORK!!"
.....
.....
.....
Support me and read advance chapters on patreon.com/ImmortalDaoWriter