CH 279

Chapter 279 – Duarte’s Life

The man Duarte Taylor was born in a slum in some part of the Empire. Both of his parents were farmers, and despite being poor, they had enough to get by.

But when Duarte was seven years old, the nation made plans to get rid of the slums from the city as part of their large-scale urban development plans. And under the orders from the nobles, they began to eliminate the poor.

The soldiers attacked, burning down their houses and killing all who tried to resist. Duarte’s parents included.

His father was killed, and his mother was severely injured. Despite her injuries, she made a desperate escape from the city and headed into the forest for the sake of her beloved child, Duarte. In the end, she was able to save Duarte from their evil clutches.

However, Duarte’s mother eventually ran out of strength and passed away. Duarte was left to live alone in that unknown forest.

But Duarte was born with a rare power. At the time, it was called a ‘superpower’. A strange power among humans. But in future eras, it would become known as a ‘skill’.

Duarte’s skill, <Sky Manifestation>, was the ability to manifest the power of the weather. When his life was in danger in that forest, he awakened this power and survived.

He decided to live his life for the day that he could exact revenge on the nation that killed his parents.

One day, there was a turning point in his life.

Rumors began to spread of Duarte, a ‘beast-like’ child living in the forest. The government sent people to investigate, and they found Duarte. But he considered the country and its government his mortal enemies, causing his desire for vengeance to boil over.

Duarte stood and fought, but he was still young and unable to use his powers fully. Gradually, he was driven into a corner by their sheer numbers.

When he was eventually cornered and about to be killed by the soldiers, a man saved him.

That man was Olbers Reid, the only man whom Duarte respected enough to call a father figure.

Olbers was a pirate who was considered an enemy of the nation. He happened to be on his way back home when he heard the commotion and came to check on the situation.

Olbers managed to rescue Duarte from the soldiers. Duarte proceeded to tell Olbers about the tragedy he had experienced.

Then, Olbers invited Duarte to join him on his ship. He said that he was also an enemy of the nation and that he and Duarte were thus on the same side. He told Duarte that if he wanted to live and become stronger, he should follow him.

Duarte accepted his offer, knowing that he needed power to exact his vengeance. And thus, Duarte joined Olbers’ crew as an apprentice pirate.

Duarte sailed with Olbers and his crew, and, ever so slowly, the tough walls around his heart began to crumble. Eventually, he returned to the likeness of an innocent young boy.

Although Olbers was a pirate, he wasn’t a brute who indiscriminately resorted to violence. Most of his crew were there to explore the world and find undiscovered treasure.

Just because they flew a pirate flag on their mast, they were perceived as being against the Empire and thus were considered enemies of the world.

Even still, Olbers and his crew really enjoyed that dangerous but exciting everyday life.

Duarte became taken with the lifestyle of pirates, and he decided then that he also wanted to become a pirate one day.

Before long, he was calling Olbers his father, and he came to care for the crew like they were his family.

When Duarte turned 15 years old, there was yet another turning point in his life.

Olbers had told him to go out on his own. He realized that Duarte wanted to be a pirate and start his own crew, so he gave Duarte that push.

Moved by Olbers’ fatherly love, Duarte left the ship and set out to sea alone to become a pirate.

At that time, Duarte was no longer bent on revenge against the Empire. By then, he was more interested in becoming a full-fledged pirate and owning his own ship.

And thus over the course of his journeys, Duarte made friends, got his own ship, and began to build his name as a pirate.

Before he knew it, he was already 25 years old. He had lots of ships and lots of friends… no, family.

The man who once had everything taken from him had become a full-fledged pirate. An enemy of the world, but at least he had a warm family by his side.

It just happened to be that very moment that the Oz Freedom came into his life. He used a huge amount of money he had saved up over the years to build the best ship that he could.

The name of the Oz Freedom, with Duarte and his crew, began to spread far and wide across the seas.

He became known as the world’s most notorious man and a public enemy of the Empire, and the Oz Freedom supporting him became known as the best ship of the era.

The world was filled with talk of Duarte and the Oz Freedom.

Ten years later, Duarte met another turning point in his life. He had gotten hold of news that the man known as the forebearer of pirates was to be executed.

Duarte was stunned by the news. After all, the person known as the forebearer of pirates was the man he called his father, Olbers Reid.

Naturally, Duarte began to take action to save him.

Duarte arrived at the town where the public execution was set to take place. But it was a trap set by the Empire. They had used Olbers as bait to lure Duarte to this location.

Even so, Duarte couldn’t abandon his father, who was about to be executed right before his eyes.

Duarte and his crew began their desperate attempt to save Olbers, but his crew members were killed one by one. Eventually, Duarte stood, exhausted, watching as the Empire’s final bullet barreled towards him.

Olbers, who was already on the verge of death, mustered his final bit of strength to block the bullet for Duarte.

Olbers died in Duarte’s arms.

Once again, the Empire had robbed him of another one of his parents… and taken his family from him.

The shock from losing his father and his family caused Duarte’s skill to run rampant. He became the embodiment of natural disaster. The ground was torn asunder, buildings crumbled, and the entire city sank into the sea.

While this was happening, some of Duarte’s friends came aboard the Oz Freedom and managed to save him.

But this groundbreaking incident further increased Duarte’s notoriety. From this point on, a long, drawn-out series of battles with the Empire ensued.

Ten years later, when Duarte turned 45, the crew began to feel the exhaustion from these repeated battles. The Oz Freedom was able to sail, but it was similarly in a sorry state.

Despite this, the crew didn’t stop being pirates. They said they would stay with Duarte until the very, very end.

However, the Empire was cruel. They took the relatives of some of the crew hostage and blackmailed them in secret, using them as spies to lure Duarte and his crew to a certain island.

It was known as ‘The Island of Lonely Demise’, and it was also the island where Duarte and his crew met their end.

The Empire’s forces laid in wait on that island and destroyed Duarte and his crew when they arrived. The members of his crew succumbed one by one to the deadly poison that the Empire had developed.

Duarte was also prepared to meet his end, but once again, he was the only one to survive by escaping on the Oz Freedom at the expense of his friends.

Duarte had also been poisoned and was on the verge of death during the voyage.

But no one was able to cure him. The only one that remained by his side was the Oz Freedom, which could hardly even steer anymore.

Duarte was determined to return to his friends, and he moved to the helm of the ship.

But his life finally reached its limits, and it was there at the helm of the ship that he breathed his last breath.