Just as Enel cried, "Don't come any closer!"
Only then did the Krieg Pirate crew finally spot the other fleet.
They could not help but grow excited.
Though the combination of those two ships was strange—one was a long, fast galleon, while the other was a fat, bulky sailing ship—neither flew any Pirate flags, nor did they resemble a Marine fleet.
Clearly, they were merely merchant ships.
Merchant ships had some ability to defend themselves, but most of their space was filled with cargo. Given ships of equal size, merchant vessels were weaker than pirates in both firepower and manpower. Once they met, it was like a pack of wolves tearing into a flock of sheep.
As a result, merchants' ships had become faster and faster. Deep within the Grand Line, some merchants had even begun using steamships to transport goods.
Steamships did not need to account for headwinds or tailwinds, upstream or downstream currents. They only needed to burn coal with brute force. Though the costs were higher, for merchants who frequently encountered pirates in the Grand Line, keeping themselves alive came before anything else. People like the Three Calamities and the Four Disasters were everywhere in the latter half of the Grand Line. If they did not run fast enough, death was the only outcome.
Of course, there was another option: pay tribute to the Four Emperors and do business within their territories. That way, there was no need to worry about being plundered.
In short, everyone had their own tricks.
East Blue was beginning to show the same trend, but the Industrial Revolution in shipbuilding never happened in backward regions. So for now, East Blue pirates could still leisurely chase down these merchant ships.
In a few years, when the East Blue pirates realized something was wrong,