After parting with Robin in the West Blue, Krieg's ship made a direct run for Mary Geoise.
He left the Charlotte Ange under the capable command of Captain Ryudo, while Krieg himself, accompanied by Gin and Kafu, took a separate vessel to Marineford.
There, he delivered his official report on the North Blue operations and the capture of Doflamingo.
With the Pirate King's final words fueling a global surge in piracy, the Grand Line's first half—known as "Paradise"—was becoming a chaotic funnel for outlaws from all four seas.
At the request of the high command, Krieg reinstated the Beatrice, the ship he had used since his days leading the "Marine Independent Company," and set a course for Reverse Mountain.
However, during a supply stop at a certain island, the night sky was suddenly stained a hellish crimson.
"Rear Admiral! The island across the bay is on fire! We don't have a clear cause, but it looks like a massive pirate raid!!"
Krieg didn't wait for the ship to dock. "Get the Beatrice moving! I'm going ahead!"
Using Geppo, he kicked his way across the dark sea, landing amidst a nightmare. The town was an inferno.
Simple brick houses were collapsing, and the streets were littered with the dead—townspeople with jagged sword wounds on their backs, charred remains beyond recognition, and a mother and child slumped together, riddled with bullets.
"Is anyone alive?! Make a sound! Anything!!" Krieg roared over the crackling flames.
A faint thump... thump... reached his ears. He dashed toward a half-collapsed building that was being swallowed by fire. He tore away the burning timber with his bare hands, reaching into the crawlspace.
There, he found a girl. She couldn't have been more than ten years old, her hair a striking shade of cinnabar red.
She was limp, her breathing shallow from smoke inhalation. Her small body was covered in burns, her hands looking particularly raw and scorched.
"Stay with me! I've got you!"
Krieg checked her pulse—thready but there. He quickly shed his fire-resistant Marine coat, wrapping her securely in the heavy fabric and hoisting her onto his back. He turned to leap back to the ship, but a voice stopped him cold.
"Alright, men!! Are the pirates finished?!"
Krieg rounded a corner and saw a man wearing a Marine officer's coat. On his forearms were metallic cylinders connected by hoses to tanks on his back.
"Not yet, Major Draw! A few are still unaccounted for!" a soldier replied.
"Tch! Then just burn the rest down! If everything burns, the pirates will have nowhere to hide!"
Draw raised his arms toward a row of buildings that hadn't yet caught fire. WHOOSH! Massive pillars of flame erupted from his flamethrowers, instantly turning a residential block into a funeral pyre.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Krieg's voice shook the very air.
"Huh? Who are you? A local? Or a pirate?" Draw looked over his shoulder, his face twisted in a mask of sadistic "justice."
"I asked what you are doing! A Marine's duty is to protect the people, not lead the charge in burning their homes!!"
"What are you yapping about?" Draw sneered. "I'm exterminating pirates for the sake of the 'citizens.' Sure, there are 'minor sacrifices,' but that's the price of total victory, isn't it?"
"Minor sacrifices...?" Krieg's eyes flashed with a dangerous light. "You call yourself a Major of the Headquarters? You're a disgrace to the uniform!"
"Listen, you've been running your mouth for a while now... maybe you're a pirate in disguise?"
Krieg realized his coat was currently wrapped around the shivering girl on his back. He stood tall, his presence looming over the smaller Major.
"I am Rear Admiral Krieg of the Marine Independent Guerrilla Unit! As of this moment, I am taking command of this island. You and your men are to stand down and withdraw immediately!!"
"How annoying... some backwater brat thinks he can order me around?"
Draw leveled his flamethrowers. High-pressure fire roared toward Krieg. With the girl on his back, Krieg couldn't maneuver freely, so he unleashed a series of modified Rankyaku—shockwave kicks—at short range, the pressurized air snuffing out the flames like a candle.
"Maybe I didn't make myself clear," Krieg growled, closing the distance in a blur. "I am Rear Admiral Krieg. You need a lesson in reflection. IRON FIST DISCIPLINE!!"
Krieg's fist descended like a falling star. Draw didn't even have time to scream before his head was driven into the dirt, unconscious instantly.
By dawn, the "Red Seagulls" had arrived to reinforce the effort, extinguishing the fires and beginning search-and-rescue. The result was grim: most of the casualties weren't caused by the initial pirate raid, but by Major Draw's "scorched earth" tactics.
Krieg personally oversaw the interrogations. Draw belonged to an extremist faction of the Marines—those who believed in "Total Pirate Annihilation" at any cost.
Investigations revealed this wasn't his first time; he had repeatedly used civilians as shields or burned down entire villages just to flush out a handful of outlaws.
"If there were no pirates, I wouldn't have to do this," Draw argued stubbornly during his questioning.
Krieg didn't waste his breath. "The law will decide your fate. But as long as I breathe, your brand of 'justice' has no place in my sight."
Draw was placed in irons and sent back to Headquarters for a court-martial.
As for the red-haired girl, she had lost everything—her home, her parents, her world. Krieg wrote a personal letter of recommendation to a high-quality orphanage he funded near Marineford.
He assigned a squad of his own men to escort her and ensure she received the best medical care for her hands.
"Go on," Krieg whispered to the girl before she was carried onto the transport. "The world is big, and it can be cruel, but you aren't alone anymore."
With the island stabilized and the "disgrace" removed, the Beatrice finally weighed anchor, heading toward the grand gates of Reverse Mountain.
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