Chapter 170: Special Employees
“Those guys?”
Obei was somewhat puzzled, then suddenly remembered something, and her expression softened.
With Brother Burufaruto’s order, hundreds of people wearing uniform uniforms appeared from the side of the factory; they were the first batch of employees of the future Weapon Factory.
Some of these employees were originally artisans from the Beasts Pirates Weapon Department, some were experienced workers specially recruited from various islands… and the rest, who were the most numerous, were some special people.
These people clearly hadn’t undergone prior rehearsal, and after appearing, they kept whispering and chattering.
But no one scolded them, not even Boss Kaido and Ember said anything, as if deliberately giving them time to adapt.
“Hey? Look at that spraying statue at the entrance, doesn’t it look like Boss Kaido?”
A pirate kicked the person next to him and said curiously.
“No way~ I remember Boss Kaido’s Dragon Form looks quite majestic; this one just feels dumb~”
“Yeah, and there’s a water pipe in its mouth, making it look even sillier~”
“Yeah. I don’t know who came up with it… Hey? By the way, who are you?”
“Huh? Me? Disby?”
“Disby? How did you turn into this appearance?”
The pirate named Handika was full of surprise in his tone; in his impression, the man named Disby had always been quite a showy man who cared a lot about his appearance.
But the person in front of him looked disheveled, probably not groomed for months.
“Nothing, just felt this rugged style suits my handsome appearance better.”
“Haha! You haven’t changed at all in personality, still so showy.”
The speakers were two disabled people, one missing both arms, one missing one arm and one leg.
“By the way, Disby, were you also brought here by Boss Burufaruto? Didn’t expect this factory to take in guys like you.”
“Listen to you~ I was begging pretty well on Begging Island, but then Lord Burufaruto’s transfer order sent me here.”
“Ah~ Not that working in this factory is bad, after all it’s one of our Beasts Pirates’ industries, but compared to begging, it lacks some freedom and carefree spirit…”
Disby, missing both arms, flicked his hair smugly.
But because it hadn’t been washed for so long, his hair was clumped, and this flick only shook out a few lice.
“You guy… Sigh~ If only Pride had been as optimistic as you back then.”
Handika sighed, regretting his spirited and vigorous friend from back then.
“That guy Pride was just too proud; with his strength, he could have challenged for squad leader position right away, but then he suddenly became disabled… With his personality, it’s normal he couldn’t think straight.”
The one who suddenly interjected was a middle-aged man sitting in a rundown wheelchair.
His face was resolute, his upper body muscles knotted, but his lower pants legs were empty.
“Brother Zod?”*2
“You’re still alive?”
“Hahaha! Of course, I haven’t reached the point where losing two legs means I can’t live!”
Though legless, the man still appeared passionate and upward-striving; this was a man unyielding to the core.
“Now that Brother Burufaruto is calling the shots, how could I not come.”
“But didn’t expect calling us over in such a hurry was for this~”
The middle-aged man looked at many familiar acquaintances in the crowd missing arms or legs, then at the grand Weapon Factory in front, and sighed.
“Heard this method was proposed by Lord La… Didn’t expect that lord to notice us useless guys and give us another meal…”
Zod actually had no impression of La; he had only seen her once from afar when she first joined, then lost both legs in battle and withdrew from the pirate crew on his own.
Unexpectedly, that girl he met only once gave his truncated life another opportunity today.
The disability rate in the pirate profession is actually quite high.
Especially in the Beasts Pirates, a pirate crew famed for martial prowess; going out to sea usually means some unlucky ones get bombed by enemies or cannons, missing arms or legs.
And these pirates disabled to the point they can hardly continue fighting are generally directly abandoned, after all, a pirate crew isn’t a charity and won’t keep wasting on cripples.
Those abandoned pirates, knowing nothing but killing besides, often can’t find other jobs after being kicked out.
Some lucky, farsighted pirates can rely on savings to scrape by for a while, but the unlucky spendthrifts usually end up street begging and starving to death.
Very cruel, very reality.
But fortunately, since the internal reform proposed by La was implemented, opportunities for battle have greatly decreased, and the disability rate among grassroots pirates has also dropped.
This is also why the island-stationed combat teams, though dissatisfied with the upper restrictions on raids, haven’t caused large-scale trouble.
After all, everyone has seen the fate of those discarded by the pirate crew; now income is lower, but safer.
And when La learned of this situation, following the principle of no waste, she casually arranged places for those abandoned pirates.
If you can’t kill anymore, go twist screws.
The current Beasts Pirates is no longer a pure pirate crew like before; in the process of transforming into regional armed forces, it also has its own production department, so these non-combat members can naturally be placed.
Moreover, these eliminated pirates not only have simple social ties, know each other well, no entanglements with other factions, but they themselves are a quite perfect signboard.
Their existence clearly tells others: even if you’re accidentally disabled in battle, the Beasts Pirates won’t abandon you; you can still have a place in the pirate crew.
This is undoubtedly a powerful morale booster and team cohesion enhancer.
Therefore, when La proposed this idea, she almost immediately gained support from almost everyone up and down the crew, so much so that within the organization, this proposal is privately called the “Angel’s Gate.”
Meaning the god closed one door for you, and the angel opened another.
And among them, Brother Burufaruto was the happiest.
With some jianghu righteousness, whenever he saw his own begging members on the street, he couldn’t help but step forward to help.
But his power alone was limited, and Boss Kaido and Ember never cared about these, which once made Brother Burufaruto fall into self-doubt of “I can’t do anything.”
Now with this perfect solution in front of him, he immediately set off overnight, gathering all disabled pirates within the Beasts Pirates forces.
“Ahem!”
“Quiet!”
Seeing these people catch up on old times almost done, Brother Burufaruto stepped forward, spread his arms, and smiled:
“Welcome home!”
