66 Florian Triangle
BOOOM!!
BOOOM!!
SPLASH!! The sound of cannon shots is heard from a distance as three marine ships were chasing after the Victoria Punk.
"Tsk...They are not gonna give up, are they?" Kid remarked while looking at their direction with a slight annoyance.
"Let them come, I'll teach them a lesson" Kai declared while standing beside him and Crocodile.
Crocodile calmly reached to his pocket and took out a large cigar, put it in his mouth and lighted up before taking a couple of puffs from it "They'll keep sending reinforcements until they catch their target, its best to get rid of them now and avoid any complications" He said, on his face is a look of arrogance and disdain to the marines.
"Should I let them get close to us?" Killed asked his captain.
"Yeah, we'll swiftly get rid of them" Kai scanned the enemy ships first to make sure there aren't any dangerous individuals boarding them before they do that.
Once the enemy got close, they rained down the Victoria Punk with cannon shots.
Crocodile cracked a cocky smile before his body turned to sand and he vanished in the air before reappearing a few seconds later above one of the marine ships.
"That's the previous Warlord, Sir Crocodile!!" One of the soldiers pointed out.
"Don't be intimidated, shoot him down!!!" Everyone on board carried out the orders and started shooting Crocodile with their rifles.
However, those attacks did not work on the Logia user at all and only left a few holes on his body before it shaped back to its normal form.
After that, Crocodile summoned a small tornado on the palm of his right hand that proceeded to grow larger before he sent rampaging on the enemy ship.
"Sables!!"
FWOOSH!! KA-BOOM!! As the sandstorm grew larger and larger, the marines could not stop it and it rampaged on the ship, causing massive destruction before the gunpowder on the armory exploded and caused the ship to catch fire and sink shortly afterwards.
"Demolishing Wind!!" Nearby, Kai used his wind power to generate an incredibly large, compressed blade that flew towards one of the marine ships and cut it in half, before he summoned a massive thunder cloud above it and shot down lightning bolts that shocked the marines to death.
"Punk Gibson!!" With two giant metallic arms, Kid dealt a heavy blow to the last marine ship before Killer joined him and used his lightning power to strike it as well.
Lightning!!...Thunder!!
"Heaven's Wrath!!" Killer stretched his right palm forward and shot a massive beam of electricity that hit the marine ship from the side, causing a massive explosion before it sunk.
"Nice one Killer! You're getting used to your new power quickly" Kai praised him.
"It's nothing" Killer calmly replied.
Everyone landed back on the Victoria Punk after that clash.
"A crew of Devil Fruit users, huh? Maybe you weren't spouting nonsense after all" Crocodile commented after seeing their display of power.
"You still haven't seen anything" Kai's declared in confidence before he turned to Heat and Killer "Our next destination is Water 7!! Let's make it there in one piece!"
...
...
...
After a few days of sailing, the crew made it to Water 7 with no problems as the marines lost track of them.
After reaching the Island, Kai decided to lay low without causing any trouble. The first thing he did is exchange the gold they took from Skypiea for 600 Million Berries before visiting Galley-La Company to get a few upgrades in the Victoria Punk.
And since Crocodile has no ship, Kai loaned him some money to build one of his own. While he was there, he also met the undercover CP9 agents, Rob Lucci, Kaku and Kalifa but he decided not to meddle in their business and left them alone.
While they were waiting for the ships to be done and the Log Pose to reset, Kai sent Killer and Gin to the Blackmarket in order to sell the Rust-Rust fruit they stole from Captain Shu.
The duo used the Sea Train to travel to St. Poplar island where the Blackmarket is located. It only took them a few hours to go there, sell the fruit and comeback with a 60 million Berries with them.
A week later,
In the Galley-La Company shipyard, Crocodile's new vessel, the 'Sea Scourge' took form. The ship, painted in dark red and highlighted with touches of menacing golden color, has a crocodile figurehead at its bow and the sails bearing the Jolly Roger of Crocodile.
(Picture of Crocodile's Jolly Roger)
While smoking a thick cigar, Crocodile examined his new ship with satisfaction.
"You look satisfied" Paulie said, he is the vice president of Galley-La Company and the one who worked on Crocodile's ship.
"You did a good job, I like it" Crocodile calmly replied, his eyes still fixed on his new vessel and admiring it.
"Make sure to let me know if there is anything you would like to change" Paulie said. He turned on his heels and walked away aftwerwards.
"…" Crocodile stood silence on his place before he heard footsteps approaching him from behind.
"Nice ship you got there" Kai complimented, walking to his side.
"Thanks to your money…I'll make sure to pay you back as soon as I can"
"Don't stress out, take your time" Kai was holding a newspaper on his and he proceeded to hand it to him.
Crocodile raised an eyebrow and took it, reading its content with curiosity.
"Your bounty is active again…" Kai stated.
The newspaper's big headline said the following…
[The previous Warlord of The Sea Sir Crocodile escapes the Navy hands with the help of the Eustass Pirates.]
[With his Warlord statue being revoked, the Government issued a bounty on his head…]
['Desert King' Sir Crocodile, Dead or Alive 250,000,000 Berries]
Because of the crew's involvement and the incident and causing casualties to the Navy, their bounties has been raised.
['Red Demon' Eustass Kai, Dead or Alive 375,000,000 Berries]
[Eustass 'Captain' Kid, Dead or Alive 375,000,000 Berries]
['Massacre Soldier' Killer, Dead or Alive 175,500,000 Berries]
['Big Eater' Jewelry Bonney, 101,000,000 Berries]
"Four people with bounties exceeding 100 million in the same crew?...This is one hell of a crew you got, maybe I've underestimated you too much, demon" Crocodile commented on the bounties.
"Kahahaha! I've got an awesome crew, right? Maybe if you join me, we could make it five people"
Crocodile smirked at Kai's words "In your dreams"
...
Somewhere else in Paradise,
An enormous man stood at the front of a sailing vessel, he has a long curly hair under his white hat that's covered in dark spots and his cybernetic eyes are completely white. The Warlord 'Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma, on oppose to his name and reputation had a warm and affectionate smile while holding a Wanted Poster in his hand.
"You have grown a lot, Bonney" Kuma's smile widened while looking at the poster, he looked very proud while seeing his daughter's face in the newspaper "I hope you can be happy with your new friends….Eustass pirates, such an interesting group"
...
[Florian Triangle, Thriller Bark],
Inside the tall tower at the center of the island ship. Moria resides, he was currently accompanied by his loyal subordinate Perona.
"Kishishishi!! So, Crocodile managed to escape from the Navy hands with the help of the Eustass Pirates" With a wicked grin, Gecko Moria read the newspaper "The lucky bastard got away from the terrible fate of a life sentence in that shithole Impel Down"
"But now that his bounty is active again, his Warlord seat is empty. I wonder who might replace him?" Perona questioned while floating around Moria.
"Who knows. We'll find out soon enough...But this Eustass fellas are quite dangerous so to speak"
"Well, I don't care about them as long as they don't try to attack Moria-sama!"
…
[Marine Headquarters, Marineford – Paradise],
Inside the main building at the center of Marineford, the Fleet Admiral's office could be found. The one holding that position at the moment is Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha, who has absolute power over every action the Marines do including summoning a Buster Call, granting and removing a Warlord's title at any time, provided they meet the criteria for either.
Currently, Sengoku, Admiral Aokiji and Vice Admiral Garp were all gathered in the former's office.
"How's Smoker doing, Kuzan?" Sengoku asked since he knows that the two have a good relationship and are close friends. He was sitting on his large desk doing some paperwork.
"I paid him a visit a few days ago, his injuries aren't serious. He only needs to rest for a few days and he will be good to go" Aokiji responded calmly while sitting with a leg crossed on the couch near Sengoku's desk, Garp was sitting on the opposite side of him, and he proceeded to open a bag of rice crackers that he pulled out of nowhere.
*CRACK*…*MUNCH*-*MUNCH* Garp chuckled happily while enjoying his meal.
"Bwahahaha!! They got him really good, maybe you should teach your friend some skills on how to kick some ass next time, Kuzan!"
Aokiji scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to exactly respond to that before he shifted his attention back to Sengoku "Anyway, these Eustass Pirates has been causing a lot of trouble lately and now they even attacked the ship transporting Crocodile and rescued him…If they go on like this, they'll definitely become a serious threat in the future"
Sengoku frowned at that statement "I know, they are most likely going to head towards Moria's vicinity next based on the last time they've been seen near Pucci Island which is connected to Water 7. We can't spare more warships at the moment our hands are full, and it's not like they are the only one who've been causing troubles lately…"
Sengoku stated, glancing at the wanted posters of several pirate captains "…Basil Hawkins, X Drake, Scratchmen Apoo, Trafalgar Law, Capone Bege, Urouge and Straw Hat Luffy. They all have bounties exceeding 100 million Berries" Sengoku glanced at Garp who gave him a thumbs up after hearing Luffy's name.
"Bwahahaha! I heard he's been kicking some ass lately, what do you think of my grandson Sengoku?"
"Stop fooling around, this is a serious matter!!...Sigh, it's because you go easy on your grandsons that they ended up becoming pirates" Sengoku sighed loudly, pausing for a moment before he continued speaking "We have to call the Warlords for a meeting to discuss Crocodile's replacement"
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Aokiji questioned.
"One of the candidates was one of the Eustass brothers, but after the recent incident that's not a valid option…we'll think about that later in the meeting"
…
…
…
A few days later,
Two massive pirate ships were sailing away from Water 7 towards Fish-Man Island, one of them is the Victoria Punk while the other one is the Sea Scourge that belongs to Crocodile.
Kai's POV,
Its daytime now and the sea is calm, we've been sailing for a few days and the journey has been pretty smooth except for the occasional extreme bad weather and sea monsters' attacks.
I'm currently taking a nap in my room, resting my mind and body in preparation to my upcoming battle against Gecko Moria. I've had my eyes on his devil fruit power for a while now, a powerful ability like that is a waste on him so I'm going to take it and give it to someone in my crew who will use it to its full potential.
I'm thinking either Wyper or Krieg would be a good option 'Maybe I should also take the Clear-Clear fruit from Absalom and give it to either Heat or Wire' I thought, still not able to make up my mind about that because I could get better fruits for them in the future.
As for Perona, I don't really find her ability worth it, it's not an offensive devil fruit and might only be good for scouting, spying and infiltration. Plus, she looks very innocent, I'll honestly feel bad if I kill her.
*Knock*-*Knock* My thoughts were interrupted by the loud door knocks "Kai, You gotta see this" Killer opened the door and spoke.
"I'll be there in a minute"
I slowly rose from my bed and stretched my body; I already have an idea about what the situation might be. I got on my feet and put on my long red cape on top of my outfit that consists of a dark blue half-buttoned up shirt which was exposing my muscular chest, a long, fitted black pants and black shoes.
My sword was hanging from the left side of my belt.
I proceeded to walk out of my room to see what is going on. Kid was standing on the ship's prow, calmly scanning his surroundings while Crocodile's ship was still sailing beside us.
"We suddenly entered this thick fog" Killer stated while standing beside me.
'This must be the Florian Triangle' I thought in my mind before Kureha spoke.
"This is the Florian Triangle, they say a large number of ships disappear every year in here and are often found later without their crews" She stated while adjusting her glasses as we passed by dozens of shipwrecks and abandoned vessels "there are rumors about strange entities that dwell within the Florian Triangle, and they are the ones responsible for that"
'And Moria as well' I said internally.
"Are you talking about that?" Bonney pointed at the gigantic shadows standing in distance that appears to have red eyes.
"What the hell is that?...It's so massive" Wyper looked at the massive shadows with a frown.
"It's something we shouldn't mess with" Saga calmly replied to that.
"What a bunch of pussies, how can you say you want to find the One Piece if a couple of shadows scares you off" Krieg exclaimed with a cocky grin "If you piss your pants just say the words, and I Krieg-sama shall rescue you!"
"You shall shut your mouth and let the captains decide what to do!" Bonney shouted at him and the two got into a fight in the background.
After a few minutes passed, another giant shadow appeared in a distance. This time it didn't belong to the strange entities, but it looked like an island.
"Wooow! What is that thing?" Bonney pointed ahead at what appears to be an island surrounded by a huge wall with a gate resembling a giant mouth, with four chains connecting the walls with a tall tower at the center of it.
"An island?" Kid assumed.
"No, look up there, there is a Jolly Roger…it's a ship" I stated while observing the Thriller Bark. It was indeed very massive that the Victoria Punk looks like nothing in front of it "Let's approaching it cautiously"
On the Sea Scourge beside them, Crocodile and Daz Bonez seem to know about the Thriller Bark and Gecko Moria.
Crocodile took a couple of puffs from his cigar before he spoke "This is Moria's ship, that fatso have been hiding in the Florian Triangle for years"
"The Red Demon and his brother are sailing towards it; they must be planning to fight him" Daz Bonez glanced at Kai and the others approaching the Thriller Bark's gate "Do we follow them?"
"I don't think we have much of a choice…" Crocodile said before the Thriller Bark gate opened on its own and the two pirate ships got sucked inside.
