Outside the island is a semicircle of beach, while inside is a forest—it's a typical small island.
At the center of the island, in a clearing within the woods, a bonfire blazes fiercely, casting a humanoid shadow.
Sitting on a broken log in front of the bonfire is an extremely tall and brawny man, particularly resembling a gorilla in his upper body. He has light purple hair, tied with a white headband, currently lowering his head slightly, exposing half of his gloomy face, allowing the firelight to flicker on it.
In front of him stands a group of people, among whom three are surrounded by the crowd.
"Why?"
The tall man spoke in a deep voice, "Tell me, why didn't you capture the ship, why didn't you lower the Pirate Flag."
"Gulp—"
The sound of difficult swallowing came from those three people.
The one at the forefront of the trio, with messy hair and stubble, a dark complexion, and thick lips with deep dark circles, said, "Boss, the Pirate Flag is our emblem, we can't..."
Bam!
Before he finished speaking, he saw the tall man suddenly stand up and swung a punch across, his forearm thrusting him fiercely to the ground.
"Just relying on a small boat! If you don't lower the Pirate Flag, you won't capture any ships! What emblem are you talking about at this time, without a ship how do we set sail!"
He stepped over the bonfire, put one foot on the man's head, pushing it halfway into the soil.
"Why didn't you follow my orders, answer me!"
"Boss! The Pirate Flag is honor! We can't keep lowering it, our people are dwindling, if we lower the Pirate Flag again, morale will..."
Bam!
Another heavy stomp, the tall man viciously stepped on his face, interrupting him again.
"Morale is something that will return as long as we capture a ship! As long as we have a ship, we can set sail again, and as long as we set sail we can recruit people!"
The tall man's roar made everyone shiver, he continued to step on the man on the ground a few more times, shouting:
"Because you didn't follow orders, I missed another opportunity! Are you waiting for us to starve on this island before you're satisfied!"
"B-boss..."
A tall, brawny man with long limbs stepped out from the crowd, boldly said, "The captain didn't do it on purpose, he just wanted to maintain the honor of the Krieg Pirates..."
"Hmm?!"
The tall man jerked his head up, "You want to defy orders too, Pearl!"
"No, not at all!"
The brawny man trembled, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, wetting the crescent-shaped lock of hair on it, "I follow the boss!"
"Good."
The tall man stared at him and said, "Starting tomorrow, you lead the team. When you return, I don't want to see that small wooden boat again."
He lifted his foot, looking at the man with his head buried in the soil, "As for you, if you don't change... then leave the Krieg Pirates!"
"Boss!"
Just as he lifted his foot, the man on the ground braced his arms, slowly got up, regardless of the dirt on his face and the blood at his eye and mouth corners, said:
"Boss, once upon a time, although you were ruthless, you still had a heart set on sailing the seas, I respected you. But now, our people are leaving one by one. Clearly it's time to maintain morale, yet you're still thinking of capturing ships, capturing ships..."
"Ships can be captured anytime, but capture them honorably. Do it in the name of the Krieg Pirates, not through vile sneak attacks!"
"Captain! Stop talking!"
Voices started shouting among the crowd, "The boss is going to get angry, Captain, quickly apologize!"
"Boss, the captain must be saying nonsense because he's hungry, we'll go find food now."
"Yes, Captain, quickly say you'll follow the boss's orders!"
Yet the man seemed to not hear them, he raised his head to look directly at the tall man, tears mixed with blood flowing down his eyes, shouted, "We are pirates, pirates with a Pirate Flag, not knaves!!"
Crack!
The tall man's fist tightened, his joints audibly snapping, veins start appearing densely in his already fierce eyes, he lifted his fist high, roaring:
"Gin! Are you going to defy me!!"
Ever since being defeated by the Straw Hat kid, the boss became despondent, only thinking of how to capture another ship, becoming even more vile than before.
Lowering the Pirate Flag, sneaking attacks on merchant ships and navy ships, it's not like it hasn't been done, but they failed! When failing, instead of finding ways to boost morale, they rely on a small wooden boat to sneak attack, making them not feel like pirates!
At least, not the kind of pirate Gin wants to be!
Before, he would hide behind the boss's strong reputation, disguising his wild ambitions as his own.
But since being defeated by Mr. Sanji, he awakened.
He doesn't want to live such a despicable life, pirates... can be grand!
He wants to meet them honorably again on the sea!
Thud!
The tall man punched down heavily, his fist even making a breaking sound in the air, Gin looked at the incoming fist, shouted fearlessly, "Boss, wake up!!"
"Well said."
Just as the huge fist was only a tiny distance from Gin's face, a voice suddenly sounded.
Very near!
The tall man's body paused, instinctively turned his head, seeing at the bonfire in front, two people unknown when appeared.
A young girl standing beside, while at the broken log where he originally sat, was a young man sitting with legs spread, elbows propped on knees, hand supporting his chin, looking this way with keen interest.
"Who are you?" Krieg asked coldly.
"Just like you, a pirate."
Upon saying this, Sage sighed, "I used to want to meet you, couldn't bump into you. Now I don't want to, yet ran into several in one day, really trying to go against me..."
Seeing the firelight on the island, pirate ships at the shore, he directly came over.
Such a small boat, thought it was a few infamous little pirates, considering the pirate crew just started, could find some minions for himself.
Turns out, well, some faces he recognized, all appearing on previous Wanted Orders.
Bounty of seventeen million, Krieg Pirates captain, 'Boss' Krieg.
Twelve million, Krieg Pirates Combat Commander, 'Ghost Man' Gin.
Seven million, Krieg Pirates member, 'Iron Wall' Pearl.
Plus Buggy whom he encountered...
Met four in one day!
If it were two days earlier, meeting such four, he'd give up being a pirate and take them for bounty rewards, buy real estate long ago!
As for now... it's utterly colorless.
But not without gains.
Being a pirate, Sage certainly aims to recruit minions, yet even he has no ship, apart from Lily no one would look up to him, pirates aren't foolish, without a ship how to raid?
But now...
Isn't this ready-made?
They're even having an internal conflict, such a good opportunity, he can't possibly let it slip.
Sage looked at Gin, said, "I admire you, want to come with me? My Pirate Flag, will never be lowered."