The Insect Swarm Pirates

"Phew—the storm's finally over." Drenched, Mantoudiya pushed open the door and walked in, leaving a wet footprint with every step.

"That's because you keep refusing to recruit more people."

A tall, thin, middle-aged woman followed him in. She had ordinary features, an excellent figure, and reddish-brown hair.

"Whenever anything happens, the two of us have to do it ourselves. Come on, we're the captains of a pirate crew!"

As she complained, the woman picked up a towel and wiped her neck and rain-soaked hair.

"Come on, haven't I told you plenty of times? Our Insect Swarm Pirates only take crew members who like insects or have Bug-Bug Fruit powers."

Mantoudiya answered his wife impatiently, his eyes shining as he looked at the ant colony made of clear glass in front of him.

He had ordered it custom-made on an island known for producing glass a few days earlier. Inside were two fierce species of ants.

Lately, his greatest amusement had been feeding them and watching them fight madly over the food.

Or he would throw in a 'giant' predator to cause chaos and slaughter, then watch as the swarming ants eventually wore it down and tore it apart.

Just then, he picked a fat green mantis out of a wooden box beside him and tossed it inside with a teasing look on his face.

The woman looked at him helplessly. "Never mind Bug-Bug Fruit users. Your standards for liking insects are far too high. Hardly anyone can stand it."

"What's so high about them? If you can't accept insects with your whole body and mind, how can you call that liking them?" Mantoudiya kept his eyes fixed on the slaughter inside.

The woman covered her face and shook her head, unwilling to say anything more. By accepting insects with one's whole body and mind, he meant having a person sit in a box full of all kinds of insects for ten minutes!

Although they were all insects that rarely bit, because of that entrance test, they had only seventy-six members aboard.

For seven whole years, they had tried to recruit people on practically every inhabited island they visited, yet they still had fewer than a hundred!

The main problem was that the Insect Swarm Pirates' ship was enormous, a large seagoing vessel capable of carrying seven or eight hundred people.

They could manage ordinary voyages just fine, but whenever the weather grew too severe, the two of them had to go out and help.

But how often was the weather normal on the Grand Line?

"Ah, if only we could meet another Bug-Bug Fruit user. Preferably a different kind of insect, like an ant or a rhinoceros beetle."

Mantoudiya watched as the mantis was finally torn apart and dragged into the two ant nests, his face full of anticipation. His greatest regret about his wife was that she and he were the same kind of insect.

"The sea is so vast, where would we..." The woman had just started speaking when hurried footsteps and a panicked shout came from outside.

"Captain Mantoudiya! Vice Captain Luokesani!"

"There's a warship coming straight at us! A Marine warship!"

The man and woman's expressions changed at those words. They knew trouble had come knocking.

Meanwhile, aboard the warship the pirates had spotted, Bullet and the Konoha Squad stood in four ranks on the deck, gazing at the pirate ship in the distance.

"Two crossed, serrated insect forelegs painted on the skull. That should be the Insect Swarm Pirates."

Rear Admiral Dewitt, who had overseen the special training camp selection tournament, turned back and smiled at them. "They've been active in the first half of the Grand Line for years. They don't go to the four seas, and they don't enter the 'New World.'

"Captain Mantoudiya, bounty of 21 million Beli, a Zoan Bug-Bug Fruit, Flower Mantis Form user."

"Vice Captain Luokesani, his wife, bounty of 12 million Beli, a Zoan Bug-Bug Fruit, Blade Mantis Form user."

"A mantis couple, huh." Bullet nodded indifferently. He had never seen a Bug-Bug Fruit user before, but he had killed a few Zoan users.

Earlier, he had suggested to Vice Admiral Cornell that he take the Konoha Squad out for a combat test.

He already knew he would soon be leaving for Marine Headquarters with Vidal, and Lieutenant Benson and the others had gotten reasonably proficient with the three-three system.

In fact, none of the squad members were recruits. Even the ones with the least experience had taken part in two battles.

Most had fought pirates four or five times, some in the four seas and others in 'Paradise.'

Vice Admiral Cornell had agreed, but required his aide, Rear Admiral Dewitt, to accompany them, and insisted they choose a suitable opponent.

The choice wasn't up to Bullet and the others. Rear Admiral Dewitt was responsible for screening and deciding.

"Let's go with them. They're an experienced pirate crew with a bounty around 20 million. That should be a choice that's neither too hard nor too easy for you, and according to our intelligence, they have fewer than a hundred people."

"Good!" Bullet accepted the opponent, and the forty-five members behind him, including Vincent and Ogden, began preparing themselves mentally.

The battle was about to begin!

"All hands, prepare for battle!"

"You lot, hurry up and let down the furled sails!"

"Gunners, get back to your stations and check the cannons!"

Mantoudiya shouted orderly commands to everyone aboard. "Same as always. Get ready to retreat first. If we can avoid a fight, we will!"

He didn't need to think about the Marines' troop strength or firepower at all, because their arrangements were generally fixed.

There were some differences in the models and sizes of their warships, but after all these years, he had the specifications for every model in his head.

The warship ahead of them was probably a medium-sized model. It could carry around eight hundred Marines, with fifteen cannons on each side and a triple-mounted main gun at the front.

So when they encountered a Marine warship, they avoided fighting whenever possible, especially for a small pirate crew like theirs.

Besides, a lone warship like this probably wouldn't chase them relentlessly.

But as time passed, the warship behind them kept following, and it was getting closer and closer!

"Did we run into some hothead?" Luokesani cursed through gritted teeth. "They've only got one ship, but they still dare chase us down like this. They must be out of their minds for military merit!"

"In that case, let's fight. They only have one ship anyway, and their warship is clearly a little faster than ours." A fierce light flashed in Mantoudiya's eyes.

"If we can slaughter them, our bounties will definitely rise by tens of millions. More people will definitely come to join us then."

"There might even be a Bug-Bug Fruit user among them!"

Aboard the warship, Rear Admiral Dewitt smiled. "As expected, bringing only one warship was the right choice. It makes these pirates think they have a chance."

He knew this was very risky. Although the first half of the Grand Line was called 'Paradise,' it still had some very troublesome characters.

So he had made arrangements with Vice Admiral Cornell long ago. Two more warships were following behind them, making up a standard patrol formation.

"Now I'll leave the rest to you. Let me see what you've accomplished these past few months!"

I originally wanted to go straight into the special training camp section, but then I thought I should give the Konoha Squad some initial closure, so this part of the story came about.

If I didn't write this part, I'd always feel like something was missing. This also provides good groundwork for the story to come.

So, friends who think the plot is moving slowly, please bear with me. Soon, really soon, we'll be moving on to the next stage.

I know you're eager to see Vidal interact with Sakazuki, Borsalino, and the others!

Finally, since I'm posting two chapters back-to-back, please send some recommendations and comments my way! The next chapter should be out in about ten minutes. That counts as back-to-back, right?