Chapter 33, Promotion to First Mate: ---

Captain Crow showed no remorse for using Kiba as a human shield earlier.

Covered in blood, he adjusted his glasses and silently moved forward, initiating a large-scale massacre against the remaining marines.

Before long, the enemy’s morale completely collapsed, and they began dropping their weapons, preparing to surrender.

“Disarm them,” Crow ordered as he sat down nearby, looking surprisingly more energetic than before.

It was no wonder he was a boss-level character in the world of pirates—his resilience was truly enviable.

The Sea King-class giant octopus had retreated into the sea after taking a few hits, but Crow remained unfazed, calmly directing his crew to clean the deck.

As Kiba was about to walk away, his gaze suddenly shifted, and he quietly positioned himself behind the first mate.

“Just watch,” Jango said, casting a meaningful glance at him.

“I understand.”

While responding, Kiba kept an eye on the remaining pirates, noticing that only about a quarter of them were left.

Even though the marines had surrendered, they still outnumbered the remaining pirates.

Kiba didn’t care about the fate of these men; he just felt a bit regretful that he didn’t get to personally kill the lieutenant.

The gunman’s loot box hadn’t significantly enhanced his strength, and if the hidden mission didn’t yield anything good, it would greatly impact his future plans.

“What are you doing?!”

Screams and angry shouts pulled Kiba back to reality.

Following Captain Crow’s orders, the pirates grinned wickedly as they swung their blades at the surrendered marines. The scene was bloody and brutal—a stark reminder of the harsh reality hidden beneath the facade of adventure and freedom on the high seas.

Within minutes, all the prisoners were executed by the pirates. Then Kiba watched as Jango, now fully recovered, stepped forward.

Without anyone noticing, the first mate easily hypnotized all the pirates.

“One, two, Jango!”

“You’ve all worked hard today. Now you can take a permanent rest.”

Under Jango’s control, the pirates laughed as they raised their weapons and turned them on their fellow crewmates.

Crow had decided to retire, which meant the Navy had to revoke his bounty.

There were typically two ways to achieve this.

First, if the person was dead, the Navy wouldn’t spend money on a dead man’s bounty.

Second, Captain Crow could become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Considering the difficulty of the second option, the real task now was to “kill” the captain of the Black Cat Pirates.

To avoid any leaks, everyone except the official crew members had to die here.

The next ten minutes witnessed a horrific and inhumane slaughter. Watching Jango enjoy himself, Kiba couldn’t help but wonder how this guy ever became a marine.

Of course, not everyone had to die—at least Kiba wasn’t going to stand by and watch Paul get killed.

He slapped the young man awake from his hypnotic state and pulled him to his side.

In fact, Kiba wasn’t the only one doing this. Others were also saving their trusted subordinates, not wanting to let them die so pathetically.

Seeing this, Crow remained indifferent. He was retiring, but that didn’t mean the Black Cat Pirates would disband.

Jango would succeed him as captain, and the others would continue supporting him as before.

If they wanted to roam the seas, they’d still need all sorts of talents, as long as they didn’t reveal Crow’s whereabouts.

After all the small fry were dealt with, the main course of the plan was finally served.

Ax-Hand Morgan, who had lost an arm, was brought before the first mate, escorted by Paul.

Jango then personally hypnotized Morgan, making him believe he had defeated Crow and even altering the young man’s original personality.

When Morgan took the disguised fake Crow back to the branch, they would find a way to kill him, ensuring there would be no evidence left.

As long as Kuro of a Hundred Plans didn’t show up again, everyone would believe that Morgan had brought back the real captain.

As the warship gradually sailed away, Crow turned to face his crew and calmly ordered, “Only Jango knows my whereabouts. Do not disturb me unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“After I leave, Jango will take over as the new captain of the Black Cat Pirates.”

After a slight pause, Crow suddenly turned to the silent Kiba and said, “Jason, you’ll be the new first mate.”

*[Notification: You have been promoted to First Mate and granted one Mandatory Suggestion right.]*

Kiba’s eyes widened slightly, a rare hint of joy appearing on his face.

He hadn’t expected to be granted a Mandatory Suggestion right.

The meaning of this was simple—it allowed him to compel the Black Cat Pirates to attack any feasible target.

The captain had to agree that the target was viable. If Kiba wanted to attack Mary Geoise, Jango probably wouldn’t approve.

“Thank you, Captain.” This expression of gratitude was somewhat genuine.

With the power to deploy forces, Kiba could now adjust his plans accordingly. Even without Kuro, the Black Cat Pirates were still a top-tier crew.

As long as they didn’t provoke any major powers, they could continue to roam the East Blue freely.

---

As for Sam and Buchi’s undisguised hostility, Kiba decided to turn a blind eye for now. Once he fully assumed the role of first mate of the Black Cat Pirates, he could easily find an excuse to deal with the two of them. With Paul by his side, it wouldn’t be too difficult to take them out one by one.

After giving some brief instructions, Kuro boarded a small raft and left the Black Cat ship alone.

The mission completion notification sounded at that very moment.

*[Hidden Mission: The Retirement of Kuro of a Hundred Plans (Completed)]*

*[Calculating results... Generating rewards...]*

*[Based on your contributions, you may choose two of the following rewards:]*

*[Option 1: Gain 1000 Plot Points]*

*[Option 2: Obtain Cat Claw Gloves]*

*[Option 3: Gain 5 Merit Points]*

*[Option 4: Obtain Silent Steps (Rare)]*

*[Option 5: Gain 4 Attribute Points (Rare)]*

Looking at the rewards listed before him, Kiba sighed with regret. If only he had personally taken down the marine lieutenant, his contribution points might have allowed him to choose three rewards instead.

Now, he had no choice but to reluctantly give up on the merit points.

The attribute points were a must-have reward, regardless of whether they were rare or not.

As for Captain Kuro’s Silent Steps, that was a pleasant surprise. The skill had strong utility and might offer him a significant boost in ability.

After confirming his reward choices, a skill scroll and four precious attribute points immediately appeared in his inventory.

After a moment’s hesitation, Kiba decided to allocate all the points to his mental attributes, bringing his base mental stat to a remarkable 17 points.

Just 2 more points, and he would hit the threshold for a world of level-one difficulty, truly gaining the ability to contend with top-tier reincarnators.

Of course, that was only in a level-one difficulty world.

- *Health*: 51/110 (+40)

- *Status*: Injured

- *Strength*: 7 (+1)

- *Constitution*: 7

- *Agility*: 6 (+1)

- *Spirit*: 21 (+4)

- *Perception*: 13 (+3)

- *Equipment*: Advanced Maneuver Gear IV, Black Star Type 54, Lost Homeland, Fine Ring, Damaged Police Goggles

“With the equipment bonuses, my current mental strength has already surpassed 20 points.” By slightly increasing his focus, objects around him began to tremble involuntarily, clearly affected by his mental power.

With a snap of his fingers, the first mate's cloak beside him automatically flew up and draped itself over his shoulders.

This was an additional application of his mental power, something Kiba had been practicing a lot recently.

As his mental base continued to grow, tasks that were once difficult gradually became easier, such as the hypnosis technique he often practiced. He could now make ordinary pirates fall asleep.

However, the skill’s casting time was still too long, making it impractical for real combat.

It was worth noting that when he successfully hypnotized a pirate, a special prompt came from the reincarnation space.

*[You have mastered the Hypnosis Technique. Would you like to convert it to a skill in your skill panel?]*

Given the limitation of only three skill slots, Kiba declined the offer to convert it.

Later, he discovered that he could still use the hypnosis technique without any restrictions, though he couldn’t upgrade it directly with plot points.

This was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the Silent Steps reward he had high hopes for gave him a bit of a headache.

- *Name*: Silent Steps

- *Level*: 1

- *Grade*: D

- *Effect*: Approaches the target rapidly through special footwork.

- *Usage Condition*: Consumes 4 Spirit Points

- *Learning Requirements*: Agility 15, Constitution 10, Basic Footwork LV8

- *Origin*: One Piece

- *Skill Evaluation*: Assassination-oriented, allowing the user to silently and swiftly eliminate targets.

Neither his agility nor constitution met the required standards at the moment, and it would likely take at least two or three more worlds before he could learn the skill.

By the time he decided to increase his agility, he might not even need this D-grade skill anymore.

Thus, its best use would be to sell it to other reincarnators in exchange for items or equipment he could use.

Pushing open the first mate’s cabin door, Kiba gazed at the pitch-black night sky, his mind contemplating his next course of action.

The recent battle had severely weakened the Black Cat Pirates, with nearly all of the lower-ranking crew members wiped out.

To prepare for their next target, they would need to replenish their manpower, which meant the Black Cat Pirates would likely dock at the next island.

“The tavern at night is always full of surprises and excitement.”

After facing life-and-death crises multiple times, Kiba wanted to relax a little and see if there were any benefits to be gained.

To build a force on the sea, relying solely on strength wasn’t enough. The crew needed food and women too.

If he couldn’t pay their wages, the crew might just abandon ship—after all, work was work, no matter where it was.

Now that he had become the first mate, it was his responsibility to consider the well-being of everyone on board.

(End of Chapter)