Gin.
There are many rumors about this man on the sea.
Kaido's son, Navy Admiral, all kinds of disasters at sea, as long as it's vague, he's pretty much mentioned...
Of course, that was in the past.
Sage had a good impression of Gin, loyal and honorable, able to carry out the Captain's orders without hesitation.
This kind of man is worth recruiting into the Pirates.
"Pirates?"
Before Gin could speak, Krieg laughed loudly, laughed for a while, then lowered his head sharply, the bloodshot in his eyes intensified.
"Is the great Krieg now the butt of a small pirate's joke, do you want me to join your Pirates?"
"No..."
Sage smiled and said, "Except for you, there's no interest."
Although he doesn't recall the plot well, he has lived in the East Sea, and knows the rumors about the pirates active there.
'Leader' Krieg is a despicable and ruthless man. If Gin is honorable, Krieg represents dishonor, attacking merchant ships disguised as tradesmen, joining the Navy to attack their ships—he's done it all.
Even when recruiting pirates, not just anyone is taken.
"Seems I've been underestimated, huh!"
Krieg's face turned grim, "Kill him!"
Shing!
Just as he spoke, a cold glint flashed from the night, pressing the campfire lower.
Cold light swiftly flashed around, half the pirates screamed, blood blossomed from their bodies, and they fell to the ground.
Lily appeared before the fallen pirates, flicked her thin sword, and once more swept up the cold gleam, stabbing towards the remaining pirates.
Her swordsmanship is indeed not weak.
The cold gleam rose, and fresh blood flew from the remaining pirates, who fell to the ground. The cold gleam pivoted, heading straight for the rear of Krieg.
Clang!
A crisp sound, the sharp thin sword struck... a shield.
It was a large round shield, holding back the thin sword's attack.
Unknown when, Pearl donned his gear, his body encased in two large round iron shields, with smaller shields on hands, elbows, and knees, and the shield and his head and boots equipped with what appeared to be fluorite.
Pearl said to Lily, "Using a sword in combat, how shameful..."
"?"
Lily was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding.
This guy is clad head-to-toe in shields, and he mocks a swordsman for using a sword?
"Ah well, I'll still defeat you!" Lily declared.
"Defeat me? Impossible!"
Pearl extended a finger, "In my past 62 battles, I've only lost once, as the Iron Wall man! By the way, I've only bled once too. This suit of shields has only been broken by the Captain, and now that I've repaired it, it's even stronger!"
With a casual flick of his crescent-like hairstyle, he bared a set of white teeth: "I'm the Shield Man, and Handsome Man, Absolute Defense Pearl refers to me... how about it, I'm experienced, right?"
A guy with a defective brain...
Lily raised her thin sword slightly, sidestepped with her body, posed in a fencing position, quickly drew back, the thin sword blade turning into cold gleam and stabbing at Pearl's face.
Clang!
Pearl reacted swiftly too, moving his hand up, a shield guarded his face, catching the thin sword attack.
"Give up, this strength isn't enough, my shield, even warship cannons can't do anything!" Pearl laughed.
Hiss!
Yet the next instant, a random blood flower appeared on his shoulder.
Lily said expressionless, "Absolute Defense?"
The shield's defense isn't covering his whole body, there's still gaps, his shoulder's exposed.
"Ouch... blood!"
Pearl turned head to see the blood on his shoulder, his face that was still smiling stupidly became extremely horrified, hands kept slamming the fluorite on his shield.
"Ouch! Life in danger, danger!"
Fluorite released light, with a bear sound, flames erupted, fire wrapping all shields, including the fluorite helmet on his head, all ignited.
"Flame Paru!"
Pearl spread his limbs, fingers caught between several fluorite of the same material, "Burn, burn it all up!"
"Hmm?"
Sitting there, Sage squinted his eyes, said, "Hey, setting fire to the mountain, they'll lock you up."
Lily narrowed her brows, suddenly flashed to Pearl's side, thin sword like lightning stabbed at the thinly defended point of his side, about to stab his neck.
The fluorite can emit fire, if truly let him burn, this is a forest!
Snap!
As the thin sword thrust, suddenly a foot kicked the sword high, while a dull 'thud' sounded, Pearl's back shield shattered, the massive impact made his eyes roll over, falling to the ground.
"Captain Gin, always you..." he trembled saying.
Gin withdrew his foot, propped the iron-ball cane on his shoulder, glanced at Pearl, said, "Pearl, this is a forest, cannot set fires."
"Refused my proposal, did you?" Sage asked softly.
Gin turned to Sage, "I'm still the Combat Captain of the Krieg Pirates. You, a small-time pirate, can't handle my leader. You'd better leave early!"
"Oh... but your leader doesn't plan on letting me go."
Sage smiled slightly, and his figure suddenly disappeared.
Bam!!
A giant fist wearing Diamond Gloves directly smashed over, the heavy force completely shattered the broken piece of wood, creating a deep pit in the ground. The force of the punch whipped up a fierce wind, extinguishing the campfire completely.
Sage appeared on another side, surprised, "Quite the strength."
Krieg, now clad in Steel Armor as golden as gold, stood up straight and said sinisterly, "Kid, you're pretty fast, but can you be faster than a bullet!"
Bang bang bang!
The shoulder pads, round like a shield, and the armored waist suddenly opened, revealing several guns, firing sparks towards Sage. At the same time as the bullets were fired, his figure also lunged forward fiercely, leaping high and raising his fist to smash down again.
Bullets combined with his attack, let's see how he'll dodge!
"Kami-e."
Sage calmly spoke, standing still while his body subtly twisted, allowing the bullets to scrape past his twisting form without grazing a single bit of skin. He then stretched out his hand forward.
Boom!!
The ground where Sage stood slightly sank; he looked at the astonished Krieg and said, "Not only am I fast, but my strength is no weaker than yours either."
Of course, Krieg's strength was not small, able to effortlessly lift a one-ton weapon with one arm, a normal person taking a punch from him would be killed directly.
But this kid... actually caught it!
Does that body hold such powerful strength?
Krieg gritted his teeth, the shoulder pads opened again, revealing the guns.
"This close, how can you dodge!"
The gun muzzles lit up again, firing bullets.
"Tekkai."
Clink clink clink!
The round bullets hit Sage's body and fell down powerlessly.
Sage chuckled, "It seems I don't even need to dodge."
The Six Styles, really handy.
The bullets are useless?
A body that can withstand his punch's power and ignore bullets...
Krieg's eyes widened, and the first thought in his mind was that Straw Hat who defeated him!
Another pirate like this!
No!
He will not fail again!
Krieg suddenly leaped back, jumping far away, and shouted, "Gin, take him out, I'll forgive you."
"Yes, Captain!"
Gin bent his knees slightly, and with a 'thump,' pushed off the ground, shooting forward rapidly like a cannonball.
Swish!
But just then, a cold glint flashed from his side, a thin sword shimmered, aiming straight for Gin's body.
In low-altitude flight, Gin spun with difficulty, dodging Lily's thrust. The iron ball on his cane deflected the thin sword, and his other cane struck forward. Lily quickly retreated, avoiding the cane's attack. She steadied her thin sword in her hand, ready to thrust again, only to stab the air.
Gin stepped on the ground again, completely ignoring Lily, and appeared in front of Sage, twirling his cane into a circle. The momentum carried a huge force, emitting a sound like Breaking the Sky, powerfully smashing down.
He is someone who follows orders, although he has realized the truth, this won't change. Since he needs to deal with this pirate, he won't attack anyone else.
Complete the order first.
Sage shifted his body sideways, dodging the descending iron ball. But as the iron ball was halfway down, it suddenly changed direction; with a turn of Gin's hand, the cane drew a semicircle, heavily hitting Sage's waist and ribs.
Bam!
Sage's body slightly swayed but did not counterattack; instead, he praised, "Very impressive!"
He unabashedly showed appreciation, "Your combat experience is very rich, much richer than mine. Join my pirate crew, you'll definitely fare better than following Krieg."
Sage's combat experience was actually not rich.
He hadn't even spent much time practicing martial arts; his adoptive father wouldn't allow him to, wanting him to live a simple life. After his father's death, he spent more time on starting a business and surviving, clumsily cultivating this ability.
As for combat... though he had fought with people, not everyone was strong, especially in a place like the East Sea.
Moreover, he's so unlucky that catching a pirate would lead to encountering one without any bounty, where could he find anyone with combat ability?
Ennio was the first true strong opponent he had encountered.
As for Gin, indeed, he could dodge with 'Soru' and 'Kami-e,' but in a direct fight, he really couldn't avoid these adaptive moves.
In his eyes, this guy was stronger than Krieg!
"Sorry, Captain Krieg is still my Captain!"
Gin said in a deep voice, "I believe he will come to his senses, and by then, the Krieg Pirates will still be the East Sea Overlord!"
"Whether you're the East Sea Overlord, I don't know, but I don't think he'll come to his senses..."
Sage pointed to the side, "Because he wants to kill you along with me."
Krieg, having jumped out of the fight, now wore a gas mask. The shoulder pads on his arms had been removed and combined into his hands, with a round opening in front of them, aimed at them...