Thud...
A small, coffin-shaped boat, its material unknown, gently bumped against the other side of the Baratie's deck.
From it stepped down a man with sharp, hawk-like yellow eyes, short black hair, and a neat Western-style beard. He moved with a calm, composed grace, like a shadow gliding across the water.
A sea breeze brushed past, stirring the white feather on his black hat. Adjusting his maroon, patterned coat, the man picked up his beloved sword and stepped onto the deck.
His expression was steady, cold, and deliberate. Yet in those hawk-like eyes gleamed a faint trace of doubt, as though he sensed something out of place.
"Hello there, Hawkeye!"
Standing on the deck beside Robin, Luffy greeted him with a cheerful grin.
It was as though they had been waiting for him all along.
========
Boom!
A pair of black leather shoes, their shine dulled by dust, struck hard against Krieg's golden round shield, halting the pirate's movement in an instant.
Krieg's expression stiffened. Why does it feel like this kid's kick… has gotten even stronger?!
Shhh,
After the impact, Sanji slid backward across the deck, widening the distance between them.
He looked up at Krieg, covered from head to toe in spikes, traps, and armor, and a deep anxiety crept into his chest.
He had already seen the carnage below, the bloody state of the chefs.
But Krieg's toughness had far exceeded his imagination.
For the first time, Sanji began to feel a flicker of regret for his decision.
Just as he prepared to attack again, a sudden commotion broke out from the other side of Baratie's deck.
========
"Patty!!!"
A group of chefs surrounded him, their faces filled with shock and worry as they looked at his blood-soaked body.
"Ugh… ugh…"
Patty's face twitched, one eye tightly shut, as if refusing to look at his own wounds might somehow ease the pain.
Though his body was on the verge of collapse, he still forced himself to answer, to keep his comrades calm.
"I… I'm fine!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Stop struggling! I'm the Pearl the Iron Wall!"
"I've been through sixty-two battles without a single scratch!"
"That's a level only true warriors can achieve!"
"You weaklings! Go to hell already!"
The speaker was a thin man, his body encased in two massive shields, one on his chest, one on his back, like a human tortoise. He banged the small shields in his hands together with a proud sneer, boasting shamelessly before the weary chefs.
Patty groaned, digging a bullet out of his flesh with trembling fingers, gasping for breath.
He had lost too much blood. His body swayed, barely holding itself up. Were it not for the comrades still depending on him, he might have already collapsed.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"This ship belongs to the Krieg Pirates now!"
Pearl the Iron Wall's grin grew more deranged. He stretched his arms wide, mechanisms on his armor clicking into position, and shouted wildly:
"Next, let me give you a little gift!"
"Super Natural Pearl Barrage!!!"
Ratatatatatatata—!
The devices on his armor spun rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of lead bullets blasted forth from his body.
Each shot was as fast as a bullet from a gun, slamming into Patty's body, punching out fresh holes one after another.
Blood sprayed freely, like an opened faucet, gushing from his wounds.
When the barrage ended, Patty was barely breathing, his life ebbing away.
Some of the stray bullets had even struck other chefs behind him, sending several more crashing to the floor.
Thud…
"Patty!!!"
Sanji's voice tore through the chaos. Below him, Patty's body lay motionless, blood pooling beneath him, his eyes rolled back, consciousness gone.
"You! Where are you looking?!"
A spiked metal fist appeared suddenly behind Sanji, smashing into his side before he could react.
"Ahhh!!!"
Sanji screamed in agony, the pain so sharp it stole his breath.
Krieg lifted him high into the air, impaled on the spikes of his gauntlet, and then slammed him down onto the deck.
BOOM!
The wooden planks shattered, leaving a crater in the floor. Blood dripped from Sanji's lips as he struggled to stand.
"Give it up, Sanji!"
A familiar voice called out.
Sanji froze, it was Gin's voice.
Gin had his boot pressed down on Zeff's back, his gun aimed at the old man's head.
"You've lost," he said coldly. "Hand over the ship, and we'll let you live."
"Gin?!!"
Sanji clutched his bleeding side and staggered to his feet, staring at him in disbelief.
Gin kept his head down, unable to meet Sanji's eyes.
"There's no other way, Sanji…" he muttered, his voice heavy. "You can't win. Hand over the ship, it's your only chance."
Then, without hesitation, he reached down and snapped Zeff's wooden leg clean off, robbing him of his last means to fight.
"You…!!"
Sanji's voice cracked with disbelief and despair. His gaze fell on Zeff, crushed beneath Gin's heel, and he whispered, trembling,
"No… no…"
"This ship… it's the old man's most precious treasure…"
"No! I won't let this happen!!"
His mind spun, his thoughts descending into chaos.
He remembered…
When he was a boy, starving on that rock. The old man gave him all the food, keeping nothing for himself.
And when it ran out… Zeff had eaten his own leg to stay alive.
He had lost his dream… because of me!
This ship, this restaurant, is all he has left!
I… I can't let it fall into anyone else's hands!!!
At that moment, a strange surge rippled through Sanji's body.
From his heart, a black, mysterious substance began to spread, merging into his blood, flowing rapidly through every vein.
It coursed through him like living energy, coating his heart, then racing toward his cells.
Yet when it reached them, it couldn't penetrate. Instead, it clung to their surface, releasing waves of invisible power.
Even though much of that power dissipated, enough of it seeped through, just enough to trigger something inside him.
In an instant, Sanji's wounds began to heal, fast, unnaturally fast, his body knitting itself back together.
But Sanji, lost in his anguish, didn't even notice.
"Hahaha… hahahahaha!"
Krieg threw his head back, laughing like a madman. His face twisted with arrogance as he shouted down at his men:
"Throw them overboard! Let them rot in the sea!"
========
No… no…
Sanji, trapped in his looping thoughts, muttered again and again, paying no mind to Krieg's looming presence.
That day… the old man gave me life.
He sacrificed everything… his leg… his dream… for me.
This restaurant is all he has left!
I—!
I will never let anyone take it from him!!!
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