The starting point of the Grand Line, Reverse Mountain.
"Captain Krieg! The whale I was talking about is right up ahead. Every day at this time, it appears at the foot of Reverse Mountain and rams its body against it. Compared to the large Sea Kings lurking in the deep sea, this whale is much easier to capture."
At the foot of the mountain, six medium-sized pirate ships, concealed by the darkness of the night, slowly approached the lighthouse at the base of Reverse Mountain, waiting for the whale they spoke of to appear.
At the bow of the lead pirate ship, the tall Krieg, holding a strangely shaped spear, surveyed the sea ahead with a spirited look.
The ogre Gin, who had two round maces hanging from his waist, licked his dry lips and stared with his gloomy eyes at the middle-aged man who was speaking, making the man's heart pound and his legs feel weak.
"You'd better not be lying, or else I'll use these two maces to smash your head into your chest cavity."
The middle-aged man's face was pale. He nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. "I'm not lying, Mr. Gin. I used to be a Millions Agent in the Baroque Works, a bounty hunter under Miss Valentine. I used to come here with her to hunt this whale. If it weren't for that old man with the chrysanthemum haircut always getting in our way, this whale would have been killed by our Baroque Works long ago."
"Bang!"
He hadn't finished speaking when Gin grabbed his hair with his right hand and slammed his face against the deck with a loud bang. Crimson nosebleeds immediately gushed from the middle-aged man's caved-in nose.
"Ahhh! Have mercy, don't kill me! Haven't I already joined? We're partners!" The middle-aged man cried out. His mouth, which had lost a few teeth, was leaking air, and tears blurred his vision.
"Partners?" Gin lifted him from the deck by his hair, brought his face close to the middle-aged man's, and sneered, "If we're partners, then why do you keep saying you're a member of the Baroque Works? Crocodile is already dead. Have you useless bounty hunters from the Baroque Works not realized the current situation?"
With that, he took a round mace from his waist, aimed it at the middle-aged man's fear-filled, bloody face, raised his right hand high, and with a wicked smile, brought the mace down.
"Gin! Be gentle. Don't scare the whale away. Don't forget our plan."
Krieg stuffed a cigar into his mouth and said coldly.
"Yes, Governor Krieg." Gin hung the blood-stained mace back on his waist and glanced at the group of terrified bounty hunters standing on the deck. He lifted the middle-aged man, whose head had been smashed, from the ground, tilted his head, and chuckled. "Do you think I can use this piece of meat to bait that whale? Whales eat meat, right?"
Krieg contentedly smoked his cigar, watching the gradually approaching lighthouse with a faint light. The corners of his mouth lifted uncontrollably.
A few months ago, he led three pirate ships from the East Blue into the Grand Line, thinking he could do something big and search for the great treasure left by the Pirate King Roger.
To be honest, Krieg was originally a little intimidated by this sea area of the Grand Line.
Even before he came here, he had read various terrifying descriptions of this sea area in newspapers and from rumors.
For example, Red-Foot Zeff, a famous pirate in the East Blue more than ten years ago, had been defeated in the Grand Line. After losing a leg, he returned to the East Blue in disgrace.
But who knew? Krieg had prepared himself mentally for the dangers of the Grand Line and was ready to fight with all his might. But in the few months since he entered this sea area, he had not encountered any danger and had been sailing smoothly, and his pirate fleet had grown larger and larger.
Just from the Whiskey Peak trip, he had gathered over a thousand bounty hunters.
According to these bounty hunters, they had originally belonged to the Baroque Works and were led by the legendary Shichibukai, Crocodile.
But during the Alabasta Kingdom incident, all the high-ranking members of the Baroque Works were wiped out.
This led to the low-ranking members of the organization no longer receiving a decent salary.
They also had to endure the encirclement and suppression by the Alabasta Kingdom's army and the rectification by the rebuilt Bounty Hunter Guild.
The encirclement and targeting by these two major powers left these unscrupulous bounty hunters, who were based at Whiskey Peak, exhausted from constantly running for their lives.
So, when Krieg appeared with three pirate ships, these defeated soldiers surrendered without a word and all joined his ranks.
In this way, the number of people in the Krieg Pirates instantly doubled, reaching nearly three thousand.
He also had six pirate ships under his command.
This made Krieg's ambition swell, and he felt full of vigor.
He felt that this so-called Grand Line was not as dangerous as the rumors in the East Blue claimed.
The reason Red-Foot Zeff lost a leg here was that he was incompetent.
As soon as he arrived, his forces had doubled, and he had sturdy ships and powerful cannons.
As long as he prepared sufficient food before heading to the next looting location, he could expand his forces again.
If this trend continued, it wouldn't be long before he would have tens of thousands of men under him.
He would effortlessly become the Pirate King, find the great treasure, and rule the world.
Thinking of this, Krieg couldn't help but laugh out loud triumphantly.
"Hahaha, hehehe, I, Governor Krieg, will definitely become the Pirate King!"
"Boom!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the calm sea on the left suddenly exploded. A huge black shadow broke out of the water, like a mountain suddenly rising from the seabed.
The two pirate ships on the side were directly pushed up like rockets, flying hundreds of meters into the air.
Before they could fall, the two ships, full of pirates, had already disintegrated and broken apart in the air, turning into a sky full of wood splinters that scattered down.
The pirates who were on the crowded ships were lucky if they only had broken bones.
The unlucky ones were instantly blasted apart on the spot, turning into exploding clouds of blood mist.
"What is that! A Sea King?"
Krieg was startled. He clenched the large spear in his hand and looked with wide eyes.
"Is that... a whale?"
The huge black shadow that broke out of the water, looking like a mountain floating on the sea, was a gigantic whale.
Krieg couldn't estimate the exact size of the whale.
But just one of its eyes, which was open on the side, was hundreds of times the size of the pirate ship he was standing on.
In front of such a colossal mountain-like creature, humans were truly too tiny.
Gin also stared with wide eyes in shock. "This is the whale that that scoundrel mentioned? What a joke! How can we kill a monster this big?"
He looked at Krieg and suggested, "Governor Krieg, why don't we think of another way to get food? Like looting some islands..."
Before he could finish, a slap from the suddenly turning Krieg landed on his face.
The slap from Krieg was extremely heavy. Gin was hit so hard that blood came out of his nose and mouth, and he staggered back two steps.
The pirates on the ship were so scared they didn't dare to breathe, looking at Krieg, whose face was red with anger.
"You think a mere beast can make me, Krieg, run away in disgrace? If it dares to destroy my pirate ships, even a Sea King will pay the price! Bring the ships closer and fire the cannons! I'm going to kill this whale and eat its meat!"
"Yes!" Gin, who had been slapped, respectfully took the order, with no resentment in his eyes.
Immediately, the remaining four pirate ships lowered their sails and chased after the large whale that was moving forward.
When they were close enough for the cannons to fire, Krieg immediately ordered them to open fire.
Immediately, balls of dazzling fire, with a series of muffled roars, rose from the whale's enormous body.
The sound of cannon fire from the sea woke up Crocus, who lived in the lighthouse.
He nimbly scrambled out of bed, angrily grabbed his crossbow and harpoons from the bow of the ship, and rushed out of the lighthouse without even putting on his shoes.
When he saw the four pirate ships chasing and bombarding the whale on the sea, Crocus's eyes were splitting with anger, and he roared, "Damn pirates! They're here to capture Laboon again! Damn them!"
Anxious, Crocus didn't hesitate. He took a plunge from the cliff and dove into the sea, swimming toward the four pirate ships.
The seawater was heaving violently because of the whale Laboon's movements, making it impossible for Crocus to get close for a while.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Hearing the cannon fire, a grim smile appeared on Krieg's face. He grabbed the large spear in his hand and yelled to Gin behind him, "Gin! Get the ship closer! I'm going to personally kill this beast with this large spear!"
Gin turned the rudder without a word, steering the bow of the ship and charging toward Laboon's head.
Being chased and bombarded by the four pirate ships, a trace of confusion and a hint of fear appeared in the eyes of the massive Laboon.
Although the cannonballs from the pirate ships couldn't cause much damage to its mountain-like body, the sound of the cannon fire was too loud and still frightened it.
Laboon, who had lost its companions and had been waiting at the foot of Reverse Mountain for forty-seven years, felt lonely and afraid.
So, it raised its gigantic head, opened its mouth, and let out an ethereal and sorrowful cry.
"Laboon! Fight back! Flip them over!"
In the seawater, Crocus, who heard Laboon's sorrowful cry, couldn't help but yell.
However, although Laboon was intelligent, it couldn't hear his shouts.
Instead, the sailors on the nearby pirate ships noticed a strong old man in the water desperately chasing their ships.
"It's that old guy who guards the lighthouse! Get him!" Several former Baroque Works members recognized Crocus and quickly raised their flintlock pistols, firing at Crocus, who was swimming desperately forward in the water.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Bullets shot past Crocus's body, but he seemed to be completely oblivious, heartbroken as he looked at the large whale that was shedding tears from its gigantic eyes.
"Laboon has suffered enough! Why are there still so many people who want to hurt it? Didn't the Baroque Works already fall? Crocodile is dead, so why is someone still here to hunt Laboon!"
Suddenly, Crocus heard the splashing sound of water breaking behind him.
"More pirate ships?" His face changed. He turned his head and saw a small boat sailing quickly in the dim night.
Before he could raise his crossbow to aim, the small boat sped past him and crashed straight into the pirate ships behind it.
Two people were standing on the small boat. One of them, with a slender build, leaped high from the still-moving boat with nimble movements, drew the long sword in his hand, and slashed down at the surprised pirates on the ship.
"How dare you hurt Laboon! I'm going to kill you!"
End of Chapter)
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