Pirates: Invincible from the Start

Then he shoved open the wooden door to the captain's cabin. It creaked sharply as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Bad news, Captain! The Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro, is here!"

"What?"

The captain's hand froze mid-drag. He slowly, mechanically raised his head and turned to look at his underling. "What did you say? Say that

again."

The underling's grip tightened around his gun. "The Pirate Hunter, Zoro, is here."

The cigarette trembled between the captain's fingers. His pupils contracted, his face went rigid, and he froze where he sat.

The underling looked at him nervously. "Captain... shouldn't we get ready to fight? The Pirate Hunter, Zoro, will be here any second."

The underling's voice broke through the captain's panic. He flung away his cigarette and shot to his feet.

"Fight? Like hell!"

He grabbed his coat and threw it on, then roared at the underling, "That's the Pirate Hunter, Zoro! He's a goddamn killing machine!"

Lately, he'd heard story after story from fellow pirates about Zoro wiping out one pirate crew one day and slaughtering another the next.

At first, he hadn't believed it. If a Bounty Hunter was really that powerful, what was he doing in the East Blue? Why hadn't he gone to the Grand Line?

But then a pirate crew he knew ran into Zoro and was never heard from again. That gave him a clear idea of just how terrifying the Bounty Hunter was.

He'd never thought they would cross paths. The East Blue was huge, and he'd only sailed out to make a little money because his crew was broke.

Instead of finding anyone to rob, he'd run into the one person he least wanted to meet.

The thought of his head becoming someone else's payday sent a sharp pain through his