"D-did that motorcycle just talk?!"
"I told you it's a robot!"
The deck buzzed with disbelief. Windfire Wheel spread his metal hands in exasperation. "For the last time, I'm a warrior of the Motor Clan! Are all you humans deaf?"
He turned, pointing at the glittering man lounging on his gilded chair. "Hey, you! The one wrapped in gold foil—yeah, you must be their captain, right?" His tone was dripping with mockery. "What's this? You planning to bring all your men over to pledge yourselves to our glorious and handsome Captain Rody?"
Laughter and derision twisted into his voice, echoing across the deck.
The man in gold—Don Krieg—sat in silence, jaw tightening, eyes dark as a storm cloud. But before he could reply, a hulking man plated in steel shields stepped forward. His chest and arms were wrapped in iron, his face smug behind the glint of metal.
"Brat!" the man barked. "Don't think that killing a few fish-men and useless Marines makes you special. Just because the Navy put a fifty-million bounty on your head doesn't mean you can look down on the mighty Krieg Pirates! We're the greatest crew in all the East Blue—five thousand strong! Let me, Iron Wall Pearl, captain of the Second Division, show you what that means!"
With a clang, he lifted his arms, showing the array of shields bolted to his body—large, small, layered like scales. He banged two together with a sharp clang! "Boy, I've never shed a drop of blood in battle. Not one! My Iron Wall is invincible! Ha-ha-ha!" He jabbed a finger skyward, beaming with pride.
"That's right! Captain Pearl never bleeds!"
"You're dead, kid! No one breaks his defense!" The pirates howled with laughter, pounding their weapons on the deck.
Even Krieg, though still scowling, couldn't stop the faint curl of a grin at the corner of his mouth.
"Captain," Windfire Wheel whispered from behind Rody, "these guys aren't here to join us—they're here to die."
Then, louder, with theatrical flourish, "Show them, Captain! Show them the power of your fifty-million bounty!"
He promptly scuttled backward, hiding behind Rody's shoulder.
"Ha! Look, the robot's backing off!"
"Haha! Scared, is he? So much for their 'strongest man.' Bet that bounty's all talk!" the pirates jeered, laughter rising again.
Mike raised his cane slightly, his old eyes calm. "Lord Rody, shall I deal with this one?"
Rody shook his head and stepped forward. His gaze fell on Pearl's absurdly shielded frame. The man looked like a turtle on stilts—thick torso, stubby neck, limbs stretched awkwardly by layers of armor. Rody sighed. "Do people in this world choose to look this ridiculous?"
Pearl banged his shields again impatiently. "Enough talk! Come at me!"
Rody smirked. "Tch. You're in such a hurry to die—fine, I'll grant your wish."
He wrapped his right arm in Armament Haki, letting the energy flow like liquid over his knuckles. Then, with about thirty percent of his strength, he threw a single punch at the shield on Pearl's chest.
"Ha! That barely—"
He didn't finish.
BOOM.
The sound ripped across the deck like thunder. Pearl's body and his shields exploded in a single instant, fragments of iron and flesh raining in a crimson storm. The shockwave blasted backward, spearing through several unfortunate pirates. Blood mist sprayed across Krieg's golden armor, staining it red. The deck beneath him glistened, a carpet of blood stretching to Rody's feet.
Pearl's broken body collapsed with a hollow thud, the remaining shields clattering down beside him. His eyes bulged wide, disBerrieseving, staring at the unbroken piece of metal beneath him. "H-how… how could this…"
"What… what just happened?"
"P-Pearl's Iron Wall… his invincible defense… just—just shattered?"
"But I didn't even see the hit land! How did it break him apart like that?"
"Th-that's the power of a fifty-million bounty?"
Fear rippled through the crew. They stared at Rody as if staring at death itself.
Windfire Wheel puffed up proudly. "Ha-ha! Now you know the might of our captain! You better kneel now, before he gets really mad. Otherwise, none of you will have a body left to bury!"
Krieg wiped blood from his face, the stench of iron thick in his nose. His jaw tightened as he straightened, voice sharp. "You must be using some kind of hidden explosive device—that's how you destroyed Pearl's body and shields!"
Gin twirled his tonfa weapons, stepping forward. "Boss, allow me to handle this."
Krieg lifted a hand to stop him. "No. I'll deal with him myself."
He raised both arms. The twin golden shields on his wrists clicked together, shifting and locking with the sound of machinery. From the joined center extended a spearhead gleaming like fire; beneath it, a long shaft unfolded with a hiss. Krieg leveled the massive weapon toward Rody, its point glowing faintly.
"Don't think you're the only one with explosive power," Krieg sneered. "My Great Battle Spear's blast is ten times stronger. I'll finish you myself!"
"The Captain's Great Battle Spear!"
"Yeah! Its explosions are even stronger than Pearl's! Captain, kill him! Avenge Pearl!"
Their fear flipped instantly to feverish hope. They roared Krieg's name as he lunged forward, spear glowing.
Rody's eyes were cold as steel. He flicked his fingers. Two black-edged slashes of energy cut through the air.
Shing!
Krieg froze mid-step. His spear clattered to the deck. Then, slowly, his arms fell—cleanly severed.
"Ah—AHHH! My hands!"
He stumbled backward, falling hard. "What… what kind of weapon… what the hell are you using?!" Blood streamed down his golden armor in thick lines.
Gin dropped his weapons, tearing off his shirt to bind the wounds. "Boss! Captain Krieg, stay with me! Where's the ship's doctor? Get the doctor, now!"
"W-what do we do?"
"The Captain's down too! We can't beat him!"
"He's a fifty-million Berries monster—we're dead if we fight!"
"Let's surrender!"
Windfire Wheel strode forward, hands on his hips, grinning ear to ear. "You heard him! Your shiny golden captain just lost both arms! Better get on your knees now before our captain decides you're next!"
"Y-yeah! Let's surrender!"
"Yes! We surrender to Lord Rody!"
Weapons clattered as the pirates dropped them one by one, kneeling across the bloodstained deck.
Krieg, pale and trembling, bellowed from the floor, "No! I forbid it! No one surrenders!"
But the sight of Rody standing there—calm, unruffled, with blood still dripping from his last strike—was enough to crush the will of five thousand men.