Chapter 4
The Baratie shuddered under the storm, waves hammering its hull, wind screaming through the rigging. Inside, the noise had shifted—no longer rowdy, but tense. Don Krieg's name hung in the air like a storm cloud ready to break.
Silas leaned against a pillar, coffee forgotten in his hand. His eyes stayed on Luffy, who kept eating like fifty pirate ships weren't closing in.
Bravest fool alive… or completely insane. Maybe both.
At the bar, Sanji stood silent, cigarette smoke curling around him. Watching Gin devour that meal had cracked something deep inside him.
"I was just a kid," Sanji said into the hush. "Stranded on a rock in the middle of nowhere… starving until I thought my bones would snap." His hands trembled. "Zeff—crazy old bastard—cut off his own leg to keep me alive. Ate his own flesh so I could have the last of our food."
The words hit like stones in still water. Luffy stopped eating, shadow hiding his eyes.
"That's why you fed him," Luffy said—not a question.
Sanji's laugh was bitter. "No one starves on my watch. Not ever." He blew a smoke ring that faded into nothing. "Not while I'm breathing."
Silas felt it—a flicker of kinship. A man who understood sacrifice. Maybe this was what his mother meant.
His mind flashed back to earlier—drawing steel against Krieg's men, not for coin or pride, but to protect strangers.
"You're really cool, Cook! You're definitely joining us!" Luffy's voice cut through his thoughts.
That grin. That impossible grin that could light the darkest night. Silas felt another wall inside him crack.
---
Thunder rolled. The Baratie lurched. Through rain-streaked glass, a massive shadow loomed—the Dreadnought Sabre, Krieg's flagship.
Screams erupted. This wasn't a rumor anymore. It was here.
Gin rose unsteadily, rice still on his chin.
"It's… him," he whispered.
The doors burst open. Don Krieg filled the frame, golden armor gleaming, cape billowing. Behind him, his crew—skeletal, hollow-eyed—looked like they'd crawled out of death itself.
"Was it you?" Krieg's voice boomed, locking eyes on Silas.
"Red-haired bastard! Did you lay hands on my men?"
Silas didn't flinch. So the rats run home to daddy.
"Good," Krieg growled. "Since you didn't run… anyone connected to you dies screaming."
His gesture swept over the whole room.
Luffy tilted his head, curious.
"Oh yeah? Gunblade Guy took out your crew? That's hilarious!"
The remark sliced through the tension. Krieg's face twisted.
"Laughing?!" His gauntleted fist smashed a table to splinters.
"Another fool! I'll paint these walls with your blood!"
The Straw Hats didn't look afraid. Zoro's hand rested on his swords. Nami's eyes mapped exits. Usopp whimpered. Luffy just grinned wider.
"Bring it on, metal guy!"
---
Silas felt it then—solid ground under his feet. This wasn't recklessness. This was something else. The kind of thing that made warriors follow, thieves take risks, and cowards find courage.
Krieg's crew looked ready to drop where they stood—men who'd chased glory into the Grand Line and crawled back broken.
Before anyone moved, Sanji stepped forward with crates of food and water.
"Here." He dropped them at the pirates' feet. "Eat."
The room froze. Even Krieg stared as his men tore into the food.
"You…" Krieg's voice was low. "Why?"
Sanji lit a fresh cigarette.
"Because they're hungry. That's reason enough."
Luffy's voice rang clear.
"Cool Cook's right. But this is his home, and you're not taking it."
It wasn't a threat. It was fact. And somehow, everyone believed it.
Silas heard his mother's voice: "If you still doubt him, watch how he smiles in the face of danger."
He really is the one.
As Krieg's crew regained strength and the storm raged outside, Silas felt something he hadn't in years—eagerness to fight.
Not for money. Not for survival.
But for belief. For hope.
For the future promised in that impossible grin.