At dawn, Ethan Chen gently released the young woman sleeping soundly in his arms. Her lips curled slightly upward in the sweetness of her dreams. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth before slipping on a pair of shorts and quietly stepping out of the tent.
Outside, the early morning light bathed the world in a warm glow. The sun had just risen, and it was the most comfortable time of day.
In the center of the camp, Tifa was preparing breakfast pasta, bacon, and eggs, a simple yet hearty Western-style meal.
She looked up as he approached and greeted him with a smile. "Good morning."
"Morning."
"2B's still asleep. If you need help with... anything, wait until I finish cooking."
Ethan knew exactly what she meant. His early-morning vigor was sometimes a little too... noticeable.
"You handle breakfast. I'll go for a swim to burn it off."
"Alright." Tifa turned back to the sizzling pan, focused on her cooking.
Ethan ran toward the sea and dove in headfirst, swimming with long, fluid strokes.
After exhausting his energy in the water, he returned to clean up and joined the others for breakfast.
Once the meal was over, they began packing up camp. Their next destination: the island where Don Krieg was assembling his pirate fleet.
Another full day of sailing passed, and by the following morning, they reached their destination.
From a distance, dozens of pirate ships of varying sizes encircled the island an intimidating sight.
With a fleet of this size, each ship armed with multiple cannons, they could easily unleash a Buster Call-level assault minus the elite leadership, of course.
It was undeniably a formidable force.
Yet Ethan knew this entire fleet would eventually be reduced to splinters in the Grand Line, effortlessly torn apart by one of the Seven Warlords, the world-renowned swordsman known as "Hawkeye" Mihawk. He would cleave through them like slicing melons.
"Aren't we bounty hunters? Are we really just sailing straight in like this?" Tifa asked, concerned.
Ethan glanced at her. "We're nobodies. Who's going to care? If anyone asks, we'll just say we're pirates too. Stay flexible. Don't be so rigid."
Tifa looked up at the mast. "But we don't even have a pirate flag. Doesn't seem convincing."
"True. Pirate flags usually have skulls, don't they?"
With that, Ethan dashed into the cabin and emerged with a blank black flag and some paint.
He quickly drew a skull and, for good measure, added a head of curly hair to it.
"Done. We're officially the Curly-Haired Pirate Crew!"
Mona raised an eyebrow, tugging at Ethan's hair. "This drawing is awful. And your hair doesn't even curl like that."
"Meh, it's just to fool the other pirates. No need to be picky." Ethan handed the flag to the auxiliary drone. "Help me hoist it up."
"Affirmative." The drone took the flag, flew up the mast, and replaced the previous [Calamity] flag.
With the skull and crossbones now flying proudly, the Lexington had all the makings of a bona fide pirate ship.
The rest was surprisingly easy. With the pirate flag on display, they sailed in, docked, and registered without encountering any resistance.
But before disembarking, they needed disguises.
It wasn't that the girls were too beautiful and might attract trouble Ethan wasn't worried about that.
What concerned him was the possibility of Navy officers blending in among the crowd, especially those with cameras used to photograph pirate faces and create bounty posters.
If they got caught on camera, it'd be a mess trying to prove they weren't pirates.
From the cabin, Ethan retrieved several cloaks and plain white masks with blank expressions. "Put these on. We don't want to stand out."
He had bought them earlier while teasing Tifa, figuring they might come in handy one day. And today was that day.
Mona took the items and noticed there were only three sets. "What about you?"
"I'm the boss. I can't be blending in with the lackeys." Ethan tugged at his tie and ran a hand through his hair. He was dressed like a mafia enforcer sharp suit, violent air.
Mona rolled her eyes but obediently donned the cloak and mask, trailing behind him like a loyal henchwoman. She looked too scrawny to be threatening, though.
Tifa and 2B followed suit. But even with disguises, their auras were too subdued to intimidate anyone.
Ethan, on the other hand, draped his coat over his shoulders and put on a pair of dark sunglasses.
"Stick close. Don't speak unless you have to. If anyone causes trouble handle it. No warnings."
"Understood," 2B replied. This was more her style. She wasn't great with people.
She was much better at cutting them down.
Mona and Tifa exchanged glances, a flicker of nervousness in their eyes.
Not that they had any reason to be nervous.
If anyone should be nervous, it was the pirates outside.
After investing skill points and growing stronger, Ethan's very presence had changed. He now radiated an aura that made people hesitate a quiet menace that warned others to stay away.
Combined with his stylish outfit, raw confidence, and striking looks, even at a modest height of 185 centimeters practically short in a world where two meters was average he projected overwhelming dominance.
As they walked, the loud, rowdy pirates instinctively stepped aside.
Whispers spread among them. They speculated about Ethan's identity, racking their brains to connect him with any notorious pirate.
But they came up blank.
There was no such person in East Blue.
He was putting on an act.
That led to resentment but few had the guts to test him.
Most pirates were thugs who only picked fights with the weak. When faced with true strength, they backed down like cowards.
Only a few dared to step up those who thought they could make a name for themselves by taking down an unknown face with a bounty-worthy show of force.
"Hey, kid. Didn't anyone tell you it's dangerous for newbies to act cocky around here?"
A towering shadow blocked their path. Ethan looked up to see a pirate over three meters tall, resting a massive battle axe on his shoulder.
His face was a mess of scars and muscle, twisted into a grin as he reached out to grab Ethan by the collar.
Big mistake.
Ethan seized one of the man's sausage-thick fingers and twisted it sharply.
A loud crack echoed through the air.
"AAARGHH!!"
The brute screamed in agony, dropping to his knees.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to block someone's path?"
Ethan followed with a brutal knee strike to the chin.
There was a wet crunch. Blood sprayed across his black shoes. The man collapsed, unconscious, eyes rolled back.
Spectators froze. Their jaws dropped.
"That was Black Boar George! He had a bounty of four million! And he went down in one hit?!"
"Who is this guy? How can someone that strong not have a reputation?"
"Maybe he's from beyond East Blue..."
Good thing we didn't pick a fight with him.
Ethan ignored the buzz and stepped over the unconscious man, continuing forward without a backward glance.
He stopped a few steps later in front of a pirate loitering by the side of the road.
"You know where I can find 'Admiral' Don Krieg? How do I get an audience with him?"
Hearing the question, everyone around him suddenly had another theory.
Was this man here to challenge Krieg?
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