With the Marines' withdrawal, the entire East Blue descended into chaos. Countless pirates began celebrating, but their good days had barely begun before the Holy Church struck them hard.
Somewhere out at sea, two pirate forces were locked in battle. Dozens of warships traded cannon fire across the water, while the ships in the center had drawn alongside one another. Countless men fought tooth and nail around a luxurious merchant ship.
The merchant ship's sailors and deckhands had been tied up and left to one side. They watched the pirates slaughter one another with frightened eyes, while the bodies of several sailors who had resisted lay nearby.
"Brothers, kill them! Once we finish those bastards across from us, all the treasure on this ship is ours!" Krieg, clad in golden armor with a white band wrapped around his head, shouted arrogantly when he saw the enemy losing ground.
"Damn it, he's got the better of us again!" Cro, a slender man with slicked-back hair and a captain's hat, ground his teeth. "Men, retreat!"
"Hahaha! Black Cat, you think you can steal my business? Spend a few more decades at sea first!"
"Krieg, just you wait! One day, I'll make you pay!" Cro glared furiously at the burly man standing smugly aboard the merchant ship.
"Hmph, you say that every time. I'm sick of hearing it!" Krieg picked his ear disdainfully.
In the East Blue, his Krieg Pirates and the Black Cat Pirates were the only two particularly powerful forces.
This time, he had heard that Alabasta's little princess was coming to visit the Goa Royal Capital in the East Blue. The news had thrilled Krieg. He had been thinking of entering the New World anyway, and with Alabasta's little princess as his hostage, a nation as powerful as Alabasta would