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Chapter 15: All For Survival II

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That particular scene was reflected in the crimson eyes of a dark bird, standing very close to them in the shadows, yet they couldn't see even a trace of it. The crow was blending with darkness a little too well. 

He remained as such for a while, just observing the group of pirates, how they behave, whatever he can pick up from their body language, and most importantly, their intelligence.

Yovan didn't hurry to attack even when the caretaker left. Instead, he flew away, finding a spot where he could still see the pirates but far away to be noticed before transforming back into his human form.

The pirates talked a lot about their next course of action. They obviously know they couldn't go on with their raid plans considering the new bounty hunter who seems to know something.

Yet despite that, they went to sleep in the same camp though they left a lot of pirates on the watch. 

The person who Yovan deemed to be the pirate captain left his tent many times throughout the night, checking with the other pirates.

That basically told Yovan that they were waiting for him, perhaps wanting to know how he got the information they assume he has.

Yovan's last words before leaving the shop settled their mind a little bit because indeed, bounty hunters are a bunch of greedy fucks that will only inform the Marines about anything as a last resort, in general of course.

The night passed peacefully and silently, making the green lock pirates a bit tense, so they gathered their stuff and started heading away, unaware of the eyes staring at them from afar.

Yovan remained patient for four whole days, following after them without sleeping for even a second. His increase in stats allowed him to endure the exhaustion far better than last time.

And finally, at the end of the fourth day, they reached a part of the shore very far away, a hidden place close to a cliff.

Yovan could finally let out a sigh of relief, seeing his true target before him, a ship. It wasn't anything special and it was actually relatively small, seeming to be able to hold only twenty people or so.

He watched from far away as the pirates transported their belongings into the ship. Whatever it is they've acquired in their recent raids. They then started celebrating, loudly and exaggeratedly.

Everything was reflected in Yovan's eyes, how much they drank, and how they behaved, noticing something peculiar.

'Their captain is a bit cautious, and he very much uses his brain. Only a small percentage of the crew was truly drunk. The rest were mostly sober. 

He doesn't know he's followed, of that I'm sure. It's likely just a procedure, perhaps he set specific times when all the crew can get drunk. Not bad green lock guy.'

Yovan realized he was dealing with a relatively smart guy, but he also realized something else, this might just be easier to pull off than previously expected.

Yovan rested close to the edge of the cliff, amidst some tall grass and a few rocks. Most importantly. the area had several shadows within, so if approached, he can just turn into his crow form and vanish.

As long as he closes the ominous red eyes, he basically becomes inky black, impossible to see in the dark by normal means. 

In fact, he experimented with it many times, standing right next to people, sometimes in front of them, yet they could see nothing. It was almost too abnormal, but the crow's naturally dark feathers make it seem normal.

The pirates laughed, celebrated, then slept, and only sailed the next day in the evening. 

The pirate captain watched the surroundings carefully, seeing if he was being followed but alas, the ship left the land far behind, and no marine was in sight, "Alright boyss!!! We did it! Let's go to the bay and have some hookers for ourselves!!"

"YYYYYahahah!!!" 

The yells of celebration reverberated through the calm sea as the pirates finally let go, relaxing for a bit... Most importantly, most of them slept soundly.

After all, how could they possibly know that a human in a creature's body has just laid his nest on the very top of the ship, watching them carefully?

Most of the people of the west blue, even north, south, and east blue; know little to nothing about how extraordinary the world truly is.

Not many people know of devil fruits, let alone any specifics about them, and they wouldn't have imagined their greatest mistake was to simply sleep even with a few pirates still keeping watch.

The sound of the waves reverberated throughout the sea amidst the darkness of the sky. The little moonlight was doing very little to counter the growing darkness, allowing the hunter to move undetected.

Yovan took absolutely no chances as he flew along with the shadows, going deeper into the ship, starting with the captain

It was way past midnight by this point, so imagine Yovan's surprise when he saw a source of light to be faintly leaving the captain's room.

Yovan could faintly see through the cracks of the ship, he could see the captain leaning on the wall while licking his green hair, seemingly zoning out next to a bright candle.

It seemed like he has been there for a while, and as Yovan continued to observe, he found out that the man was long gone in his lands of imagination, 'Just what the fuck is happening?'

Yovan retreated, not out of the ship, but he set his sight on those keeping watch. All he had on him was a knife, and it was more than enough.

Through a process of continuous transformations from crow to human forms, switching between them to cut their throats before gently putting them down.

Despite the green lock captain's bizarre behavior, Yovan still continued with the simple plan of eliminating most of the crew.

What he relied most on was his Airflow technique, something he was able to use even with a simple knife. 

In fact, he found out that he doesn't need to use as much force to use it anymore. 

Where before he needed to use the full force of his arm strength to use it, now he feels like he can faintly control the air around him, and it made no sense to him.

That of course could only mean that Limitless doesn't make much sense in the first place, and it doesn't work by common laws.

Controlling the airflow, however, was still extremely difficult as up to now, he can only faintly manipulate it to improve his knife's strikes, allowing the slicing of the jugular to be more clean and silent.

The ship soon became too silent, the snores, the groans, and the occasional hiccups were cut off entirely. 

Yovan was starting to understand more and more just how easy it is to kill a human, normal ones at least. He learned a lesson, your life despite your unawareness is in the hands of those in power or those who hold power.

Yovan was the one with power at the moment but he couldn't help but wonder, 'What if I faced someone stronger? What if I faced a desperate situation... Again? In such a world, there is no freedom without power.'

It was common sense really, but the more you experience it, the more those words will mean until they no longer become words, but convictions, beliefs, and a commitment that'll drive his survival.

Only three people were left alive on the ship, one is the captain, and the other two were pirates just below him with bounties. 

Yovan choked the two pirates one by one until they passed out before tying them up and closing their mouths with a piece of cloth.

His last stop was his first stop in the ship, the captain's compartment. It was still lit, and the captain was still absent-minded, licking his green hair with more intensity.

'Aghhh, what the fuck is he doing? Like, what?' Yovan was genuinely confused and even more cautious.

So he walked away silently, getting a dead body. He stationed himself a bit to the side of the door of the compartment and opened it slightly before pushing the body inside.

The place was already set in stone as he stabbed with a spear he acquired from one of the dead pirates, creating a burst of air into the room. 

The burst of air did exactly what he intended for it to do, it shut off the candle's fire, bringing darkness back again, and amidst the darkness, a harmless bird flew inside.

"Huh? That's it?"