Where had Krieg gone?
At that very moment, he was waiting for the Marines to come to him.
Most of the pursuing force had gone after the Dreadnaught Sabre, but two Marine warships were still shadowing Bane’s group.
Unless they dealt with those ships, reaching the Grand Line would be impossible.
So Krieg came up with another dirty trick.
A fake surrender.
He ordered the pirate ships to stop and raise white flags.
Sure enough, the Marines took the bait.
From their perspective, the pirates were already completely trapped with nowhere to run.
Rather than sink the ships outright, capturing the pirates alive would earn them more credit.
They could also seize the vessels and everything aboard them.
The two warships moved in.
But instead of frightened pirates waiting to surrender, they were greeted by Krieg and his men.
The moment Krieg charged aboard with his Great Battle Spear, the Marines realized they’d made a terrible mistake.
They had found Krieg.
Unfortunately, they’d found him exactly where he wanted them.
If Krieg had been fighting alone in his injured state, the Marines might still have had a chance.
At the very least, one warship might have escaped.
But Bane joined the attack as well.
At that point, the Marines had no chance.
Krieg and Bane each led a group of pirates onto one of the warships, quickly taking control of both vessels.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep them.
They were heading for the Grand Line next.
Taking stolen Marine warships with them would only attract even more attention from Marine Headquarters.
That was trouble they didn’t need.
Krieg therefore ordered the remaining Marines thrown into the sea.
The pirates stripped the ships of whatever supplies they could carry, then sent the captured warships sailing away as decoys to mislead any further pursuit.
With the immediate threat dealt with, Krieg finally relaxed.
“Full speed ahead!”
From the way things were going, the Marines clearly hadn’t expected him to flee directly toward the Grand Line.
By the time Colonel Nezumi figured out what Krieg was doing and tried to organize an interception, it was already too late.
Furious, Nezumi had no choice but to return to his report.
He carefully adjusted his account of the battle before submitting a request to increase Krieg’s bounty.
…
Reverse Mountain.
One of the points where the Red Line met the world’s seas, and the gateway into the Grand Line.
Crossing it proved far more dangerous than Bane had expected.
By the time they finally made it through the waterway and entered the Grand Line, the already battered Krieg Pirates had paid another heavy price.
Two ships broke apart during the crossing.
The remaining three weren’t in much better condition and looked as though they might fall apart at any moment.
Only a few days earlier, the Krieg Pirates had possessed more than thirty ships and over three thousand men.
Now?
Three ships.
A little over two hundred people.
That was all that remained.
The once-massive fleet had been reduced to barely a tenth of its former size.
Krieg could barely stand looking at it.
Still, he reassured himself.
The Grand Line wasn’t anything special.
With his strength, rebuilding would be easy. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
Sooner or later, he would gather an even larger fleet than before.
Bane, meanwhile, let out a long breath of relief.
Crossing Reverse Mountain had been far more dangerous than he’d anticipated.
At one point, Krieg had nearly fallen into the water.
For the sake of the quest reward, Bane had gritted his teeth and saved him.
Now, finally, it was time to collect.
[Quest: Grand Line]
[Status: Completed]
[Reward: 5 Attribute Points]
[Reward: Trust Value +25]
As usual, Bane immediately allocated his points.
Four went into Physique.
One went into Spirit.
[Physique: 26]
[Spirit: 14]
[Vigor: 1]
That last stat still hadn’t changed at all.
More concerning was Krieg’s Trust Value.
It had climbed all the way to 82.
Aside from the gradual increase from [Bane of Existence], saving Krieg during the Reverse Mountain crossing had earned Bane an additional ten points at once.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before Krieg’s Trust reached the dangerous threshold.
Then Bane would truly become his Big Brother’s bane.
“Admiral, where are we heading next?”
Krieg folded his arms.
“Hm. That way.”
He pointed confidently.
His eyes, however, betrayed the truth.
He had absolutely no idea where they were going.
Still, he couldn’t afford to look uncertain in front of his men.
Bane actually knew that the first half of the Grand Line offered seven different routes.
Which one they chose didn’t matter much to him.
Eventually, all seven routes led toward Sabaody Archipelago.
Once they entered the New World, they would have to choose a route again.
So the remaining ships simply continued onward.
Two days passed.
At last, an island appeared in the distance.
Numerous ships could be seen traveling to and from its shores.
Krieg’s mood immediately improved.
He could already imagine himself rebuilding his fleet and establishing his dominance over the Grand Line.
But first, he needed to make a show of strength and recruit more followers.
While Krieg was enjoying those thoughts, a strange little boat appeared directly ahead of them.
It was shaped like a coffin.
The vessel seemed to be heading toward the same island.
Unfortunately, it was moving much more slowly than Krieg’s ship and was directly in their path.
They could have simply sailed around it.
One of his yellow-haired subordinates noticed the frown forming on his face and immediately seized the opportunity.
“Hey!”
He shouted toward the tiny boat.
“Move aside if you don’t want to die!”
The man aboard glanced back once.
Then he calmly turned away and continued sailing.
He had completely ignored them.
Krieg’s expression darkened.
In the East Blue, people usually gave him a wide berth the moment they recognized him.
Now he’d barely entered the Grand Line, and some stranger in a tiny boat was already refusing to move aside.
The difference infuriated him.
A cruel smile spread across his face.
“Accelerate.”
The pirates nearby turned toward him.
Krieg pointed ahead.
“Ram him.”
If the man refused to move, then Krieg would simply run him down.
His grin widened.
“My conquest of the Grand Line starts here!”
The ship accelerated.
Krieg burst into loud laughter, clearly enjoying the chance to throw his weight around against someone he assumed was weaker.
“Admiral?”
Bane had just finished his Haki training.
He walked over while wiping the sweat from his face.
“What’s got you so excited?”
“You came at the perfect time.”
Krieg grinned.
“You’re about to see something entertaining.”
Bane frowned slightly.
Then he followed Krieg’s gaze.
His expression froze.
A lone man stood aboard the coffin-shaped boat.
He wore a black hat decorated with white feathers, a wine-red patterned shirt, and a long black coat.
Strapped across his back was an enormous cross-shaped blade.
Bane’s eyes widened.
A coffin boat.
One man.
That enormous black sword.
And then the man turned just enough for Bane to see those sharp, hawk-like eyes.
His blood ran cold.
“STOP!”
Bane’s roar exploded across the deck.
“STOP THE FUCKING SHIP!”
Krieg jumped at the sudden shout.
His expression immediately soured.
He turned toward Bane, clearly preparing to reprimand him.
Bane beat him to it.
“KRIEG, YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKING IDIOT!”
Then, without another word, Bane sprinted forward and threw himself headfirst into the sea.