The Krieg Pirates

Kuta raised a hand and lightly tapped Kuina on the head.

Kuina pretended it hurt, clutching her head with both hands as she gazed at Kuta through misty eyes.

"Hmph! Don't tell me you don't want to eat there."

Kuta swallowed, turned toward the sea, and insisted, "I'm only interested in someone who can run a restaurant at sea. It's not like I care about their food!"

He nodded firmly.

"That's right! Exactly!"

Kuina saw right through him but said nothing. She gently drew his hand into her arms and stayed beside him while he fished.

Since getting engaged to Kuta, she had grown gentler and more playful. The change had the Ahua Trio exclaiming that Kuina must be possessed.

Kuina had actually smiled at them. It was the first time she had ever done that.

They had hardly dared show their faces for the past two days, certain trouble was coming.

"Huh?"

The fishing rod in Kuta's hand suddenly bent, its line pulled taut.

"Did I catch something?"

Kuina quickly let go of Kuta, hurried to the ship's side, and leaned over the railing to look at the water below.

Kuta gripped the fishing

rod with both hands and heaved it upward.

The calm sea beside the ship suddenly churned, rocking the vessel.

In an instant, the water beneath the line bulged upward. Then a curtain of water fell away, revealing an enormous dark shape mottled blue-green and yellow.

The creature's front half towered beside the ship, casting a vast shadow.

It had a broad forehead and a mouth full of sharp fangs. Its blood-red eyes fixed coldly on Kuta and his fishing rod.

Standing in its shadow, Kuta looked up at the oversized sea eel and shouted, "It's you, Lord of the Coast!"

He dropped the rod, rubbed his chin in thought, then addressed the creature with a perfectly serious expression.

"I wonder if you know the one outside Foosha Village. That one was fierce enough to bite off Red-Hair's arm. Sure, it happened more than ten years ago, but that's a story it can brag about for life."

Then he raised his right hand in front of him and gave the Lord of the Coast an encouraging look, his flair for drama in full force.

"Come on! I'm going to stake my hand on the East Blue too."

The Lord of the Coast had no idea what the little creature before him was saying, but he sensed an insult in Kuta's eyes.

His head paused in midair. Then it came crashing down like a meteorite.

Bang!

The Lord of the Coast felt as if he had slammed into steel. Stars danced before his eyes.

It took him a moment to recover.

He shook his head and looked down at the teeth lying beside the ship, his face full of grievance.

He had been taking a leisurely stroll with a pretty fish when a hook had caught in his mouth without him even noticing.

Fine, a hook was a hook. With my size, who could possibly haul me up?

But before he could swim more than a few strokes, this fellow had yanked him out of the water.

And as if that were not enough, he had broken his best-looking teeth.

Who am I supposed to complain to?

"Kuta, stop playing around! Ship spotted at three o'clock!"

A-Luo stood in the lookout and shouted down to Kuta.

"Where? Where?"

Ahua, who had been slacking off in the kitchen, rushed out with a cleaver and leaned over the railing to peer ahead.

None of them cared about the Lord of the Coast.

Other ships, especially Pirate Ships, were another matter.

"Hmm."

A red glint flashed through Kuta's eyes as he reached out with his senses.

It really was a large ship, far bigger than theirs.

He looked up at the Lord of the Coast. "Sorry, I can't play with you anymore. I'll have to send you on your way."

The Lord of the Coast sensed something was wrong. His heart tightened, and he quickly ducked his head, trying to dive back into the sea.

But a second before Kuta finished speaking, a sharp, swift scrape rang out.

Shing!

A silver-white Slash streaked through the air and across the Lord of the Coast's neck, then shot onward into the sky.

Click!

Kuina sheathed her sword.

She had struck the instant Kuta finished speaking.

Boom!

The Lord of the Coast's massive head crashed into the sea. It bobbed several times before finally sinking.

Through the glittering water, the unwillingness and hurt in his eyes were still visible.

His lower half remained above the surface, as though it had yet to realize its head was gone. Thick, pungent blood began welling from the smooth cut.

A gust of wind blew past, and his stubborn lower half finally toppled backward.

Boom!

It sent up a bigger splash than when he had emerged.

The Krieg Pirates

March 15, Sea Circle Calendar 1520.

East Blue.

A huge sailing ship with a black panther figurehead and three decks sailed away from the rising sun.

Atop its mast flew a dark skull flag, billowing in the sea breeze.

A red hourglass was painted on either side of the white skull. They marked the time a captive had left to live and carried a message: sooner or later, you would surrender. It was only a matter of time.

Most people in the East Blue probably knew that flag and that ship.

After all, they belonged to one of the pirate crews with the highest bounties in the East Blue.

Aboard the Fake Merry, A-Tao held several Wanted Posters and explained as she watched the distant Pirate Ship.

"The Krieg Pirates. They're said to have five thousand members, making them the largest pirate crew in the East Blue."

"Their captain, Don Krieg, has a bounty of seventeen million Beli. They call him the ruler of the East Blue."

"Their commander, Demon Man Gin, has a bounty of twelve million Beli."

"If he has five thousand men, why can we only see one ship?"

Ahua pushed up his glasses and looked at the Wanted Posters in A-Tao's hand.

"He's probably patrolling his territory. Krieg wouldn't gather all his men in one place and hand the Marines an easy target."

A-Luo slid down the mast and strode over to answer.

He glanced up at the huge ship charging toward them.

"That should be Krieg's flagship, the Dauntless Warship Saber."

"So Krieg must be aboard."

They all turned toward Kuta at the bow, waiting for his orders.

They were not worried about any ruler of the East Blue. Compared with Kuta, those pirates were hopelessly fragile.

Kuta had fought the legendary Okama King to a draw five years ago. He was a monster.

The Okama King's bounty exceeded eighty million Beli.

The Krieg Pirates spotted them at the same time Kuta's group spotted the pirates.

The pirates changed course and charged straight toward them.

They had no idea what a cruel end awaited them.

Perhaps ignorance was a kind of happiness. It let them do whatever they wanted without hesitation.

Whether that made them lucky or unlucky was another question.

No one knew whether the pirates were lucky, but Kuta's group certainly was.

At last, their dull voyage had gained a little excitement.

Watching the Dauntless Warship Saber close in, Kuta turned to the excited, bright-eyed Ahua Trio. A fierce grin tugged at his lips.

"Krieg's mine. Kuina gets the officers. You three take the rest of the small fry."

"Whoa!"

The Ahua Trio leaped with excitement.

They had studied swordsmanship for over a decade. Without the desire to become Swordmasters and cut down villains, they would never have lasted so long.

They had only left the Sword Hall because, in recent years, they had stopped seeing any hope of achieving it.

Now everyone before them was utterly wicked. They would feel no guilt about killing them.

Ignoring the excited trio, Kuta turned back toward the Krieg Pirates, his thoughts churning.

Most people in the world of the Pirate King still had a sense of justice. Not the World Government's Justice, but the kind that made someone draw a sword when they saw cruelty or a villain.

Even among the Marines, long called the World Government's lapdogs, at least ninety percent were genuinely just people, if not all of them.

Everyone aboard their ship was clearly that sort of person.

And

pirates were criminals hiding behind talk of dreams.

The Sea offered endless wealth. Some people amassed fortunes quickly through luck, courage, cunning, or strength.

Most pirates made their living by robbing those people of what they had earned.

It was quick money, gained with little effort.

They could squander everything they stole.

They were free.

They answered to no one.

They even lived above the law.

Pirates who truly chased a dream, like Luffy, existed, but they were vanishingly rare.

Yet people with a little ambition and strength longed to become criminals like them.

Urged on by others, most of them made piracy their life's work.

And that brought him to the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.

With a single sentence before his death, he had sent the hesitant, the aimless, and even those who had never considered it rushing toward the Sea.

Some sincerely wanted to compete for the One Piece, but Kuta was sure most simply wanted to become pirates.

They did not believe in the One Piece at all.