"Captain, are we finally setting off? I'm so excited! I've been training so hard, I swear my bounty could double." Wallace beamed, watching the Nightfall Pirates prepare to depart.
At the prow stood Teach, long hair falling over his shoulders. He wore a black coat trimmed in gold, dark purple runes embroidered on the lapels, a dark-blue shirt beneath, and black trousers cinched by a golden belt. The top two buttons of his shirt were open, revealing a small obsidian sword hanging from a silver chain at his throat.
Pito chewed bubblegum under a black top hat, dressed in a custom black denim jacket and jeans. Gar stood bare-chested, white fur thick at his shoulders, wearing wolfish shoulder armor. Baccarat wore an orange short-sleeved shirt under a black jacket and blue shorts. Van Augur had an eyepatch over his right eye, a black cloak, and his treasured long gun, Colt, slung over his shoulder. Wallace was in a white shirt with yellow stripes and black trousers. Nelson wore a white suit. Kaguya, still small in frame, wore a white shirt and carried two long blades on his back.
They'd stayed at Van Augur's family home while the East Blue's higher Marine forces were gradually drawn away. With the Great Pirate Era erupting, the Marines were stretched thin, even Vice Admiral Garp had been recalled to headquarters. For the moment, small crews like Teach's weren't a priority.
"Then let's set sail. I can't wait." Teach laughed, turning toward Van Augur's parents. "Thank you for your hospitality."
"No trouble at all. Go make a name for yourselves," Van Augur's father, Terry, said warmly. In the weeks he'd watched Teach and the others train, he'd seen something undeniable. Teach's little-mountain weight drills, the brutal discipline, it all proved his son had found a crew worth following. Terry felt pride more than worry.
A short way off, moored on the river that led to the sea, the Nightfall Pirates' new ship waited; the Lucky Goddess. Twice the size of their old vessel, the hull measured fifty-three meters by twenty-nine. A goddess statue crowned the bow. The ship had sixteen cannon ports per side and would carry them until the Queen Anne's Revenge was built.
Teach had sold the old ship and poured the funds into this one. They'd stolen many of the cannons with Nelson's help from the nearby Kingdom, an ugly but useful coup. For now, the Lucky Goddess would be their flagship.
The crew bustled. Supplies moved aboard. When Teach appeared on deck, a cheer rose from the loaders. "Boss Teach is here!" "Miss Baccarat!" "Iron Wallace!"
"Zehahahahaha! Set sail! The Nightfall Pirates are officially formed today!" Teach roared from the bow. The huge sails unfurled, the new flag snapping in the wind; three frowning skulls with sharp eyes, forward, left, and right, backed by crossed bones and a dark purple vortex, like a maw devouring everything. Teach had designed it himself: familiar, but twisted.
Nelson stepped up. "Captain... where to first?"
Teach shrugged, surprising the others. "I don't know. I plan to cruise the Four Seas, find strong companions."
He glanced at Baccarat. "Lucky Goddess, where to, my dear? Which way shall we go?"
Baccarat produced a large East Blue map, spread it out, and flattened it with one hand. Then, with theatrical calm, she flicked a coin into the air.
The coin spun up, glittered, and came down, wobbling twice before settling on an island northwest of Croya. "Bokapoka Kingdom," someone read aloud. "The 'Fairy Tale Kingdom', strange buildings, pretty architecture. Sounds fun."
"Then it's decided. Bokapoka it is." Teach grinned.
As they left the river and opened into the ocean, the crew felt different, this wasn't a passage. It was a departure: a proper flag, a proper ship, a crew forming under a captain with ambition.
Ten days into the voyage, a lookout called from the crow's nest. "Captain.. warship ahead!"
At first the ordinary crew panicked. Run from a Marine vessel and live another day, that was instinct. But the officers emerged from training, eager rather than frightened. "Finally, a fight!" someone shouted.
Teach's voice cut through. "Why panic? It's just the Marines. Let this warship be the first lesson our Nightfall Pirates give the world."
The young pirates straightened. Training mattered only when tested. Teach's confidence steadied them; when the captain didn't flinch, neither would they. Swords were drawn, guns checked. "Prepare the cannons!" Teach ordered.
On the Marine warship a dozen miles off, Lieutenant Crane peered through his telescope. "That pirate ship isn't trying to flee."
"Then they want to fight," the petty officer replied, surprised. The pirate vessel's gunports were opening one by one; heavy iron cannons slid out and pointed back at the Marine ship. Marines had become used to new crews lacking proper firepower. Seeing a privateer outfit mounting cannons in the open was unusual — and worrying.
"Identify the flag," Lieutenant Crane barked. "And bring the cannons to bear. Let them learn the meaning of Justice."
Below the bleak horizon, the two ships bore down on one another, a small test, but the first real trial for the Nightfall Pirates. Teach watched the approaching Marine hull, the corner of his mouth crooked in a grin. The Great Pirate Era was young. The seas were wide. And now something else was coming to see if they were ready.