A pirate's growth often came at the cost of lives

Then he raised his head, looked out at the churning sea ahead, and grinned as he joined his companions in laughter.

Kuta had been right. These pirates really had gone mad after seeing the bounties on his crew.

They had worked themselves to the bone, murdering and burning, spending years roaming the Four Blues before entering the Grand Line. They had competed with countless pirate crews and overcome countless hardships just to earn bounties of over a hundred million.

Why...

Why could a crew that had only been at sea for half a year have bounties dozens of times higher than theirs?

It wasn't fair. Something was rigged.

That resentment, along with their hunger for fame, was like a devil's temptation. The moment they learned Kuta's crew had arrived at Water 7, it drove them to sail their pirate ships straight here.

Hadn't they just gotten lucky and killed a Shichibukai?

As for fighting a Marine Admiral to a draw, gravely wounding four Marine Vice Admirals with one slash, or killing Golden Lion, a legendary pirate from the previous generation, those things made them a little uneasy, but not enough to frighten them off.

They had fought Vice Admirals themselves. They might not have won, but those men hadn't been able to do anything to them either, right?

The Vice Admirals in question were Base Commanders at Marine Bases in the first half of the Grand Line.

In fact, these Base Commanders rarely pursued pirates. They had to remain at their bases and only went out personally when exceptionally powerful pirates appeared, or when the Marines and the World Government took a particular interest in a pirate.

Even when they did go out, they rarely pursued anyone far beyond their bases.

Ordinary pirates were generally pursued by the Rear Admirals