Chapter 37 – [37] : [BONUS] – The Perfect Employee! Baratie!

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“Sk- ‘Sky Sovereign’ Rowen?!” Johnny stammered, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he stared at Rowen.

Unlike Zoro, who set out to become the world’s greatest swordsman but temporarily took up bounty hunting due to lack of funds, Johnny and his partner Yosaku were professional bounty hunters.

And for bounty hunters, gathering intelligence was paramount.

At the very least, they needed to know every pirate’s bounty and gather intel on their combat strength to choose targets they could defeat for a good reward.

Newspapers of all kinds were a primary source of pirate intelligence for bounty hunters.

As the world’s largest newspaper, the World Economic News Agency’s publication was essential reading.

Although most of its reports focused on the Grand Line, with little coverage given to the East Blue—often called the weakest sea—reading it was still valuable for broadening one’s knowledge.

But recently, the World Economic News Agency had dedicated an entire section to the normally overlooked East Blue.

‘Sky Sovereign’ Rowen! That was the name of the super rookie featured in that report!

The article described him with the incredible phrase: ‘A new King is about to be born upon the seas’.

Such an exaggerated assessment naturally left a deep impression on Johnny.

“‘Sky Sovereign’? SUGEEE! Your title is so awesome, Rowen!” Usopp exclaimed, looking at Rowen with admiration.

Usopp’s father, Yasopp, had left to become a pirate long ago, and his mother had passed away from illness during his childhood, leaving the family with little savings.

Plus, Usopp loved inventing things, which required money.

The World Economic News Agency newspaper wasn’t cheap, so Usopp couldn’t afford every issue. He bought one occasionally to broaden his horizons and, admittedly, to gather better material for his tall tales.

He happened to miss the issue featuring Rowen.

“And he’s even more famous than Luffy—the captain,” Nami added with a smile.

For some reason, Nami felt happy hearing about Rowen’s fame.

After the incident with Kaya, Nami was slowly starting to understand why.

She glanced at Rowen, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, her gaze almost… tentative.

Actually, before entering the Grand Line, Zoro, known as ‘Pirate Hunter’, was also much more famous than Luffy.

“I’ll definitely become famous! And get a super high bounty!” Luffy declared, fists clenched, full of fighting spirit, not jealous of his comrade in the slightest.

“Captain?” Johnny turned his head, looking blankly at Luffy.

“What? Don’t I look like a captain?” Luffy puffed out his chest, hands on his hips.

Nami, Zoro, and Usopp collectively shook their heads.

An idiot prioritizing a musician over a cook right before entering the Grand Line? How does that resemble a captain at all?

“…” Luffy immediately went to sulk in a corner, drawing circles on the deck.

“Unbelievable… That ‘Sky Sovereign’ Rowen and Big Bro Zoro actually chose you as their captain,” Johnny muttered, his perception of Luffy completely overturned.

“By the way, where’s Yosaku? Why isn’t he with you?” Zoro asked, looking around, finding it strange.

Johnny and Yosaku were partners, always inseparable.

“Yosaku! He…!” Johnny’s expression instantly turned grief-stricken.

“What happened?” Seeing Zoro’s concerned expression, Johnny carefully pulled Yosaku up from the small boat tethered alongside.

Yosaku’s face was deathly pale, looking like he was on the verge of dying.

“Yosaku was perfectly fine just a few days ago! Then suddenly he turned pale white and passed out for days! I have no idea why! His teeth are falling out, old wounds are bleeding again… I don’t know what to do anymore!” Johnny cried, looking at his partner’s dire condition.

“I took him to that nearby rock island to rest, and then a cannonball suddenly shot over from this ship!” Johnny started sobbing.

“!!!” Luffy and Usopp’s jaws dropped.

Oh crap! That was the cannonball they fired!

“S-Sorry!” Luffy and Usopp immediately bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

“If apologies actually worked, we wouldn’t need the marines!” Johnny wailed as Yosaku coughed up more blood.

“Right, partner?! Big Bro Zoro, He’s not gonna die, is he?!” Johnny shook Yosaku frantically.

“You’ll actually kill him if you keep shaking him like that,” Rowen and Nami interjected, walking over.

“Relax. It’s just common scurvy. Luffy, I told you when I stocked those apples, didn’t I? Sailing on the sea without enough vitamins… well, you wouldn’t understand anyway. Basically, if you don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, you get this disease,” Rowen explained, looking at Yosaku.

“Eh? Did you say that?” Luffy tilted his head, trying to recall, but his mind drew a complete blank.

“Big Bro Rowen! Since you know what disease this is, you must know how to cure it, right?!” Johnny immediately looked at Rowen, tears streaming down his face.

“He just needs some fresh fruit. Luffy, Usopp, go get those oranges,” Rowen instructed.

“Aye!” Luffy and Usopp immediately complied, grabbing a pile of oranges and desperately stuffing them into Yosaku’s mouth.

A short while later, Yosaku miraculously bounced back to his feet, singing and dancing with Johnny again.

But their joy was short-lived. Yosaku quickly collapsed again. Although Yosaku, being a native of the One Piece world, had decent recovery abilities, he didn’t possess a Trait like Superhuman Physique (Deep Purple).

Instant full recovery was impossible, and all that jumping around just aggravated his condition.

Fortunately, with a few days of rest, he would make a full recovery.

Johnny finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Let this be a lesson, Luffy. Never underestimate sailing,” Nami said sternly, writing in her logbook while glancing at Luffy.

Luffy wanting a musician before a cook was simply idiotic from a practical sailing perspective.

“I didn’t realize there were dangers like this during voyages,” Zoro commented thoughtfully.

Although Rowen had mentioned the disease when preparing the apples, Zoro hadn’t paid much attention at the time. Seeing Yosaku’s condition firsthand was a significant lesson.

He had assumed just eating enough to feel full was sufficient while sailing.

“Meaning we have to consider nutritional balance with the limited ingredients onboard during long journeys?” Usopp mused, understanding dawning.

“Think about it. Isn’t that an essential skill for sailing?” Nami pointed out.

“An essential skill?” Luffy, gnawing on a piece of bread, suddenly yelled.

“Alright! Then it has to be a cook! Let’s go find a cook!” Luffy stood up, looking determinedly at Rowen and the others.

“That is the most needed role on our ship before we head into the Grand Line,” Rowen smiled.

No amount of talking beats firsthand experience for Luffy and Zoro.

Growth wasn’t just about power; mental maturity was also required to become truly strong.

Luffy and Zoro… their future strength was crucial for Rowen’s plans to plunder high-tier Traits and utilize Faction Fortune (Apex Gold) by taking down iconic Pirate Faction figures.

Especially when eventually challenging the Four Emperors, their developed combat power would be invaluable to Rowen.

An Emperor’s crew represented a complete force. The more numerous and powerful allies one had, the better.

Facing a group assault alone could overwhelm even a peak Emperor/Admiral level fighter.

Kaido’s defeat after being worn down by multiple opponents on Onigashima was the perfect cautionary tale.

Rowen wouldn’t make that mistake.

“Speaking of cooks, I know just the place!” Johnny grinned.

“Alright! That’s where we’re going! Where is it?!” Luffy beamed excitedly.

“It’s close to the entrance of the Grand Line. And… there are rumors circulating there about that Hawk-Eyed man Big Bro Zoro has been looking for,” Johnny added.

Johnny’s words made Zoro’s eyes sharpen instantly.

And Rowen’s lips curved into a knowing smile.

“Course set… North-Northeast!”

“To the Sea Restaurant—Baratie!”

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