Click.
Aeridar switched off the safety on his ivory flintlock pistol and aimed it at Krieg.
"Uh... A-Aeridar-sama, what... what is this for?" Krieg and his men were stunned, their faces turning grim.
"It's nothing. It's just that you're an embarrassment to pirates," Aeridar said expressionlessly. "You're a despicable, good-for-nothing. You're not worthy of the title of pirate."
"Damn you!"
"You want to kill me?" Krieg asked, his face a mask of fury.
"The answer is obvious," Aeridar said, shaking the ivory flintlock in his hand.
"You bastard!" Krieg roared, ripping off his great cloak to reveal his golden armor.
Click!
Clank!
The sound of metal mechanisms whirred as black gun barrels emerged from Krieg's shoulders and waist. He also aimed two large-caliber double-barreled guns at Aeridar.
"Captain Krieg!" The officers on the small boat stared at Krieg in shock. They couldn't believe their captain dared to point guns at the man who was just fighting Mihawk.
"What gave you the courage?" Aeridar was slightly bewildered. The power gap between them was so obvious that anyone with a brain would know that resistance was futile.
"You bastard! You're just a Devil Fruit user!" Krieg shouted, his face contorted in a dark rage. "You rely on your ability! At this distance, what will you use to block my cannon fire?!"
In Krieg's mind, even Hawk-Eyes Mihawk, who had crushed his fleet, was just another man who relied on some sort of ability. He was sure that the way Mihawk's slashes cut his ship apart was just another Devil Fruit ability.
"Rely on ability?" Aeridar laughed at Krieg. It was truly a ludicrous notion. It was the first time he had heard someone claim he only relied on his power.
The true kings of the sea, Whitebeard, Big Mom, Sengoku the Buddha, Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji, himself, and even Doflamingo, who among them reached the pinnacle by only relying on a Devil Fruit?
None of them!
Even Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, who would later gain two abilities, couldn't have left the scars on Shanks's eye without strong physical combat and Haki. If he hadn't trained his body to be strong enough, he wouldn't have been able to use the Dark-Dark Fruit and Tremor-Tremor Fruit to their full potential. The Dark-Dark Fruit's side effect doubles any pain received, a side effect an ordinary person couldn't bear.
"It seems your ignorance is what makes you fearless," Aeridar sighed, pursing his lips in disdain.
Aeridar had no interest in an arrogant, ignorant fool who thought he was invincible. In fact, because they were both pirates from the East Blue, Aeridar felt a sense of shame.
"You bastard! Die!" Krieg roared, pulling the triggers.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, gunfire and cannon fire erupted. Fire and thick smoke covered Aeridar as a barrage of black cannonballs engulfed his entire body.
"A pathetic weakling," Aeridar sneered, releasing a repulsive force from his entire body.
Shinra Tensei!
In a flash, the dozens of fiery black projectiles slowed to a stop, hovering ten centimeters in front of Aeridar. Under Krieg's stunned expression, the cannonballs flew back at him a second later, their speed no less than when they were fired.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of explosions covered the small sailing boat and the surrounding ten meters. A roaring sound echoed, and a burst of orange flame shot out, creating a massive shockwave that threw up waves several meters high. The smoke filled with the smell of gunpowder, engulfing the area.
A few moments later, the explosions and smoke dissipated, revealing that the old sailing boat was gone. In its place were only charred pieces of wood floating on the sea, along with a few unconscious, bloodied officers with their eyes rolled back, and a thin, crimson stain in the water.
"How... how could this happen?" Krieg coughed up blood, his face pale as he lay on a broken piece of the mast. His golden armor was blackened.
"This accursed ability... My men! My pirate empire!" Although the golden armor had protected Krieg from the worst of the damage, his boat was destroyed. If he didn't hold onto the broken mast, the heavy golden armor would have dragged him to the bottom of the ocean, drowning him. Furthermore, the few men with him were his most important officers. Aside from Gin, who was on the Baratie, the Krieg Pirates had been completely wiped out.
"Boring," Aeridar said, looking at the miserable Krieg. He didn't waste any more words and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A shot rang out, and a flash of fire erupted from the gun barrel. A round bullet with a searing flame shot out at over four hundred meters per second, burrowing into Krieg's forehead. His head jolted back as the bullet passed through, splattering his brains and blood into the sea.
"Ah..." Krieg's grip weakened, and he fell backward, slowly sinking as a trace of fear remained in his eyes.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Aeridar fired three more times, blowing the heads off the other three Krieg Pirate officers. Whether they had died before or not, they were now certainly dead with their heads blown apart. The bullets were imbued with the power of the Impact-Impact Fruit, making them powerful enough to pierce steel plates. They were not something a third-rate pirate could withstand.
"Phew." Aeridar blew on the gun barrel and put his pistol back in his coat. He looked at the bodies on the water and the sea that was slowly calming down. He then flew up and away from the area.
On the Baratie, a dozen miles away, Luffy, Sanji, Gin, and the chefs, having survived what felt like the end of the world, lay on the ground like dead dogs, unable to move.
A moment later, Luffy got up, his face expressionless as he adjusted his straw hat. He looked at the small boat in the distance, which held Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku, and the severely injured Zoro.
"Usopp! Hurry up! I'm counting on you to save Nami!" Luffy shouted at the small boat.
The shocking scene he just witnessed didn't scare Luffy. If anything, it only strengthened his resolve to sail the Grand Line.