The Good News Is, It Wasn't Hawk-Eye This Time

Admiral Krieg has been in a bad mood lately.

Or rather, anyone would be unhappy if their life's work, built up over a lifetime, was taken over by a traitor.

It has been a full ten months since I was inexplicably attacked by a transvestite ballerina during the attack on the Great Bird Kang Naval Base.

On Earth, it's said that it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, but in the world of One Piece, even if you have multiple comminuted fractures, it doesn't take a hundred days to recover.

In fact, a week after being kicked by a transgender ballerina, Krieg felt he was able to get out of bed and walk again.

But for some reason, Krieg was surprised to find that during his coma and recovery, the person acting as captain of the Krieg Pirates was not Gin, the combat captain he had previously appointed, but a newcomer named Gangplank he vaguely remembered.

Krieg had complete confidence in Gin.

Gin is extremely loyal and a prime example of blind loyalty.

If he were to become Krieg's acting captain, he wouldn't be worried about being betrayed at all.

However, that guy named Gangplank was completely different.

Or rather, he did indeed present a righteous and chivalrous image in public, much like Gin.

But what is the reality?

Gangplank personally fed Krieg the medicine.

Soon, Krieg's injury, which was about to recover, suffered an unexpected relapse.

Krieg remained in bed for another six months.

When Krieg stood up again, he found that everything had changed.

Although the Krieg Pirates have grown several times larger, they have taken on the shape of Gangplank.

The crew members only knew Captain Gangplank, not Captain Krieg, and Krieg's prestige plummeted.

Krieg was naturally furious about this.

During a meeting of officers chaired by Gangplank, Krieg knocked over a group of pirate henchmen guarding the gate and stormed into the meeting room, causing a huge disturbance.

Throughout the process, Gangplank once again demonstrated his noble and righteous character.

Just like Song Jiang to Chao Gai, Sima to Cao Wei, and Bao Zheng to Emperor Wei, their loyalty was beyond words!

Faced with Krieg's almost furious and pointed-hit rebuke, Gangplank not only refrained from rudely retaliating, but instead displayed a chivalrous spirit that prioritized righteousness.

But just like Song Jiang, even though he didn't retaliate, his loyal followers naturally stepped forward and unleashed a barrage of attacks on Krieg.

The crowd was indignant. Even Gin, though protecting Krieg, never uttered a bad word about Gangplank. He even went so far as to advise Captain Krieg not to doubt Gangplank's loyalty...

Seeing this scene, Krieg knew that he had completely lost his prestige.

In order to regain power and avoid being completely sidelined, he chose the last option, which was his long-planned plan to march into the Grand Line!

The reasons why Chao Gai was so eager to attack Zengtou City and why Krieg was so eager to enter the Grand Line are the same.

Thus, a year earlier than in the original story, Krieg, with his last remaining confidants, embarked on a desperate gamble into the Grand Line.

"Lord Krieg, there's a small, unmarked boat ahead!"

Man-Demon Gin put down his binoculars and reported to Krieg, "There seems to be only an old man fishing up there, and another old man with a very uniquely styled mustache and sunglasses. They seem to be on vacation."

"An old man on vacation? He must be very rich!"

Krieg stood up, a cruel smile on his face.

If King Luffy and his crew are just playing pirate house, then Krieg rose step by step from the bottom of the pirate ranks to become the overlord of the East Blue.

He has never forgotten the days when he used to chop down land with a razor blade.

Thanks to that period of his life, Krieg was still very skilled and experienced in the business of murder and robbery.

It's already difficult enough to survive to old age in this chaotic world, let alone have the money to travel when you're old.

This person must be a retired company president or government official—in short, a easy target.

"Kill them, then plunder along the way, and march on Water 7!"

Although he set off a year earlier than in the original story, thanks to the East Blue being the first to enter the information age, Gin already had some understanding of the information inside the Grand Line, unlike in the original story where he was completely in the dark.

And Krieg also obtained this information from Gin:

"We absolutely must buy some good ships from Water 7. Damn it, it's all that hypocrite Gangplank's fault! He only gave me this few ships and troops!"

"Lord Krieg, you have really misunderstood Gangplank. He is a righteous and kind man, known as the Shigure of the East Blue..." Gin couldn't help but speak up.

In fact, if "loyalty" hadn't been Gin's first life motto, he would never have wanted to leave Gangplank's command.

Compared to Krieg, Gangplank was definitely the better captain!

But there was no way for Gin to betray Krieg; he couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart.

Unless Krieg dies...

This is also why Gin, and many other pirate crew members, admire Gangplank.

"Lord Krieg, think about it carefully. If Gangplank were truly the shameless villain you describe, he could have killed you while you were unconscious..."

Bang!

Krieg, clad in armor, delivered a merciless punch to Gin's head, sending him flying several meters before crashing into the mast.

"Don't you even respect me anymore?"

Krieg waved his red cape:

"Who do you think I am? I am Admiral Krieg, the overlord of the East Blue!"

"Get the ship alongside them, slaughter everyone on that ship, seize their supplies, and then march on Water 7! I will prove to the world that I, Admiral Krieg, am the superior one!"

One minute later.

Garp stormed out of the house, grumbling.

"Sengoku, Zephyr, what's wrong with you two? The ship is rocking so badly, how am I supposed to jump... uh... how am I supposed to cultivate... huh?"

Garp scratched his head and saw that the once calm sea was now littered with shipwrecks.

Gin coughed up blood and lay sprawled on the wreckage of a large, sinking ship.

Standing on the same large fragment is the "retired old man fishing" seen through the telescope earlier.

Only now did Gin realize how terribly wrong he had been!

It turns out that the big round bucket in the old man's hand was not a bait reel on a fishing rod at all, but a huge mechanical arm!

With just a swing of his arm, he could shatter a warship!

He threw fifty punches in one minute, and all fifty pirate ships were reduced to pieces.

Just a minute ago, Admiral Krieg, the overlord of the East Blue who was clad in golden armor like a god of war, was now being lifted into the air by the old fisherman like a dead fish.

"So you're the overlord of the East Blue?"

Zephyr's eyes revealed undisguised contempt and hatred. "Looks like the old guys weren't lying to me after all; there really haven't been any noteworthy newcomers on the high seas lately."

"I... I was wrong... Senior... I was blind to your greatness..."

Krieg, coughing up blood and weeping, begged for mercy, "I was just saying... The ruler of the East Blue... it's not me... cough cough... it's a pirate named Gangplank... please spare me..."

"Let you go?"

A trace of sadness appeared in Zephyr's cloudy old eyes, which then turned into rage. "If I let you go, who will let my wife and children go? Who will let my disciples go? Die, you pirate!"

A snap.

Zephyr's mechanical right hand easily crushed Krieg's armor.

That once-proud armor was now as flimsy as paper, offering absolutely no protection.

"M·H·5 poison gas bomb!"

In his dying moments, Krieg no longer cared whether he could retrieve his gas mask in time and unleashed his most powerful technique.

The gas bomb exploded on Zephyr's pectoral muscles, leaving not even a mark.

But then, a green smoke began to spread out.

Whether it's a scorpion's stinger, a pufferfish's skin, or a toad's parotid glands, venom is always the most useful weapon for the weak to fight against the strong.

Moreover, objectively speaking, although Zephyr holds the rank of Admiral, his strength has long been far surpassed by his former disciples such as Akainu, Kizaru, and Kuzan.

Otherwise, Zephyr wouldn't have had one of his hands cut off by Whitebeard II. five years ago.

Since the tragic deaths of his wife and children, his mind has been in turmoil, and his strength has stagnated.

So this time, Zephyr didn't have time to dodge and inhaled a large amount of poisonous gas.

However, Krieg was, after all, just a nobody from the East Blue.

His poison gas failed to kill even King Luffy in his early stages, or even Gin, making it incomparable to Magellan 'Poison Dragon performance in Impel Down.

So Zephyr was poisoned.

However, he was not completely poisoned.

With a powerful grip of his right mechanical arm, Krieg, the so-called overlord of the East Blue, instantly cracked open, ending his sinful life.

"Cough cough cough... Damn it, has it been too long since we fought?"

Zephyr felt dizzy for a moment, but forced himself to stay alert and walked step by step toward Gin: "You die too... you filthy pirate... huh?"

Just as Zephyr was about to send Gin on his way, a wooden barrel suddenly flew in from a distance.

"Who is it... ah!"

Zephyr instinctively swung his hand and struck the Gragas.

Suddenly, he felt excruciating pain at the point where his limbs were connected to the robotic arm.

"Oh no, Zephyr's surgical wound is healing too quickly!"

On the deck, Garp and Sengoku, not wanting to disturb Zephyr's emotional outburst, immediately realized that there must be something wrong with Zephyr's arm.

The two used Geppo almost simultaneously, instantly rushing towards the ship debris where Zephyr was located.

If He were here, he would definitely punch these two old classmates in the head, leaving huge bumps.

After all, those two old guys are really unreliable. The doctor said Zephyr needed to rest, but they were eating snacks while watching him fight the pirates.

Even if the other side is just a bunch of worthless scoundrels.

But if he were reliable, he wouldn't be called Garp.

As for Sengoku, he is quite reliable when he is in his Fleet Admiral's uniform giving orders, but when he is with Garp, especially when he is in civilian clothes, he inevitably becomes assimilated by Garp.

The two of them only wanted to carry Zephyr back to prevent his arm condition from worsening, without considering that the small pirates on the other side might pose a threat to Zephyr.

Even if Zephyr is bad, he's still Admiral!

Unless the opponent is a pirate of the Shichibukai level, how could they possibly harm Zephyr?

However...

Boom!

The wooden barrel in front of Zephyr exploded.