"Damn it, I'm a man who's going to be a great pirate."
"I don't want to be a Marine."
"Benedict, if you have the guts, let's fight one-on-one. If I win, you let me go."
The largest beer production factory on Shadow Stream Island.
Baggie was grabbed by Benedict and walked outside.
Behind him, Baggie's head and limbs followed, constantly chattering at Benedict.
If he could, Baggie would never have followed Benedict.
However, his body was controlled by Benedict, and he couldn't move at all.
"If you keep babbling, I'll crush your heart, Clown Baggie."
Benedict dug in his ear, looking somewhat impatient.
To be honest, he hadn't expected to see Shanks and Baggie on this island.
And he wanted to keep both Shanks and Baggie.
But upon hearing that Shanks had his own mission, he understood that it would be impossible for Shanks to join the Black Tortoise Marines in the short term.
Although Shanks was out of the question, Baggie, a child who lacked the harshness of the world, could still be managed.
Moreover, Baggie's Chop-Chop Fruit, if awakened, would be very interesting.
Baggie fell silent. Benedict's words were quite effective.
"Marshal, one thousand barrels of beer have been prepared and are being transported to the warship," a special forces soldier said, saluting Benedict.
"In addition, other necessary food supplies have also been procured."
"Return to the Marine base and hold a banquet," Benedict nodded and said with a smile.
"Hold a banquet?" Baggie, who had been yelling earlier, looked at the barrels of beer being transported and perked up at the mention of a banquet.
He was currently just a fifteen-year-old kid.
It would be several years before he formed his future pirate crew.
The reason for this was that he was very poor and didn't want to join Shanks' pirate crew, yet he had picked up Roger's habit of holding a banquet whenever he was happy.
Benedict glanced at Baggie, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Huh, Benedict, are you holding a banquet?"
He tried his best to appear indifferent, but his active limbs indicated his current excitement.
"A banquet sounds great."
"I love holding banquets the most."
Baggie tried to restrain himself, but the thought of eating and drinking heartily during a banquet was too much for him to anticipate.
"So, are you going to join the Marines?" Benedict released his grip, allowing Baggie to return to his normal state, and asked.
"Join the Marines?"
"Impossible, I can't give up being... just for food."
Halfway through his sentence, he saw Benedict's cold gaze, and Baggie's mouth couldn't help but tremble.
"Joining the Marines doesn't seem entirely impossible," Baggie hesitated, and to save his own life, he finally made his choice.
"By joining the Marines, you will become even stronger."
"Believe me, Shanks won't be your opponent."
"Also, as long as you do your job well, I'll allow you to take your soldiers to search for treasure."
Benedict knew Baggie's personality and goals very well.
His first goal was to surpass Shanks and defeat Shanks.
His second, and most important, goal was to find treasure and dig up all the treasures in this world.
Baggie's attributes were somewhat special.
Throughout the entire One Piece, Baggie's goals were truly simple, and he embodied the definition of a pirate, a character with considerable emotional depth.
Furthermore, his obsession with treasure was almost unparalleled.
Therefore, upon hearing Benedict's words, Baggie's spirits immediately lifted.
"Hey!"
"Benedict, I'm not joining voluntarily."
"You promised benefits and invited me to join, and you must keep your word, otherwise, I will not hesitate to fire you."
Baggie was tempted, but he would never admit it verbally.
Benedict chuckled at this and said, "To get my promise, first, you need to possess sufficient strength."
"As you are now, you can't even defeat my soldiers."
Baggie's expression turned ugly, and he angrily retorted, "Benedict, you underestimate me too much."
"I am a strong fighter who fought with the Pirate King against Whitebeard for three days and three nights."
Benedict would not indulge Baggie and had to make him clearly recognize his position. Thus, he said, "Torus, give our 'strong fighter Baggie' a lesson with life-changing significance."
A special forces soldier named Torus heard this, put down the wine barrel, and walked over, saying, "Yes, Marshal."
Baggie looked at the young man who was clearly an ordinary Marine and said disdainfully, "Benedict, you underestimate me too much. I can beat ten of these Marines."
Upon hearing Baggie's words, Torus's calm gaze instantly became sharp.
Baggie was startled by Torus's sudden change in gaze, and before he could react, Torus had already used Soru to appear behind him.
A standard punch was thrown towards him.
Baggie, terrified, split apart and dodged the punch. He then excitedly turned, his severed head floating in mid-air, and said to Torus, "Heh, kid, you think you can hurt me with this?"
"Clown Flying Knife!"
Baggie's arm suddenly held a short knife and attacked from all directions.
Torus looked at the attacking short knives with the gaze of an idiot at Clown Baggie, showing no intention of dodging.
The sound of "clang clang clang" rang out as the short knives hit Torus, but without exception, they bounced off, and did not harm Torus in the slightest.
"Damn it, you know Marine Rokushiki."
Baggie finally came back to his senses.
Torus had just used Soru and Tekkai from Marine Rokushiki.
And Baggie was no stranger to Marine Rokushiki.
While following Roger, he had been chased by Garp and the Marines many times, and had experienced numerous battles.
Even though he was an Devil Fruit user now, he was certain that he was no match for a Marine master proficient in Marine Rokushiki.
Torus, ignoring Baggie's shock, launched another attack.
This time, Baggie experienced an unprecedented blow.
One minute later, Baggie lay on the ground, his body bruised and battered, with no will to live.
To give Baggie a vivid lesson, Torus controlled his strength and let this kid who underestimated him know the gap in power.
"Torus, take a few men and train him during this period," Benedict said to Torus.
Torus calmly replied, "Yes, Marshal."
Baggie wanted to resist, but facing Torus's gaze, he failed.
"Marshal, we have a situation."
"Three pirate ships have landed on Shadow Stream Island and have begun burning, killing, and looting. Many civilians have already been killed."
A special forces soldier, standing not far away and acting as Benedict's personal guard, closed the Den Den Mushi and then went to Benedict to report.
Upon hearing this, Benedict's expression turned serious. He turned and left, saying, "Leave a small team to continue moving the wine. The rest, follow me to rescue."
"Yes, Marshal."