Sorry it took so long to upload this one. I was having a difficult time writing it for some reason.

Chapter 3

Koba Seraph was at his desk reading through books about the Grand Line and its many dangers. He was still very proud of the sale he made yesterday; even though that was the only customer he had the entire day.

"No matter", he thought, "There will be plenty of opportunities to sell once we reach the Grand Line. Perhaps we will have built a reputation by then so we won't need intimidation.

His thoughts were interrupted when Kata called from outside, "Koba, I see a ship but cannot tell the make of it."

Koba quickly reached into one of his duster's pockets and pulled out a sphere, which was instantly replaced by a spyglass. He walked out onto the deck of the ship. When Kata saw the spyglass in his hand she pointed to the ship, which was a good distance away. He looked at the ship through the spyglass. It took a moment to get focused but it eventually came into view. It was a large battleship with the Marine's symbol embroidered onto the main sail.

"It's a Marine ship", he said as he handed the spyglass to Kata.

Kata looked through the spyglass to confirm his words, "It seems they are headed in our direction. What should we do?"

Koba shook his head, "I'm not sure. I have never dealt with marines before." He began to rub his scar, pondering what to do. He thought it over for several moments before making a decision. "Let's weigh anchor and see what they want. We have committed no crimes, so they have no reason to attack us. We may even be able to sell to them."

"Aye", Kata replied as she picked up the large stone anchor before dropping it overboard.

…..

It was fifteen minutes before the Marine ship pulled alongside the shop. Koba and Kata stood on the deck looking up the side of the marine ship which dwarfed their little fishing boat. A person appeared on the edge of the ship before jumping straight down, onto the deck of the shop. He was a tall man, at least two heads taller than Koba. He wore the traditional marine uniform along with a large jacket that was tossed over his shoulders. His face was clean shaven and he had long thick brown hair. There was a large light-purple birth mark that drew a jagged line down the left side of his face. The man put his hands behind his back while Koba and Kata stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

"I am Marine Vice-Admiral Kudzu", he announced with a rough voice as he looked down to the two. "What are your names?"

"I am Koba Seraph, owner of the floating shop Seraph Sundries, Armor, and Weapons which you are now standing on. And this", Koba pointed to Kata, "is my guard, Kata Laug. Might I ask what business you have with me?"

Kudzu smiled down to him, "I came to find you."

"Me?"

"Yes. We had heard a report of a pirate crew being completely destroyed after they visited a "floating shop". I thought the report was ludicrous at first, but then we began receiving the same report again and again for about two weeks. I was very curious and came to investigate myself. So, have you encountered any pirates? I want to make sure you're the one I'm looking for."

"I have "encountered" many pirates since I have started my shop. Come inside if you need proof." Koba said as he began walking back into the shop. The vice-admiral followed, having to duck slightly to get through the doorway. Upon entering Koba gestured to the far wall, behind the desk. The marine smiled at the sight of the many jolly rogers hanging there. He pointed to one.

"That's the flag of the 40,000,000 bounty Kyro "The Keen" and that one", he said pointing to a different jolly roger, "is the 53,000,000 bounty "Screaming" Lartson. Most of these flags represent very troublesome pirates that would have taken me many months to clear out; but you were able to do so in a mere two weeks."

Koba shook his head, "I was not intentionally hunting pirates. Those men tried to steal from me and they paid the price."

"Even so, you saved the marines and me a lot of trouble by clearing these men out. I was deployed here, in West Blue, due to a large increase of pirates, but thanks to you my time here has been shortened significantly."

"It was no trouble, I assure you."

"Well since I am here I might need some weapons for some of the new recruits."

Koba smiled at this, "Of course. I have a fine selection of swords and other melee weapons."

"Hmm, do you not have firearms? These recruits need to start off with a gun before working their way up to melee fighting."

"I believe I might keep a few around here somewhere", he said, as he started moving his hands over his many pockets. "Here we are", he exclaimed as he produced three golf ball sized spheres from his pocket and laid them on the floor before the marine. There were a few popping noises and several rows of rifles and pistols now lay on the floor. The marine didn't react to this strange occurrence as he began looking at the assorted guns.

"They seem to be in good condition, so I'll take them all. How much will it be?"

Koba smiled, "All of them? 2,500,000."

"A fair price." the marine said, pulling out something that looked like a small book with the Marine symbol. He opened it up revealing large amounts of varying Beli notes. Kudzu pulled out the necessary amount and handed it to Koba. The merchant didn't check the amount, as he was sure the marine wouldn't lie to him.

Kudzu, Koba, and Kata walked back out onto the deck, where Kudzu called up to his men to come and haul the guns to their ship. As they began lowering rope ladders down the side of the ship, Kudzu turned to Koba. "Can I give you some advice", the Vice-Admiral asked.

Koba raised an eyebrow, "What kind of advice?"

"Consider it financial advice. As I said in your shop, the men you killed had some pretty high bounties. I would recommend turning those bounties in for major profit."

"I had a few thoughts about it. However, I am not a bounty hunter."

"Then hire one. Even if you don't actively seek pirates out, you can turn in any that try to steal from you; and an experienced bounty hunter could easily recognize a bounty when he sees it."

"I suppose that would be waste of money if I didn't turn them in; but where would I find a bounty hunter?"

"There is a bounty hunter who comes by the base that I'm stationed at every month with a few bounties to turn in. His name is Wingo Chasseur. I believe he stays at a remote island north-east from here. Be careful though, he is considered dangerous by most of the marines, as all the bounties he turns in are dead. He never brings them in alive." The marines had finished hauling the guns to the ship.

"Very well Mr. Kudzu, I will go and find this bounty hunter."

Kudzu held out his hand to the merchant, who shook it.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Koba. Perhaps we will see each other again if you are heading to the Grand Line." The marine jumped up to the deck of his ship and began shouting orders as the ship pulled out.

"Ms. Kata, please prepare the course. We are heading north-east."

"Aye"

They had been sailing for several hours as the sun made its way through the sky. Koba, anticipating the meeting with the bounty hunter, was outside with the spyglass, looking for the remote island mentioned by Kudzu. Kata was inside, sharpening her claymore, when she heard Koba call from outside. She quickly stood and went out to the deck of the ship where Koba was standing with the spyglass held out.

"Ms. Kata, I believe we have arrived", Koba said.

She took the spyglass from him and looked to see dot of land in the distance.

"You know if we recruit him there won't be much room left on the ship." Kata said, still looking at the island.

"I am aware, Ms. Kata. That is why finding a ship will be the top priority after this stop. Now let us prepare for the meeting."

"How, exactly, are you going to convince him to join us."

"Simple. We, most likely, will meet more pirates in a few days than he will meet in a month. Plenty of opportunities for a hunter."

It took another twenty minutes before details of the island came into view. Koba continued looking at the island as they approached. He could see something taking up the shoreline, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. It looked like….

"Ms. Kata", Koba called urgently.

Kata came rushing from inside. "What is it", she asked with an anticipating face.

"We must turn the ship around now!"

"Why?"

Koba quickly shoved the spyglass into her hand and went to the sail to change directions. Kata looked towards the island and was shocked to see piles of wrecked ships dotting the islands shore. She dropped the spyglass and went to help Koba with the sail.

"What caused that", she asked as they turned the sail.

"My guess, Ms. Kata, would be a powerful underwater current." The sail was turned but it seemed that they were still headed towards the island and slowly increasing in speed. "It seems I guessed correctly. Weigh anchor, maybe it will slow us down." Kata swiftly picked up the stone anchor and threw it over as their speed increased once again. The ship gave a quick jerk as the anchor hit bottom; but they were still moving, with the anchor dragging on the seabed.

"Ms. Kata, move away from that", Koba said pointing the anchor rope, which was pulled taut. Kata backed away before the rope snapped. With the anchor gone the ship shot forward moving even faster towards the island. Koba and Kata were having a hard time keeping themselves upright as the ship sped ever closer to the shore throwing mists of water in their view.

"Maybe we should jump overboard. There's no way the ship will survive the impact." Kata yelled over the wind as she crouched to gain balance.

"I suppose you are right. However, you will have to carry me. In case you have forgotten I cannot swim" Koba yelled back as he frowned. He did not like leaving behind all of his merchandise, but he could retrieve whatever survived the crash.

The shore was fast approaching as the ship tore through the water at breakneck speed.

"Now's a good a time as any", Kata shouted as she ran and grabbed Koba around the waist before jumping off the ship and into the warm water. She sank several feet, due to the weight of Koba and the claymore on her back, but she managed to hold onto the merchant as she kicked towards the surface. She broke through the water with a gasp, while she tried to hold Koba's head above the water. The merchant's eyes drooped from his lack of strength, but he still lifted them open enough to watch his ship hit the shore. It hit a small patch of sand, sending up a large cloud, before hitting the front deck of a wrecked galleon. The deck was pointed upwards like a makeshift ramp. The shop ran into it with enough speed to break the boards of the deck, but it continued upward before falling off the end of the deck, sending up another cloud of sand. Koba let his eyes close. He did not want to imagine what his merchandise looked like now. Kata, who had been kicking just to stay above the water, now began to make her way towards the shore.

When she reached a point where she could stand in the water she lifted Koba and threw his arm around her shoulder for support; he was still feeling the effects of the sea. They both trudged through the sand, still soaked with water, toward the wreckage of the shop. They arrived and were not pleased by the look of it. The ship was on its side and most of the decks boards were broken or completely missing. The shop itself had a large hole in the roof with the wooden boards bent outwards. Koba, who had regained his strength, stepped through the hole to assess the damage. Everything that was on the stands was scattered around and broken. Most of the armor was dented and the assortment of weapons had also been bent or the handles destroyed. His desk was turned upside-down and splintered into several pieces, with orbs scattered around the opened drawers. He began sorting through the mess, salvaging what he could.

Kata stood outside next to the ship, looking around. She had an eerie feeling that someone was watching. While she was looking she heard a whistling noise and swiftly moved her head back a few inches. She saw something wiz by her and strike the side of the ship where it broke the boards that it struck. She turned to where it came from just as another came flying at her head. She reached out and deftly caught it in her hand. It was an arrow with a steel pointed head.

"Koba we have company!" she shouted as she ran into the shop. Koba was slouched in the corner with something on his arm. She ran up to him, to see a small, toothed trap closed around his right arm.

"What happened?" she asked reaching for the trap.

"It…was next… to the desk. It's…sea stone. Someone…came here…before we got to shore." he gasped out. Kata grabbed both sides of the trap and pulled it open. All of the teeth came loose from the trap mechanism and stayed embedded in the merchant's arm.

"Damn. This was meant for a Devil Fruit user." Kata said as she began to pull a tooth out of Koba's arm. She managed to pull one out before she heard someone approaching the ship. "Stay here. Whoever it is, is still out there." She drew her claymore from her back and stepped outside. Koba tried to stop her, as he already knew who it was, but she had already left.

A wild looking man was standing on the beach with a large wooden bow in his hands with an arrow already notched and drawn. He had rough light brown hair covering most of his face and had a pink scar running down the middle of his mouth. He was wearing a brown leather poncho with strange designs decorating it and had a brown cloth shirt underneath with a matching pair of pants. He had very large brown boots which had several metal buckles running across them. His head was topped with leather rimmed-hat and he a large quiver hanging from his back. He fired the arrow right as Kata took as step towards him. She dodged and ran forward with her sword held behind her. The man reached behind and pulled out three arrows and fired them in rapid succession at the charging woman. Kata was having a hard time dodging them, having to sidestep a few times to move out of the way of the increasing number of arrows. Meanwhile, Koba was inside trying to pry the teeth out of his arm; it was quite difficult with his strength drained.

"This trip is turning quite costly." , he thought. He grunted in pain as he pulled a tooth out and tossed it to the floor. "I have to get out there and stop Ms. Kata and Mr. Wingo from harming each other. He probably thinks we are pirates."

Back outside, the bounty hunter had managed to keep Kata from getting any closer. The guard stood still, waiting for the bounty hunter to make a move. He had another arrow already notched and aimed at Kata. He let it fly as she jumped to the side. In the blink of an eye the man reached under his poncho and drew out a small throwing knife, which he threw at Kata. She had just jumped and didn't have enough time to avoid the knife as it flew into her left shoulder. She let out a small gasp as blood started pouring through the wound. The man, taking the chance while Kata was stunned from the wound, rushed forward, pulling a dagger from underneath his poncho. Kata saw this and raised her sword using her right arm and prepared to swing. Before the two could clash there was a popping noise and both of their weapons disappeared from their hands and a glass sphere appeared on the sand between them. Both of fighters turned to see Koba emerging from the shop with his left hand holding onto his injured arm. The bounty hunter quickly drew his bow again. Koba raised his left hand and held it in the air.

"We are not pirates Mr. Wingo. We mean you no harm. Ms. Kata was merely defending herself." Chasseur still had his bow in hand but didn't reach for an arrow.

The man then spoke, "Who are you?" His voice sounded closer to animal's growl than to a normal man's voice.

"I am Koba Seraph, owner of the floating shop Seraph Sundries, Armor, and Weapons and Ms. Kata is my guard.

"How do you know my name?"

"Vice-Admiral Kudzu recommended you to me."

"Recommended for what?"

"I wish to hire you as an extension of my shop. I have need of your bounty expertise."

"Not interested", the man said with a scowl.

"Mr. Wingo, you could make so much more than what you do now if you come with us."

"I don't hunt for the money. I only turn in the bounties so I can get the supplies I need. I hunt for the thrill of it."

"Even so, we run into many more pirates in a week than you fight in a month. I can promise you many more hunts than what you normally go through. I'll even provide everything you need."

The bounty hunter looked at him for a few moments before turning his head toward the now setting sun. He looked back to Koba, "Follow me." The man began to walk towards the forest on the far end of the beach. Koba released the sphere on the sand, so that Kata could grab her claymore, and began following the other man. Kata quickly came up behind the merchant and began whispering," Do you think we can trust him. He's probably leading us into a trap."

"That is highly doubtful, Ms. Kata. I seem to have piqued his interest. We may not leave empty-handed after all." Koba said with a smile.

….

It was dark when they reached their destination. It was a small campsite with a pile of wood that was already somewhat ashen and a fur knapsack hanging from a nearby tree. Wingo pulled a flint and steel from the knapsack and began making a fire. Once the wood was lit and burning bright enough, Wingo sat down on the ground and gestured for the other two to do the same.

"So you promise me that you can give me more prey and give me anything I need?" the man said as Koba and Kata sat down on the opposite side of the fire.

"Once we find a ship, yes. As I'm sure you saw, our own ship is now useless from the crash. I guess that you know of the current and wait for pirates to crash here, don't you."

Wingo nodded, "Yes. That is why I have so few hunts. I have to wait a long time for the prey to come to me. Which is why I am interested in going with you. You said that you meet many pirates. Why is that?"

"As I said on the beach, I am a floating shop owner. The pirates, who come to my shop, come out of curiosity. Most of them attack me. They have all ended up dead."

"I see. So your ship is like bait for a trap. When the prey gets close enough, you strike." Wingo spoke with a smile.

Koba shook his head, "Mr. Wingo you misunderstand me. I do not hunt pirates. I see them as customers. I only kill the ones who try to steal from me."

Wingo frowned, "You let the prey go if they don't attack?"

"Most of them do attack. This is why I want to hire you. I want to make a profit from the pirates who do attack. And while I make profit you get to hunt."

Wingo looked at the merchant. He stared for several moments before standing up, "Very well. I will go with you, as long as there is a hunt."

Koba stood up as well and walked over to Wingo. He held out his hand, "By shaking my hand you agree to lend me your services and work with me in my shop and I promise that you will have as many hunts as you want."

Wingo reached out and shook Koba's hand.

"Welcome aboard."