Chapter Seventeen: The Storm

With the addition of these pirates, Roland’s life returned to the way it had been on the Floating Isle; aside from training, he no longer needed to worry about anything else.

Another morning dawned, and after rising early as was his habit, Roland went directly to the deck. Standing at the bow, he gazed at the slowly rising sun in the distance, feeling utterly healed. Ever since venturing out to sea, his favorite thing to do was to get up early and watch the sunrise. In his previous life as a lawyer, Roland had always dreamed of retiring to a house by the sea, living there, and greeting the ocean each day with the sun’s rise and fall. He never imagined that what he failed to accomplish in his previous life would come so easily in this one.

Enjoying the caress of the sea breeze, Roland took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, purging the stale air from his lungs and clearing his mind. Having done all this, he began his morning training. Roland understood very well that in this world, only strength guaranteed survival.

On the morning deck, apart from Roland, there were also pirates who had risen early to clean. At first, they didn’t have this habit, but Roland couldn’t stand the ship’s untidy state and ordered that it be cleaned every day.

“Master Roland really is diligent,” one pirate remarked.

“Indeed. If Master Roland would accept me, I wouldn’t mind becoming a Marine,” another replied.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Didn’t you hear what Master Roland said? He valued Mr. Jin for his loyalty, not his abilities.”

“Haha, I’m just saying. For people like us, it’s already good enough to still be alive—how could we hope for more?”

Watching Roland train so earnestly, the pirates couldn’t help but discuss him. After spending time together, their initial resentment toward Roland had gradually faded, replaced now only by admiration.

To see someone so powerful consistently train every day was something they’d never expected. In their previous lives, even formidable figures like Mr. Jin and Captain Krieg didn’t train daily—especially Krieg, who devoted himself to installing ever more sinister devices into his armor, never considering the improvement of his own strength.

Alongside their admiration, the pirates also envied Jin, for to follow someone so powerful surely promised a bright future. Unlike themselves—once they reached the Marine base, only the dark, damp cells would await them.

Still, compared to Captain Krieg, their fate was marginally better. Notorious pirates like Krieg from the East Blue were usually publicly executed by the Marines, as a warning to others.

“Wait a moment, doesn’t something feel off? The weather suddenly feels stifling,” one pirate said, sensing something amiss and glancing around suspiciously.

“What’s strange? I feel great—it’s a comfortable temperature,” another replied, looking up at the clear sky, high and bright.

“There’s definitely something wrong; the air pressure is changing,” the ship’s navigator suddenly said. Years of sailing had made him alert to such abrupt shifts in pressure.

“Hard starboard! Storm incoming!” another navigator shouted, terror in his voice as he stared at the black clouds rapidly gathering ahead, his face pale as death.

For pirates who lived by the blade, encountering Marines or other pirates didn’t necessarily frighten them—combat was a daily routine. But storms? No one remained unfazed. Even those accustomed to life at sea couldn’t claim absolute safety; when extreme weather struck without warning, survival depended on luck.

Usually, storms at sea came with signs; experienced navigators could read the changes and avoid them. But storms like this—appearing without warning—were the domain of the truly unlucky. In all his years of sailing, this was the first time he’d encountered such a thing.

“Hard starboard!”
“Take in the sails!”

At the navigator’s command, the pirates on deck sprang into action. Perhaps they were unruly at other times, obeying no one but the captain or officers, but in a life-or-death moment, none dared disobey.

“A storm, is it?” Roland, aided by his keen senses, snapped back from his training and immediately spotted the massing black clouds in the distance; his expression darkened.

In the blink of an eye, the once blue sky was shrouded in ominous clouds. The sea wind began to howl, as if intent on overturning everything afloat, battering the three-decked ship relentlessly.

Faced with such weather, Roland’s heart sank. Before eating the Devil Fruit, he wouldn’t have feared this—if the ship sank, he could rely on his extraordinary stamina to weather the storm, using driftwood or whatever was at hand to stay afloat. But now, having consumed the Devil Fruit, entering the sea would render him powerless.

Even if he could transform into Yudian and abandon ship, escaping the storm alone, what then? As a Devil Fruit user, with nowhere to stand, how could he survive? He wasn’t a fish-man.

Rather than fantasizing about escaping and hoping to encounter another ship or island, it was better to try and save the ship together with the others. After all, a three-decked sailing ship could resist the tempest, if only for a while.

“Is there anything I can do?” Roland hurried over to the pirates and asked.

“If you can, please help take in the sails. In this weather, the sails are a menace—if we don’t secure them in time, the whole ship could be overturned,” one navigator replied, emboldened by his respect for Roland.

“Understood.”

Roland rushed to the pirates struggling with the sails, grabbed the ropes, and quickly hauled in the billowing canvas. With level-five strength, pulling in a sail was child’s play.

“Tie it down quickly, then everyone head below decks for shelter!” Roland shouted at the pirates, who had frozen in awe at his display, and continued to tighten the ropes.

“Yes, right away!”
The pirates fumbled at first, but soon, driven by survival instincts, calmed themselves and lashed the ropes tightly to the mast.

Just then, the rain finally began to fall, drumming relentlessly on the deck and soaking everyone to the bone.