Shark Pirates

"The Shark Pirates were a little different. I originally thought they had come from Fishman Island to make a living, but I never expected they were actually heading to the East Blue."

"The East Blue? Captain, should we keep chasing them?" Sairona left the choice to Rono.

"Chase them. Of course we're chasing them. How could we not?" Rono made up his mind at once. A pirate crew had finally appeared to distract him, so he couldn't let the opportunity go to waste.

"Gelu!" Gelu indicated that he wanted to chase them too.

"Very well. I've brought their latest intelligence. Also, the other two pirate crews have already joined the pirate fleet under our command. Let's leave them alone." Xil was a young man who wore glasses and had short blond hair. Since he was an outer family member and had no talent for cultivation, he had come to help Rono manage Baroque Works. His current dream was to build a pirate empire in the Grand Line. As Rono and the others did not interfere with affairs, Xil held immense power.

"Then forget it. We'll be family from now on, anyway." Rono did not care. There was still plenty of time to deal with pirates, and he was not short of a few pirate crews.

Xil let out a sigh of relief. If Rono had insisted on killing them, there would have been nothing he could do.

A paragraph was omitted because it contained only a website watermark.

"We should set out quickly." After looking over the information, Sairona discovered that the Shark Pirates were already close to reaching the Calm Belt. They would probably be heading to the East Blue soon.

"Mm-hmm." Rono picked up his luggage again and prepared to leave.

"Yesterday, I rejected King's conditions. King decided to exchange three Express Ducks for our five million Beli, and I agreed."

"Why is it so expensive?" Sairona asked.

"Because they can breed," Xil said with a smile.

"Then it's not expensive." Sairona understood.

The Express Ducks were indeed very fast. In just an hour, the three of them had returned to the dock where they had left the ship. Someone was specially assigned to watch over their ship. Combined with the conspicuous flag of the Red Devil Pirates flying above it, no fool dared to steal it.

"Then we're off." Rono spoke to the dock watchman who had finished leading the Express Ducks over. The watchman nodded to show that he understood.

"Vroom—" The Red Devil set off, carrying a spray of waves as it sailed toward the Shark Pirates.

At the Shark Pirates' ship, a group of fishmen were holding a banquet. Their captain, the Hammerhead Shark Fishman Brandt Hyde, watched the fishmen drinking on deck and playing games around the ship. He thought of Arlong's invitation to him to join the Arlong Pirates: the finest food and drink, palaces to live in, and humans as slaves. At the thought, Brandt Hyde laughed.

They were already very close to the Calm Belt, only about ten nautical miles away. They would probably arrive tomorrow. Unlike humans, Sea Kings generally did not hunt fishmen. The Calm Belt was not dangerous to fishmen.

"Captain, a pirate ship is coming." A swordfish fishman climbed aboard from the water. Brandt Hyde smiled. Wasn't it just a pirate crew? How could those lowly humans possibly defeat noble fishmen?

"It's the Red Devil Pirates. The Red Devil himself has come." The swordfish fishman sounded anxious. That was a man who shared a title with Jinbe, the strongest of the fishmen. The Shark Pirates could not possibly defeat him.

"Set sail! Everyone, get aboard! We're entering the Calm Belt today. The Red Devil is after us!" Brandt Hyde's pupils contracted, and he hurriedly gave the order. He was not referring to the Red Devil Pirates, but the Red Devil himself!

The fishmen scrambled aboard, and the pirate ship immediately began moving. Ten fishmen formed each rowing team and rowed without pause, raising the pirate ship's speed by an entire notch.

"Whoosh—Bang!" A cannonball struck the water beside the pirate ship. The fishmen immediately lost control of their heading, and their speed dropped.

"Vroom—" A dark-red boat charged toward them at nearly three times their speed.

"Fire! Fire!" Brandt Hyde roared. Bang, bang, bang! Three cannonballs were fired, but not one touched the Red Devil. Under the control of the Old Driver Rono, the Red Devil successfully crossed the barrage. Its ram struck the keel of the Shark Pirates' ship. The sturdy ram easily snapped the keel, and, without slowing, continued all the way to the other side of the ship.

The keel was severely damaged, and the ship could no longer move.

"Let's fight them!" Brandt Hyde led the way as he leaped overboard. The sea was their home ground. Even if they were outmatched, they could still escape.

"Damn it! How is Gelu supposed to train like this?" Rono grumbled.

"Gelu." Gelu was depressed too.

Just then, a fishman leaped out of the water and attacked Rono. Seeing that Rono was distracted, the fishman had tried to launch a sneak attack. In his imagination, even if Rono was a Shichibukai, he could not possibly be stronger than Jinbe. And since he was attacking from ambush, all he needed was for his tenfold human arm strength to strike a vital point... The corners of the fishman's mouth split into a grin. Killing a Shichibukai would be the first step toward fishmen ruling the world.

Rono's Observation Haki had already detected him. He dodged the punch to the side, and Bone Claws sprang out. With a wet thud, the claws pierced straight through the fishman's heart. The fishman's eyes widened as he died with his regrets unfulfilled. Rono casually threw the corpse aside, vaulted onto the Shark Pirates' ship, activated Bone Planting Armor, and began slaughtering. Watching Rono wipe out all the fishmen who had not made it underwater in time, Brandt Hyde let out a tragic howl and leaped from the water.

"Bang—" His head burst like a watermelon. Sairona did not even look at him. He aimed his Sniper Rifle at another fishman. Bang, bang, bang! Three more died. The fishman pirate ship, which had held dozens of people, now had only a few survivors. Rono did not pursue them. He could not catch them—they had already dived more than ten meters underwater.

"Forget it. The pirate crew is destroyed, and the captain is dead. Let's go after Ace." Sairona watched the fleeing fishmen and put away his Sniper Rifle. He felt that his firing speed had increased, and his Dynamic Vision had improved as well. This should be the effect of the Devil Fruit.

"Rono, has my draw speed gotten faster?" Sairona asked as he looked at Rono.

"How would I know?" Rono rolled his eyes. Bang—Rono leaned aside and dodged the sudden attack. He stared at Sairona for a long while, trying to find a trace of guilt on his face, but that was impossible.

"It's faster." In the end, Rono admitted defeat.

"Let's go." Sairona put away his gun in satisfaction and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Vroom—" The Old Driver Rono drove the red Red Devil at full speed. The Terror Triangle Sail? Ace really knew how to pick a place.

Far away in the Terror Triangle Sail, Ace watched his crew. "Raise your hands if you agree. Majority rules. Three, two, one!" Swish, swish, swish—only one person did not raise a hand.

"Yoshi! Let's have a haunted-house adventure!" Ace flashed his pearly white teeth. "Let's hold a banquet!"

"Oh!" everyone answered, including the person who had not raised his hand.

The Spade Pirates headed toward the Terror Triangle Sail.

Meanwhile, Rono was teaching Gelu how to speak. Sairona watched the two of them and felt a kind of happiness. Perhaps this is what family feels like? Having grown up as an orphan and relying on the kindness of others, Sairona had never experienced the feeling of having a home.

Rono shouted loudly from time to time, correcting Gelu's pronunciation. "Wo—lf Ge—lu." Rono slowed his pronunciation, and Gelu repeated with difficulty, "Wo—Gelu, Gelu." Mm, those final two syllables were remarkably clear.

Suddenly, Rono looked toward Sairona. "Sairona, what's your surname? I don't think I've ever heard you mention it."

"I don't have a surname. A Big Mom gave me my name to commemorate her dead son." Sairona was speechless. Damn it, you're only realizing this now? I've lived with you for two years.