"Now" Rayleigh turned his attention to Spencer startling him and the rest of his crew.
Spencer swallowed a lump in his throat when he saw the look in Rayleigh's eyes .Now he regretted drugging them and dragging them into his ship. If he hadn't done that he wouldn't have been dragged in this mess.
"Wait, Rayleigh" Roger immediately jumped in front of Rayleigh when he saw him reaching for the hilt of his sword.
"What the hell are you doing Roger? Move! "Rayleigh said as he tried to move passed Roger to no avail.
"Come on Rayleigh. Look at them. They are pitiful " Roger said as he pointed at the beaten up vulture bounty hunters.
"Roger is right. They might be more useful alive than dead" Naruto said with a nonchalant tone.
The vulture pirates watched fearfully as their life and death were discussed in a carefree manner.
"Very well" Rayleigh relented before sheathing his sword back causing the bounty hunters to sigh in relief.
Naruto turned to Spencer and said" Hey you, you mentioned something about a marines base earlier. Where exactly are we heading?
"We are no longer heading there"
"Not that it's a bad thing, but why?" Naruto asked, concerned about the sudden change of plans.
"You guys need information. And I know just the place to get it"
"Where?"
"Drum kingdom." Spencer answered with a dull expression. Today was the worst day for his crew. What was originally supposed to be an easy job had quickly gone out of hand. If he had known he would have not gotten involved with them.
"Drum kingdom?" Rayleigh furrowed his brows before he turned to Spencer and demanded. "Where is your log pose? Give it to me"
Spencer was about to refuse but when he saw Rayleigh reaching for the hilt of his sword he immediately turned to Taro and ordered. "Taro, give them the log pose"
"Spencer are you sure?" Taro looked uncertain when he heard his Friend/captain ordering him to give away their lifeline. But what he didn't know was that Spencer was doing this out of the fact that he was afraid Rayleigh would massacre his whole crew if he refused.
"Give it to him, Taro. It's not like we have any choice to begin with" Spencer said causing Taro to click his tongue in disdain before tossing the log pose at Rayleigh.
After Taro handed the log pose to Rayleigh Spencer immediately added when he saw Rayleigh about to walk away. "I can take you guys there if you want. I know the water around that place. But in exchange I ask that you let my crew go"
"Captain?" The bounty hunters turned to their captain with tears in their eyes .They were drawn tears by their citizen compassion. Every one of them has been a part of the vulture bounty group since it's creation. They have gone through thick and thin together. Nobody knows their captain better than they do. And their thoughts was confirmed with their captain next words.
" I am officially disbanding the vulture bounty hunters group.
" Captain! The vulture crew members shouted in protest. Although they had expected that captain to take such a drastic decision who was beyond their expectations.
" You can't do that captain!
" We won't leave you !"
" We are the vulture bounty hunter crew, we came been through worst !"
" Yeah "
" He's right "
" Of course "
" We won't submit to some measly pirates ! "
" Enough! " Taro shouted silencing the group. However, rather than get angry they all looked at him with pity and sadness.
As the vice Captain of the vulture bounty crew, he and Spencer had put in considerable work and effort into making their bounty crew into a well known one, even if it was only in this part of the sea.
Ignoring their expressions Taro continued. "The captain has already decided our next course of action. As of this day the vulture bounty crew is no more. You guys no longer have any Obligations to us. Once we get to the next Island. We will all go our separate ways"
Taro fought back his tears after he finished speaking trying His hardest not to cry. His heart felt heavy right now. The vulture bounty crew was their life and dream. And now they were being forced to give that up.
'Vice captain'
"Are you satisfied now?" Spencer asked Rayleigh with regrets evident in his eyes.
"Good" Rayleigh nodded apathetically before adding. "Now, have them abandon ship"
"What?!" The whole crew panicked when they heard Rayleigh's words. Abandon ship? That was practically asking for them to give.
Spencer immediately stepped up and shouted. "You can't do that! There is no island in sight as far as I can see. And moreover, the ship is too big for just the five of us to handle"
"He is right, Rayleigh. We can't do it alone. It won't be too late to get rid of them later" Naruto said with a shrug. Although the ship wasn't too big that the five of them couldn't handle it, it would just be stressful. Being the rational one out of the three of them Rayleigh should know this.
After a short moment of contemplation, Rayleigh relented and said. "Fine. They can stay. But if they try anything funny." To get his message across, Rayleigh placed his hand on the hilt of his sword in a threatening fashion causing them to take a step back in fear.
"We won't, I swear!"
"Never!"
"We swear on our lives"
"I don't want to die!"
The bounty hunters shouted in fear. They have all seen what Rayleigh could do with a sword. Neither of them wanted to be on the receiving end of it.
When Rayleigh saw the fear in their eyes, he took his hand off the sword and said.
"Good. Now all of you to your station. We set sail for Drum kingdom"
"You heard the boss, all of you to your stations if you still want to keep your heads" Taro shouted when he saw Rayleigh reaching out for his sword again. The bounty hunters immediately responded, scattering like ants. None of them doubted that Rayleigh would cut them down if angered.
"Man the main sails! raise the anchor! Set a course for Drum kingdom!"
"Setting a course for Drum kingdom!"
"I feel more like a tyrant than a pirate right now" Roger said when he saw the bounty hunters running around the ship with fearful expression on their faces.
"What's the difference?" Naruto asked blankly from beside Roger.
"Being a pirate is more fun" Roger laughed causing Naruto to facepalm at his flippant attitude. 'Idiot'
"Drum kingdom here we come!"
And just like that the crew set off for Drum kingdom. A lot of things happened on their journey. One of them being the total destruction and capture of the gorge pirates by a marine battleship. The incident had happened not long after the gorge pirates suffered defeat at their hands. It was said that they were brought down by the same marine that captured their captain.
This news came as a shock to everyone in the first half of the Grand line, most especially the Roger pirates.
However the biggest news was the assimilation of many infamous pirate groups to become a single pirate crew. This incident took the world by surprise, since the pirates were all big figures known across the Grand lines. There still wasn't news about the reason for this joint action or the one in charge of it which made everyone nervous and curious about it mysterious leader.
A lot of things happened during their time at sea. Some good, some bad while others had everyone on their feet. Especially the rookie marines that has been terrorizing pirates everywhere.
After almost a week at sea the ship finally arrived at the harbor of drum kingdom.
"Land ahoy" A bounty hunter shouted from on top the crow nest before pointing into the distance.