Chapter 363: The Krieg Pirates

Chapter 363: Chapter 363: The Krieg Pirates

Chapter 363: The Krieg Pirates

Cannonballs struck the sea around the Baratie, sending waves rolling against the floating restaurant.

The entire ship rocked.

Inside, startled diners cried out and grabbed their tables for balance. Those seated near the windows immediately looked outside.

Across the otherwise calm sea, a fleet was approaching.

Dozens of ships sailed in formation beneath the same pirate flag.

Someone went pale.

"That flag..."

"It’s Krieg!"

"Krieg? You mean the Krieg Pirates?!"

The emblem was unmistakable.

A skull with pronounced cheekbones, flanked by hourglasses symbolizing the time remaining before death.

The flag of the Krieg Pirates.

Once the diners recognized it, panic spread through the restaurant.

The Krieg Pirates were widely regarded as the largest and most powerful pirate fleet in the East Blue.

Their captain, Don Krieg, carried a bounty of seventeen million Berries.

But the bounty alone was not what made people fear him.

Krieg commanded roughly fifty pirate ships.

Thousands of men.

And a reputation for brutality.

At the head of the formation sailed a massive three-decked warship with a black panther figurehead.

On its upper deck, a pirate hurried forward and stopped several steps away from his captain.

"Captain Krieg! We found the target ship!"

He kept his head lowered.

The man before him wore golden armor over his enormous frame, black boots, a red cloak, and a bandana around his head.

Don Krieg slowly raised his eyes.

"You found them?"

"Yes!"

The subordinate hurried to continue.

"Their ship is anchored beside the Baratie. We already fired a warning shot so they’d know we were here."

Bang!

A gunshot rang across the deck.

The pirate screamed and collapsed, clutching his bleeding leg.

Krieg lowered the smoking pistol.

"Idiot."

His voice was flat.

"Who gave you permission to make decisions for me?"

The wounded pirate trembled.

"What if that shot had hit the white-haired brat?"

No one else dared speak.

Krieg’s temper was well known throughout the fleet.

Shooting a subordinate for acting without permission was hardly unusual.

What worried everyone was that Krieg was already in a foul mood.

And whenever that happened, one mistake could become everyone’s problem.

...

Inside Baratie, several diners clearly wanted to flee.

None dared.

Fifty pirate ships surrounded the area.

Trying to escape across open water would be pointless, and rumors about what Krieg did to people who ran from him were enough to keep most customers frozen in place.

The chefs were equally alert.

"It’s the Krieg Pirates!"

"What do we do?"

Patty slammed a fist into his palm.

"What are you idiots panicking for?"

Carne stepped up beside him.

"Exactly! Krieg or not, if they cause trouble here, we throw them out!"

Many of Baratie’s cooks had lived rough lives themselves.

A pirate flag alone would not frighten them.

At Axel’s table, however, almost nothing changed.

Robin rested her chin lightly against one hand, looking completely unconcerned.

Compared with serving under Crocodile, a fleet of East Blue pirates hardly seemed terrifying.

Her attention instead drifted toward Sanji.

She was still curious about the chef Axel had apparently chosen.

"Aren’t you afraid?"

Sanji froze.

Robin had spoken directly to him.

His expression immediately softened into adoration.

He pressed one hand dramatically against his chest.

"Miss Robin!"

Even though her voice had contained almost no concern, Sanji interpreted the question exactly how he wanted.

"Even if this body is torn apart, I will protect you!"

He raised his chin proudly.

"Isn’t that what a true man exists for?"

Robin stared at him for a moment.

Then gave an awkward little smile.

She had no idea how the conversation had reached that point.

Chopper’s reaction was much more practical.

The instant the first cannon had fired, he had panicked, loudly informed everyone nearby that the Krieg Pirates were terrifying, and then hidden behind a chair.

Badly.

Half his body was still visible.

Wapol sat miserably at the table, gnawing on an iron bar.

His five-dish limit had already been reached.

Now he could only stare at everyone else’s food while drooling.

Axel, meanwhile, kept eating.

He placed a piece of meat covered in thick sauce into his mouth and hummed with satisfaction.

He had learned to cook well enough from books and practice.

Sanji’s food was on another level entirely.

Just as Axel reached for another bite, the restaurant doors burst open.

Several Krieg Pirates stormed inside.

They quickly scanned the room.

Then their eyes locked onto Axel.

"You!"

One of them pointed.

"You’re Axel, right?"

"Our Captain Krieg wants to see you."

"Come with us."

Axel continued eating.

The pirate’s eye twitched.

"Hey!"

Still no response.

The man drew his pistol.

"Who told you to keep eating?!"

He pointed toward Axel’s plate.

"Let’s see how hungry you are after I blow your food apart!"

Bang!

Several customers screamed and ducked beneath their tables.

The bullet should have shattered the plate.

Instead, it struck the wooden floor.

The shooter stared.

His companions immediately burst into laughter.

"What kind of aim was that?"

"You couldn’t hit a dinner plate from five steps away!"

"Shut up!"

The embarrassed pirate was about to snap back when he noticed Robin still sitting calmly nearby.

His expression turned unpleasant.

One of the others followed his gaze.

"Well, at least the place has decent-looking customers."

Another laughed.

"Forget it. Captain Krieg decides who gets taken first."

Their eyes moved around the room, making several customers shrink away uneasily.

Sanji’s expression changed.

Until then, he had been perfectly willing to let the pirates bother Axel.

That annoying white-haired glutton had stolen Robin’s food and deserved a little trouble.

But the moment they started speaking about the women in the restaurant like prey, that changed.

Sanji lit a cigarette.

He took a slow drag.

Then stepped forward.

"You idiots just crossed a line."

The pirates turned.

Sanji exhaled smoke.

"A man who treats women without respect isn’t fit to call himself a man."

His leg moved.

A kick swept toward the nearest pirate’s face.

Then stopped.

Sanji’s eyes widened.

A hand had caught his ankle.

So fast...

Axel stood beside him.

A moment earlier, he had still been seated at the table.

Now he calmly held Sanji’s leg with one hand while finishing the food in his mouth.

"I agree with you."

He swallowed.

"Although I’d add something else."

Axel looked toward the pirates.

"Interrupting someone while they’re eating is also a crime."

He released Sanji’s leg.

"But I’ll deal with that afterward."

His gaze shifted toward the door.

"I want to see Krieg first."

Then Axel glanced toward Chopper.

The look was enough.

Don’t stop me.

Chopper hesitated but stayed where he was.

Axel found the situation strange.

Krieg should not have been here yet, at least not according to the future he remembered.

The Krieg Pirates were supposed to become involved with Baratie around the time Luffy arrived.

But now Krieg had specifically come looking for him.

Axel recruiting Sanji should not have been enough by itself to create such a drastic change.

So what had happened?

He intended to find out.

The Krieg Pirates backed away.

A few reached for their guns, but one of the smarter men stopped them.

"Don’t."

He lowered his voice.

"That guy had a four-hundred-million-Berry bounty."

"We can’t beat him ourselves."

Another pirate swallowed.

"Once Captain Krieg gets what he needs, we can deal with him together."

The others reluctantly agreed.

The leader gestured toward the door.

"Come with us."

Axel walked out under their wary gazes.

Sanji frowned.

He had no idea what Axel was planning.

But he was still a guest of Baratie.

And protecting customers was part of the restaurant’s responsibility.

Sanji immediately headed after him.

Patty, Carne, and several other chefs prepared to follow.

None of them believed Krieg would simply handle his business and leave peacefully afterward.

He was Don Krieg.

If he thought Baratie had anything worth taking, he would take it.

"Wait."

Zeff stepped onto the deck.

Sanji looked back impatiently.

"What is it, old man?"

"We can talk after I get back."

"That brat doesn’t need your help," Zeff said.

One of the chefs stared at him.

"Boss, that’s the Krieg Pirates!"

"The strongest pirate fleet in the East Blue!"

Zeff snorted.

"Strongest in the East Blue?"

His expression hardened.

"On the Grand Line, a fleet like that is a joke."

The chefs fell quiet.

Zeff looked out toward the approaching ships.

"Krieg is a frog sitting at the bottom of a well, convinced the piece of sky above him is the whole world."

"He has no idea what truly exists beyond this sea."

Zeff’s eyes narrowed.

"And he’s chosen to provoke someone who can’t be overcome by numbers alone."

Sanji frowned.

"Who exactly is that glutton?"

Zeff answered plainly.

"He used to have a bounty of four hundred million Berries."

Silence.

Then the chefs erupted.

"FOUR HUNDRED MILLION?!"

Sanji stared at Zeff.

"Old man, that’s not funny."

"That guy?"

He pointed outside.

"He spends half his time eating!"

"That was his previous bounty," Zeff said.

"It has since been withdrawn."

Several chefs visibly relaxed.

"Oh."

"So it was outdated?"

"Thank goodness."

"I was wondering how someone like that could be worth four hundred million."

Zeff’s expression became heavier.

"You misunderstand."

They stopped.

"Having a bounty that large withdrawn doesn’t make him less dangerous."

"If anything, it means the World Government decided there was more value in stopping the hunt than continuing it."

The room went silent again.

Someone swallowed.

"So he’s... even more troublesome than the bounty made him look?"

Another chef asked,

"Then why would someone like that come here?"

Zeff gave a tired look.

"To eat."

A pause.

"And apparently to find a chef."

Robin laughed softly.

"That does sound like him."

Zeff turned toward her.

His eyes sharpened.

"And you."

Robin calmly met his gaze.

"Nico Robin."

"The Devil Child."

Several people looked confused.

Zeff continued,

"You received a seventy-nine-million-Berry bounty when you were only eight years old."

His voice became more serious.

"According to the wanted notices, you were blamed for the destruction of six Marine warships."

The room erupted again.

"SIX WARSHIPS?!"

Everyone stared at Robin.

Everyone except Sanji.

He placed both hands against his face.

"Miss Robin..."

He looked completely entranced.

"Even with the title Devil Child, your beauty remains divine!"

Sanji dropped to one knee.

"If necessary, I would gladly become the servant of such a beautiful devil!"

Zeff kicked him aside.

Sanji crashed into a table.

Zeff ignored him and kept his attention on Robin.

Her wanted poster had existed long before Zeff entered the Grand Line.

Anyone who had spent enough time at sea knew the name Nico Robin.

Chopper stared at her in disbelief.

"Robin..."

"You were that famous?"

Wapol scoffed.

"Seventy-nine million?"

He bit another piece from his iron bar.

"My royal treasury used to contain more than that."

Robin merely smiled.

She had no reason to panic because Zeff recognized her.

Anyone sufficiently familiar with old bounty posters could have done the same.

Instead, she asked,

"You’ve been to the Grand Line?"

Zeff nodded.

"I have."

Robin tilted her head.

"What did you think of it?"

Zeff was silent for a moment.

Then answered,

"A terrible place."

Robin’s smile faded slightly.

"I thought so too."

Her gaze drifted toward the sea.

"Endless darkness."

"Always ready to swallow whatever enters it."

...

Holy Land Mary Geoise, Red Line.

Behind glass walls reinforced with special materials, brightly colored fish moved silently through enormous tanks.

Between them sat two men whose decisions could shake the entire world.

Sengoku occupied one sofa.

Round-framed glasses rested on his face, and his braided beard hung from his chin.

As Fleet Admiral, he commanded the entire Marine organization.

Across from him sat Kong.

White hair rose sharply from his head.

As Commander-in-Chief of the World Government’s military forces, his authority extended far beyond the Marines alone.

Neither man smiled.

For a long time, neither spoke.

Then Sengoku finally broke the silence.

"Kong."

His voice was heavy.

"Why was that order given?"

Sengoku had always believed Kong possessed a strong sense of justice.

He still did.

That was precisely why the order bothered him so much.

Kong exhaled.

"So you found out."

Strangely, there was almost relief in his voice.

"I had my reasons."

Sengoku’s expression hardened.

"There are lines justice should not cross."

He leaned forward.

"You ordered Donquixote Doflamingo released."

"I want to know why."

Kong met his gaze.

"Because this is not the time to provoke Kaido."

Sengoku said nothing.

Kong continued,

"Starting a full conflict with him now would only destabilize the seas further."

Sengoku’s eyes sharpened.

"Garp supports fighting."

"So do I."

"And the three Admirals are prepared."

His voice grew firmer.

"The Four Emperors are enemies the Marines will eventually have to confront."

"We cannot avoid them forever."

He leaned forward.

"Doflamingo gives us an opportunity."

"If Kaido attacks to recover him, then we meet Kaido under conditions favorable to us."

"And if we defeat one of the Four Emperors, the imbalance created by losing two Warlords can be corrected at the same time."

Kong shook his head.

"We have clashed with Kaido before."

"More than once."

"You know what kind of monster he is."

"He has been captured."

"Defeated."

"Imprisoned."

"And yet he keeps returning."

Kong’s voice remained calm.

"Even Impel Down has failed to hold him permanently."

"Choosing Kaido as the first Emperor to bring down is not necessarily the smartest move."

Sengoku frowned.

"And Doflamingo?"

Kong leaned back.

"I discussed that with Tsuru."

His gaze became unreadable.

"We are not simply letting him go."

"We intend to use him."

"To create a different situation."

....

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