Three Days Earlier
On a tiny "island" made of reefs, dozens of kilometers from the Baratie...
Gin, Krieg, Pearl, and a handful of other survivors were basically washed up on the rocks, looking half-dead.
After drifting for two days, they were waterlogged, starving, and had been living off raw fish they could catch with their bare hands.
Gin's head was a complete mess.
He'd spent his whole life just following Krieg's orders like a mindless drone.
But after that disaster at the Baratie, he was finally starting to see Krieg for the fraud he really was.
The problem was, Krieg did save his life once, so he felt like he owed the guy.
He had no idea what to do next.
'Ah, forget it. Who cares?' Gin thought, staring at the empty horizon.
'We're probably all gonna starve to death here in a few days anyway.' A small, wistful thought crossed his mind.
'Still... it'd be cool to meet those Straw Hat guys again on the Grand Line.'
Maybe the heavens heard him, because just then, he spotted a ship slowly sailing their way.
A flicker of hope shot through the survivors.
Krieg, however, got this nasty grin on his face.
He hid the few weapons he had left, getting ready to hijack the ship.
"Gin," he ordered, "get ready."
Gin gave Krieg a long, hard look.
This is it, he thought.
This is the last time I ever follow your orders.
After this, we're even.
From now on, he was walking his own path.
But as the ship got closer, Krieg, Gin, and everyone else completely lost their cool.
It was a pirate ship.
And the jolly roger flying high on its mast was unmistakable.
It was the ship of "Buggy the Clown."
"Kahahaha! Well, well, if it isn't little ol' Krieg!" Buggy shouted from the bow of his ship, standing there with his hands on his hips like he owned the world.
"Heard you tried to mess with Ray?"
Next to him stood a sleek and beautiful Alvida, along with Cabaji the acrobat.
The second Krieg saw Buggy, a cold sweat broke out all over his body.
His mind went blank.
'We're screwed! We're so dead!'
He remembered Buggy's warning from years ago when he'd kicked them out of the East Blue.
If he ever saw them here again, he'd kill them on the spot.
Buggy rubbed his hands together, looking down at the pathetic crew on the rocks.
"Ahem. Seriously, you actually picked a fight with Ray? That's gutsy. Let me guess, he handed you your asses?" He looked them over.
"Tch, yeah, stupid question."
"Anyway," Buggy continued, "long story short, we're a little broke... and your heads are gonna pay for our trip."
He grinned, a mean, mocking look on his face.
Hearing that, Krieg just stood there sweating, too terrified to even move.
He had completely lost the will to fight.
But to everyone's surprise, Gin stepped forward, planting himself in front of Krieg.
"Captain Krieg saved my life once," Gin declared, his voice steady.
"If you want to kill him, you'll have to go through me first!"
Buggy's eyes darted back and forth.
He thought about it for a second, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hah! Interesting kid."
…
Back to the Present
The Going Merry was about one day away from Cocoyasi Village.
Everyone was busy with their daily training.
Since there wasn't much else to do, Ray went into the lounge to check his stats and see what he got from that last big fight.
His Sesshomaru template fusion level hadn't hit a major milestone when he fought Hawkeye, so the rewards were pretty minor this time.
Fusion Level: Bumped up from 46% to 48%. (Daily role-playing got him from 45% to 46%, and the system added another 2%.) Nice.
Bonus Reward: The "Great Battle Gun" weapon got a strength and power-up.
Exclusive Reward: "Spear-Staff Fighting Technique" skill book.
Ray had noticed that the higher his fusion level got, the slower it went up from just his daily routine.
Funnily enough, because he'd given Krieg's giant gun to Chouchou, the system actually upgraded the weapon to match Chouchou's strength.
The exclusive reward was also perfect for Chouchou and Nami, who were both learning to use spear-staffs.
It seemed like the system was smart enough to give him rewards that he actually needed right now.
'Huh, not bad,' Ray thought.
The moment he got the reward, he instantly knew how to use the technique.
It was kind of basic and not really his style, but it would be perfect for training Nami and Chouchou.
After sorting through his rewards, Ray started thinking about what was next.
'Hmm... Arlong? Pfft. That's a one-hit-KO. Not even worth worrying about.'
After they dealt with Arlong, they'd head to Loguetown.
That was where things might get tricky.
Ray wasn't sure how much the Marines really knew about their crew's strength.
If they had the full picture, they might send more than just Captain Smoker to stop them.
But if it was just Smoker, it would be easy.
'Rumor is, this Smoker guy is about as strong as Buggy,' Ray mused.
'He might be a decent challenge for Luffy and the others, but for me? He'll be good practice for the rest of the crew.'
With his thoughts sorted, Ray stepped out onto the deck.
"Nami! Chouchou! Training time! I'm gonna teach you guys some new moves."
…
Meanwhile, at Marine Headquarters...
Not in the bounty office this time.
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku and the legendary "Marine Hero" Garp were sitting around, munching on rice crackers.
Sengoku was glaring at Garp, looking seriously ticked off.
"Garp, seriously! Your grandson is a wanted criminal now! What the hell have you been teaching him?"
Garp just laughed his head off, not looking concerned at all.
"Bwahaha! 20 million? The kid's still got a long way to go!"
Sengoku sighed, his expression turning grave.
"I'm not worried about your grandson. I'm worried about this guy Ray who's with him."
Garp took a bite of a cracker.
"Why? A 30 million bounty isn't exactly Fleet Admiral-level news, is it?"
"We've got rumors he took down Buggy by himself," Sengoku said grimly. "And not long ago, he clashed with Hawkeye out on the open sea. At first, it looked like they were evenly matched. Our informant in the Krieg Pirates got killed in the crossfire, so the report's incomplete."
Hearing that, Garp finally stopped smiling and got serious.
"Okay, wait. Beating Buggy means his real bounty should be over a hundred million. He's a real threat. As for the other thing, did you ask Hawkeye about it?"
Sengoku sighed again. "We tried. Can't get ahold of him right now."
Garp looked at the stressed-out Sengoku and put on a serious face.
"With Ray's strength, he's a pirate we need to watch closely. Hmm... Sengoku, you've got this! Do your best!"
Sengoku thought Garp was about to volunteer for a second, but hearing that last part made him explode.
"THAT'S YOUR GRANDSON'S CREW!"
"I know."
"GA~RP!"
"Ahem, well, this old man has places to be. See ya!"
Watching Garp casually walk out, Sengoku clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Then he started muttering to himself.
"Tch, and the big shots in the New World are acting up, too... We'll have to deal with the Straw Hats later. They'll probably hit Loguetown soon. Hmm... Can Smoker handle it? Maybe I should send him some backup."