The merchant ship, though battered, still held the advantage. Its hidden cannons and disciplined defense had bled the Fire Wolf Pirates dry. Compared to the merchant crew's losses, the pirates' suffering was far worse.
"You all, quickly! Help the Old Captain!" Ivan barked at the guards. His voice trembled, not with fear for himself, but with sharp calculation. "If he loses, we all die. But if we bring Hog down, the rest of those dogs are nothing."
The guards hesitated. Their mission was clear; protect Ivan and the cargo.
To them, he was the guild's chosen, a man whose life outweighed their own. But Ivan's logic was undeniable. Slowly, grimly, they raised their weapons and charged toward the battle raging at the bow.
"Damn old man!" Hog snarled. His fists burned, striking like fire itself. He hammered against the Old Captain's guard, forcing the elder two steps back.
Sparks flew where sword met fist.
"Hahaha! I'm not so old that I can't stand, Hog!" the Old Captain roared, laughter masking the strain in his arms. He conserved his strength, defending and parrying, refusing to let the relentless storm break him.
But Hog pressed harder, determined to snuff out the last obstacle between him and the prize. When Ivan's guards threw themselves into the fray, the battlefield turned chaotic. Muskets cracked as sailors held the other pirates at bay, and the guards' steel gave the Old Captain precious seconds to breathe.
Hog, however, was merciless. One guard he sent flying with a single blow. Another he seized by the head, crushing his skull with a sickening crack. Rage and ambition blazed in his eyes.
The Devil Fruit was close so close and yet obstacles kept piling in his path. His fury spilled onto the guards, each kill sharper, crueler.
That cruelty gave the Old Captain his chance. His blade flashed, driving for Hog's chest. For the first time, the pirate felt a genuine chill of danger. He twisted aside, but in that instant, a guard hurled himself forward, sacrificing his body to delay Hog's dodge.
Steel pierced flesh. The Old Captain's sword bit into Hog's arm.
But instead of retreating, Hog grinned through the blood. With Armament Haki hardening his right palm, he caught the sword's edge barehanded, flesh splitting, blackened Haki holding the blade in place. His leg lashed out, kicking the Old Captain back. Forced to let go of his weapon, the elder was suddenly unarmed.
Hog ripped the sword free of his arm and tossed it aside, ignoring the blood pouring from his wound. He lunged forward, intent on finishing it.
"Stop him! Block him!" Ivan shouted desperately, sending the last of his guards to die in the path of fire.
The guards obeyed without hesitation.
One after another, they threw themselves into Hog's way, blades flashing, lives burning.
Against Hog's monstrous fists they stood little chance, but their sacrifice gave the Old Captain a heartbeat to reclaim his weapon. With every breath bought, he pressed Hog harder.
"Damn pests!" Hog roared. He smashed them down, but the constant interference fractured his rhythm. The Old Captain, scarred and weary, seized every opening. Their duel, once even, began to tilt against Hog.
The Fire Wolf crew cried out from their blood-soaked deck. Over half their number lay dead. The merchant ship they'd thought easy prey had torn them apart.
"Captain, we have to retreat, or none of us will leave alive!" one pirate shouted.
Hog's teeth ground together. He wanted the fruit. He wanted victory. But death was closer than glory now.
Survival mattered more.
"Fall back!" he roared, blasting the guards away with his Fire Wolf Fist before leaping across the gap to his own ship. His remaining men scrambled after him, broken and bloodied.
The merchant crew did not pursue. Their arms shook, their eyes hollow.
The battle was over but not won.
Corpses littered the deck, comrades who had laughed and sailed beside them only hours before. Smoke drifted from shattered planks, and blood pooled in the cracks.
The Old Captain stood among the dead, his sword dripping. His eyes swept the familiar faces one last time before closing them. His ship creaked beneath him, hull cracked from the ramming, masts scarred by fire. She, too, was dying. He exhaled a long, weary sigh. Once, he had dreamed of retiring quietly.
Now, his heart was as tired as his body.
Not everyone shared his grief. Teach, silent as ever, tucked away a dark-purple Zoan fruit, stolen from under Ivan's nose. Inspiration burned in him too, the image of Hog's flaming fists replaying in his mind, sparking ideas of power.
Ivan, ignorant of the theft, was flush with false triumph. He believed the Devil Fruit safe and the pirates repelled. His report to the guild would bring him prestige.
On the Fire Wolf, Hog raged in his cabin, smashing it to splinters. Bloodshot eyes gleamed with hate. "If I can't have that fruit, neither will they!" he hissed. His voice carried beyond the walls, and soon Slime Island buzzed with the news, Hog himself had spread it.
A Devil Fruit, carried on a battered merchant ship, had slipped through his fingers.
Greedy eyes turned toward the sea. Other pirate crews, smelling blood and treasure, prepared to hunt.
Back on the merchant ship, Ivan strode to check the fruit, only to find the case empty. His mind snapped. "No… no! The Fire Wolf Pirates! They must have taken it! Yes... that's it! They left because they already got it!" he muttered, clinging to his delusion.
The ship limped onward to Cedar Island, a bustling port of cedar forests and shipwrights. Passengers disembarked, luggage in hand, unwilling to risk another voyage. Teach and Mobius left too, laughing in the crowd.
On deck, the Old Captain smoked in silence. His sailors stood behind him, eyes downcast.
"I'm sorry," he told Ivan softly. "This is where our journey ends. I'll compensate you for failure, but I… I'm retiring. My reputation means nothing now."
"You can't abandon us here! We agreed, you'd take us to Pet Island!" Ivan cried, his voice breaking.
The Old Captain only smiled, weary and final. "Go. My men will unload your cargo."
Ivan swallowed his fury. Time pressed. He found another transport and departed in haste, blind to the hungry stares following him from the docks. Hog's cruelty had ensured that every pirate within reach now knew exactly what he carried or what they thought he carried.
The Old Captain watched Ivan's departing figure. His instincts, sharpened by decades at sea, told him the truth; Ivan's troubles had only just begun.