Blood Shadow Pirates, Black Hand Pirates, and Gut Hunter Pirates.
These three pirate crews were permanently stationed on Spring Child Island, and their overall strength was by no means weak.
With their strength, reaching the second island, Leviathen Island, would have been effortless.
But they had not done so. Instead, they had chosen to remain permanently stationed on this starting island.
Why?
It was not because they feared the brutality of the Grand Line, but because they wanted to accumulate strength here.
They were like gatekeepers, staying here to destroy countless rookie pirate crews who arrived brimming with confidence.
And whenever rookie pirate crews lost their captains and began to fall apart, there would always be some survivors capable of recognizing the situation.
A good bird chose a tree to perch in. In the pirate world, where betrayal was commonplace, this was only natural.
Paik and the others had absorbed nourishment from the wreckage of every rookie pirate crew, growing stronger step by step.
There was nothing wrong with such behavior.
After all, only by patiently honing a blade could one cut down prey more effectively.
However, those who often walked by the river were bound to get their shoes wet eventually.
This time, they had encountered a hard bone they could not gnaw through no matter what.
Even after joining forces in advance, they had been unable to leave the slightest mark on that bone.
"It's all gone..."
Paik swung his blade with all his might, forcing Lafitte back.
After exchanging over a hundred blows, how could he not tell that Lafitte had been deliberately restraining him rather than trying to kill him?
But even after realizing it, he was still unable to inflict any damage on Lafitte, much less break free of his restraint.
That alone was enough