Everyone else had noticed the pirate fleet sailing in from the distance as well.
Looking out, they could see more than a dozen pirate ships surrounding a single, massive flagship at the center.
"Hahahaha!" Franky's mood instantly shot through the roof. "I can't believe I just finished my upgrades today, and the heavens immediately send me a huge gift!"
The others watched without much reaction.
These past days, they'd killed so many pirates it was becoming routine. Anyone with a bounty on their head got handed over at the nearest Marine base for cash.
Sure, those branch bases always docked a percentage—but as the captain put it, even a mosquito's leg is still meat. Better some than none.
"That's the East Blue overlord, Krieg," Zan Gao said, pushing up his glasses. As the ship's intelligence gatherer, he kept tabs on all sorts of news.
White Ghost spoke up, and everyone immediately turned serious and looked his way.
"There's a guy on their ship with heavy dark circles under his eyes—his name is Gin," White Ghost said calmly. "Keep him alive. Everyone else, do whatever you want."
"Looks like we're getting another crewmate," Kuro said with a faint smile, looking toward the enormous ship drawing closer.
"Then let's have a real fight!" Franky struck a pose like he was about to fire his beam.
—
On the Krieg Pirates' flagship, the Fearless Battleship, Krieg—who styled himself the East Blue overlord—stared at the ship ahead with fanatic excitement.
He'd finally found them.
Ever since the day he'd seen that newspaper, he'd locked onto this crew like a starving beast. In his eyes, he could already see endless wealth waving him forward.
With money, he could recruit more men and expand his forces. Sure, he could always bully some weaklings into joining…
But weapons, ships, food—those all needed funds.
And the moment he saw the "life-extending potion" in the news, Krieg understood instantly.
That thing could bring him money beyond counting.
As for that so-called captain… he'd had some fame in the East Blue before, sure—but wasn't he still unable to do anything to Krieg?
Even "Hero" Garp came back to the East Blue all the time, and it wasn't like he could do anything about him either.
Devil Fruit users?
Krieg snorted. Just landlubbers who couldn't swim. Toss them in seawater and they were nothing.
And the women on that ship…
Krieg licked his lips. Beautiful. Fresh. Grab them, make them serve him—what was the problem?
As for that "White Ghost" pretty boy?
Kill him and feed him to the fish.
"Found you at last!" Krieg's grin twisted into something feral as he stared at the ship ahead.
Beside him, a man with a gray-blue striped bandanna and deep dark circles around his eyes spoke up, voice low.
"Commander… this might not be easy. They have strong fighters."
This was the one White Ghost had mentioned—Gin.
Krieg Pirates' overall captain, personally dubbed "Demon" by Krieg.
Fiercely loyal. Cold-blooded and ruthless—hence the nickname. Even if enemies cried and begged at his feet, he'd still kill without blinking.
A man who looked like a strategist cut in—his most obvious feature was the oil lamp fixed on top of his head. Whenever a new plan struck him, it supposedly shone with a bright flare.
"Heh, Overall Captain—what's the point of 'strong'?" the adviser said. "Unless they're monsters like Commander Krieg, numbers alone can crush anyone."
"Exactly!" another man chimed in.
This one was fully wrapped in shield-plates, both for defense and offense, and he was utterly convinced his defense was unbeatable.
"In the East Blue, nobody can stand against us!"
Krieg waved a hand, dismissing it all.
"Gin—those so-called 'strong fighters' are Devil Fruit users, that's all. Didn't you read the paper? Their people are all Devil Fruit users."
He sneered. "The simplest way to deal with them is to sink their ship. Then we just sit back and salvage."
Krieg stood up, eyes blazing.
"Pass the order. All ships—prepare!"
His grin widened, vicious and eager.
"The moment we're in range—open fire. First, smash their ship's power and mobility!"
"Yes, Commander!" A lackey rushed off to relay the command.
The Krieg fleet spread into a line, cannons turning toward the oncoming ship.
"FIRE!"
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
More than a dozen ships fired at once. A dense swarm of cannonballs screamed through the air toward the Dragon Emperor.
Ain watched them coming and curled her lip in contempt. She drew Sakura Eleven and slashed.
Shing—!
A sword wave nearly a hundred meters long cleaved through the sky, detonating every cannonball midair.
Smoke and the sharp stink of gunpowder rolled outward like a cloud.
Gin's pupils tightened.
He didn't even know what he'd just seen—only that something had casually blown every cannonball apart.
The sense of danger in his chest surged higher and higher, and he was about to warn Krieg—
When Krieg shouted again, "Keep firing! They're just Devil Fruit users! I want to see how many cannonballs they can catch!"
The pirates roared like they'd been injected with bloodlust, thrilled by the thought of robbery and slaughter—the things the Krieg Pirates did best.
"Yo!"
Franky listened to their howls and grinned. "Sounds like those idiots can't wait for me to 'bless' them."
He lifted an arm dramatically.
"Then take this—my RADICAL BEAM!"
Vwoom—!
A gold-blue beam shot in a straight line toward one of the outer ships.
BOOOOM—!!
The ship exploded, the pirates on it blown apart and swallowed by fire.
"What… what was that?!" the Krieg Pirates' lackeys stared, faces turning pale.
One beam—and they'd lost a ship.
The earlier excitement got doused like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water over their heads. A cold fear crept through them as they looked at the Dragon Emperor.
Krieg felt it too—the momentum on his side was slipping, dropping by the second.
"What are you all scared of?!" he roared. "I already told you—that's a Devil Fruit ability!"
He pointed wildly, voice rising. "Didn't you see? That's not even the same kind of power as the thing that blew up the cannonballs!"
"Get in there! Board them! Everything on that ship—women and treasure—belongs to you!"
To pump the morale back up, Krieg threw out the bait.
Of course, in the end it would all belong to him—but the rabble didn't need to know that.
The moment they heard "women" and "treasure," the small-fry pirates' eyes went red.
Why did they become pirates if not for women and treasure?
"MOVE! BOARD THEM!"
Squad leaders urged their own ships forward, leading the fleet to close in.
The lackeys tightened their grips on their weapons, staring at the Dragon Emperor like starving dogs.
"Tch, pirates really don't have brains," White Ghost muttered. One sentence and they'd charge in to die.
He flicked his hand. "Go on, then. Other than Gin—feed the rest to the sea."
Nami hurriedly shouted, "Don't smash their ships! There's definitely treasure on them, and ships can be sold too!"
Stella picked Nami up, rubbing her cheek affectionately against the little girl's face. "Our ship's little penny-pincher~."
"H-hey—!" Nami burst out laughing. "Stella, it tickles!"
Enel dug a finger in his ear, bored. "One person per ship, then. These guys aren't worth teaming up on."
He was the first to step onto the air with Moonwalk, sprinting toward the enemy.
"Then it's my turn—HAHAHA!" Franky's back thrusters roared, and the metal giant lifted off, flying toward the pirate fleet.
Señor Pink dragged on his cigarette, quietly selecting a ship to jump onto.
"Yohohohoho!" a bony laugh rang out. "Looks like this old skeleton can finally be useful to Mr. White!"
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios