West Blue.
A certain sea was painted red with blood.
The battle was over.
Jin never even lifted a hand. Merely relying on Law, Robin, and the others, the so-called Fire Tank Pirates had been crushed with ease.
Even though, four years later, Capone Bege would be hailed as one of the Eleven Supernovas, a man whose very presence weighed on others, here and now he was utterly outclassed.
Bege was a strategist, a schemer, a man who played at being a general. His true power lay not in individual strength but in how he commanded his men. His pirate crew was less like a band of ruffians and more like a disciplined army. Uniformed soldiers.
Well-equipped units with machine guns, rocket launchers, and weapons of war, organized into specialized divisions.
His Castle-Castle Fruit was not the kind of Devil Fruit that made a man into a one-man army. It was a fortress. A fortress required soldiers to garrison it, to march and fight.
That style worked in the West Blue, even in the first half of the Grand Line.
But in the New World? It was far from enough.
It was like a sports team that relied on team play alone. They could keep up with others, hold their ground, sometimes even excel. But when they met a side led by a superstar—someone who could smash through any defense single-handedly—teamwork collapsed.
Bege's crew was just like that. Two years into the New World, when the world's pirates clashed for the throne, his army-like style faltered. The stars left him behind.
Now, facing Jin, a man who crushed both individuals and armies alike, he stood no chance.
Jin didn't kill him. Not yet.
At the next port, he handed Bege over to Crocodile.
As for the rest of his men? The boilers of the Demon Carrier needed fuel.
Still, Jin had no intention of keeping Bege alive in the long term. Once Crocodile squeezed out every last bit of use from him, Bege would be consumed—body, power, and soul.
This man was dangerous.
A cunning gangster, ruthless, unpredictable. In his youth, he could endure humiliation and wait like a coiled snake. But once strong, he betrayed without hesitation.
Did the world forget? Two years after the Summit War, Bege joined Big Mom's crew—only to betray her too.
The man was poison, a time bomb waiting to explode.
Crocodile and Bege might look alike on the surface—scheming, ambitious men.
But they were not the same breed.
Crocodile, for all his cynicism, still carried the remnants of a dream. He said he trusted no one, yet he had saved Mr. 1 and others more than once. He was an old-school pirate.
Bege? He came from the gutter of the underworld. A gangster's son who saw only profit and ambition. No honor. No bottom line. Only blackness, through and through.
Jin trusted Crocodile. He did not, and never would, trust Bege.
It was preference.
It was instinct.
Still, to prevent accidents, Jin planted within Bege a wisp of the green Hellfire Serpent—the same power he had used to bind Vito.
Why not simply control Bege forever with it? Because green fire was not absolute. Its power waned with distance, and the stronger a man's will, the less control it exerted.
The Seven-Star Sword had dominated Saga, but it could never seize Zoro.
…
Inside a tavern, Daz Bones sat silently, glaring at the shackled Bege, seastone cuffs clamped tightly on his wrists.
Jin and Crocodile sat across the table, their conversation quiet, almost casual.
"Your next stop is the Flower Kingdom, isn't it?" Crocodile asked.
Jin nodded. "Yes."
"The Flower Kingdom rules the eastern coast of the West Blue," Crocodile explained. "Its lands are vast, its power deep and mysterious. If it stood in the New World, it would still be counted as one of the great nations. Some even call it the second strongest country in the world, second only to Elbaf."
Jin raised a brow.
Crocodile went on, "Foreign ships that enter its waters are strictly inspected. Any who resist… are slain without mercy. You've heard of the great pirate Wang Zhi, who once ruled Hive Island? He hailed from there."
"That is why the Flower Kingdom, though a member of the World Government, is fiercely independent. Even the Marines struggle to bend it. Its political influence across the West Blue is enormous."
"And beyond its official armies, it fields pirate battalions of its own—the Eight Treasures Navy. They call their leaders 'Pillars.' The current Pillar is Chinjao. His bounty exceeds five hundred million berries. With his mastery of both Haki and strange techniques, he is feared even here. But remember—he is not even the strongest of that land."
Jin let out a low whistle. "Is that so? Then I'll have to see for myself. After all, I am a king now. When in Rome…"
…
After a stormy night, morning dawned clear. The sea was a sapphire mirror, glittering beneath the sun.
At the prow of his flagship stood Governor Madison, draped in a heavy cloak, tricorn hat upon his head, sword at his hip. Behind him sailed ten pirate ships, a fleet that cut a fearsome figure.
The Giant Kraken Tongue Pirates.
Madison hailed from the Kingdom of Illusia. Once, he had been nothing more than a merchant sailor. Ten years ago, fleeing from gambling debts, he vanished like a ghost.
When his name resurfaced, he was a lieutenant in the notorious Kraken Tongue. With his wit, strength, and ruthless cunning, he soon clawed his way to the top, dethroned his captain, and crowned himself governor.
The Kraken Tongue plundered, pillaged, murdered. Yet their bounties were curiously low.
Because they had contracts. Like the Vulture Pirates of the Fire Kingdom, they were "official pirates"—attack dogs owned and shielded by a great nation. They were permitted to plunder so long as they obeyed orders when called.
Now, they had been summoned.
For centuries, the Flower Kingdom and the Bosa Kingdom had clashed over borders. With the rise of the Great Pirate Era, Illusia and the western nations forged armed convoys for trade, while Bosa allied with the east.
The prize this time: Shasta Island, south of the Flower Kingdom.
Long ago, the great pirate Wang Zhi had built a secret port there. Abandoned when he sailed to the Grand Line, it remained hidden and valuable.
Bosa now sought to seize it.
And the vanguard would be Madison and his three-thousand-strong fleet of the Kraken Tongue.
It was no single crew but an alliance of many small pirate bands, all united under Madison's banner for war.
He frowned, gazing at the sea. "The Flower Kingdom won't fall easily."
Behind him, his pirates snored drunkenly, sprawled across the deck from last night's revelry, still reeking of alcohol.
Madison returned to his quarters. On the table, a Den Den Mushi clicked alive.
"The royal house has agreed," came the voice of his contact. "Seize Shasta Island, and they'll recognize your rule."
Madison's eyes gleamed cold. Recognition. Legitimacy.
No longer a pirate. A noble. A ruler.
He wanted land. A manor. Servants. Power. To feast and command instead of drifting at the mercy of waves, never knowing when the sea would swallow him whole.
Pirate King? He chuckled bitterly. That's a tale to trick the children with.
His pirates were nothing more than hunting dogs for the nobility.
His ships, merchant vessels turned to war.
But if he succeeded here… perhaps his dream of standing among the nobility could be real.
-------------------------
Patreon 30+ Advance Chapters: p@treon .com / pretendsituation