Pirates

Sailing the world's oceans is not easy and full of very challenging obstacles. Sailors must be wary not only of encountering pirates but also of natural factors such as weather.

This time, the ship Eiji was on faced a storm that suddenly appeared, leaving the crew no time to respond properly.

Strong winds and waves made the ship sway, making it difficult just to stand normally. Despite this, the crew did not panic; they followed the captain's instructions and carried out their tasks.

"It seems I don't need to worry about this ship sinking."

Standing in the crow's nest, Eiji breathed a sigh of relief at the crew's cooperation in facing the storm.

According to their conversation, the voyage from the Kingdom of Lulusia to the Sabaody Archipelago would take three days.

"Hm?"

Eiji vaguely saw a shadow swimming underwater. The figure was very large, exceeding the size of the ship.

Because the figure lacked special energy, Six Eyes wasn't much help.

"Could it be a Sea King? How unlucky. The storm hasn't passed, yet the ship is already in danger." He speculated.

Sea Kings are large carnivorous monsters that inhabit all the world's oceans. They are especially prevalent in the Calm Belts surrounding the Grand Line and are one of the most common and notorious dangers sailors face.

Sea Kings are larger than most fish and other sea creatures. They are even considered the apex predators of the ocean's food chain. With huge teeth and massive bodies, they can eat and sink anything.

Eiji's prediction was accurate. Moments later, a Sea King shaped like an eel emerged from the water, its eyes fixed on the ship as if seeing its meal.

"Not good, there's a Sea King!"

"Will our voyage end here?"

"Damn it, I should have listened to my mother and not sailed."

The captain and crew were desperate. Even the mercenaries hired to protect against pirate attacks were terrified of facing a Sea King.

"I still have a long way to go to Sabaody, this ship is still needed."

In this situation, Eiji couldn't help but intervene. But he didn't want his presence to be noticed by others.

His mind worked quickly like a quantum computer. In one second in the real world, he came up with an idea to handle this situation without revealing himself.

*ZINGGG*

His eyes fixed sharply on the Sea King, which opened its mouth to bite the ship. Instantly, Eiji emitted a frightening momentum targeting only the Sea King.

Haoshoku Haki!

Even though Eiji's Haoshoku Haki was only at the beginner level, it was more than enough to intimidate the Sea King.

"!!!"

The Sea King's movements stopped, a strong pressure enveloped its body, and its most primitive instincts urged it to flee. Without hesitation, it canceled its intent to destroy the ship and dove back into the ocean.

"Huh? We're safe...?"

"Why did the Sea King suddenly flee?"

The crew looked at each other in confusion.

"Stop daydreaming! Quickly return to your positions! We haven't passed the storm yet!"

"Aye, captain!"

Following the captain's orders, the crew suppressed their doubts and continued their tasks.

No matter what happened, the important thing was that they all survived the disaster.

"Haoshoku Haki is really useful..."

Seeing the situation stabilize, Eiji evaluated the previous incident. He greatly appreciated Haoshoku Haki.

An hour later, the ship successfully passed through the storm. Even so, everyone remained vigilant in case the weather suddenly changed drastically.

Extreme weather changes at sea in a short time are not uncommon. Even experienced navigators can only predict upcoming weather through signs in nature.

That day, the ship experienced an ice storm once and a rainstorm three times.

Only after nightfall did the crew rest.

"The extreme weather changes in this world are too strange; they cannot be explained by science and knowledge."

Sitting in the crow's nest, Eiji ate bread for his dinner.

There was no other choice; the food supply came from the world of Zero no Tsukaima, not from modern civilization.

His original Storage Ring was lost during his battle against the 10 million Cursed Spirits in Aokigahara Forest.

What Eiji regretted the most was the loss of Sukuna's Finger, which he had painstakingly collected in secret.

Thinking that Sukuna's Finger stored in his Storage Ring had fallen into Kenjaku's hands, Eiji felt somewhat annoyed.

"Just wait, Kenjaku. After I master Haki and find a powerful Devil Fruit, I will ruin all your plans." He muttered softly.

According to his calculations, once he learned advanced Haki and ate the Devil Fruit he desired, such as Toki Toki no Mi, he would have a chance against Sukuna at his peak.

Of course, this was just his deduction. The truth still needed to be verified by himself.

❀❀❀

The next day.

The ship was halfway to the Sabaody Archipelago. The journey proceeded smoothly without encountering extreme weather.

Just when everyone thought everything would be fine until they reached their destination, another variable from human factors appeared.

"There are pirates heading this way!" Shouted the lookout.

Instantly, everyone tensed up after hearing this announcement.

Fear of pirates was deeply ingrained in most people.

In general, pirates are professional criminals who operate wholly or partly on the world's seas, especially those who commit robbery by ship.

Pirates have a bad reputation in the eyes of ordinary people. After all, exploration-type pirates like Roger and Luffy are a minority.

The majority of pirates are heinous criminals who commit robbery, murder, looting, rape, and other crimes.

"Which pirates are coming?" Asked the captain with a grim expression.

"It's the Silver Spear Pirates' flag; their captain is Casildo, with a bounty of 250 million belly."

One of the crew flipped through a bounty paper and quickly reported the result.

"Damn... This voyage is truly unlucky."

Hearing the report, the captain's heart sank.

Yesterday, they encountered a Sea King and were lucky to survive. Today, strong pirates were heading their way.

It should be known that rookie pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million belly are considered extraordinary and categorized as Super Rookies or Supernovas.

Casildo was not part of the Worst Generation's Supernova, but he was not someone the mercenaries from a small country could handle.

Considering the many misfortunes of this voyage, the captain wondered who the jinx was on his ship.

*WHOOSH*

A whizzing sound accompanied by heat.

*BOOM*

The next moment, a loud explosion attracted everyone's attention.

Under the astonished gaze of the captain and crew, they saw the Silver Spear Pirates' ship suddenly explode and burn.

Even the pirates' screams were clearly heard, with many of them jumping into the sea to extinguish the flames that burned their bodies alive.

"What actually happened?"

The captain rubbed his eyes several times, but the scene of the burning ship still unfolded before him.

He was not dreaming!

"Who helped us..."

He wasn't stupid; he quickly realized someone strong had saved them.

"Benefactor, thank you very much for saving the Lulusia trading ship. As a token of gratitude, I would like to offer you a feast."

The captain shouted loudly for their rescuer to hear.

"..."

No response.

"Sigh... Never mind, since that person doesn't want to appear, let's just consider ourselves lucky to be saved by a mysterious person."

After waiting for a long time without any response, the captain gave up trying to persuade the other party to appear.

After that, the ship continued sailing to the Sabaody Archipelago safely and arrived on the third day as scheduled.