WTR-LAB
Pirates: Davy
Koby, with his short, cherry-blossom pink hair and round glasses, was the most educated person in the Alvida Pirates, but also the weakest.
On this stormy night, he was forced to huddle with the reeking pirates in the dark, damp ship's cabin, telling stories to their bored audience.
Koby's lips trembled as he adjusted his glasses and said:
"A long, long time ago, there was a Fishman named Vander Decken. He unexpectedly acquired a ship called the Flying Dutchman. It was said that the ship possessed the power of the legendary Ruler of the Deep, allowing its owner to dominate the sea."
"However, that power drove Vander Decken mad. He killed many crew members, throwing them into the sea as sacrifices, which temporarily suppressed the Flying Dutchman's mental influence over him."
"From then on, Vander Decken used the Flying Dutchman to conquer and sweep through the underwater world, invincible. Later, his greedy gaze fell upon the land he had coveted for a long time."
"But Vander Decken, who possessed the Flying Dutchman yet couldn't unleash the full power of the Ruler of the Deep, couldn't withstand the combined attacks of the World Government, the Marines, and other pirates. He was quickly defeated in the battle to land, forced to retreat back to the seabed."
"Vander Decken could not defeat humans, so he passed his hopes on to his descendants, generation after generation. It has now reached Vander Decken IX, who still keeps the Flying Dutchman, lurking at the bottom of the sea, waiting for the best opportunity to seize the land."
"And every generation of Vander Decken has been filled with hatred for the humans on the sea. They will puncture every ship, dragging the humans who fall into the sea to the bottom, drowning them alive! It is said that the seabed of the Grand Line is covered with the skeletons of those they drowned!"
Koby's story ended there.
One burly pirate listened, unimpressed, and burst out laughing, saying:
"Just those lowly races? They're nothing but commodities in a cage. We even sold a Fishman once. Too bad it wasn't a Mermaid; Mermaids are worth many times more."
Other informed pirates also laughed, clearly not taking Vander Decken or the Flying Dutchman seriously, let alone the "Ruler of the Deep."
"Exactly!" another pirate, with a slicked-back hairstyle and tattooed arms, shouted even louder, "Let him and his Flying Dutchman come! We Alvida Pirates will show them a lesson!"
Koby, having finished his story, merely rubbed the back of his head, forcing a fearful smile, joining in the pirates' joyful mockery, not daring to voice his own thoughts.
Just then, urgent footsteps suddenly echoed from the deck, catching everyone's attention. Then a pirate poked his head down from above and shouted to everyone:
"Something's up! A ship spotted ahead! Quick! Everyone up and to work!"
The pirates were startled, dropping their bottles of liquor and drunkenly standing up, staring wide-eyed at the lookout pirate.
A pirate asked, "Is it the Marines? Morgan of the Navy Branch? Or Captain Nezumi?"
The lookout pirate shook his head and replied:
"Neither! But it's not a merchant ship or a passenger ship either. There's no flag on the mast, and the hull is dilapidated, like a shipwreck just salvaged from the bottom of the sea. It's heading straight for us."
"Bah!" The burly pirate immediately climbed up the wooden ladder, his expression fierce. "No matter what kind of ship it is, if it dares to approach us so arrogantly, we'll carve off a few pieces of its flesh!"
The greedy pirates were all incited by his words, climbing onto the deck one after another. Some pirates even hurried off to report to the Captain.
Koby huddled in the corner, trembling. He initially didn't want to move, but a sharp-eyed pirate spotted him and yelled:
"Coward! Are you hiding in the cabin again, playing the turtle? Don't forget, if it weren't for your talent as a navigator and your literacy, Captain Alvida would have thrown you into the sea long ago!"
Koby, trembling, had no choice but to climb the wooden ladder onto the deck.
At this moment, the pirates on the deck were quite busy, running back and forth. One pirate almost tripped.
Some of them grabbed swords, guns, or clubs, some went to check if the cannons could fire in the downpour, and others had already prepared the grappling hooks at the end of ropes to hook onto the dilapidated ship.
Koby, drenched in the pouring rain, shielded his forehead with his hand, barely able to make out the scene before him.
He saw Captain Alvida's corpulent, bear-like figure already at the bow of the ship, and his pupils involuntarily contracted, freezing him in place.
This female pirate was his most terrifying nightmare.
Years ago, he had mistakenly boarded a small boat of the Alvida Pirates and was brought to their pirate ship, where he was forced to become a navigator under the pirates' threats.
He was compelled to spread out sea charts, guiding the pirates through the East Blue, determining which routes would yield the most loot and allow them to escape Marine pursuit.
But Captain Alvida was always dissatisfied with him, constantly beating or scolding him.
He had experienced the power of Captain Alvida's Spiked Club many times, and several times he thought his battered body was surely doomed, yet he somehow managed to cling to life until now.
This caused Koby to instinctively shrink whenever he saw Alvida, wanting to become invisible.
However, Alvida still saw him. She hoisted her Spiked Club onto her shoulder and, in a hoarse voice, shouted:
"Koby—"
Her voice was loud enough to pierce through the rain.
Koby couldn't pretend not to hear. He responded with a sound, then quickly ran over, stopping in front of her with his frail body bowed, forcing a fawning smile and rubbing his palms together.
Alvida scrutinized the trembling, soaking wet little chick from head to toe, her contempt for him growing. She simply asked:
"Koby, what is the most beautiful thing in the sea?"
Koby rubbed the back of his head, looking at Alvida's pockmarked face and pig-like corpulent body, forcing a smile against his will:
"Of course, it's Miss Alvida! Heh heh, heh heh..."
As expected, Alvida showed a satisfied smile and said:
"That's right! For someone as beautiful as me, everything on this sea should belong to me! Including this ship before us!"
She then turned around, brandishing her Spiked Club, and loudly declared to the pirates:
"Get the ship closer! Seize all the valuables and provisions on that ship for me! Anyone who dares to resist, kill them all!"
The pirates cheered in unison, shouting excitedly for the impending looting feast!
The pirate ship drew closer and closer to the dilapidated vessel, as if they could smell the decaying odor emanating from its hull.
In the dark night, the pirates seemed to vaguely see a tall, flickering figure at the bow of the ship.
Amidst the squall, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck from the sky, instantly illuminating the bow of the broken ship and allowing the pirates to clearly see the true appearance of that figure.
But this sight caused the pirates to turn pale with fright!
The one standing at the bow was clearly not human!
The wriggling tentacles beneath that octopus head, the cold, grey-blue eyes, the tricorn hat, robes, and long boots covered in barnacles – no matter how they looked, it was not human!
The lightning flashed and disappeared, and the bow of the broken ship once again plunged into darkness, revealing only the blurred outline of the strange figure.
The pirates all swallowed hard.
A pirate asked tremblingly:
"Wha... what was that just now?"
No one could answer him.
Originally, the sudden appearance of such a dilapidated ship in such severe weather was suspicious enough, let alone a strange figure standing at its bow.
The more the pirates imagined, the more goosebumps rose on their skin.
Alvida narrowed her eyes, calmly and loudly rebuked:
"What's there to panic about? It's just a Fishman!"
Upon hearing this, everyone instantly understood.
Oh, right, an octopus head – that's a characteristic of an octopus Fishman, one of the many Fishman species!
We were overthinking it! Captain Alvida is truly experienced!
All the pirates breathed a sigh of relief. Since they knew the opponent was a Fishman, it was something that could be killed. They had even sold a bat Fishman before; there was nothing to be afraid of.
Now, they were only left with suspicion: what was a Fishman doing, sailing on the sea in a broken ship?
At this moment, Koby suddenly saw something incredible. He shivered, pointed his finger at the bow of the broken ship, and said with great fear:
"Mi... Miss Alvida..."
Alvida glared at him with displeasure, and in a hoarse voice, asked:
"What now?"
Koby said, his teeth chattering:
"He... he disappeared... in an instant... he just disappeared..."
The pirates then looked towards the bow of the broken ship again, and indeed, they no longer saw the Fishman's figure.
What happened? He was just there. Where did he go now?
A pirate thought for a moment, then scoffed:
"Koby, that Fishman must have seen us, gotten scared, and either jumped onto the deck or into the sea!"
The pirates heard this, agreed with the logic, and all burst into laughter.
Sure enough, Koby was still that useless coward, scaring himself at every little rustle.
Alvida also pouted and laughed, saying:
"If that Fishman dove into the sea, we really couldn't deal with him, and we wouldn't be able to catch him... Never mind. Let's see if there are any Mermaids or other valuable things on his ship."
The pirates all responded in unison, shouting and cheering as they threw ropes towards the nearby broken ship, hooking its gunwale.
Koby watched this scene, filled with terror.
No, it's not like that!
He didn't know how to explain to the pirates that although the broken ship had plunged into darkness after the lightning, the outline of that strange figure was still visible; only its face was unclear.
He had just seen with his own eyes the Fishman's figure directly vanish from the bow of the ship; he hadn't jumped onto the broken ship or into the sea at all!
This was absolutely not normal!
Koby's instinct for self-preservation in the face of danger made him feel icy cold all over.
That Fishman hadn't fled; he must still be nearby!
But no one was willing to believe him!
The pirates clearly didn't give Koby's words much thought. They had already hooked the gunwale of the broken ship and were preparing to climb across the ropes.
Just then, a deep voice, chilling everyone to the bone, resonated from behind them.
"What are you looking for on my ship?"
The pirates, startled by this sudden voice, turned their heads in astonishment, and then they saw that same soaking wet octopus Fishman standing on their own pirate ship!
Everyone was terrified!
How could it be?!
When did he climb onto our ship and silently come up behind us?
Koby, watching his nightmare come true, couldn't help but shriek.
Davy Jones had teleported over. He surveyed the ship, then looked at that dark-and-white skull pirate flag, which had been furled due to the heavy rain, and understood that this was a pirate ship.
He had dealt with countless pirates and was all too familiar with them. Just as he was about to ask this group of pirates for information about this sea area, there was a loud bang!
A piece of Davy Jones's head was blown off, revealing a gruesome hole.