"What's up, Captain? What did the divination show this time?"
After waiting for several tense minutes, one of Hawkins' crew members finally broke the silence. The deck remained quiet except for the sound of waves against their hull and the distant cry of seabirds.
"Is it good or bad?" another asked, his voice carrying the nervous energy that always accompanied their captain's fortune-telling sessions.
"What's the probability?" a third crew member added, voicing the question they all wanted answered.
Gradually, more pirates gathered around their captain's position, forming a loose circle of anxious faces. The members of the Hawkins Pirates understood their leader's supernatural abilities better than anyone, they had witnessed firsthand how his divination had guided them through impossible situations and saved their lives countless times.
The Hawkins Pirates had risen to their current position through careful navigation of the North Blue's treacherous political waters, relying heavily on their captain's prophetic insights to avoid disasters that had claimed so many other ambitious crews. During their early days, when they lacked the combat power and reputation they now commanded, Basil Hawkins' precognitive abilities had been the difference between survival and annihilation.
One particular incident remained etched in every crew member's memory, the day they'd been surrounded by several Marine warships, their escape routes completely blocked by superior firepower and overwhelming numbers. Any conventional pirate crew would have faced certain capture or death in such circumstances. But Hawkins' divination had revealed a path through the encirclement that seemed impossible until it worked, guiding them to safety when all hope appeared lost.
Since that pivotal moment, their faith in their captain's supernatural guidance had become absolute.
But facing the crew's expectant questions and increasingly worried expressions, Hawkins found himself studying the pattern revealed on his divination card in profound silence. His normally stoic features, which his subordinates often joked resembled perpetual facial paralysis, now displayed an expression of genuine shock that none of them had ever witnessed before.
The sight was deeply unsettling. If something could surprise Basil Hawkins to such a degree, what did that mean for the rest of them?
Several crew members leaned closer, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the cards that had produced such an unprecedented reaction. But even seeing the imagery directly provided no illumination, divination remained an art that required specific training and supernatural sensitivity to interpret correctly.
The ornate symbols and mystical patterns meant nothing to those who lacked the gift.
A month later, the Hawkins Pirates made a strategic decision that would reshape their future entirely.
They abandoned their established North Blue territory and began preparations for the dangerous journey to the Grand Line. The decision represented both retreat and advancement, acknowledging that their familiar waters had become too hazardous for continued operations while embracing the greater challenges that awaited beyond Reverse Mountain.
The North Blue itself had transformed into something approaching a war zone due to the Hell Pirates' increasingly aggressive expansion. What had begun as localized criminal activity had evolved into systematic conquest that threatened every established power structure throughout the region.
The Hell Pirates' meteoric rise defied every precedent in North Blue history. Their growth trajectory was both spectacular and terrifying, a combination of tactical brilliance, overwhelming individual power, and ruthless efficiency that left their enemies scrambling to comprehend what they were facing.
Initially, their activities had followed patterns that other powers could understand and potentially counter. Destroying Doflamingo's industrial operations and entering the arms trade represented typical pirate behavior, albeit executed with unusual competence. Their participation in various national conflicts as highly effective mercenaries fell within established norms, even if their success rate was remarkably impressive.
But as time progressed, disturbing trends began emerging that revealed the true scope of their ambitions.
The wars that the Hell Pirates participated in were being concluded with supernatural speed, not through extended campaigns or political negotiations, but through the simple application of overwhelming force that crushed all resistance within days or sometimes hours. While they collected astronomical fees for their services, they were also systematically claiming the resources, industrial infrastructure, and territorial control of their employer nations.
Given their fearsome reputation and demonstrated capabilities, the exhausted kingdoms that had hired them found themselves with no viable options except complete capitulation. The Hell Pirates possessed the power to eliminate entire populations if their demands were refused, making resistance literally suicidal for conventional military forces.
Some island nations had effectively become Hell Pirates territory in all but name, operating under the fiction of "protection agreements" while the skull-and-throne flag flew prominently over their capitals. These arrangements represented the logical evolution of their mercenary activities, why simply collect payment when you could claim the entire prize?
The resources controlled by these smaller countries might not rival the major powers' wealth individually, but their cumulative value was substantial. More importantly, they represented only the beginning of a systematic expansion that promised to eventually challenge every established authority in the North Blue.
Then came the incident that demonstrated just how completely the Hell Pirates had transcended normal pirate limitations.
A massive mercenary organization, one of the North Blue's most formidable military contractors, had apparently fallen into conflict with the Hell Pirates over what sources described as "unequal benefit distribution." The exact details remained unclear, but the outcome was devastatingly obvious.
The mercenary group's headquarters, a heavily fortified island that served as one of the North Blue's premier military installations, was completely obliterated after a single day and night of combat. Every defensive system, every trained soldier, every piece of advanced military equipment, all of it reduced to smoking rubble with no survivors to tell their story.
This wasn't just victory; it was erasure.
The destroyed facility had represented cutting-edge military technology and defensive capabilities that should have been able to withstand siege warfare from conventional marine forces. Its elimination in such a brief timeframe spoke to power that operated beyond normal strategic calculations.
A small but significant detail emerged from this incident that would become legendary throughout the North Blue's criminal networks.
A local Marine branch, recognizing an opportunity to capitalize on what they assumed would be a mutually destructive conflict, had dispatched their fleet to "clean up" whatever remained after the mercenaries and Hell Pirates finished destroying each other. The tactical thinking was sound, even if the Hell Pirates emerged victorious, they would surely be weakened enough for conventional forces to handle.
The Marine commanders envisioned an easy capture operation that would earn them career-defining recognition for eliminating the North Blue's most wanted criminals.
Reality proved far less accommodating.
Not only did the Marine fail to capture any Hell Pirates, but several of their warships were destroyed and sent to the ocean floor. The military forces that had arrived expecting to collect easy victories became additional casualties in a conflict they had fundamentally misunderstood.
The incident became a cautionary tale that spread through every marine installation in the region, the Hell Pirates weren't weakened by extended combat, they were energized by it.
Then came the most recent development that had finally convinced Hawkins that evacuation was necessary.
The Hell Pirates had begun systematically targeting other pirate organizations throughout the North Blue, transforming their operational focus from external conquest to internal dominance. They were treating the region's criminal networks like a hunting ground, picking off rival crews with the casual efficiency of predators eliminating competition.
Pirates robbing other pirates was nothing new, such conflicts represented routine maritime politics throughout the world's oceans. What made the Hell Pirates' campaign terrifying was its scale and execution.
They moved through the North Blue like an apex predator that had discovered a feeding ground filled with helpless prey. Multiple pirate crews were being eliminated daily, their ships seized, their treasures plundered, and their survivors given simple choices: complete submission or immediate death.
The psychological impact proved as devastating as the material losses. Survivors who chose surrender reported that resistance was met with annihilation so swift and complete that fighting back seemed not just futile but insane. Those who handed over their wealth without struggle were sometimes permitted to live, though usually as recruitment opportunities rather than freed individuals.
From studying the Hell Pirates' systematic expansion, their ultimate objective had become crystalline clear, the accumulation of wealth and power on a scale that defied normal pirate ambitions. But more troubling was their obvious efficiency in achieving these goals through methods that traditional criminal organizations couldn't hope to counter.
The Hell Pirates' membership had exploded from their original core of three or four individuals to over one hundred active personnel. This growth wasn't achieved through conventional recruitment methods, but through the systematic absorption of defeated rival organizations whose members faced stark choices between joining or dying.
Originally short-handed despite their individual capabilities, the Hell Pirates had welcomed anyone willing to swear loyalty to their cause. The psychological pressure created by their overwhelming reputation made such decisions easy for most captured pirates, serving legends was preferable to becoming corpses.
Even more unsettling were reports that several established pirate captains, individuals whose names Hawkins recognized from years of North Blue operations, had voluntarily dissolved their independent crews to serve under the Hell Pirates' banner. Former leaders were accepting subordinate positions simply for the privilege of association with such overwhelming power.
This represented a fundamental shift in the region's criminal hierarchy that went beyond simple territorial expansion into something approaching religious conversion.
The signs were unmistakable to anyone with strategic intelligence, the Hell Pirates weren't content to operate as another competitor in the North Blue's complex political landscape. They intended to dominate it completely, eliminating every rival until only they remained.
Most disturbing of all was the conspicuous silence from the region's traditional power brokers.
The Donquixote Family, as the North Blue's undisputed criminal overlords, should have mobilized massive retaliation against this unprecedented challenge to their authority. Instead, they had remained mysteriously quiet, offering no response to the Hell Pirates' systematic encroachment on territories and industries that had operated under Doflamingo's protection for years.
Other established forces had initially expressed outrage and threatened coordinated action against these upstart newcomers. But after the mercenary headquarters' obliteration, every complaint had ceased. The organizations that had once dominated North Blue politics now seemed content to ignore the growing threat in their midst, as if acknowledging its existence might invite unwanted attention.
Such behavior suggested either secret accommodation with the Hell Pirates or, more likely, genuine terror at what challenging them might cost.
Today brought the crystallization of all these growing fears.
The sky stretched overhead like a grey blanket, its overcast expanse creating an atmosphere of oppressive gloom that seemed to weigh down on the Hawkins Pirates' vessel like a physical presence. The weather reflected the crew's collective mood as they sailed toward what they hoped would be their salvation, escape from the North Blue before the Hell Pirates decided their organization represented a threat worth eliminating.
Hawkins had been experiencing a growing sense of unease since dawn, his supernatural senses detecting approaching destiny with the same certainty that ordinary people felt approaching storms. Something significant was about to happen, though the exact nature remained frustratingly unclear.
Until nearly noon, when he stood at the bow of their ship and gazed across the seemingly empty ocean, watching for any sign of the dangers that his divination had warned about.
A small black dot appeared on the distant horizon like a harbinger of doom.
In that moment, every prophecy, every warning, every supernatural insight crystallized into terrifying clarity. The future his cards had revealed was arriving exactly as foretold, with the inevitable momentum of celestial mechanics.
His analytical mind began processing tactical options while his enhanced senses confirmed what logic already suggested, escape was no longer possible.
"Captain..."
One of his crew members, who had been maintaining watch through their ship's telescope, called out with a voice that trembled despite his efforts at professional composure. The color had drained from his weathered features as recognition struck him like a physical blow.
"It's... them..."
The man's enhanced vision had identified the distinctive flag flying from the approaching vessel's main mast, a skull seated upon an ornate throne, its eye sockets burning with ethereal green flames that seemed to watch the horizon with hungry anticipation.
"It's the Hell Pirates!" he finally managed to shout, his voice cracking with the strain of announcing their doom to his unsuspecting crewmates.
The words hit the assembled pirates like a lightning bolt, instantly transforming their relaxed sailing routine into frantic preparation for what might be their final battle. Weapons appeared in hands as if summoned by magic, while every crew member not already at their combat stations rushed to assume defensive positions.
But even as they prepared for confrontation, every soul aboard understood the mathematical reality of their situation. The Hell Pirates had emerged from obscurity to terrorize the entire North Blue through demonstrations of power that defied conventional understanding.
Whatever happened in the next few hours would determine whether the Hawkins Pirates joined the growing list of organizations that had simply vanished after encountering these legendary figures, or whether they might somehow achieve the impossible and survive to tell their story.
Basil Hawkins remained motionless at the bow, his divination cards held loosely in hands that showed no tremor despite the magnitude of what approached. The future had arrived exactly as his supernatural abilities had foretold, confirming both the accuracy of his predictions and the absolute inevitability of what was about to unfold.
The strongest rookie pirates in the North Blue were about to discover whether their reputation could withstand a direct confrontation with the monsters who had systematically eliminated every rival foolish enough to challenge their dominance.
Destiny had spoken, and the cards never lied about outcomes this significant.
The final test was about to begin.