Gawain Was Not a Fairy Knight!

Life was pretty damn fucked up.

Just yesterday morning, Gawain had passed the civil service interview in his hometown county. He had been thinking that in a few months, he could start work and have the rest of his life secured.

Sure, a civil servant's life was plain and a little dull, but in an era where turning thirty-five basically meant practical retirement, who could refuse a lifelong meal ticket?

As for low pay making it hard to find a partner...

Heh. In the current meta, not even dogs wanted that stuff.

Besides, saying civil servants firmly sat in the first tier of the matchmaking market wasn't an exaggeration, was it?

Who the hell knew that after waking up, Gawain would find himself on the Deserted Island before him, dressed in skintight black leather armor, with several wounds on his body, blood faintly seeping through the bandages.

It hurt.

Then, a clamor reached Gawain's ears...

"Although we've temporarily shaken off that bastard Morgans, he'll find this place within two or three months at most."

"Our ship was damaged in the earlier battle too. Without repairs, it'll be hard to keep sailing. When that happens, we'll..."

"Captain, what do we do next?"

Dozens of pirates surrounded Gawain, each talking over the others. The air instantly became deafening, but anyone could hear the panic in their voices.

Gawain listened in a daze and instinctively barked out an order:

"Quiet!"

After thinking for a while, Gawain finally sorted through the chaotic memories in his mind.

He was the captain of this pirate crew, the great pirate known as "Knight" Gawain, with a Bounty of eight million.

A few days ago, he had encountered Morgans at sea. After losing the battle, he had led the remnants of his crew in flight all the way to this Deserted Island.

Not only had he inherited some predecessor's name, he had even inherited that man's Heroic Spirit appearance from some Chaldea. Of course, he was not a Fairy Knight, but he alone lacked that man's invincibility beneath the noon sun.

For a moment, Gawain felt that life was even more fucked up.

Getting transported was one thing, but being dropped straight into the world of Pirate King with a Wanted Poster on his head and a Marine relentlessly chasing him was another.

At this rate, if he was lucky, he would end up in Impel Down eating prison meals and wishing he were dead. If he was unlucky, he would be buried at sea.

No matter how he looked at it, neither outcome was a good choice.

As for Morgans, Gawain had some impression of him.

To be honest, in the Pirate King world, Morgans was merely a fallen Marine who could barely throw his weight around in the East Blue. Anyone on the Grand Line could hang him up and beat him senseless.

But there was a problem.

Gawain could not beat him.

The previous owner of this body had fought that guy not long ago and had been suppressed from start to finish without any chance to fight back. Even the Knight Sword in his hand had been chopped with several notches by that huge axe.

That fully proved that although Axe Emperor was weak, he was still someone who could make Old Man Ka bleed with a single axe strike. He was not someone just anyone could challenge.

It also gave Gawain a Precise understanding of his current combat strength:

Minnows.

He was even less comparable to those inhumanly powerful beings from Gawain's memories.

Thinking of that, Gawain's brows furrowed slightly.

He was someone who lived in the present and only worried about the problems in front of him.

And right now, the most important thing for him was figuring out how to survive Morgans's pursuit.

After thinking it over.

Gawain was still completely at a loss, and his gaze could not help shifting toward the pirates before him.

Most of them wore expressions of panic and confusion.

After half a month of continuous flight, this pirate crew had long since become deeply unsettled. There had even been rumors of a mutiny.

It had only been suppressed earlier by Gawain's force, but now...

Gawain glanced at the bleeding wounds on his body.

Among the distant crowd, another gaze rested on Gawain's bleeding wounds. The man's lips curled into a sinister grin, and he stepped forward, his voice shrill like glass scraping together.

"If you ask me, we might as well just disband."

"We've followed the captain for months without getting any loot, and he won't even let us touch civilians. Forget living well, brothers—we're practically running out of food."

"Are we supposed to stay here and wait to die?"

"Or maybe it's time we changed captains..."

As soon as those words fell, the crowd stirred again. The pirates who had been surrounding Gawain instinctively backed away.

Gawain also got a clear look at the man who had spoken.

He was a bald, muscular brute over three meters tall, yet his voice was as thin as a woman's.

The brute was named Lancer. He was nominally Gawain's second-in-command, but he had coveted the captain's position for far more than a day or two.

He had always resented Gawain's refusal to attack civilians, even gathering a large group of followers within the crew. He had faintly begun to rival Gawain.

Now, he was probably planning to use Gawain's injuries as an opportunity to seize power.

A pirate crew with fewer than a hundred people could still have so much bullshit going on. Gawain could only say that small temples had strong demon winds, and shallow ponds had plenty of bastards.

In truth, if it had been any other pirate captain, anyone in the crew who dared challenge him would have been cut down long ago.

After all, hadn't even Buggy brutally beaten Usopp in Water 7 for challenging the captain's authority?

But the original owner of this body had refused to do that. He insisted on following some so-called knightly code, muttering every day about bullshit like kindness and mercy.

If you were so righteous, why the hell were you a pirate?

What, you slept with the Queen of the Goa Kingdom?

And her name was Guinevere?

No, bro, did you pick up the wrong script? Wasn't this the kind of rotten deed done by that purple-haired guy you couldn't stand?!

The key was, you had your fun and left, while I was the one cleaning up your mess?

Gawain's gaze sharpened, and his face turned cold.

A subordinate mutiny—especially one started by pirates dissatisfied with their captain—meant the losing side would most likely not escape death.

Gawain did not want to die, so someone else had to.

Though he had been transported here, the memories and combat instincts left behind in this body still remained. They inevitably influenced Gawain's thoughts.

As for killing...

Although the previous owner had upheld knightly ideals, he had still become a pirate. Whose hands were not stained with blood?

Besides, a knight's mercy was reserved for their own people. Once they stepped onto the battlefield, they often played the role of executioner.

At this moment, Gawain had the decisiveness the previous owner lacked, while the previous owner had the strength Gawain lacked!

I might not be able to deal with those monsters at sea... damn it, but I can't deal with you?!

Gawain raised his eyes to Lancer, his voice icy and stern.

"What?"

"You want to make a move against me?"

Clang!

The Knight Sword slowly slid from its sheath, cold light reflecting the firelight.

Gawain's entire presence abruptly changed, becoming fierce and razor-sharp as killing intent spread through the area.

The sudden change left the surrounding pirates stunned. They had followed Gawain for years—when had they ever seen such chilling killing intent from him?

Lancer gritted his teeth. Fear flashed through his eyes, but the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired.

Though Gawain was injured, Lancer still was not certain he could take him down in a direct fight.

But he knew Gawain's personality. He was soft-hearted toward his subordinates and indecisive. People like that were the easiest to deceive and the easiest to handle.

Lancer tightened his grip around the Flintlock Pistol in his arms, putting on an expression of deep grief and indignation.

"Captain, are you really going to watch all the brothers on the ship die before you—!"

Before Lancer could finish, Gawain took a step forward, crossing the distance between them. His longsword drew a silver arc through the air.

By the time everyone reacted, a head was already slowly falling to the ground. The Flintlock Pistol Lancer had just drawn was also severed by Gawain's strike.

Thud!

Unfired black powder drifted from the broken barrel like dust.

Lancer's headless corpse still held the posture of drawing his gun. After twitching a few times, it fell backward, blood spilling across the ground.

Swish!

Gawain flicked the blood from his blade, swept his cold gaze around the crowd, and spoke without the slightest fluctuation in his tone.

"Who else?!"

For a moment, the crowd was utterly silent. The scene before them was enough to fill them with terror.

After all, no one had expected Gawain to act so decisively. He had not even left Lancer the slightest room to turn things around.

Given his former temperament, he would never have drawn his sword against his own people unless it was the last possible moment. That was why Lancer and the others had dared force his hand despite being weaker than him.

But now, everything seemed to have changed.

Yet this kind of captain made them feel incomparably secure. Rather, wasn't this how a pirate captain was supposed to be?

Powerful, cold-blooded, ruthless—only someone like that could survive longer at sea!

Seeing no reaction from anyone, Gawain returned to his seat.

Several pale-faced pirates stepped forward and dragged Lancer's corpse away, leaving a trail of crimson blood behind.

For a time, the surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.

From Lancer's attempt to seize power to Gawain's sudden killing, only a dozen seconds had passed. Yet the shock it brought everyone was unprecedented.

That was because the captain who had once upheld knightly ideals had finally bared his most vicious fangs.

Hope once again ignited in the eyes of those looking at Gawain.

If they had looked toward Captain Gawain out of instinct before, then now they truly regarded him as their savior.

But Gawain had no mind to care about their reactions. A mechanical notification suddenly sounded in his head:

"Captain System activated!"

"Congratulations, Badge unlocked—Captain's Wrath!"

"Subordinates' stamina recovery speed +20%!"