Pirates: Invincible from the Start

"In all my years, I've never actually seen a pirate with a bounty as high as yours!"

The old man's playful voice broke the tension in the tavern.

Kuta swiveled his chair and swept his gaze over the marines around him before settling on the bearded man.

"Marines, am I really that scary?"

His gentle voice did nothing to ease the marines' nerves.

The bearded man stared at Kuta. Suppressing his fear, he declared, "Pirate, don't get too cocky. We marines stand for justice, and we aren't afraid of pirates."

His voice grew louder with every word, and by the end, he was standing ramrod straight.

He fixed his eyes on Kuta and roared.

"Justice will prevail!"

"Justice will prevail!"

The marines around him straightened instinctively and shouted along.

Kuta looked at the bearded man, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. "Relax. As long as you don't bother us, we'll leave once we've bought what we need."

He rather admired the bearded man. This was what a good marine looked like.

They were afraid, yet they still stood without hesitation on the front line for the people.

Kuta paid the bearded man little more attention. He turned to the old man with a smile. "Sir, we're law-abiding citizens. We'd never take so much as a needle or a thread from the villagers. Just tell me how much it costs."

By then, the old man had regained his easygoing air.

Puffing on his pipe, he let a glint pass through his eyes and slowly raised his right hand, spreading all five fingers before Kuta.

"What? Only fifty thousand? I thought it would be expensive!"

Kuta stared at the old man's hand.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he reached inside his coat to pay, the old man spoke.

"Kid, I said five hundred thousand, not fifty thousand!"

"What?"

Kuta stared at the old man, wide-eyed in shock.

"Old man, say that price again."

He deliberately put on a fierce expression.

The sudden change in his face gave the nearby marines a fright.

Cold sweat broke out on the marines as they all stared at the old man, screaming inwardly.

Sir, don't get yourself killed! That's a notorious pirate you're dealing with!

The old man remained as unhurried as ever. He slowly took the pipe from his mouth and tapped it against the edge of the bar.

Knock! Knock, knock!

The sharp taps seemed to strike the marines' hearts. They stood rigid, watching the old man nervously.

The old man paid their nerves no mind.

He looked Kuta in the eye and said firmly, "Five hundred thousand. Not a penny less."

"Uh!"

The marines' hearts trembled as they watched him. They were sure Kuta was about to fly into a rage.

But they waited, and no fury came.

Instead, they heard Kuta and the old man

haggling like aunties at a market.

"Old man, I've put up with you long enough. Don't push your luck."

"So what if I do?"

"Go on, hit me!"

"I've named my price. Five hundred thousand, not a penny less."

"Oh, so you think I can't handle you?"

Kuta rolled up his sleeves and argued back and forth with the old man until he finally talked the price down to three hundred thousand.

In the end, Kuta paid with a dejected look on his face.

The old man, meanwhile, was counting the money with a smug grin.

It was clear who had lost that battle over the price: Kuta.

The old fox had won.

Only after Kuta and the others had left the tavern did the marines all breathe a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that they were cowards! The bounty poster was just that terrifying!

The old man puffed on his pipe and cast the bearded man a mild glance.

Then he took out his pipe and rapped the bearded man on the head.

"They're gone. What are you still staring at? Get back to work, unless you're planning to stay here for dinner!"

The knock snapped the bearded man out of his daze.

He looked at the old man, his face alight with excitement.

"Father, are you secretly some kind of master? You were chatting and laughing with that notorious pirate without so much as changing expression. That was incredible!"

"And he actually paid for the booze without a fuss."

As he spoke, he began analyzing it in earnest. "No wonder so many people used to come here to buy wine from you. You've been a hidden master all along!"

Having reached his conclusion, he nodded at the old man with a look that said he had figured everything out.

The more the bearded man said, the darker the old man's expression grew. In the end, he froze where he stood.

After a moment, he shook his head, raised his pipe, and swung it at the bearded man.

"Are you an idiot? Couldn't you tell I was nervous at first too?"

"Some great master I am! Let this 'great master' crack open that thick skull of yours!"

Seeing the pipe coming, the bearded man hurried back a few steps and bolted out of the tavern. The other marines rushed after him.

The old man lowered his pipe and gazed through the blue smoke at the empty tavern, lost in thought for a moment.

Then he settled back into his reclining chair, narrowed his eyes, and resumed puffing on his pipe.

The tavern returned to its usual state: dim and quiet.

Then, from behind the bar, came the same remark the old man had made when he first met Kuta.

"Young people these days are something else!"

Could It Really Taste as Bad as Poop?

Prothius Island.

On a street in the island's town.

Kuta and Kuina had met up and were heading toward the harbor with Ahua, who was carrying bags and bundles.

Behind them, the bearded man led a squad of marines at a distance.

They were only keeping watch; they made no move to disturb the group.

It seemed they had taken Kuta's words in the tavern to heart.

Kuta carried a large bag of fruit in his left hand and his bounty poster in his right, reading it as he walked.

He was speechless at the halfhearted epithets the posters had given them.

"What is this?"

"Silver Hair, Blue Hair... Could they have put any less effort into it?"

Did the marines think he wasn't important enough, or that he wasn't strong enough to warrant spending time on a better epithet?

So they had simply picked one on the spot.

He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.

Or was this a marine plot?

Maybe the marines wanted them to fight Red-Hair over the title of pirate crew with the best hair.

"Hmm!"

Kuta nodded. He thought he had figured out the marines' plot.

"How devious of you, Sengoku."

This had Sengoku's scheme written all over it.

If Sengoku heard that, he would cough up years' worth of old blood from sheer frustration.

A bad reputation could do real damage!

Sengoku was the most upright man in the entire navy!

This time, it really, truly, honestly was just a lazy choice. There was no plot or scheme behind it!

"Hm?"

Kuta suddenly looked up at the sky and stopped.

The smile vanished from his face, replaced in an instant by a dark expression.

The marines behind them fell into a panic when they saw Kuta's group stop.

"What's going on? What's going on?"

"No idea."

"Silver Hair's crew just stopped."

"Don't tell me they've changed their minds and are going to rob our town!"

"Quiet, all of you."

The bearded man roared, his eyes fixed on Kuta. He could sense the dark aura coming off him.

He just didn't know why Kuta's demeanor had changed so suddenly.

Nervously, he followed Kuta's gaze up to the sky.

Kuina and Ahua noticed Kuta's reaction and looked up as well.

For Kuta's expression to change so drastically, something extraordinary had to be about to happen.

Sure enough, a moment later, an enormous fireball trailing a blazing red tail emerged from the clouds before their eyes.

From its path, it was clearly headed straight for the island beneath their feet.

"Hey! You've got to be kidding!"

The marines behind the bearded man had spotted the fireball too.

"In broad daylight? Am I dreaming?"

Some of them rubbed their eyes hard, their faces full of disbelief.

But when they looked up again and saw the fireball drawing closer, their legs gave out and they collapsed to the ground.

Their eyes bulged as they muttered over and over.

"Impossible. Impossible. Impossible."