Koss's Hometown

It took them two months to travel from the New World through the first half of the Grand Line to the East Blue, and Teach's crew expanded from two to seven people.

With less than a month to go before Roger's execution, Teach stood at the bow of the ship, his gaze fixed on the boundless sea. He took a deep breath, and in the damp air of the ocean, he seemed to feel the surging tides of the times.

"Kos, you're almost home, aren't you?" Wallace turned to look at Kos beside him. He and Kos got along well and had a good conversation.

"Yes, the Kruoye Kingdom is my hometown. However, the Kruoye Kingdom and the neighboring Nolan Kingdom have been at war for a long time over a large gold mine on their border. Although large-scale wars rarely break out, local skirmishes are constant, which has led to a somewhat chaotic situation. Many people have left the kingdom to become pirates." Kos looked up at the sky and said indifferently, showing that he did not feel any sense of belonging to his hometown.

The only things he could look forward to were his family and his younger brother, whom he had never met.

"War causes chaos, chaos breeds pirates, and pirate invasions further cause chaos. That's how the world works, a constant cycle. Although the East Blue is the calmest sea, it only means there are fewer pirates compared to the other three seas. But war and chaos have always existed. The so-called calmest sea is just a fig leaf for the Navy."

Upon hearing Kos's words, Teach couldn't help but laugh, "This is also the result of the Navy Garp the Hero's dedication to capturing pirates. The more powerful pirates have all been captured by Garp. You know, this is Garp's hometown."

"Really? I didn't expect that the naval Garp the Hero was born in this weakest sea area." Wallace was a little curious. Everyone knew that Garp the Hero, but some people didn't know that Garp was born in the East Blue.

"So what? Wasn't Roger born in the East Blue too?" Teach retorted with a smile.

"Let's get ready. We're almost at the Kruoye Kingdom. Let's stay here until Roger's execution." Teach looked into the distance at the huge port, where many ships, large and small, were docked—after all, it was the port of a kingdom.

Along the way, Teach and his companions encountered many ships, some heading to the port of the Kruoye Kingdom like Teach, and others sailing out of the port, their ships loaded with cargo.

There were even some pirate ships, but their flags had been taken down, and the guards at the port turned a blind eye. As long as these pirates didn't cause trouble, they wouldn't care.

These pirates stopping at the port are definitely looking to replenish their supplies, which must have cost them a lot of money and will boost the kingdom's economy.

This is the eastern side of the Kruoye Kingdom, a very prosperous area, while the region bordering the Nolan Kingdom is on the western side.

Compared to this place, that place is much more desolate.

Kos was born in a small town in the western part of the central part of the Kruoye Kingdom. It was an ordinary town that was not worried about the threat of war. On the contrary, because of the war, the town began to develop and became more prosperous.

To Teach and his companions' surprise, Kos's father was actually the mayor of Mark Town and a baron, albeit the lowest rank, but Kos was still considered a nobleman.

If that's the case, why did he go to sea?

After asking carefully, it turned out that Kos's father, Van Trey, was also a powerful gunman in his youth. At that time, the war between the Kingdom of Kuloye and the Nolan Kingdom had already begun, and the two countries had been vying for large gold mines for half a century.

In a crucial local war, Kos's father, Van Trey, sniped a key officer of the Nolan Kingdom, securing victory in the war. This act earned him a military exploit, making him a baron and the mayor of his hometown, Mark Town —a triumphant return home.

The Van Kos family has been gunslingers for generations, it's a tradition. So, Kos's father, Van Trey, was very strict with Cos, who had already shown outstanding gunslinging talent at a young age, even surpassing his Kos.

Meanwhile, Kos went further and further down the path of a marksman. After reaching a bottleneck in his marksmanship, he left his hometown and boarded a merchant ship bound for the Grand Line.

Kos went to sea at the age of sixteen and did not return for three years. He is now nineteen years old.

Mark Town was right in front of him. This was the town where Kos was born. Kos was very familiar with Mark Town. Walking on the street, no one recognized him because he had grown a lot in the past three years and his appearance had changed.

Here, Kos is on his home turf. Following Kos, Teach and the others arrived at a villa nestled against the mountain. The entire Mark Town was built around this mountain.

This villa is Kos's home, and it has remained unchanged for a long time. Behind the villa is a large backyard, and they can hear bursts of gunfire coming from there.

Their arrival had already been noticed by the gatekeepers. "You, you are Young Master Kos!" One of the gatekeepers saw Kos, looked closely at Kos face, and couldn't help but rub his eyes and exclaim.

He had been the mayor's family's doorman for over ten years, practically watching Kos grow up. Although they hadn't seen each other for three years, he still recognized Kos. More importantly, Kos looked very much like his father, Trey.

Upon hearing this, the other security guard nearby also recognized Kos and became somewhat excited.

"Long time no see, Uncle Ellie, Uncle Mello." Seeing them, Kos couldn't help but smile, feeling quite warm and friendly.

Both Ellie and Mello were his father's subordinates during his military service. After they became famous, his father stopped serving in the army and both of them received titles and became nobles. Why would they still stay on the dangerous battlefield?

He returned to his hometown and became the town mayor, bringing his subordinates with him.

"Come in, young master. Brother Terry and his wife will be very surprised. Who are they?" The guard named Mello was a little excited, then looked at Teach others behind Kos with a puzzled expression.

"They are my companions," Kos laughed.

"Since you are the young master's companion, please come in."

The gate opened, Teach and the others followed Kos inside. Following the sound of gunfire, they reached the backyard.

There, Teach and his companions saw a woman and a young child.

Teach and the others knew something about Kos's family. Kos's mother was also a noblewoman, but she liked guns and challenged Kos's father after he became famous.

As the story goes, his mother was no match for his father and was easily defeated. She then fell in love with his father, and the two got together.

The woman must be Kos's mother, while the other child holding the gun, firing bullets steadily, must be Kos's three-year-old brother, Van Oka.

As they approached, the children practicing shooting instinctively turned their heads and looked in their direction.

This startled them. Teach's keen perception. At only three years old, Van Auger's extraordinary talent had already been displayed.

Oka's actions caught the attention of his mother, who turned to look at Teach. Seeing a group of strangers standing there startled her. She quickly drew her flintlock pistol from her waist, gripped it with both hands, and pointed it at Teach and the others.

Suddenly, Lindsey saw a familiar figure, her hands trembled slightly, and she slowly lowered the pistol she had raised.

"Kos, is that you?" Lindsey stared at Kos's face, which had matured considerably. He was now three meters tall, and the familiar long gun in his hand, the "Colt," was a gift that she and Kos's father had specially prepared for Kos.

"Long time no see, Mom." Kos smiled. He had grown up and thought he might not be able to say it, but he said it very naturally.

Teach and the others exchanged glances, then walked towards the back, not wanting to disturb their reminiscing, and entered the villa's main hall.

They sat down on the sofa, with some fruit on the table in front of them, which Wallace ate without any hesitation.

Meanwhile, in the mayor's office building, Mayor Trey also received news of Kos's return. The usually very serious Trey rarely showed a smile, and was even a little excited.

The civil servants under his protection were somewhat puzzled, but dared not speak. In the entire Mark Town, Mayor Kos held absolute power, his decisive and efficient style of handling affairs, and his sharp, penetrating eyes as a gunman, instilled fear in everyone.

Several times, those who were dissatisfied with him organized assassination attempts against Trey, but each time a gunshot rang out, they were all shot dead in full view of everyone, turning into corpses.

Only then did they realize that Trey was different from other nobles; he was a sharpshooter who had become a nobleman through his outstanding military achievements.

Trey hadn't expected that Kos, with whom he'd only occasionally communicated, would return after wandering for three years without him receiving any news. This was undoubtedly a huge surprise for him.

He had a Den Den Mushi) connected to his home by his side, and his trusted confidants, Mello and Ellie, would naturally deliver messages to him. He was already eager to return home; the town was very stable under his leadership, and nothing was amiss.

His home is also very close to the office building, only two or three kilometers away.

After a while, Kos came in from the backyard with his younger brother and his mother. Young Van Augur looked at Teach others with curiosity, as did Kos's mother, Lindsey.

Teach leaned back on the sofa, a slight smile on her face, arms outstretched, legs crossed.

Pito sat quietly beside Teach and tossed a grape into his mouth.

Gari, Mink Tribe, stood silently behind Teach's sofa with a strong, three-meter-tall body, a menacing left eye, and shoulder armor adorned with wolf fangs. He crossed his arms.

Baccarat sat on another sofa, elegantly sipping a glass of red wine.

Wallace sat sideways on the armrest of the sofa, munching on an apple.

Nelson, meanwhile, looked curiously at the luxurious villa, glancing around and nodding occasionally, seemingly assessing its value.

It was very easy to see who Teach leader was in Teach's group. Teach looked at Kos and the others who had entered, and seeing that they had finished their conversation, he stood up from the sofa, smiled, and said, "Madam, I'll be leaving the next month to you."

Teach lowered his head slightly as a sign of respect.

"It's only right, and I should thank you for taking care of Kos." Kos's mother, Lindsey, returned the greeting to Teach. After all, she was of noble birth, and although she was somewhat different from other nobles, she was very familiar with noble etiquette.

Through her conversation with her son, she also learned about Teach and his group's identities. Kos had already joined Teach's ranks, Teach was his captain. On the surface, he seemed ordinary, but he possessed terrifying power capable of destroying a nation, and he also exuded an invisible aura. She dared not be negligent.

Van Augur, holding the famous gun "Thousand Guns" that Kos always carried on his back, had always known he had an older brother, but he never expected that his brother would prepare such a big gift for him after returning.

Just as there are Famous Swords, there are also famous guns. The famous Thousand Guns Sniper Rifle is one such example, with extremely excellent performance.

However, compared to a pistol, this long gun was rather large, and Van Augur looked somewhat Thousand Guns holding it.

At that moment, a man walked in. It was Trey, Kos's father. The first thing he did was look at Teach. As the father of Kos and Van Augur, Trey's intuition was naturally very sharp. He sensed an extremely threatening aura from Teach.

Not only Teach, but also Gari from the Mink Tribe, and the little girl Pito, and the others are not weak either, all of them came from the first half of the Grand Line.

Having sailed the seas for so long, their capabilities have also improved.

Having served as mayor for so many years and having sailed the seas in his youth, Trey was not particularly nervous and did not sense any malice from Teach and his group.

Teach and his companions were Kos's partners, and he trusted Kos's judgment and believed there wouldn't be any problems.

"Welcome! Please stay here for a while, and I'll be happy to host you soon," Trey said to Teach and the Kos Teach. Kos nodded in acknowledgment and followed Trey away, presumably to ask Kos about Teach and the others.

Soon, they learned that Kos had joined the pirate crew that Teach had formed, although it had not yet been officially formed.

Teach and his men will stay here for the next month, until Roger's execution, after which they will leave.

That night, Teach and his family enjoyed a big meal hosted by Kos's parents.