That stance...
Gin's eyes widened, "Leader, are you... there are still our people here!"
"People or not..."
A ruthless voice came from behind the mask, "The pirate crew's gone, recruit more, anything's worth it for victory! Gin, I stopped trusting you long ago, thanks for stalling that brat, I'm going to poison all of you together!"
"Leader!"
Gin mumbled with trembling lips, "You don't... trust me anymore?"
"What is there to trust in you! If you hadn't acted on your own, letting that cook go and giving the gas mask to the Straw Hat brat, I wouldn't have failed then, nor would I have ended up in this situation!"
Krieg shouted, "Those who disobey my orders, I don't need!"
Since arriving on this island, he hadn't given any of his subordinates a gas mask, precisely to counter this situation.
This brat, he feels just like Straw Hat.
He won't let anyone drag him down again, nor give such people any more chances!
"Leader, I..."
Gin's tightly gripped cane fell to the ground, and he knelt there, despondent, "So, I've really been expelled, huh."
"Well, that's great then."
Sage said, "You've been expelled, just in time to join my pirates."
"You're no match for him, even though Krieg failed once, this time it's on land, and you don't have a gas mask. On land, he won't fail."
Gin lowered his head with a bitter smile, "As for me, I was the one who betrayed the captain's will, it is indeed damnable."
"Gin..."
Gin looked up at the calm Sage.
"Pirates from under the World Government's jurisdiction have never been guardians of order. If you talk of betrayal, the first betrayal was against the World Government; if so, you should have died back then. As you are now, you're not a pirate."
"I'm not a pirate..." Gin froze.
Sage said, "What's a pirate? Pirates are free, do whatever they want, and likewise, do nothing if they want. If you don't approve of the former captain's ways, that's also a form of freedom. If you can't have this freedom... how can you be called a pirate?"
"Moreover, on the ocean, there's no such thing as constant victory, nor coincidence. As long as you're human, you will fail at some point... if you can fail once, you can fail twice. The most important thing isn't failure itself, but whether you have the will to fight on."
Just like him, no matter how many times he fails, it doesn't matter, he still pursues his dreams!
Sage lifted his head to look at the sky, where the stars glittered brilliantly, and among them was one extremely bright star.
"Tonight, the stars are quite bright, especially..."
Sage looked at Krieg, his voice turning somber, "Your Death Star!"
"What nonsense, MH5 poison gas..."
"Soru!"
Before Krieg could even say the word 'bomb,' Soru flashed before him, throwing a punch straight at Krieg's shield.
Bang!
Simultaneously, the fist slammed onto Krieg's steel armor with immense force, creating a muffled sound, impressing a dent onto the armor's surface. Around the dent, cracks began to spread.
The massive force made Krieg's body hunch slightly, his eyes widening.
"You..."
"North Star Hundred Split Fist!"
Sage's hands blurred into shadows, not giving Krieg any chance to react, as he rapidly punched the steel armor.
Bam bam bam!!
The sound resonated like drumbeats, pounding the steel armor a hundred times in succession. With each punch, the dents on Krieg's armor multiplied and the cracks spread tighter, so much so that Krieg, like a small boat swaying at sea, couldn't move under the barrage of punches.
Until the last punch, the steel armor shattered into pieces, and after swaying for a moment, Krieg stood firm and raised his shield, laughing loudly, "Breaking my armor is useless, I can still fight! MH5 Poison Gas Bomb..."
"No..."
Sage suddenly turned his back on Krieg, indifferent, "You're already dead."
"Nani?!"
Krieg shouted, but his fingers couldn't pull the trigger, his body suddenly swelling as if inflated like a balloon, growing larger...
Boom!!
The balloon burst, flesh and blood exploded and scattered everywhere, leaving only that gas mask, lying intact amidst the remains.
"Krieg..."
Gin watched Krieg explode before him, then blankly looked at Sage approaching, "A man like you... why haven't I heard of you?"
"Just set sail, it's normal not to hear of me. Besides, rather than hearing my name, wouldn't it be better to join me and become famous together?" Sage said.
"If I don't join... will you spare me?"
"That option doesn't exist."
Sage smiled, "I'm a pirate, what I want is what I will definitely get. If you want to die, go ahead."
"I see..." Gin lowered his head with a bitter smile.
He actually didn't have ambitions, nor thought of becoming a leader, always dreaming of following someone renowned and powerful.
Krieg was such a person, even if he was defeated, it was irrelevant because he was still powerful.
He didn't like switching allegiances, once he chose someone, he was loyal to the end.
Krieg's ways, he didn't actually like.
But that was his captain, the person he chose, so he would obey orders.
But now he's been expelled once again, a second time.
Back at Baladi, he was already expelled by Krieg...
And now this powerful man was inviting him...
Gin glanced at the pirates lying on the ground, asking, "What about the others?"
"Of course, they'll join, I'm short of subordinates." Sage said.
Gin looked straight at Sage, "In battle, there are some people I don't wish to kill."
"I've said it, pirates are free, you want to do what you wish. You're a pirate, not a servant."
Sage reached out his hand to Gin, "So, do you accept my invitation?"
Gin stared at Sage's hand, taking a deep breath, "I still have a promise unfulfilled, I don't wish to die before that."
He grasped Sage's hand firmly, solemnly saying, "Please guide me, Captain!"
Sage smiled, "Let me introduce myself, I'm Norton Sage, from now on, I'm your captain."
He looked at the approaching Lily, "This is Bienta Lily, our navigator."
Lily nodded, "You're strong, we should spar sometime."
Gin had just avoided her attack, leaving a strong impression on her.
"You're not bad either, a formidable swordsman..."
Gin chuckled, "From now on, I'm part of the Sage Pirates!"
These words left the two stunned.
Sage Pirates?
Sage blinked at Lily, "Is that our name?"
"You're the captain." Lily said.
Sage scratched his head, speaking to Gin, "Well, we just set sail a day ago, haven't thought of a name for the crew yet."
He actually hadn't considered a name for the crew.
In his mind, pirate crews didn't have names. Names like Krieg Pirates or Buggy's Pirates were just crews grouped together under a captain.
The captain's name was the crew's name.
But now that the crew's been formed, Sage wanted a formal name.
To others, this is piracy. To him, it's entrepreneurship!
Entrepreneurship certainly needs a resounding name.