Arakaki Jin had quietly slipped aboard a pirate ship headed straight for the New World—keeping a low profile, blending in among the crew like just another hired thug.
When he'd snuck onboard, he'd overheard them yelling at the top of their lungs about becoming Pirate King.
The William Pirates.
Captain: Williamms, age thirty.
Current bounty: ninety-seven million Berries—just shy of a hundred million.
Born in North Blue, the most chaotic of the four seas.
Back when Roger's execution and last words shook the world, Williamms had seen the newspaper, grabbed a few childhood friends, and raised a pirate flag.
In North Blue, they'd been beaten half to death more times than they could count.
Eventually, they learned the lesson every small-time punk learns or dies failing:
Lay low.
Get stronger.
Then show your teeth.
And then they began to rise.
At the height of their fame in North Blue, Kizaru had casually erased one of their ships with a single laser from the sky.
As the saying went: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
By sheer luck, Williamms stumbled across a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit—the Cold-Cold Fruit.
With that power, he rebuilt his crew, recruiting tougher fighters from across North Blue.
They carved a bloody path through the most chaotic sea, pushed his bounty past fifty million, and decided they were ready for the Grand Line.
The Grand Line beat the arrogance out of them.
After getting thrashed repeatedly by Haki users, they swallowed their pride, learned Haki, and crawled back up the ladder.
With his Cold-Cold Fruit, twin scythes, and growing command of Armament, Williamms' name spread like wildfire.
The Marines sent warships after him again and again.
He cut his way through every encirclement, all the way to Sabaody.
Once there, the crew went hunting for someone to "lay the groundwork" for their New World debut.
If Jin had seen who they used as a broker, he'd have said:
So that freckled rich lady you robbed burned through her money this fast, huh?
Bounty hunters took a shot at Williamms at Sabaody.
The fight was brutal.
His bounty jumped again—to ninety-seven million.
They'd passed through Fishman Island too.
Originally, they'd wanted to snag a few mermaids.
Then they saw the Golden Dragon circling the island.
They dropped that idea immediately.
All they wanted now was to reach the New World alive, grow strong, and then dominate it.
Sit on the throne as Pirate King.
—
Some time later, near the New World entrance.
Their ship punched up through the surface in a geyser of foam.
"The New World! Hahaha! The great Williamms has arrived!"
"Captain, we made it! This is the New World!"
The small fry howled at the sky, high on adrenaline and dreams.
Jin had been intending to simply leave once they reached this point.
He knew this crew's record.
They had no history of massacring civilians. Their entire rise had been built on fighting other pirate crews.
That was the only reason Kizaru had blown up one of their ships instead of erasing the entire flag.
No intention to wipe them out, Jin thought. Just a warning shot with a body count.
He headed for the stern, ready to take off.
He paused.
Something… interesting brushed against his Observation Haki.
The corner of his mouth tugged up.
Well now. Let's see what kind of show this is going to be.
"Boom boom boom!"
Cannon fire exploded across the sea.
"Boom! Boom!"
Cannonballs splashed down all around them—close, but never quite hitting the hull.
"What the hell?" Williamms squinted toward the source.
Another pirate ship was bearing down on them from the side.
"Whew… scared me. Thought the Marines had followed us," one crewman muttered, patting his chest.
A harsh laugh carried over the waves.
"Hahahaha! Fresh meat in the New World, huh? Boys, let's show 'em the might of the Iron Chain Pirates!"
"Yeah! Captain's the best!"
Williamms threw his head back and laughed.
"So this is the New World's welcome ceremony?"
He slammed the butts of his scythes against the deck.
"Boys! Sink them!"
"Aye, Captain!"
Cannons roared back and forth.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Williamms swung his twin scythes in sweeping arcs, sending sharp blades of compressed air screaming through the sky.
"Slice, slice!"
Blade Qi shredded the incoming cannonballs midair.
"Hey—a swordmaster?" someone on the Iron Chain ship blurted, taken aback.
Impressive. But not enough to scare a genuine New World crew.
The ships closed the distance.
Boarding hooks flew.
The real fight began.
"Hahahaha! So this is New World pirates? Not bad!" Williamms clashed with the enemy captain.
King vs. king.
Commander vs. commander.
"Rookie, don't get too cocky!" the enemy captain—Iron Chain—snarled, arms spread wide.
Thick chains erupted from both his hands like metal serpents.
"Die—Death's Embrace!"
"Oh? A Devil Fruit user?" Williamms grinned. "Not bad. As expected of the New World. But you're not the only one."
Cold air exploded from his blades as he coated his scythes with Armament.
Frost crept over his shoulders.
They traded blows—
Clang, clang, clang!
A single flash, and a bloody line opened across Iron Chain's shoulder.
"Damn it… so troublesome…"
The wound didn't just hurt.
It felt cold. Deeply, unnaturally cold.
"Keep it coming!" Williamms laughed wildly. "I'm the man who's going to conquer the New World!"
His style was simple: once he wounded his prey, he never let up.
"Think I'm afraid of you?" Iron Chain spat. "Don't get carried away, rookie!"
They crashed together again, chains grinding against steel.
"Hahaha! And what if I do get carried away?" Williamms taunted. "Out here, strength is everything."
"Isn't that the first rule of you New World pirates?"
—
Jin, meanwhile, flowed through the chaos like water, "fishing" in the crowd.
Anyone who came too close—either side—ate a barehanded blow and went flying.
Slowly but surely, he worked his way toward the Iron Chain Pirates' captain's cabin.
Bang.
He kicked the door open and stepped in.
The corridor behind him was littered with groaning bodies—all the pirates who'd tried and failed to block his path.
"Ahhh!"
Two shrill screams hit his ears.
Two scantily-dressed women shrank back against the wall, arms wrapped tightly around themselves.
Jin glanced over.
Well-fed, well-groomed. Skin clear. Perfect makeup.
They didn't look like slaves dragged out of some cage. More like people who had chosen their environment.
He ignored them and went straight for the safe at the back.
Crack.
"Not bad," he whistled. "Didn't think this crew would be this loaded."
Stacks of cash—easily tens of millions in Berries. Pouches of gems. Gold.
He swept a hand across it.
Everything vanished into his bracelet's inner space.
What really caught his eye, though, was a small box nestled at the back of the safe.
While Jin was digging through the spoils, the two women slowly crept closer.
"Sir, did you come to rescue us?" one whimpered. "We've been held by these pirates for so long… are we finally saved?"
They slipped in closer, clinging to his arm, soft bodies pressing against him.
Jin sighed.
"If it weren't for the daggers on your lower backs that you're about to stab me with," he said lazily, "I might've played along for a bit."
"Sir, why are you sighing?" the other asked, eyes big and wet. "Aren't you happy? Let us serve you…"
Both moved at the same time, hands flashing back for the hidden blades, stabbing straight for his kidneys.
Clink. Crack.
"Huh?!"
Their eyes went wide.
The daggers snapped on contact.
"You know," Jin said, turning his head slowly to face them, "you could've just stayed put."
"I was going to leave on my own. We could've kept well water and river water separate."
He loomed over them—two and a half meters of coiled muscle and quiet menace.
For some reason, he was still growing taller.
It annoyed him. Being too tall was a pain.
"S-sir, please spare us," one stammered. "We didn't see anything, we swear!"
Their voices shook, eyes wide with desperate, practiced pleading.
Jin's aura rolled over them.
They couldn't move.
"…Too late," he said softly.
His greatsword appeared in his right hand with a whisper of steel.
A casual flick of his wrist.
Two pretty heads separated cleanly from their necks.
Thud. Thud.
Twin headless bodies hit the floor.
"'A heart free of women, and the sword moves like a god,' huh?" Jin muttered. "Yeah, that's never happening. Too damn troublesome."
The sword vanished again.
He popped open the small box and smiled.
Devil Fruit.
By the pattern, an avian Zoan—some kind of hawk. Not Mythical, not Ancient, but a flying Zoan was plenty valuable on its own.
He slipped the fruit into his bracelet, then stepped back out onto the deck.
His gaze swept across the battlefield.
Yeah.
Just about wrapped up.
Iron Chain was on his last legs, bleeding and staggering.
Jin used Moonwalk to shoot into the sky, vanishing into the thick fog above.
Once he reached a safe height, he shifted into his Golden Dragon form and arrowed away, leaving the clash behind.
—
"Hahahaha!"
Williamms bisected Iron Chain with a final, brutal slash.
He threw his head back, roaring his triumph to the sky.
After mopping up the remaining small fry, he strode toward the captain's cabin, drunk on victory.
The moment he saw the cabin door hanging open, his stomach dropped.
He sprinted inside.
Outside, the crew was piling crates when their captain's furious bellow shook the ship.
"Who was it?! Which bastard cut in line and got there first?!"
"Does no one respect seniority anymore?! Where's your honor?!"
The William Pirates froze.
No one had the answer.
Far above them, a golden shadow cut across the clouds, laughing to himself as he flew toward the deeper New World.
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