The sea was calm and endless, its sapphire surface rippling softly beneath a bright sky. Seagulls wheeled and cried overhead, their "coo-coo" calls drifting on the breeze.
"Is that Jaya Island?" Baccarat asked, squinting at the hazy outline of land on the horizon. Her brows knitted as she studied the Log Pose in her hand. "Why's it tilting upward like that? Don't tell me this thing's broken."
"Zehahaha!" Teach's booming laugh echoed across the deck. "The Log Pose never lies, woman. If it's pointing up, it means the next island's in the sky!"
"What? A Sky Island?" Baccarat's eyes widened.
Wallace and Gar paused their sparring to stare, while Pito, mid-bite of a biscuit, turned her head curiously.
"The sea's endless, full of wonders. Nothing's impossible," Teach said, his grin widening. "Four hundred years ago, they say a Golden City stood on Jaya Island."
Wallace blinked. "You mean… that old tale of Noland the Liar? You're saying the city's real?"
"Zehahaha! Aye, it's real," Teach said, eyes gleaming. "A colossal Knock Up Stream blasted half of Jaya straight into the sky. That Golden City's sittin' up there still, on Sky Island."
"Should we go take a look?" Baccarat asked eagerly.
Teach shook his head. "Not yet. Maybe when we've conquered the Four Seas. Our ship's not built for a Knock Up Stream. It'd shatter before we got halfway up."
Disappointed but trusting, the crew let the dream go.... for now.
Ten days passed since they left Kakara Island. Nearly a month since departing the Sabaody Archipelago.
Wallace had long since joined the crew, but reality hit hard; he was the weakest on board. He'd thought he could manage third place, after all, Teach and Gar were monsters.
Yet when he sparred with Pito, he was humiliated. The kitty toyed with him, evading every strike like a phantom.
Even Baccarat, the crew's supposed "non-combatant," proved impossible. No matter how he attacked, he always tripped, slipped, or somehow lost his balance. He eventually accepted it, the woman's Devil Fruit made her untouchable when luck was on her side.
Teach didn't let Wallace mope. He crafted a grueling training plan: physical conditioning, basics of the Marine Rokushiki, and endless sparring with Gar. Wallace embraced it all, determined to climb higher.
Of course, being the weakest came with chores, cleaning the deck, hauling supplies, swabbing the rails. He bore it all with silent resolve.
Then, something shifted.
Teach paused mid-sentence, his gaze lifting toward Jaya Island. Pito and Gar followed suit, their instincts flaring.
A moment later, a seagull dropped from the sky—dead—splattering into the sea beside the ship. Then another.
The crew went still.
The birds hadn't just fallen—they'd been shot.
A sniper was using seagulls for target practice, and judging by the trajectory, the shots came from Jaya Island.
At that distance, hitting moving targets with that precision… there was only one word for such a marksman: monstrous.
Teach's grin crept wider. "Zehahaha…" His Observation Haki spread outward like a net, sweeping across the island. Then he found him. "There you are."
High above on Jaya, a man in a black cloak adjusted the monocle over his left eye. His right was covered by a patch. A long face, calm expression, and a rifle resting against his shoulder.
Van Augur.
His sharp gaze swept the horizon and met Teach's distant smile.
A chill crept down his spine. He'd been seen.
His instincts screamed; that man was dangerous. And yet, that same intuition whispered something else—fate.
"This… is fate," Van Augur murmured. Slinging his rifle, he stepped down from the rooftop.
When Teach's ship finally docked at Jaya's port, the harbor teemed with pirate vessels. It was another pirate haven, rowdy, lively, and yet eerily peaceful on the surface.
Merchants sold fruit and fish from carts; laughter echoed from taverns. But every smiling face hid a pirate's shadow.
Teach's crew settled into a restaurant by the window. After weeks at sea, even Wallace couldn't hide his excitement for real food.
Their previous ship's chef hadn't lasted, terror had eaten him alive. The poor man had feared Gar so much he'd taken his own life. Now Wallace cooked basic meals, but his culinary skills couldn't compare.
"This time," Baccarat said, inhaling the smell of roasted meat, "we eat properly."
They didn't notice the man walking the streets outside, scanning every face.
Van Augur searched tirelessly, driven by instinct more than reason. Fate guided me here… I must meet him.
But before he found Teach, trouble found him.
"Hey, kid! You're blocking my way."
A fat pirate swaggered forward, surrounded by his crew. He was squat but massive, his whole body spreading sideways. The street parted for him like water around a ship.
Van Augur didn't even blink. "Ah. My apologies. Please, go ahead."
He stepped aside calmly.
The man's name was Fat Cat White, captain of the Fat Cat Pirates, bounty: thirty million. A petty tyrant, and a Devil Fruit user with feline traits.
But White's piglike eyes narrowed. The tall, composed sniper towering over him—it felt like mockery.
"You bastard! You think you can look down on me?!" White roared, face purple with rage.
Van Augur sighed inwardly. So that's what this is about.
His hand slid to his rifle, "Colt." "I see."
Without warning—bang!
A flash of gunfire.
The pirates froze. They hadn't even seen him draw.
The bullet tore through the air and struck White square in the face. Blood sprayed but the fat man didn't die. His Devil Fruit reflexes had barely saved him, the shot gouging through his eye socket instead of his brain.
White screamed, transforming into a grotesque beast form—a huge yellow-furred cat. His body swelled with animal strength.
In the restaurant window, Pito's biscuit dropped from her hand. Her feline pupils dilated.
Teach watched the scene with quiet amusement. "He's fast," he muttered. "That firing speed… few men alive can do that."
The Fat Cat Pirates hesitated, but Augur didn't. Bang!
The second shot finished it cleanly, straight through the forehead.
White collapsed, reverting to his human form, dead before he hit the ground.
His crew stared in horror.
Then, as if one nerve had snapped, they fled in every direction. The onlookers followed, scattering like leaves before the wind.
The story of the "Sniper from the Sky" spread across Jaya in minutes.
Van Augur, however, ignored the chaos. He reloaded calmly and walked toward the restaurant.
As he stepped through the door, the other diners bolted, leaving only Teach and his crew.
Van Augur's boots clicked softly on the floorboards. His eye locked onto Teach's.
Then without a word he fired.
Pito and Gar blurred from their seats, reappearing beside him. Cold steel and claws pressed to his throat.
But Van Augur didn't flinch. His gaze shifted to Teach—who was still seated, smiling, untouched.
Between Teach's fingers gleamed something metallic. A bullet.
Caught.
Augur exhaled slowly, lowering his rifle. Then, with a faint smile, he bowed his head.
"Fate has guided me here," he said softly. "Show me… a greater future."
Teach grinned wide, eyes gleaming with fire. "Zehahaha! Then welcome aboard. The future, my friend, belongs to those bold enough to seize it!"
His laughter filled the room, echoing through Jaya's pirate streets, and another legend was born into the crew of Marshall D. Teach, the marksman who never missed, Van Augur.