◉◉◉◉◉
"…Could it be?"
"Did the Krieg Pirates just fall apart?"
That was the first thought that crossed Ray's mind as he watched the chaos unfolding across the sea from the deck of his lead ship.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A violent jolt rocked the vessel beneath his feet.
Ray stumbled, barely regaining his balance. He looked up toward the lookout in the crow's nest. "What just happened?"
"Report, Captain! One of the pirate ships rammed us from below!" shouted a cloaked crewman in the rigging.
Turns out, the fleeing pirates were in such a panic they'd begun colliding with anything in their way. After all, behind them stood the man who had just brought down Don Krieg. Even if Aero hadn't explicitly threatened them, no one was sticking around to see what happened next.
Everyone understood it now Krieg's empire was gone.
From now on, those former subordinates were competitors… or enemies.
Fights had already broken out across the island between different crews. Without Krieg's iron grip, everything had unraveled. The pirates had turned on each other, and the smarter ones had already begun to flee the area before a full-blown brawl erupted.
But what they didn't know… was that the Navy's 3,000-man joint force was nearly on top of them.
Soon, the fractured remnants of these 52 pirate crews would be crushed.
Some ships had already managed to slip away but they didn't know the nearby waters had been sealed shut by over 2,000 marines. There was nowhere to run.
The coming annihilation of these pirate groups would usher in an era of rare peace across the East Blue.
From where he stood, Ray could already hear the distant boom of naval cannons.
The ship that had just collided with them wasn't among the first to flee, nor had it chosen to stay and fight. Instead, it had tailed other pirates, trying to slip away quietly in the chaos.
Ray nodded after hearing the report, then strode toward the bow. His officers followed closely behind.
Near the front of the ship, a group of black-cloaked Hurricane Pirates stood ready, weapons drawn, glaring coldly at the ship below.
As Ray approached, they parted without a word, making way for their commander.
Ray leaned over the railing, eyeing the pirate ship below. The flag that flew wasn't Krieg's.
He peered at the crew and quickly spotted the ship's captain.
Ray pulled back his hood and smirked. He recognized the man.
The pirate captain, a man in a black vest and dark captain's hat, instinctively stepped back but froze when he saw his own crew behind him. They looked confused, unsure why their captain suddenly panicked.
Ray grinned wider, then leapt down onto the pirate ship's deck. A cigarette burned between his lips as he took slow, deliberate steps toward the man.
The pirates on board immediately pointed blades and guns at him, trying to look intimidating.
But Ray didn't flinch. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and looked around with amused contempt.
Then he locked eyes with the pirate captain and said, "Well, well. If it isn't Krieg's 30th Squad Leader. What a coincidence running into you here."
The crew stared in disbelief. Their captain knew this guy?
They'd already realized the ship they hit belonged to the Hurricane Pirates the black cloaks and swirling wind emblem left no doubt. This ship wasn't the infamous Dove, but it was clearly one of Aero's.
And it wasn't alone nine more Hurricane ships loomed behind it, completely surrounding them.
Realizing they were boxed in, the pirate captain forced a smile. A few of his men hesitantly lowered their weapons.
Trying to smooth things over, the captain shouted, "Haha, what a surprise seeing you again! Uh, sir… we didn't mean any harm. Just hoping to, you know, sail out of here before the Navy arrives…"
"Is that so?" sneered one of Ray's men behind him, gripping his weapon. "Or maybe you thought we'd fight the Navy while you slipped away?"
The pirate captain didn't answer.
Ray just stared silently at the man he had once humiliated in battle.
Then, after a moment, he said calmly, "So Krieg really is finished…"
He turned to leave but paused, glancing back with a grin. "I'll let you go. Again. Run as far as you can."
And with that, Ray returned to his ship.
The pirate captain's forced smile vanished. He spat onto the deck, muttering curses, then turned and barked at his crew, "What are you all staring at?! Move! Fix the rudder! Check the hull! The Navy's almost here!"
The entire crew scrambled into action. Some rushed below deck to assess the damage. Others began repairs, hoping to get the ship moving again before the warships arrived.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!