Just as Vander Decken IX was fantasizing about Otohime and Neptune smiling kindly and approving his "marriage" to Shirahoshi, the sea giant hauling his ship suddenly squinted into the gloom.
"Captain, something's coming this way!"
"Huh?" Vander Decken's filthy daydream shattered. He glanced ahead.
All he saw was dim, murky water.
"Wadatsumi, are you seeing things again? Or is your shell itchy?"
"No, Captain, really—there!" Wadatsumi jabbed a massive finger forward.
Vander Decken followed his gaze.
Something enormous was gliding through the water.
Sea King? he thought, nervous.
If it was just a Sea King, it'd be fine—Wadatsumi could handle that.
But as the "something" came closer, a crushing pressure rolled over them, like the weight of the deep itself had doubled.
"That aura… what is that?!" Vander Decken's four legs started shaking.
"Wadatsumi, run! That might be one of those thousand-meter Sea Kings!"
"O-okay, Captain!" Wadatsumi tried to turn and swim away.
But his vast body barely twitched.
"Captain… I—I can't move!" Wadatsumi's voice cracked with panic. "My body's frozen!"
"Useless! Trash!" Vander Decken wailed. "I don't care what you do, just MOVE! If we stay here, we're dead!"
"But I really can't…!" The giant sea monster actually sounded close to tears.
Vander Decken's mind raced.
Run? How?
He was a Devil Fruit user, at the bottom of the sea. If he left the coated ship, he'd drown even faster.
The "something" finally came clearly into view.
A golden dragon.
It cut through the water with effortless grace, golden eyes glowing, the pressure so intense even the seawater seemed to tremble.
"…A dragon?" Vander Decken's legs trembled harder.
"Whoa, what is that?" Wadatsumi yelped. "Hey, you! Go away, or I'll punch you into space!"
Idiot, Vander Decken screamed inside.
Are all muscle-head this suicidal?! I'm going to die because of you one day!
"Shut up, Wadatsumi!"
"Oh… sorry, Captain."
"Heh. Interesting."
The amused voice rolled through the water from the dragon's direction.
Hearing the other side actually speak, Vander Decken swallowed hard and forced a shaky grin onto his face.
"H-hey there, friend… d-do you, uh, need any help from us?"
White Ghost lazily looked them over:
One anglerfish at the front, already knocked cold by his aura.
One bald sea giant, over eighty meters tall—Wadatsumi, a former Sun Pirate.
And one ugly tiger shark fishman—Vander Decken IX.
The creep who'd been harassing Shirahoshi for over a decade.
While White Ghost watched, the anglerfish floated limp, Wadatsumi shook but didn't dare move, and Vander Decken had already dropped to his knees on the deck, chest heaving as the pressure bore down.
White Ghost finally spoke.
"Actually, yeah," he said. "I do need something from you."
"Oh? R-really?" Vander Decken's eyes lit up. "T-that's great! Just say the word!"
"What I need," White Ghost said calmly, "is your life."
Vander Decken nodded automatically. "Of course, no problem, I'll defi—wait. My what?"
"Your life," White Ghost repeated, lips curling.
"You jerk!" Wadatsumi suddenly exploded. "How dare you threaten the captain—I'll smack you into paste!"
White Ghost's eyes flashed crimson.
A wave of black, crackling Conqueror's Haki blasted out across the seabed.
Wadatsumi took it head-on.
His eyes rolled up and he toppled like a falling mountain, slamming into the seafloor with a quake-like impact.
THUD.
Vander Decken's eyes rolled back as well; he collapsed on the deck, a thin string of foam at his mouth.
White Ghost ignored the unconscious giant and clamped his claws around the coated pirate ship, towing it upward toward the surface.
"Let's deal with you now," he muttered, "and save myself trouble later."
The ship broke the surface with a huge splash, bobbing on the waves.
As they cleared the water, White Ghost shifted back to human form. Golden flames licked over his body for a moment, drying him and his clothes instantly.
"Much better," he said.
He looked down at the ugly shark fishman at his feet, then nudged him in the ribs with his boot.
"Wake up, fish."
"Gyaaaah—!" Vander Decken jolted awake with a scream.
He blinked.
Blue sky.
Open sea.
No sign of Fishman Island.
Then he saw White Ghost—tall, muscular, and radiating a pressure that made his skin crawl.
"…"
"Keep staring and I'll start charging you," White Ghost said dryly. "You're creeping me out."
"N-no, sir! Great sir!" Vander Decken's survival instincts kicked in immediately. He flung himself to the deck on all fours and began kowtowing.
"Spare me! Please spare me! I—I can work for you! I can do anything! I've got tons of treasure in the hold—if you let me live, it's all yours!"
White Ghost clicked his tongue.
"So spineless. Aren't you supposed to be a shark?"
The fishman scrambled forward again, actually grabbing White Ghost's leg with both hands in a pathetic hug.
"Great sir, please—"
White Ghost kicked him aside with a look of disgust.
"Don't touch me. You're slimy."
"Y-yes, of course!" Vander Decken retreated a bit, still grinning obsequiously.
Inside, though, he was cackling.
Bah-hahahaha… got you.
Barehanded contact. His Target-Target Fruit had already marked White Ghost.
As long as he could get away now…
"Show me your 'treasure,'" White Ghost said lazily. "I'll see if your life is worth bargaining for."
"R-right this way, sir! This way!" Vander Decken said eagerly, leading him below deck.
As they passed, his hand brushed against a large double-headed axe leaning by the wall.
He slowed just enough to touch the handle.
White Ghost saw it but didn't comment.
They stepped into the treasure hold.
Piles of gold, jewels, and valuables filled the room almost to bursting.
White Ghost let out a low whistle.
"So that's how many ships you've sunk, huh…"
"Ehehe… please, sir, take whatever you like! Take everything!" Vander Decken bowed so low his forehead nearly hit the floor.
White Ghost reached out, about to store everything away—
His pupils flashed red.
For an instant, he saw a scene in his mind's eye:
Two axes spinning through the air from behind him, aimed straight at the back of his head.
…Oh?
On the deck outside, the double-headed axes Vander Decken had touched began to float.
Black marks and lines crawled along the metal as the Target-Target ability activated, locking fully onto White Ghost.
"Go die for me!" Vander Decken howled, hand clenching.
The two axes whirled like buzzsaws, shot through the doorway, and came screaming down toward the back of White Ghost's skull.
"Bah-hahahaha! That's what you get for messing with me!" Vander Decken cackled. "You dare kidnap the great Vander Decken? Too late to regret it now—"
His laughter died in his throat.
The axes had, indeed, hit the back of White Ghost's head.
And shattered.
With two pathetic crack-crack sounds, the twin blades broke apart on impact, fragments raining harmlessly to the floor.
"N-no way…"
White Ghost turned around slowly, expression calm.
"I was actually thinking of letting you live," he said. "But looks like you don't need that option."
"W-wait! Sir, listen, I—"
White Ghost reached into the nearest treasure chest and casually picked up a decorative dagger.
He weighed it once in his hand, then flicked his wrist.
Shing—
Thunk.
The blade sank cleanly into Vander Decken's chest.
The fishman froze. All four legs trembled.
White Ghost's voice was distant, almost bored.
"In your next life, try being a better fish."
Vander Decken toppled to the floor with a dull thud.
His vision dimmed. His last, pathetic thought was:
I… never married… Shirahoshi…
His eyes slid shut forever.
The most persistent creep in the sea had just become the first pervert pirate to die at White Ghost's hands.
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