Sea Calendar Year 1520, March 15th.
East Blue.
A massive sailing ship, shaped like a black panther at the bow and boasting three decks, sailed with its back to the rising sun.
At the top of the ship's mast, a dark black skull and crossbones flag billowed in the sea breeze.
On either side of the white skull on the flag, a red hourglass was painted, symbolizing captured prey and the deadline for death. It also represented, "You will surrender to me sooner or later, it's only a matter of time."
In the East Blue, most people should recognize this flag and this ship, shouldn't they?
After all, they were currently the pirate crew with the highest bounties in the East Blue.
On the Fake Merry, A Tao held several bounty posters, staring at the pirate ship in the distance as he explained.
"The Krieg Pirates, boasting a crew of 5,000, the largest pirate crew in the East Blue."
"Captain, Don Krieg, with a bounty of 17 million Berries, known as the Tyrant of the East Blue."
"Captain-General, Ghastly Ashura, with a bounty of 12 million Berries."
...
"If they have 5,000 subordinates, why do we only see one ship!"
A Hua pushed up his glasses, looking at the bounty posters in A Tao's hand and asked doubtfully.
"They must be out patrolling their territories. Krieg wouldn't gather all his subordinates in one place, that would just make them an easy target for the Marines, wouldn't it?"
A Luo slid down from the mast and quickly walked over, replying.
He glanced up at the giant ship charging towards them and said.
"This ship should be Krieg's flagship, the 'Fearless Warship Saber'."
"So, Krieg must be on this ship then."
With that, they all looked towards Kong Tai, who was standing at the bow of the ship, awaiting his orders.
They weren't worried about the so-called Tyrant of the East Blue, because compared to Kong Tai, these pirates were as fragile as paper.
After all, Kong Tai was a monster who, five years ago, could fight to a draw with the legendary Okama King.
The Okama King's bounty exceeded 80 million.
When Kong Tai and his crew spotted the Krieg Pirates, the other side had already noticed them.
They changed course and charged directly towards them.
The pirates would never imagine the cruel fate that awaited them.
In fact, ignorance is a form of bliss, allowing them to act without restraint, to do as they pleased.
Whether this was fortunate or unfortunate was debatable!
Whether the pirates were fortunate or not was unknown, but for Kong Tai and his crew, it was fortunate.
Because finally, their boring voyage had gained a little bit of excitement.
Watching the Fearless Warship Saber rapidly approach, Kong Tai turned to look at A Hua and the other two, whose faces were flushed with excitement and eyes shining, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Krieg is mine. The captains are for Kurei-na. The rest of the grunts are yours."
"Whoa—!"
A Hua and the other two jumped up excitedly.
Having trained in swordsmanship for over a decade, they wouldn't have persisted for so long without a heart to become sword masters and slay villains.
If they hadn't seen any hope in recent years, they wouldn't have left the dojo.
Now, facing only wicked individuals, they had no psychological burden in killing them.
Ignoring the excited trio, Kong Tai turned his gaze back to the Krieg Pirates, his thoughts churning.
In truth, in the world of One Piece, most people still held a sense of justice. This justice wasn't the justice of the World Government, but the justice of drawing a sword when encountering injustice or villains.
Even the Marines, who were constantly labeled as lapdogs of the World Government, if not all, at least over 90% of them were truly just individuals.
Clearly, their ship was filled with such people.
And pirates were merely criminals operating under the guise of dreams.
The sea brought endless wealth, and there were always those who, through luck, courage, strategy, or strength, rapidly accumulated riches.
The work of most pirates was to acquire wealth from these rapidly accumulating individuals through robbery.
The money came in quickly and swiftly, requiring little effort from them.
They could take this ill-gotten wealth and squander it as they pleased.
They lived freely.
They were unrestrained.
They were even lawless.
Pirates like Luffy, who genuinely harbored dreams, couldn't be said to not exist, only that they were rare gems.
This led those with even a modicum of ambition and strength to aspire to become such criminals.
A majority of them, instigated or provoked by others, would entrust the most important undertaking of their lives to piracy.
Here, one must mention the Pirate King, "Gol D. Roger."
His dying words caused those who hesitated, wavered, and even those who had no aspirations at all to flock to the sea.
Although some among them genuinely wished to seek the Great Treasure, it's believed that the vast majority simply wanted to be pirates.
They didn't believe in any Great Treasure.
They only believed in the Berries in front of them and a life of indulgence.
Thus, they merely went with the flow.
For this alone, Gol D. Roger deserved to die. Not only the World Government and the Marines hated him, but the common folk living on the islands also hated him.
Pirates were never judged by the cruelty of their actions based on their strength; most of them were bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong, scoundrels, and scum.
Moreover, the weaker the pirate, the more cruel they tended to be. If they couldn't rob merchant ships with escorts and firepower, they would set their sights on remote villages without Marine bases.
Initially, they might only engage in robbery, but as they continued, it would escalate into murder and arson, eventually leading to the massacre of entire villages.
He had read many such newspapers over the years.
...
"Ah—!"
Suddenly, a loud shout interrupted his churning thoughts.
"I'll fight ten!"
A Hua took the lead, rushing towards the ship's cabin.
"You!"
A Luo pouted and quickly followed, "I'll fight fifteen!"
"Then I'll fight twenty."
A Tao, who followed last, looked speechlessly at the two who had started arguing again, and covering his forehead, he said, "Then let's have a competition, whoever fights more."
"A competition it is."
"Hmph—!"
Kong Tai withdrew his gaze, ignoring the three buffoons who were going to fetch their weapons. He turned to Kurei-na, who had been staring ahead, and placed his right hand on her shoulder, asking.
"Kurei-na, are you nervous!"
"I'm going to be the greatest female swordmaster, why would I be nervous!"
Kurei-na turned to look at Kong Tai, a hint of excitement appearing on her usually calm face.
Her gaze shifted back to the Krieg Pirates with determination, and she said.
"From the moment I set sail, I left nervousness behind in the dojo."
"Good!"
"Enjoy the fight! They're all people who deserve to die anyway."
Even if they hadn't approached, he wouldn't have let them go.
He had seen news of them robbing towns in the newspapers more than once.
He wasn't a saint.
But for the villains who delivered themselves to his doorstep, he could only send them all to hell.
Even if there were some newcomers on their ship who hadn't committed any crimes yet, and some who weren't that cruel.
But so what.
He wasn't Monkey D. Luffy; he wouldn't waste his energy trying to discern who had committed crimes and who hadn't.
He wasn't a police officer.
He wasn't a judge.
He was certainly not a Yama.
He was just an ordinary person who grew up under the red flag in his previous life.
If they truly had justice in their hearts, they should have left such a pirate crew long ago. Those who remained, whether they had committed crimes or not, at least harbored the desire to be villains.
He was just an ordinary person; he could only treat them all equally.
At this moment, the two sailing ships, one large and one small, finally met.
The Fearless Warship Saber aggressively cut across in front of their small boat from an oblique angle.
Yes, compared to the colossal behemoth before them, the Fake Merry was like a child facing an adult.
"What the—! They're not a merchant ship!"
The pirates, leaning over the ship's railing, looked down at the small sailing boat below, their fierce faces showing disappointment.
At first, seeing a small ship without a flag, they had thought it was a merchant ship and quickly changed course to approach.
This time, the haul was a bit meager, and they could just plunder something.
Upon reaching them, they discovered that the deck of the small boat below was empty, with only five youths wearing swords at their waists standing calmly at the bow.
They disliked ships like this.
Because at a glance, they looked like novices who had just set out to sea, playing pirate.
They had seen plenty of such novices, with no spoils to be had.
Therefore, even though standing at the very front, the man and woman were excessively handsome and beautiful, they held no attraction for them.
After all, they weren't a slave ship.
They only knew how to plunder, to plunder all sorts of supplies they needed.
"Sigh—!"
The pirates sighed.
They lowered the rope ladder, preparing to descend to the smaller boat below, after all, even a mosquito was still meat.
Just then, a sharp and rapid scraping sound echoed.
Zheng—!
A silver-white slash shot horizontally from below, incredibly quickly, towards them.
"Watch out."
"Ugh!"
The slow-reacting pirates only had time to cry out before their necks were sliced, and they stood frozen in place.
A thin bloodline appeared on their necks, and then rapidly widened.
Ch-!
Their heads flew into the air, falling rapidly behind them.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump—!
The pirates who reacted quickly and had retreated to the deck stood stiffly in place, hearing the sounds behind them.
At that moment, they felt something roll to their feet.
Slowly looking down, they saw a head lying on the ground, its eyes wide open, with an expression of disbelief.
The pirates felt a chill surge from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads, instantly making them shiver and their scalps tingle.
They dared not look back. They knew about the flying slashes of sword masters; they were not something they could deal with. Only the captain or the officers could fight them.
They quickly ran towards the center of the deck, shouting in panic as they ran, "Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
"What's all the racket,"
A calm yet authoritative voice rang out from amidst the pirate crowd.
The crowd of pirates quickly parted to the sides, revealing a passage.
From the passage emerged a tall figure, clad in golden armor, black boots, and a large cloak. His purple hair was tied back by a headscarf, and his fierce eyes made it clear that he was not someone to be trifled with.
To his left followed a slender man wearing a striped headscarf, a green t-shirt, a gray jacket, and pants.
To his right followed a shield-bearing man whose head was covered in bubbles and whose entire body was adorned with round shields.
Looking at their captain and officers approaching, the few pirates tremblingly recounted what had just happened.
"Swordmaster?"
Don Krieg looked at the headless corpses lying by the ship and the heads rolling nearby, his murderous aura surging.
To dare to kill his crew in the East Blue, they truly had no desire to live.