Chapter 4: Meeting Grim Kraken
Chapter 4 is here! I'm sorry, but I can't make another chapter for a week because I am going somewhere.
I don't own One Piece. Please review.
Grim Kraken's island HQ was mostly wilderness. There was a forest with pathways through it, and a large, rocky hill was located in the center of the island. On the eastern shore, there was the slave camp, consisting of several warehouses where all the company's imports are made, cabins where the slaves slept, an office where the clerk was, prison cells where slaves were held to be punished, and a dining building where both the slaves and the overseers who acted as guards were fed. Food came from a garden and a barn. The whole camp is surrounded by an electric fence, and the only way to cross it was to get permission from the clerk, unless you were an overseer or an important official. There was also a dock where ships delivered products created by the slaves, as well as brought back money made from selling them. Actually, it was a large dock where every ship except Kraken's personal ship docked.
Usopp and Nami walked through the slave camp. It doesn't look all that bad, Usopp thought. The buildings were either log cabins or made of brick. The slaves were dirty and much of them wore rags, but at least they didn't look half dead as he was worried of. Not that there were much slaves outside. As one man entered a building, a deluge of sound poured out of the building when he opened the door, then it was quiet again after the door closed behind him. So obviously, told Usopp that most of the workers were inside the buildings, doing whatever hard labor their merciless master forced them to do.
They passed through the gate in the electric fence, towards the hill, where Grim Kraken probably was. It was a long hike from the dock to the actual building that served as Kraken's office building. As they walked, there were no other people, except for some guards dressed differently from Hugo's pirate.
Eventually, they got there. Two guards guarded the front door on each side. It was hard to believe they were standing in front of a plain concrete building right next to a cliff wall, yet they were about to face a menacing fiend. Nami, Usopp, Hugo, and the other pirate walked through the front door, into what looked like a waiting room. While Nami and Usopp stood, Hugo walked up to an intercom next to the door and pressed a button. Then he spoke into a speaker and opened the door. They all walked through.
Grim Kraken. As they all walked through the front door, he sat in behind his desk with his hands folded. He had short black hair with a few strands dangling in front of his green eyes. On his face, there was a deep frown, and his eyebrows met together in a leer. To be honest, his expression was best described as "stern", rather than the expected "menacing". There was another man, who leaned against the wall behind Kraken in a black uniform.
Hugo spoke, "Master Kraken, I have found these intruders trespassing into this area. There were also three others with them who are currently held captive by Vard."
Then Kraken asked, "Are these two pirates?" His voice was cold, but still not as cold as a pirate menace should have.
Usopp started saying, "Oh, we aren't --"
Then Hugo interrupted, "Yes, their ship had--"
Hugo was also interrupted when the front door suddenly opened and another man in the same black uniform as Kraken and the man behind him. This man looked younger though, and he held a rope in his hand. "Grimmy" he said.
"Dendes!" Kraken yelled. "I'm busy with these intruders right now! So wait outside until I'm done!"
"Oh, more intruders? You can't blame them for trespassing, since they don't even know this place exists. Anyway, I'll wait out here."
Kraken sighed.
What was that all about? Usopp thought.
"As I was saying," Hugo continued, "Their ship was flying the skull and crossbones. Vard has been searching through his logbook for which crew carries that flag. I think he knows by now."
"Good", Kraken replied. "Then I suppose I can interrogate the three with Vard while these two are sent to the slave camp. Now then, Ugama, isn't it your duty to operate the slave camp? Take these two and enlist them immediately."
The man behind him responded. "Yes sir". Then he took the rope tied to Usopp and Nami from Hugo's pirate. "Is that all?" Ugama asked.
"Yes," Kraken replied. "That's all with these two for now. I will tell Vard to come here on my walkie-talkie."
As Usopp exited through the door with Nami and Ugama, he turned his head and saw the man earlier, Dendes. The rope in his hand was tied to another man.
When they were outside, Usopp and Nami felt that they shouldn't talk with Ugama listening, but they were both thinking two things. That was the ruthless fiend Grim Kraken? and Who is Vard and what is Luffy doing with him?