Three days later, the sun hung high and hurled its heat across the sea.
Under the broad deck umbrella, Windfire Wheel was in full performance mode, arms carving the air as he bragged to Nami and the others. "That Tyrant Dragon God stood twenty meters tall, the fiercest war king of the Beast Clan. His ultimate move, Dragon Emperor Rift, could erase everything for a hundred li around. He fired one Dragon Emperor Rift from each hand, and every Motor Clan warrior lost hope. Then I, the bravest warrior of the Motor Clan, Windfire Wheel, stepped forth and unleashed my ultimate technique…"
Nami and the crew wore the same skeptical look, but their attention snapped past him to the sea. A massive fleet had risen on the horizon. Everyone hurried to the rail to get a better view.
"Hey, hey, don't leave! I haven't even told you what my ultimate technique is!" Windfire Wheel scurried after them. "It's called Nine Heavens—"
"Later, Windfire Wheel. We'll hear it next time," they said, cutting him off in unison.
Up ahead, the fleet came into focus. Every vessel was a large sea-going ship, though none shared the same make. If not for the black jolly rogers at their masts, one might have mistaken them for a merchant convoy. On each flag, a skull grinned between twin hourglasses. Nearly fifty ships carried the same mark.
It was the banner of the largest pirate crew in the East Blue: the Krieg Pirates.
On the fleet's largest vessel, the flagship Dreadnought Sabre, a tall man with pale purple hair stood at the prow. A headscarf wrapped his brow, a golden suit of armor gleamed on his frame, black boots planted wide, a heavy cloak billowing behind him. This was Don Krieg, the self-proclaimed overlord of the East.
Krieg drew on a cigar while his chief commander, known as Gin the Demon, approached. "Boss, the ship ahead flies the flag of the man with a fifty-million Berries bounty. Rody the Slayer. Do we attack or steer clear?"
"That's right, boss," another pirate muttered, nervous. "He's worth fifty million. Maybe we avoid a fight." On the Dreadnought Sabre, the men paled at the numbers. Their own captain carried a mere seventeen million. Rody's price was nearly triple.
Krieg snorted. "He killed some Marines and a few fish-men. So what?"
He jabbed his cigar toward the target. "Bring us alongside."
Then he threw back his head and laughed. "I am Don Krieg, admiral of an armada nearly five thousand strong, overlord of the East Blue. Ha… hahaha!"
Pearl the Iron Wall, captain of the second division, stepped forward with a proud clank of armor. "No need for you to dirty your hands, boss. I, Iron Wall Pearl, will show that Slayer what the Krieg Pirates are made of."
"Yeah, he only butchered some useless Marines and a few fish-men," another pirate roared, emboldened by the bravado. "We've got nearly five thousand brothers. He's finished. Hahaha!"
"One blade each and he's in pieces! Hahahahaha!"
Laughter rolled across the Dreadnought Sabre like surf after a storm.
...
In the training room, Rody was honing the flow of his Armament Haki. After days of practice, he could send it at will to any part of his body, shaping it for precise defense and clean strikes.
"Captain, trouble! A giant pirate fleet ahead!" Windfire Wheel burst in, skidding to a stop.
Perhaps because he hailed from a world of vehicles, Windfire Wheel preferred calling Rody "captain." Rody rubbed his temples. Some summons you win, some you suffer through.
He opened his Observation Haki and swept the sea. Life flickered across the horizon like a field of stars. "There are plenty of them. Something like a little over four thousand, not quite five."
Rody followed Windfire Wheel up to the deck, took a glass of juice from Mike, and looked out. Nearly fifty big ships loomed ahead. Even for him, the sheer number struck a chord.
"Lord Rody," Mike reported, "that is the Krieg Pirates, the largest crew in the East Blue. Their captain, Don Krieg, is called the overlord of these waters. His bounty is seventeen million Berries."
Rody raised an eyebrow. "Only seventeen million? With all these ships, I thought the captain would be well into nine digits."
Windfire Wheel perked up. "Then we have nothing to fear. Our captain's worth fifty million, almost triple his."
He tilted his head, confused. "But they neither attack nor avoid us. What do they want? Are they planning to bring the armada over and pledge themselves to our captain?"
In three days, Windfire Wheel had learned a fair bit about this world. He knew bounty numbers did not tell the whole story, but strength weighed heavily in them.
The Dreadnought Sabre nosed closer. Rody slid an arm around Nami's waist and jumped. They landed on the flagship's deck without a sound. Windfire Wheel and Mike followed, while Carmen and her apprentices stayed aboard their own ship.
"S-someone just jumped aboard!"
"From the ship ahead. It must be the Slayer!"
"Don't panic! Our chief is Gin the Demon. Our second division captain is Iron Wall Pearl. And we have the mighty Don Krieg. The one who should be afraid is that so-called Slayer!" Krieg lounged on his great chair, basking in the praise, a smile tugging at his lips.
Then he saw them clearly and the smile froze. At the lead stood a tall man with red hair and marked lines across his face, one arm around a young, beautiful orange-haired woman. The man could only be Rody the Slayer. The woman had to be his navigator, the cat burglar Nami.
But what truly stunned Krieg was the being at Rody's side. A machine that had unfolded from a motorcycle into a humanoid form. Even on the Grand Line, where odd species were common as clouds, this would draw stares. In the calm East Blue, it was something unheard of.
"Th-that's a motorcycle, right?"
"How can a motorcycle walk upright like a person? It's a monster. A motorcycle monster!"
"Idiot."
"If it walks like a person, it must be a robot!" The pirates on deck gaped at Windfire Wheel as if the world had suddenly developed a second moon.
"Hey, hey, watch your mouths," Windfire Wheel snapped. "I'm no monster. I am the bravest warrior of the Motor Clan, the commander below the captain."
He planted a heel, chest out. "They call me Windfire Wheel."