“Who’s the captain? You’ll be coming with me to meet Admiral Krieg.”
Tuck instinctively looked toward Bane.
Bane stared back at him.
“Why are you looking at me? You’re the captain.”
“Right! Right, I’m the captain.”
The mohawked man rolled his eyes, closed the notebook in his hand, and turned away.
“Come on. And when you meet the Admiral, show some respect.”
He glanced back at them.
“Small crews like yours have neither strength nor reputation. You should consider yourselves lucky the Krieg Pirates are willing to take you in.”
“It’s only because Admiral Krieg is generous enough to accept people like you.”
Tuck immediately put on an ingratiating smile.
“Of course. You’re absolutely right.”
As he spoke, he discreetly slipped a few coins into the man’s hand.
The mohawked pirate’s expression finally softened.
Now that Tuck had shown he understood how things worked, the man even gave him a few pieces of advice before leading him away.
Bane stayed behind with the others.
It wasn’t long before Tuck returned.
“It’s settled.”
He looked around at everyone.
“We’re officially part of the Krieg Pirates’ Second Division now.”
Bane raised an eyebrow.
Tuck continued.
“Admiral Krieg said that because we joined willingly, we don’t have to surrender our ship.”
“However…”
His voice weakened slightly.
“They’re sending someone over to take command as captain.”
Bane stared at him for a moment.
“So let me get this straight.”
Tuck stiffened.
“You went over there, gained absolutely nothing, and somehow managed to lose your position as captain?”
Tuck’s face reddened.
“…Yes.”
Bane rolled his eyes.
At least one thing had gone according to plan.
The moment their allegiance was formally accepted, the System had updated.
[Name: Disaster Bane]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 16]
[Physique: 19]
[Spirit: 10]
[Vigor: 1]
[Skills:]
[Armament Haki LV3 — 11%]
[Observation Haki LV2 — 78%]
[Firearm Shooting LV1 — 46%]
[Silent Step LV3 — 1%]
[Talent: Bane of Existence]
[Currently Bound Faction: Krieg Pirates]
[Faction Rating: C+]
[Special Faction Bonus: Bait]
[Bait can be activated once per day.]
[Big Brother: “Admiral” Krieg]
[Trust Value: 1]
Bane closed the status panel with satisfaction.
Judging solely by the strength of the faction, the Krieg Pirates were clearly above the Black Cat Pirates.
Even the System rated them a full tier higher.
And their faction ability was interesting.
[Bait]
[Effect: Designate one companion to cover your retreat. Enemies will have a high probability of prioritizing the designated target.]
Bane stared at the description.
That was almost painfully fitting for Krieg.
Use someone else to draw the danger while he escaped?
Very on-brand.
Bane liked it immediately.
What he didn’t like was the new captain assigned to their ship.
Krieg had an effective method for controlling pirate crews that joined his fleet.
The original captain would be removed from command, while one of Krieg’s trusted men would be appointed in his place.
It served two purposes at once.
It prevented newly absorbed crews from becoming difficult to control, and it gave Krieg an easy way to reward loyal subordinates with positions of authority.
The moment he arrived, he looked around with open arrogance.
“Who was the original vice captain?”
Bane raised a hand.
“Me.”
Tuck had become captain after their former captain died, so Bane had naturally taken the vice-captain position during the journey.
The curly-haired man picked his nose.
“Not anymore.”
He pointed toward a bald pirate.
“You. You’re vice captain now.”
The bald man froze.
It was an obvious attempt to establish authority.
Demote one person.
Promote another.
Make everyone understand who was in charge.
The bald pirate swallowed nervously and glanced toward Bane.
Bane smiled.
“If the captain says you’re vice captain, then you’re vice captain. Why are you looking at me?”
The bald man visibly relaxed.
Then excitement began creeping onto his face.
He’d just been promoted without doing anything.
Curly, meanwhile, interpreted Bane’s lack of resistance as weakness.
The disdain in his eyes became even more obvious.
His attitude grew more arrogant by the second, as though everyone aboard should be grateful merely for being allowed into the Krieg Pirates.
Bane noticed.
“So he thinks I’m a pushover.”
He didn’t react outwardly.
Avoiding conflict for the moment didn’t mean he had a good temper.
As far as Bane was concerned, Curly had already placed one foot in the grave.
At that moment, several News Coo descended from the sky.
Curly looked up.
“The newspaper got more expensive again?”
He complained, but still paid for a copy.
Even pirates needed to know what was happening across the sea.
And today’s paper carried major news from the East Blue.
The Black Cat Pirates had been annihilated.
Their captain, “Hundred Plans” Kuro, was confirmed dead.
Curly’s eyes widened as he read.
Kuro had carried a bounty of sixteen million Berries.
Only one million less than Admiral Krieg.
And the Marines had wiped him out?
Since when had the East Blue Marines become that capable?
Or had Kuro simply been all reputation and no real ability?
Curly clicked his tongue and kept reading, clearly entertained by the news.
Over the next several days, the former Flying Fish Pirates fully settled into life under the Krieg Pirates.
Curly seemed pleased with how easily he’d taken control of the ship.
At the same time, he felt slightly disappointed.
Nobody had challenged him.
There had been no resistance worth crushing.
Then an order arrived.
They were to head out and raid passing ships.
The Krieg Pirates numbered more than three thousand men.
Keeping that many pirates fed and supplied wasn’t cheap.
As a result, most ships in the fleet continued doing what pirates normally did whenever they weren’t gathered together.
Raiding.
Stealing.
Plundering.
Curly immediately brightened.
“Alright, you lot! We’re setting sail!”
The ship departed soon afterward.
They reached their assigned waters and began patrolling the area in search of prey.
Curly stood near the bow, eagerly scanning the horizon.
He wanted a rich merchant vessel.
Something valuable enough to prove his ability to Admiral Krieg.
Unfortunately, hours passed.
Nothing appeared.
Not even the silhouette of a merchant ship.
Curly’s expression gradually soured.
He suspected he knew the reason.
The Krieg Pirates had raided these waters too aggressively. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Merchant companies had begun deliberately changing their routes to avoid areas where Krieg’s fleet was known to operate.
The East Blue was enormous.
Even a fleet of thirty ships couldn’t cover every route.
If merchants knew pirates were waiting in one area, they could simply sail somewhere else.
Curly sighed and looked up.
A dark shape crossed overhead.
Another News Coo.
With nothing better to do, he bought a newspaper.
This time, the delivery also included the latest batch of East Blue wanted posters.
Those weren’t issued on a fixed schedule.
New faces appeared.
Old names disappeared.
Bounties changed.
Curly skimmed through the newspaper first.
Nothing caught his interest.
Then he began flipping through the wanted posters.
As expected, Kuro’s poster had been withdrawn.
So “Hundred Plans” really was dead.
Admiral Krieg’s bounty remained unchanged.
17,000,000 Berries.
Curly stared at the number with admiration.
Seventeen million.
That was power.
That was reputation.
Maybe one day, he’d reach the same level.
He continued flipping.
Arlong.
Buggy.
Several others.
Then his hand stopped.
Curly’s eyes widened.
He brought the poster closer.
“Ten… hundred… thousand… ten thousand…”
His mouth slowly fell open.
“Th-Thirty million Berries?!”
Among the usual East Blue bounties worth only a few million, thirty million stood out like a cannon blast.
Curly stared at the number several times.
He even counted the zeroes again.
Definitely thirty million.
Not three.
His gaze finally moved upward.
The name.
Disaster Bane.
Curly frowned.
Then he looked at the photograph.
“This guy…”
His expression changed.
“Why does he look familiar?”
Curly continued staring.
“I swear I’ve seen him somewhere…”
Then, almost absentmindedly, he raised his head.
His eyes landed on Bane.
Curly froze.
Slowly, he lowered his gaze to the wanted poster.
Then he looked back at Bane.
Down.
Up.
Down.
Up.
There was no resemblance to debate.
The man in the photograph and the young pirate standing in front of him were exactly the same person.
Curly’s face drained of color.
“Ba… Ba… Ba… Ba…”
His hands began trembling.
The wanted posters slipped from his grasp and scattered across the deck.
One of them spun through the air before landing directly at Bane’s feet.
The thirty-million-Berry wanted poster.