Before long, the swordsman Gollas dragged El Drago back up again, but there were no large enough pieces of wood left on the surface.
El Drago could only lie on a splintered plank. The lower half of his body was still submerged, leaving him weak all over. He barely had the strength to hold on, let alone curse anyone.
Daddy stood at the stern, which had been blasted open by the Impact Barrier. He made no attempt to recruit them, simply watching in silence as El Drago and his pirates soaked in the sea.
Zoro watched Daddy's methods with interest. Holding a bottle of liquor, he sat on the railing on the other side of the pirate ship's wrecked middle section, opposite Kuro. They drank and watched.
Time passed slowly.
Whether El Drago was too weak to speak or would rather die than beg for mercy, he just lay on the splintered plank without saying a word.
Some of the pirate grunts had been in the water so long that they were shivering all over. If this went on, they would sink on their own; the sea beasts wouldn't even need to attack them.
The swordsman Gollas was torn. Getting saddled with a hotheaded captain like this really was a stroke of bad luck!
Still, with the captain refusing to beg for mercy, he couldn't bring himself to surrender. Both crews would look down on him for it. The enemy captain might despise him, and his own captain would certainly resent him.
But if he ran out of strength, then so be it—let them look down on him. Staying alive mattered most!
Daddy hadn't expected the reckless brute to be so tough. A Devil Fruit User had managed to hold out in the sea for so long.
But the blood from the wounded pirates, along with the blood spilling from El Drago's nose and mouth, was starting to attract carnivorous sea beasts.
The appearance of a dorsal fin made the atmosphere on the surface tense.
Suddenly, one of the pirate grunts let out a terrified scream and was dragged beneath the waves with a splash. A cloud of blood surfaced.
The other pirate grunts panicked and begged for mercy, scrambling to climb aboard the ship just to stay alive.
At that moment, the Cat Brothers, emboldened by their captain, grinned cruelly and kicked them back into the water, showing just how ruthless pirates could be.
Even if they were only small-time pirates with bounties of seven million.
The swordsman Gollas began to tense up too. He drew his sword, ready to fight off the sea beasts at any moment. But El Drago, weak all over, had no way to defend himself!
"Captain El Drago, say something already!"
Gollas cried out anxiously. He clung to a plank with his left hand and held his sword in his right, keeping a close eye on the surface and glancing into the water now and then, ready to meet any sea beast head-on.
"I... damn it... can't... find... the strength... to talk..."
El Drago's voice was weak and limp. The longer he stayed in the water, the weaker he became. At first, he'd still had some strength, but he'd also been furious and hadn't wanted to beg for mercy.
But when he could no longer hold out and was ready to surrender, he realized he didn't even have the strength to speak loudly.
"Then, Captain, can we surrender now?"
If Gollas hadn't been close to El Drago, he probably wouldn't have heard his feeble groan.
"Hurry..."
El Drago's fingers, gripping the plank, were trembling. He was about to give out and sink beneath the waves. He'd already started slowly turning his head to signal Gollas with his eyes, but the man hadn't noticed.
"Our captain is willing to surrender! Sir, please save us!"
When Gollas heard El Drago, he rolled his eyes. So you'd been ready to surrender all along, you bastard! I thought you were going to dig in your heels and never give up.
Turns out you just didn't have the strength to talk!
Hearing that El Drago had finally given in, Kuro smiled too.
"Captain Daddy, I've heard that some nobles like to wear down eagles to tame wild falcons. I didn't know you had a way of wearing down pirates, too!"
Kuro thought this method of wearing down an enemy's wild streak and quenching their anger was very effective. If Daddy had trapped him inside that Barrier Ball for days on end back then, he probably would've been left with a lasting psychological scar too.
"Stop overthinking it. I wasn't doing anything like that. I just wanted to see how long he could hold out!"
Daddy gave Kuro an odd look. Was this guy's high intelligence going to lead him down the same path as Demiurge?
"What does 'overthinking it' mean?"
Kuro was baffled by Daddy's look. Didn't Daddy mean to wear down El Drago's pride and then recruit him?
It didn't make sense!
In Kuro's eyes, Daddy might have been even smarter than him. He felt that everything Daddy did must have been intended to recruit El Drago.
"Never mind! Pull them out of the water!"
Daddy turned and gave the order to the Cat Brothers. Zoro saw the shark-like sea beast charge at Gollas and El Drago. He immediately drew his swords, leaped onto a splintered plank, cut the beast into three pieces with two slashes, then sprang back onto the ship with a flourish.
Gollas was deeply grateful to Zoro for that. So these people weren't all cold-blooded pirates after all.
Once El Drago had been hauled aboard, the pirate grunts scrambled onto the ship one by one. This time, the Cat Brothers didn't stop them.
"Your life belongs to me now. What do you think?"
Daddy leaned over El Drago, who was lying on the deck. His tone carried an undeniable pressure.
"You beat me today, so I can hand my life over to you. But if I beat you someday, I'll be captain!"
El Drago had regained a little strength, but he still wasn't quite convinced.
"Fine! You get one chance to challenge me each month. It'll also be a chance for me to test your strength. Remember, if you're too weak, you might die on this path!"
Daddy spoke calmly. His crew's challenges were both a spur that pushed him to grow stronger and an incentive for him to urge his subordinates to improve.
"Haha! Good! I'll call you Captain for one month, then. Next month, I'll beat you and become the new captain!"
El Drago got to his feet and spoke arrogantly. Even after getting beaten up, his personality wasn't going to change so quickly!
BAM!!
A fist coated in Armament Haki left El Drago red-faced, blood at the corner of his mouth. He folded over like a giant red prawn and collapsed onto the deck again.
Even Kuro's mouth twitched. His stomach gave a faint twinge; he seemed to remember taking a punch like that himself.
Gollas, Jango, and the Cat Brothers all swallowed nervously. That punch had been terrifyingly powerful.
"Until you win a challenge, remember to show a little respect!"
After speaking, Daddy held out his hand to El Drago again, a faint smile playing on his face.
"I understand, my captain!!!"
El Drago's face twisted with pain. Gritting his teeth, he took Daddy's hand and forced himself to his feet despite the pain. That guy's fist hurt like hell.
"Welcome aboard, my crewman!"
Daddy finally gave him a genuine smile.
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