The Warrior Merchant

Prologue

A large pirate ship was sailing in the clear waters of West Blue. The captain of this particular ship was currently looking at a small fishing vessel with most of the deck covered by a large cabin. But what got the most attention from the captain were the large black letters written on the sail: Seraph Sundries, Armor and Weapons. The captain had seen and plundered many merchant vessels but never had he seen a floating shop.

The man started stroking his thick blonde beard pondering what to do. He could just attack it now and take what he wanted, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. All this time the crew was watching the captain waiting for his orders. "Men, pull alongside the ship. I wish to see this "shop" for myself," The captain yelled. "Aye, Captain Chilblain" the crew shouted back as they prepared to approach the ship.

When the ship had pulled alongside the shop, the crew setup the boarding planks for the captain and the two crewmen going with him. The large man and his two followers walked across the planks and onto the deck of the shop. The captain approached the door to the shop and lifted his leg about to just kick the door open when he suddenly got a cold feeling down his spine. He shivered, as the two men watch him, and slowly put his foot down and politely knocked on the door before opening it.

The three men walked into the store to see a large assortment of items, lit by several gas lanterns, ranging from swords and bows to steel plates to dried meats and preservatives. At the very back of the shop was a large desk adorning scales, books and several stacks of paper money and coins. Seated at this desk was thin man wearing a grey duster with what looked like ammo bands on his shoulders. He had his elbows on the desk and his hands put together crisscrossing his fingers. His face was looking downward and his unkempt black hair hid a lot of it.

"Gentlemen, welcome, please have a look around and do not be afraid to ask me any questions," said the man in low smooth voice still keeping his face down. The other three men tensed from the sudden introduction. The captain swallowed, cleared his throat, and asked, "What is this place,"? The man chuckled. "That is a rather silly question. This is a shop and I am the owner, Koba Seraph." "But why have a shop out in the middle of the ocean?" the captain asked more loudly. "Why not?" the man replied simply while shrugging his shoulders. The captain was beginning to lose his patience, not that he had much to begin with.

Chilblain decided not to question the man further and began looking at the weapons hanging from the walls. All of them were of high quality, especially the blades. The pirate was now thinking that this little shop might be worth taking, but he shouldn't let it on just yet. For now he would just play along with the shop routine. The captain glanced down at his own cutlass which was marred with chips along the blade. The captain picked a cutlass from the wall and brought it to the desk.

"How much for this?" the large man asked. The owner looked up revealing his face. He was young, probably around 19, and had pale skin with sharp black eyes. The most notable feature was large burn scar covering from the right corner of his mouth, which was pointed down in a permanent scowl, to the tip of his ear and just under his eye. The young man smiled, as best he could, and answered "75,000 Beli." The captain frowned. "That's too much for this measly little sword, but tell you what I'll take this sword off of you for free". The young man's smile didn't falter, but his fingers tightened ever so slightly. "In fact I think I'll be taking everything for free" The captain said laughing; the two crewmates laughing with him. The young man frowned, his eyes shadowing out.

"I thought you would be smarter than the others" Koba said in a cold voice while standing up. The captain and the other two men felt the cold feeling down their spine; however, one crewmate felt it for a different reason. The captain shook it off and replied angrily, "Fool, don't you know who I am. I'm "Cold Heart" Chilblain with a bounty of 35,000,000 Beli." "C-c-c-Captain" said the still shivering crewmate. "What", yelled Chilblain. The crewman pointed at the wall behind the desk. The captain followed the finger to where he was pointing and stiffened.

On the wall were countless pirate flags all with different jolly rogers adorning them. Many of the flags the captain recognized and some of the pirates the flags represented had higher bounties than himself. "There is one thing you must know about me" Koba said. "If anyone tries to steal from me they will pay it back tenfold." The captain pulled out a flintlock pistol and aimed it at Seraph. "I won't end up like them. I'll kill you right now!" There was a small popping sound. The captain tried to pull the trigger but he no longer felt the gun in his hand.

He looked down and opened his hand revealing a glass sphere smaller than a marble in his palm. "Where is my gun?" he yelled. Koba pointed at the sphere "That is your gun." "Don't screw around with me." The captain roared throwing the sphere at Koba, who caught it easily. The three pirates suddenly heard another popping sound and looked at Seraph now holding the pistol. "What the hell?" Chilblain cried before he was shot squarely between the eyes with his own pistol. The two remaining men screamed and ran for the door.

Koba walked toward them, his boots making deep thuds with every step, as they ran out the door screaming for help. The crew on the ship heard the screams and prepared the cannons and loaded their guns. The two screaming men ran onto the ship as Koba walked outside and into the sights of the crew. "He killed the captain" screamed one of the men. "What!" yelled the first mate "Everybody prepare to fire on the ship". The cannons all started aiming at the deck of the ship, where Koba was currently standing.

He looked on with a frown as the men all started pointing their guns at him and the cannons were aimed at the ship. Before the first mate could order the attack there was a loud popping noise. The side of the ship that was facing Koba suddenly had a large hole that took up most of this side of the side of the ship. Many of the men screamed as they fell into the ocean or onto the lower decks. Some of the men noticed that all the cannons and guns had vanished along with the large part of the ship.

The first mate, who was watching from the other side of the ship, couldn't believe his eyes. In an instant they had lost the fight and their ship was now sinking and the man responsible didn't even lift a finger. Then he noticed something rolling across the deck. He walked over to it to see a glass sphere about the size of a baseball. He picked it up and looked at it to notice something tiny inside. His eyes widened when figured out what it was. The piece of the ship that had just vanished was inside unharmed along with the cannons and the guns which were floating where they had been when they vanished.

He tore his eyes away to notice the other ship was already a good distance away. "Damn him. He must have eaten a Devil Fruit." Dropping the orb, he turned to see another crewman approaching him. "Sir, we cannot stop the water from flooding in. The ship is done for. Also, all of the loot we had collected this month is gone!" The first mate roared. That man must have snuck on board during the chaos and stolen it. "There's another thing, sir. Some of the crew found this a few minutes ago." He gestured to another crewman who was holding a glass sphere the size of a basketball.

The first mate stepped toward it and looked closely, peering inside the sphere. He could see something inside but couldn't quite make it out; it looked like a…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Koba Seraph watched as the massive fireball engulfed the damaged ship. He could feel the heat from here. He stepped inside and picked up the body of the dead captain and threw it overboard. He stepped back inside and pulled an apple sized glass sphere from of his duster's pockets and put it on the floor next to his desk. There was a popping noise and pile of coins and treasure spilled out on the floor before him. "A good haul today, although I do wish they would start buying something. I became a merchant to sell, not to kill" He said, as he pulled out a black cloth and started nailing the jolly roger to the wall.