Inside the restaurant, everyone—chefs and busboys alike—picked up weapons.
They looked shabby; the best among them were only clubs.
Luffy's gaze swept over the pirates, pausing on Don Krieg and the ragged man beside him.
Something pricked at his senses.
The aura on those two was different—not like Usopp or Johnny's. It carried the reek of real slaughter.
It felt like the hunter's instinct he'd honed in fights, only sharper than before.
The dining hall was already a wreck.
The chefs stood on edge; even with just one intruder, that name alone had them rattled.
Guests had fled or hid trembling in corners.
"I told you not to resist me. If you're told to cook, cook honestly!" Krieg crowed.
"When there's food for a hundred, haul it to my ship."
Zeff stepped out of nowhere, making Krieg blink.
"Red-Leg Zeff? Didn't expect to meet an old acquaintance in a dump like this," Krieg said, expression shifting.
Before he'd crowned himself East Blue overlord, Zeff's name had been anything but small.
"Cut the crap. Hand over your Grand Line logbook—the notes on weather, currents, islands. With that, I'll head back to the Grand Line and—"
Back again?
"Old man, you've been to the Grand Line too?" Luffy perked up.
The East Blue was only the start. The pirate tales Shanks told mostly happened on the Grand Line.
"You a pirate too?" Krieg finally noticed Luffy.
"Of course. You just came back from the Grand Line?"
"Heh. The Grand Line isn't for scrawny monkeys or pirates with no fear," Krieg sneered, eyes reddening at the memory.
"If a loser from the Grand Line like you can go, why wouldn't someone who chases dreams?" Luffy shot back.
"Loser?"
Zeff tore right into the wound, and Krieg's face sagged.
Krieg didn't linger.
He'd feed his crew, then seize this ship and that logbook.
"Y-you should go," Gin said through clenched teeth.
He didn't dare look Sanji in the eye.
Even among pirates there's a thing called honor.
And his captain clearly didn't have it—repaying a meal with betrayal.
"Commander Krieg won't give up. He'll take this ship and head back to the Grand Line for revenge."
"What happened to you there?"
"Our fleet was destroyed—by one man."
One man?
Fifty ships. Five thousand men. What did that even mean?
By now Luffy knew enough.
And by Gin's account, a single slash had obliterated Krieg's armada.
"That man—Hawkeye!"
"Hawkeye?!"
The name lit Zoro like a torch.
News of that man again.
"Heh-heh—Zoro, is he your opponent?" Luffy said.
"Of course. And don't you dare snatch him from me," Zoro answered, eyes fever-bright.
Do they know who they're talking about?
Seeing their eager faces, Gin fumed.
"Straw Hat, do you even know who you're up against?!"
"So what? We're going to conquer the Grand Line."
If you flinch before the strong, you may as well raise your hands for the Marines now.
This you won't do, that you won't do—
Why be a pirate?
"Now that's what I like to hear, Captain," Zoro said.
"Is this Hawkeye some big-name powerhouse?" Usopp asked.
His knees had been shaking since Krieg appeared.
If they met Hawkeye, what then? He didn't dare imagine.
"Yes. A very big name," Zoro said, eyes narrowing.
"Between the strong, the gaps are like heaven and earth. Don't be fooled by Krieg's bluster about being an East Blue 'overlord.' On the Grand Line, even ordinary bounty hunters could run them ragged—never mind the truly famous."
Zeff nodded and added, "And Hawkeye stands at the summit of those many powers—the pinnacle of swordsmen."
"They call him the World's Greatest Swordsman."
The World's Greatest Swordsman?
"That's my goal. The reason I put to sea," Zoro said, body trembling with excitement.
"Heh-heh-heh—then it's settled. Our destination is the Grand Line," Luffy declared as captain.
"Before that, our obstacle is the Don Krieg Pirates."
"Then we move," Zoro said.
"Straw Hat, I told you this has nothing to do with you. Take this man and head for the Grand Line. This is my logbook—take it," Zeff said, tossing him a book.
Five thousand men. Fifty ships. An East Blue 'overlord.'
Even crippled by Hawkeye, Krieg could still strut in these waters.
"Heh, thanks for the log," Luffy said, passing it to Usopp.
He hadn't seen Nami—Usopp could hold it for now.
Between pirates, there's no retreat. They'd long put life and death aside.
But this time—
"Hey, Zoro. Hawkeye's yours. As for these guys—leave all of them to me."
Zoro blinked, then grinned. "Guess I'll look forward to it a little, idiot captain."
"You're sending him to his death?!" Sanji shouted as Luffy charged out.
You just don't get our captain.
…
"We're saved."
"Food—food! Can't believe we lived!"
"We crawled out of a pirate grave!"
Krieg lounged on his throne, laughing madly. "Ready to march on the Grand Line again?!"
Sparse raindrops fell. Black clouds blanketed Baratie's sky.
"Rain?"
Krieg rose to claim his new ship.
"Ready, boys?!"
"Ready!"
A voice came from the sky.
Heads tilted upward.
Sanji, Zoro, and the others burst outside, staring dumbstruck at the figure above.
"W-what is that?"
"That's our captain," Zoro said, blood stirring at the sight.
"Remember this, cook. When he's lazing around, you can ignore him. But in a fight, you do exactly what he says," Zoro added. "This isn't children playing pirates."
"Gum-Gum… Giant—Thunder Battle Axe!"
If lightning as punishment could hurt, it could also be a weapon. If a hand could become a giant fist, a leg could become a giant axe.
Lightning raced along its edge.
On that day, people remembered once again the terror of being ruled by giants.