The Krulu Pirates

But on his way back, he ran into a pirate crew. He hadn't expected them to disrupt his plans.

"Captain, there's a pirate ship ahead!"

"Men, steer us toward them!"

"Ahahaha!"

Since Carl hadn't raised the Rocks Pirates' flag when he set out, Krulu didn't know they were members of the Rocks Pirates. And so, a battle born from a misunderstanding began.

"Boom!"

The other ship attacked first.

"Return fire! Hurry!"

The crew aboard Carl's ship immediately aimed their cannons at the Krulu Pirates and opened fire. They were the Rocks Pirates—there were hardly any ships on the sea that dared to face them head-on. They hadn't expected to run into a bunch of hotheads just because they weren't flying their flag.

The cannonballs exploded over the sea, sending up huge sprays of water.

"Men, attack!"

"We're the Krulu Pirates! Hand over your lives!"

The moment the two sides engaged, they unleashed countless cannonballs. In an instant, the battle had reached a fever pitch.

The Krulu Pirates were one of the crews under the Giant Warrior Pirates. Their ranks included some humans and a small number of giants.

Their captain, Krulu, was the thirteenth son of Yorulu of the Giant Warrior Pirates. Carl didn't know that, though, and so a beautiful misunderstanding was born.

"Lord Carl!"

Carl walked onto the deck, looking puzzled. Clay greeted him at once.

"What's going on?"

"Lord Carl, the ship ahead claims to be the Krulu Pirates."

"They're our enemies. They attacked the moment they saw us."

Since Clay had only recently been rescued from slavery, he didn't know that Krulu was Yorulu's thirteenth son, either.

So, without either side knowing the other's identity, the battle began.

"Fine, I understand."

Now that he knew they were enemies, there was nothing more to say.

Carl fended off the incoming cannonballs with his fists as he flew toward the Krulu Pirates using Geppo. Capture the captain, and the battle would nearly be over.

"Captain Krulu, someone's flying over!"

"What? Let me see!"

Captain Krulu was a giant, twenty meters tall and powerfully built.

He looked up and saw Carl flying rapidly toward him. His face filled with alarm. Pirates who could fly were rarely weak.

"Bring me my weapon!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Two giants hurried over with his weapon.

Krulu took up his greatsword, as if that had restored his confidence. A puny human was no match for him.

"Ha ha ha! Watch this!"

"Slash Wave!"

Krulu swung his greatsword, sending a slash of sword energy flying toward Carl.

Carl swung his fist, putting his back into it as if he were stirring a mighty river, and smashed the slash to pieces.

Then he landed directly on the deck of the Krulu Pirates' ship.

"I don't care what your reason was. You drew first, so you'd better be ready to die."

"Just a regular punch!"

Carl didn't want to kill civilians, but that didn't mean he'd spare these vicious pirates. In his eyes, only a handful of pirate crews in Pirate World might be good. The vast majority of the rest were beyond redemption.

He didn't hold back. With all his strength, he pushed off hard with both feet and charged at Krulu, his fist coated in Armament Haki.

"Clang!"

Krulu hurriedly raised his sword to block Carl's attack. The heavy punch felt like a massive mountain bearing down on him.

But Carl's fist was coated in Armament Haki, and his strength had increased considerably. His power now far surpassed that of a Vice Admiral.

"Crack!"

A sharp sound rang out, and the sword shattered instantly. Its fragments shot toward the pirates behind Krulu.

"Ugh..."

"Ah!"

The fragments whistled across the deck, cutting through the pirates one after another. A large group fell where they stood.

"Boom!"

Just then, the two ships slammed together.

"Krulu Pirates, my foot! We're the Rocks Pirates! Men, attack!"

The leading pirate squad leader drew his saber and charged at the Krulu Pirates.

"Kill!"

The two ships were connected in no time.

Clay led some of the pirates onto the deck to fight the Krulu Pirates!

"Thud!"

At the same time, Carl's iron fist kept going and struck Krulu directly in the head, smashing him hard against the deck.

Krulu sat up and rubbed his head. The punch had left him badly dazed.

"Armament Haki: Full Coverage!"

Carl didn't wait for him to recover. He pressed his advantage and continued raining down savage punches.

Krulu was still sitting there, dazed and unable to dodge.

The punch shattered his head.

"Thud!"

Krulu's corpse crashed heavily onto the deck.

Carl shook the blood from his hand.

Then he looked over the battlefield. His side had the advantage.

Krulu, captain of the Krulu Pirates, was the thirteenth son of the Giant Warrior Pirates.

He had run away in secret. With his strength, he shouldn't have been traveling apart from the main fleet.

He wasn't strong enough to protect himself on the open sea. He just hadn't expected to run into Carl and lose his life here.

Carl let out a breath, and the tension in his heart eased at once.

After watching his men slaughter civilians in the Phil Kingdom, he'd been holding back a surge of anger.

Perhaps it was because he'd come from Blue Star. Kindness and compassion still held a place in his heart.

But he knew he couldn't change anything. These men weren't loyal followers of his; they were just people he'd picked up at Hachinosu.

If he stopped them from killing, it might only backfire and make his men disobey him.

That only strengthened his resolve to build a force of his own. His people would never do such things.

The battle ended soon after. His side had taken some losses, but not many. Most of the casualties were slaves who had just joined them on the island.

The other side was made up of minor pirates, with no powerful fighters among them.

Clay alone could handle a situation like this, let alone all the other pirates helping him.

There were no prisoners. The other ship was soon burned to ashes.

After all, taking in enemy prisoners on the open sea could lead to serious trouble.

The return trip to Hachinosu went smoothly.

Time passed in a flash, and soon evening arrived.

"Hachinosu is in sight!"

A loud voice from the lookout rang out across the entire ship.

"We're there?"

"We're back already!"

"Let's have a banquet! A banquet!"

The pirates in the hold immediately rushed onto the deck, cheering. Every time they returned from a raid, the first thing they did on Hachinosu was hold a banquet. They could hardly wait. With their lives on the line every day, a feast was their only way to relax and have fun.

Hearing the commotion outside, Carl walked out as well.

He looked at the lights in the distance and thought, This time, Rocks shouldn't have any reason to suspect me, right?

Long Yi and Long Er stood beside him, gazing excitedly at Hachinosu.

The island glowed with lights in the distance.

"Brother, is this Hachinosu?"

Long Er had rarely seen the outside world, especially a night lit up with so many lights. It had been a long time since he'd seen anything like it.

"Yes. Starting today, we're no longer slaves."

Long Yi patted Long Er on the head. His joy came from the heart. He knew that after today, their lives would be different—and far freer than life as slaves.

"Clay, take them to the base. I'm going to report to Captain Rocks."

"Understood, Captain."

Clay picked up Long Yi and Long Er, one in each hand, and carried them toward the base.

Carl had already guessed there was probably an informant working for Rocks aboard his ship. But he still had to report to Rocks. After all, the two things weren't the same.

"Greetings, Captain Carl."

"Captain Carl."

The pirates they passed along the way greeted him one after another.

"Looks like you got lucky this time."

Kaido muttered from a distance. He hadn't expected the people of the Phil Kingdom to be so weak. Seeing that Carl didn't have a single injury, he was disappointed.

Perhaps the strong could sense one another. As Kaido looked his way, Carl immediately sensed it and turned his gaze toward him. Kaido met his eyes without backing down.

"Gurararara!"

"Carl's back!"

Carl was heading toward the Council Hall. By the roadside, he spotted Newgate sitting on a barrel, drinking deeply.

"It went fine. There weren't any strong fighters in the Phil Kingdom, but I should report to Captain Rocks first."

Carl immediately turned his attention to Newgate by the roadside.

"Keep it up, young Carl!"

Newgate raised his cup in greeting.

"We'll have a good drink together later."

Carl now understood why all the strong fighters liked to drink. Alcohol helped suppress some of their emotions.

"Sure, Carl. I'll wait for you here."