Near the Sabaody Archipelago, East Blue.
A large pirate ship drifted aimlessly on the sea.
The crew members on board were either lying down or slumped against the railings, looking utterly exhausted.
At this moment, a man wearing a circular shield on his chest forced himself to stand and trudged into the captain's quarters.
He approached a tall, imposing man clad in golden armor and spoke with a weary but respectful tone:
"Captain Krieg."
"Hmm?" Krieg slowly lifted his head, his expression dark as he asked in a low voice:
"What is it, Pearl? Has Gin returned?"
Pearl shook his head. "No, Gin hasn't come back yet."
"The crew... they're barely holding on. We've been starving for days."
Upon hearing this, Krieg's face turned even gloomier.
It wasn't just the crew—
Even he himself was reaching his limit. His entire body felt weak, and even speaking had become an effort.
But after being relentlessly hunted down by that terrifying man from the Grand Line, Krieg didn't dare send anyone ashore to scavenge for supplies, fearing that they'd be discovered.
With no islands nearby, hunting for food wasn't an option either.
And to make matters worse, not a single passing ship had been sighted.
This had left the entire crew stranded at sea, starving for days after depleting their food reserves.
For now, Krieg had no good solution in mind.
After some thought, he spoke in an attempt to reassure Pearl:
"I've made up my mind. We'll wait one more day."
"If Gin doesn't return by then, we'll raid the nearest town and feast to our heart's content."
Pearl's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He nodded eagerly. "Understood, Captain! I'll go tell the others the good news!"
Just as he was about to turn and leave, the door to the captain's quarters was suddenly flung open with a bang.
Before Krieg could even get angry, a frantic crew member burst in, shouting with excitement:
"Captain Krieg! There's a ship heading our way!"
"What?! A ship is passing by?"
This unexpected good news immediately lifted Krieg's mood. His expression shifted from rage to delight.
Without hesitation, he stood up and waved his hand, issuing an order:
"Move the ship closer!"
"Prepare for battle! Our food has finally arrived!"
"Aye, Captain Krieg!"
--
"Captain Will, there's a ship approaching us!"
From the ship's bow, Karina peered through a telescope and saw a large vessel suddenly changing course, heading straight for them. She quickly called out.
"Mm, I know."
Will, who had been standing at the ship's prow with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. He didn't seem surprised at all.
While training his balance at the ship's bow, he had been using his Observation Haki to monitor the surroundings.
So in reality, he had noticed the approaching ship even before Karina did.
He simply hadn't paid it much attention.
Glancing at Karina as she walked up to him, Will said calmly:
"No need to worry. Let them come."
Karina had no objections and simply leaned against the railing, continuing to observe through the telescope.
Meanwhile, on the large ship closing in—
Krieg strode to the edge of the deck and took the telescope that Pearl handed him. Raising it to his eye, he surveyed the ship ahead.
He saw only a man and a woman standing at the bow, with no one else visible on the deck.
Krieg let out a cruel laugh and tossed the telescope back to Pearl, then shouted to his crew:
"Listen up! Don't stop the ship! Ram straight into them!"
"Kill everyone on board! Take all the treasure and food!"
"Ooooh!" The starving pirates roared in agreement, grinning menacingly.
After starving at sea for days, their stomachs were screaming for food. They could hardly wait to raid the approaching vessel.
Moments later—
The distance between the two ships grew shorter, and they could now see each other clearly with the naked eye.
As they spotted the bloodthirsty pirates waving their weapons, and the tall, golden-armored Krieg standing among them with a sinister grin—
Will and Karina instantly knew what kind of crew they were dealing with.
Karina looked at the approaching enemies, who resembled a pack of ravenous wolves, and couldn't help but turn to ask:
"Captain Will, are we just going to watch them?"
"Relax." Will slowly pulled his hands from his pockets and said unhurriedly, "I'll handle it."
The moment he finished speaking—
Will's figure vanished from the ship's bow.
Karina blinked in surprise before letting out a sigh of admiration—he really was a man of his word.
This sudden action did not go unnoticed by Pearl, who was still holding the telescope. His eyes widened as he shouted:
"Captain Krieg! The man on the other ship's bow just disappeared!"
"Disappeared?" Krieg turned his head in confusion to look at the enemy vessel.
But before he could react—
A sharp-eyed pirate suddenly pointed to the sky, his face full of shock as he screamed:
"Captain, look! That man is flying! He's in the air!"
"What?!"
Krieg snapped his head upward in disbelief, only to see the missing man now hovering in the sky.
A terrible sense of foreboding washed over him.
Meanwhile, Will, now airborne, had no intention of landing on the enemy ship.
Moonwalk!
With another kick off the air, he ascended even higher.
Once he judged the height and distance to be just right, he raised his right leg and began unleashing a rapid barrage of kicks toward the enemy ship.
Tempest Kick Barrage!
In an instant, countless crescent-shaped vacuum slashes shot out from Will's position, slicing through the air at incredible speed before striking the enemy vessel.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A relentless series of explosions rang out as the ship's hull began to shatter and splinter apart.
Bloodied pirates ran for their lives in sheer panic.
Only Pearl, with his large shield, and Krieg, wielding his polearm, managed to withstand the assault.
"Damn it! Who the hell is this guy?!" Krieg was in complete shock.
How could it be that after barely escaping the Grand Line, he had now run into yet another absurdly powerful enemy in the East Blue?!
It was utterly infuriating!
Just when he had finally rallied his men and thought he could rise to power again, disaster struck once more.
Was this some kind of cruel joke?!
He refused to believe that, as the ruler of the East Blue, his luck could possibly be this terrible.
"Oh? Still standing?"
Seeing that Krieg and Pearl had survived the first wave, Will raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.
He had assumed they were just fodder, but it seemed there were still a few resilient ones among them.
This piqued his interest.
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