Chapter 30: Beasts Pirates: Vice-Captain Arc
ââMonths had passed since the "God Valley Incident," the cataclysmic event that saw the annihilation of the infamous Rocks Pirates, the most feared crew in the world.
On a summer island along the Grand Line, one of the many lawless territories outside the World Governmentâs control, the air was thick with the usual chatter of scoundrels and seafarers.
"âHey, ya hear? Rogerâs at it againâŠ"
"That bastardâs always been crazy. But forget himâwhat about Rocksâ remnants? âGolden Lionâ Shikiâs already formed his own crew and is wreckinâ the New World⊠This is their era now!"
"Dunno âbout that. Big Momâs no joke either. Heard she wiped out a whole country just âcause she wanted sweets⊠took thirty kids with her."
"If weâre talkinâ raw power, itâs Whitebeard. That guyâs a damn monster. Even Shiki and Big Mom watch their backs around him. Only one who can stand up to him is Roger."
"Tch. Roger oughta pick a fight with Garp the âHeroâ and get locked up already. Pisses me offâthat bastard screwed me over back in the day!"
"Heard all of Rocksâ remnants are freaks. Whoâs gonna come out on top? No way to tell yet."
"Hell, anyoneâs better than Rocks⊠At least now we can breathe a little."
Even in a lawless land, some semblance of order existed. Pirates and criminals came and went, but the island had its own peopleâfamilies, livelihoods, kids growing up tough, and merchants who knew how to profit off outlaws.
Bars were where scum gathered to drink, gamble, and trade rumors over bounty posters and newspapers. Deals were struck, fortunes discussed, and insults flew as freely as cheap rum. Pirates had no rules. They were free.
And right now, the hottest topic was the fallen Rocks Piratesâor Roger, or Garp. Truth be told, the whole world was probably talking about the same things.
But in this bar, there was one fresh piece of gossip:
"Hey, yâhear? A Navy prison ship sank near this island."
"No shit?! Hah! Serves âem rightâtryinâ to haul prisoners, only to drown with âem. Fuckinâ hilarious."
"Right? Just heard it. But get thisâthe guy who told me was shakinâ in his boots. Said he saw some kinda monster out at nightâŠ"
"The hell? Drunk off his ass, more like."
"Nah, man! Ahahaha!"
Raucous laughter erupted at the counter. Cheap jokes paired well with cheap boozeâa perfect way to pass the time.
But then, cutting through the noise like a knife, came a voice that didnât belong.
"ââWoooooow! Thatâs amaaaaazing~ âĄ"
"Ushishishishi! Damn right I am! Iâm the strongest there is!"
A girlâs innocent giggle. A manâs distinctive, grating laugh.
"âŠHuh? The hellâ?"
"Oi, dumbass! Donât look!"
The hardened pirates in the bar didnât turn toward the source. Only the newcomers dared.
"Who⊠whoâs that?"
"Thatâs âBloodstainedâ Rabbit⊠Captain of the Rabbit Pirates. He runs this island."
"No way⊠Is that girl suicidal? Sheâs gonna get killedâŠ"
"Yeah⊠Rabbitâs a real psychoâŠ"
In the VIP section, lounging on a sofa with women on either arm, sat a rabbit-eared pirateâRabbit, the man who ruled this lawless island.
A brutal, merciless captain who had risen through the ranks in just two years on the Grand Line. Nobody here dared defy him.
And yetâ
A black-haired, red-eyed girl with a bob cut and a dark outfit leaned in, eyes sparkling, grinning like she was hearing the most exciting story in the world.
"An 80-million-berry bounty?! Thatâs craaaaazy~! Hey, hey, whatâve you done to get that high? Tell me!"
"Ushishishishi...! So far, I've killed at least 500 people! Pirates, Marines, civiliansâmakes no difference to me!"
"Huh?! Five hundred?!"
The girl couldn't hide her shock at Rabbit's claim. Not surprisingâto her, that number was nothing short of horrifying.
"...I see..."
"Scared now?! I donât even spare kids! Anyone who crosses me on this island gets wrecked! Hell, I might just eat 'em too! Ushishishishi!"
"...Hmm..."
"...? Hey, that brat... Ain't she weirdly calm?"
"Leave her be. Sheâs gotta be pissing herself. No kid stays cool talkinâ to Rabbit."
"......Nah, man... I feel like Iâve seen her somewhere before..."
While one pirate scratched his head, the girl stared at Rabbit with a strange, appraising gazeâless impressed now, more... disappointed?
"...? The hell you starinâ at, brat? Creepinâ me out... What dâyou even want with me?"
"...Hmm... Well... Oh well! Okay, decision made!!"
"Hah?"
Ignoring him, she tapped her chin, muttered to herself, then suddenly beamed and declaredâ
"Congrats~!! Youâve been chosen to join our glorious Beasts Pirates!! From now on, youâll swear loyalty to our captain and me, the vice-captain, and work like a pack mule! But donât worry, weâll throw you some scraps too, so give it your all!!"
"....................."
Silence.
The entire bar froze.
Thenâ
"GYAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The room exploded in laughter.
"What kinda pirate crew?! Kukuku, is this brat recruiting him?!"
"Someone tell her!! Gyahaha! Must be some kidsâ pirate game goinâ around... How cute!"
Even the most hardened pirates couldnât stop laughingâespecially since Rabbit himself was chuckling.
"Ushishishi... So itâs a game invite, huh?"
"...Fufu... Nope~! Iâm recruiting you for real. As a real pirate. âĄ"
"Tch... Iâll give you points for guts, brat... But donât push your luck. Whoâd join some kiddie crew?"
"Ehh~? Itâs a pretty sweet deal, yâknow. Sure you donât wanna reconsider? Iâm the vice-captain, and my sworn siblingâs the captain. Youâd better join~. I might still forgive you if you change your mind nowâ"
"âHey. Brat."
Rabbit stood, pulling a knife from his coat and pressing it to her cheek.
The barâs mood flipped instantly.
"Listen real good. Get lost. Who the hell would follow some weak-ass brat and a nobody captain? Keep pushinâ me... and Iâll slit your throat."
No mercy for a kid. The crowd held its breath. Would he actually do it?
They expected tears. Begging. Maybe a pathetic scramble to escape.
âBut thatâs not what happened.
"...Which one of us is really playing pirate here?"
"......Hah?"
Rabbit blinked. What?
Then he noticedâ
She wasnât crying.
She was smiling.
"You think a real pirate would be scared of a little knife like this? How pathetic. Real pirates donât flinch at death. And here you are, clearly pissed off but still trying to threaten me instead of just doing it... Honestly, I wasnât expecting much after you bragged about killing 500 people, but wowâyou really are just some small-time thug, huh?"
"Y-you...!!!"
Rabbit trembled with rage, speechless as the girl sighed like she was bored out of her mind. The bar held its breath, bracing for the bloodshed they knew was coming.
But the girl wasnât done.
"Meh, whatever. Iâll give you one last chance. Swear loyalty to the Beasts Pirates as a low-ranking grunt, and Iâll spare you. Refuse? Iâll kill you. Soâwhichâll it be?"
"Y-you LITTLE SHIIIIIT!!!"
"!!"
Rabbit swung the knife down at her. The bar braced for blood.
But the one who bledâ
"...Ahaha, youâre terrible with knives~âĄ"
"Whaâ?!?!"
âwasnât the girl.
It was Rabbit.
Sheâd caught the blade mid-air with her bare hand, yanked it free, and stabbed it straight through his palm in one fluid motion.
For a moment, Rabbit just stared, too stunned to even feel painâuntil he saw her grin. Wide. Hungry.
"Even I was better at this as a kid~! Youâre doing it all wrong. Gotta put your weight into itâlike this!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHâ!!!"
His scream tore through the bar.
Chaos erupted. A little girl had just maimed the pirate who ruled this island.
Yet no one moved to help him.
Noâthey couldnât.
"Hmm~ I really didnât think youâd refuse! So disappointing. So frustrating! Ahahaha!!"
"G-get your foot offâGAAAAH!!"
She pinned him down effortlessly, her boot crushing his wrist as he writhed. The strongest pirate on the islandâhelpless against a child half his size.
The sheer wrongness of it paralyzed the room.
"No way... Thatâs Rabbit...!"
"An 80-million-berry man!! Thereâs no one stronger on this island!!"
"How is this happening?! That smileâsheâs toying with him like heâs nothing!!"
It wasnât a fight. It was play.
The kind where a child, grinning with innocent cruelty, pulls the wings off a bug.
But their horror didnât end there.
A new voice boomed through the barâ
"Ooooiâ!! The hellâs takinâ so long?! You scoutinâ or babysittinâ?!"
"!"
A massive figure loomed in the doorway.
Young, but towering. A kanabo in one hand, a sake bottle in the other. Drunk, furiousâand sporting a pair of horns.
The girlâs face lit up like a kid spotting her best friend.
"Oh, Kaido!! Listen to this! I tried recruiting this guy âcause he said he runs the island, but he was sooo rude!! Called us a âkiddie crew,â said I was âsome weak brat,â even dissed you as âsome nobody trashâ! So I figured Iâd vent a little before killing him~!"
"...He said WHAT?"
"Eeek...!?"
The girlâwhether intentionally or just genuinely pissed off at the insultsâkicked Rabbit aside and tattled to Kaido like a child complaining about a playground bully.
"He said what about us...?!" Kaidoâs voice was a low, seething growl, his pupils thinning into slits as he glared down at Rabbit.
"N-no, I didnâtâ!!"
Finally, Rabbit realized it.
This manâKaidoâand the girl were monsters far beyond him.
The aura of violence clinging to them, the way they carried themselves like predators who saw murder as trivial⊠His instincts screamed at him to run.
But Kaidoâs rage only boiled hotter.
"You little shit... Mocking us?! Calling meâsome nobody playing pirate?!
Veins bulged across his forehead. His fists clenched hard enough to crack bone. Teeth ground togetherâ
Thenâ
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAHâ!!!!"
"Whaâ?!?"
It wasnât a roar.
It was a dragonâs cry.
And the reason for that became horrifyingly clear as Kaidoâs body began to change.
"Wha⊠whatâsâŠ?!?"
"H-hiiieeeâŠ!!"
"KYAAAAAAAAH!!"
His skin darkened to a stormy blue. His body twisted, expandedâbursting through the barâs roof as he grew larger. And larger.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"
"Thatâs⊠Thatâs not human!!"
"A m-monster�!"
By the time the transformation finished, the entire island could see him.
A dragon.
Over a hundred meters long, coiled in the sky, glaring down at Rabbit with eyes that promised annihilation.
Rabbit couldnât speak. Couldnât move. He could only stare, paralyzed, at the thing that had rewritten the scale of his world.
Panic erupted across the island. People screamed, collapsed, fledâno one even considered fighting. There was no fighting that.
Except for one person.
"Tch. And here I thought this island would make a nice base for our crewâs debut⊠Oh well! Guess weâll just rule by fear instead~! Hey, Kaido! Sound good?!"
"!! That girlâsheâs flying too?!"
"B-both of them⊠Devil Fruit users?!"
With a flap of her crimson-and-blue wing-like scythes, the girlâNueâsoared up to the dragonâs eye level, chatting casually as if this were normal.
The dragon didnât snap at her.
"Yeah⊠Good. Save us the trouble of recruiting⊠Weâll take this whole damn island instead!!"
"Okaaay~! So, how hard should we break them?"
"Go wildâŠ!!! Iâm pissedâŠ!!!"
"Mmm, fair! Getting captured and tortured right after going independent would sour anyoneâs mood. Sinking one ship wasnât enough, huh? And youâre drunk too~ Well thenâletâs play!!"
With a flick of her wrist, she conjured something in the sky.
Something impossible.
"U⊠UFOs?!"
Ten of them. Glowing red, blue, and green, hovering ominously above the island like harbingers of doom.
A dragon. A winged girl. UFOs.
And thenâ
"I⊠I remember now!!" A pirate from the barâthe one whoâd thought the girl looked familiarâsuddenly paled. "Thatâs Nue and Kaido!! The Rocks Piratesâ remnants⊠Those mad apprenticesâŠ!!"
âOh? Looks like some folks already know us~ What should we do? Wanna give âem a little fan service?â
âDonât care⊠Iâll just kill that guy over there and wreck everythingâŠ!!!â
ââŠUgh⊠AahâŠ!â
Ignoring even Nueâs casual banter, Kaidouâs words as he glared down at the man were nothing short of a death sentence.
Amidst it all, Nue made her announcementâloud enough for the entire town to hear:
âAlrighty, then!! Letâs kick off a little carnival starting nooow!!!â
It was a declaration of despair.
The islandâs inhabitants were about to become unwilling participants in nothing more than a stress-relieving rampageâa means for these two to vent their frustrations while serving their goals.
And resistance was impossible. The moment these two appeared, this island had already become theirs.
âStarting today, weâthe Beasts Piratesâare taking over this island! Or rather⊠consider this a little demonstration of what that means~âȘ Oh, feel free to resist if you want! Though, yâknow⊠we might just kill you if you do~âĄâ
âWOROROROâŠ!!! From today onward, this island is MINEâŠ!! And if anyone dares defy me⊠Iâll make sure they learn exactly what happensâŠ!!!â
âN-No way⊠This canât be realâŠ?â
âIf those monsters go on a rampageâŠ!!â
âThis⊠This is a disaster⊠Thereâs no winningâŠ!!â
All they could do was tremble in fear.
On this day, everyoneâwhether they knew them before or notâwould remember their faces and names.
The remnants of the annihilated Rocks Pirates. A monstrous man who could transform into a massive dragon, and a girl whose deceptively cute appearance belied an unfathomable terror.
Two pirates of overwhelming strengthâfar beyond the caliber of ordinary rabble whoâd normally come to this island.
Their names wereâ
Captain of the Beasts Pirates, âKing of Beastsâ KaidouâBounty: 411,100,000 Berries.
Vice-Captain of the Beasts Pirates, âMonstrous Beastâ NueâBounty: 380,100,000 Berries.
Even back in their days as infamous rookies in the Rocks Pirates, these two had been known as utter madmen. Now, with the dawn of the true era of pirates upon them, they had set their sights on becoming the strongest.
And as they raised their pirate flag over this islandâmarking it as their first strongholdâtheir reign of terror had only just begun.
"Whew~... Never thought we'd end up in the Grand Line right off the bat... Ahaha."
"Damn those Navy bastards...! Iâll slaughter every last one of 'em next time...!!"
In the center of the moderately wrecked island, Kaidou and I sat on one of the few surviving sofas, eating while reminiscingâand cursingâabout how we got here.
The story was simple enough. After God Valley, we set out from an island in West Blue to strike out on our own as pirates... only to get captured by the Marines.
Bad luck, really. They were strong and had numbers on their side... Next thing we knew, we were knocked out and tossed in a prison shipâs cell. After enduring torture for a while, we woke up to find ourselves being transported to the Grand Line.
The torture left us weakened, and for some reason, theyâd chained us up even tighter than before, so breaking free took a while. But we managed it, sank the prison ship for good measure, and washed up on this island by pure chance... Now, we figured we might as well scout for crewmates here... and that brings us to the present.
Long story short, we kinda just stumbled into making this island our base. So Kaidou was understandably pissedâheâd been drinking and fuming earlier when I wasnât looking. Seems heâs sobered up now, though.
"Still, our bounties got updated... and they jumped way higher! Thatâs a win!"
"Yeah. But the world still ainât scared enough of us. Weâll wreck shit till they have to raise it more...!!"
"Oh, itâll go up whether they like it or not! âHey, you. This foodâs kinda trash. You got anything better?"
"S-s-sorry...!! W-we, uh... lost the kitchen, so..."
As we chatted about our shiny new bounties, I turned to one of the trembling lackeys nearby and made my request. He was terrifiedâunderstandable, given heâd just witnessed our rampage firsthand. So, naturally, I hit him with this:
"Huh~? So youâre saying this is the best you can do? Well then... maybe Iâll just eat you instead~âĄ"
"Eekâ!!? R-right away, maâam!!!"
Tilting my head cutely while leaning into his face did the trick. The guy turned sheet-white and bolted. See? They can do better when their lives are on the line. Gotta keep 'em on their toes, or theyâll start thinking they can slack off. Maybe I should have eaten him... Nah, the message got across. Not that hungry anyway.
"More importantly, we need a ship and a crew."
"A ship and a crew, huh... Shipâs doable, but how about the crew? Plenty of weaklings around, but..."
"Weâll scout for the strong ones. Hear rumors, recruit. Unless you got a better idea?"
"Nope. Sounds good. This islandâs roughâperfect for picking up intel like that."
I nodded at Kaidouâs suggestion. A ship was necessary, but the priority was powerâcrewmates who could fight.
To build the strongest pirate crew, that was key. Money, ships, weapons? All useful, but none could replace raw strength. Thatâs why, when we first arrived, I tried recruiting the toughest pirate here... Turned out to be trash, so, well, former toughest pirate now. Lesson learned: if they havenât killed enough people to be memorable, theyâre not worth it. Hell, back in the Rocks Pirates, none of us could even count our kills.
"Plus, we gotta get stronger. As we are now, weâd get crushed by Whitebeard or Shiki in the New World."
"Tch... Weâll be the ones crushing them soon enough. You better keep up."
"Obviously! Iâm gonna be the New Worldâs cutest, strongest, most mysterious pirate!!"
Above all, we needed to grow. We were strong now, but Whitebeard, Shiki, or Linlin? No contest.
Kaidouâs aiming for the top, and Iâve got my own rep to build. The ultimate badass beauty of the seasâwell, excluding that freak Linlin. She barely counts as a girl... But still, Iâll need to reach her level eventually.
"What else do we need? Money?"
"Money? Well, aside from our pirate savings, we can just start squeezing tribute outta this town for now. And after that, weâll take whatever we want from any dumb pirates who wander in."
"Do it. Handle the details yourself, Nue."
"Aye-aye, Captain~âȘ Ahaha, Iâve always wanted to try running a proper gangster racket like this~⥠Itâs fun getting to call the shots! So try not to wreck everything this time, okay? The whole âdemonstrationâ thingâs already over."
"Didnât need you to tell me. I ainât wreckinâ shit. This place is gonna be our damn strongholdâ"
âThe next day.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!?"
"P-please, stooooopâŠ!!"
"T-the whole islandâs gonnaâ!"
"WORORORORO!!! BRING ME MORE BOOZE!!! HicâŠ"
"âŠâŠâŠâŠ"
Once again, the island trembled under the rampage of a dragonâKaidouâand I could only stare in silent disbelief. Then, leaping into the air, I channeled Haki into my trident andâ
"âI told you not to wreck the place, dumbass!!!"
"âOOF!? The hell, Nue!?"
"A-AAAAAH!! Theyâre fighting again~~!!"
I proceeded to beat the crap out of Kaidou, reigniting our usual brawls⊠Ugh. So much for collecting tributeânow weâd have to rebuild the damn town first⊠Our pirate careers, freshly independent, were already off to another disastrous start.
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