Chapter 36: A Dragon's wrath

The sight of Sen brought me much joy and relief, even more so with his arm being the only thing stopping me from collapsing face-first to the ground from exhaustion.

Though along with the usual playful glint in his eyes, there was an undertone of pride in his expressions, as well as a small semblance of what I could only describe as anger.

Anger that seemed to bubble up as his gaze scanned all over my injuries, with a particular interest in the fatal one in my chest.

"Damn, you looked like shit."

"Screw you too…"

That anger seemed to fade a little with our usual banter, his cheeky grin back on his face as he poked my cheek much to my irritation.

Still, why had he come all the way here now of all times? Did he sense something was wrong and came to check?

"Ngh…! Can't… get out…!"

"Hah… what is he doing…?"

Sen walked up to the struggling Luffy and effortlessly pulled him out of his predicament with a stretchy boing.

After putting the rubber pirate on his feet, he pushed me into his arms while taking the broken Nanashi out of my hand, "Get her to the ship."

"Sen…?"

"You did great for holding him back for this long, Rein. Now go get patched up, leave this bastard to me."

"No, wait…!" I struggled to talk but pushed on, "That guy…! He's…!"

"Cipher Pol, right? You don't have to worry about me." Sen gave me a thumbs up and big cocky grin, "Six Powers or not, he is still no match for your mentor. Straw hat kid, go."

Luffy looked at him for a moment, before nodding and pulled me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes; he then spun around and took off running down the corridor.

As his figure shrinked, my eyelids began to feel heavy before exhaustion from the fight finally caught up with me as I was drawn into blissful unconsciousness.

When he sensed Luffy and Rein had gone far enough from him, Sen dropped his grin and turned to face where he had sent the agent flying, adjusting his fedora and his grip on the broken sword.

Moments later, said agent came walking out from the shadows with a deep scowl as he rubbed his bruised cheek.

"You… you're the one they called Sen."

"And you're the Cipher Pol bastard that killed Balck and skewered my pupil. Though from the looks of things, she had paid you back for that."

"A simple mistake, one that I will not be making again."

"Oh…? Is that right…?"

He couldn't get over how detached the agents of Cipher Pol were; their total lack of visual emotions and mechanical mannerisms spoke of a life of harsh and brutal training which turned them into loyal servants for the World Government.

This particular agent was particularly robotic, almost to the point of that he might as well be a puppet rather than a human being.

Though there was a semblance of frustration in his voice when talking about the injuries Rein had given him; no doubt a bruise in his ego for letting some nobody take his eye.

It was quite a feeling, the pride of knowing that his student not only survived against someone from Cipher Pol, she had managed to wound him quite badly; even if the wound might have been the result of a lucky hit.

That feeling soon changed to a silent anger as he recalled the state Rein was in when he arrived; injuries of various dept cover her limbs, blood dripping out of her mouth, and a near fatal stab wound right in her chest.

If he had been a moment late in arriving, she would have no doubt perished to the Cipher Pol agent, and he would have to recover two bodies instead of one; the thought of it made his rage bubble up as he barely managed to keep a cool head.

'It's been a while since I felt such anger for someone else; I guess the kid grew on me more than I'd realized…'

Then, when Sen was deep in his thoughts, the agent struck and blurred towards him with a Shave while striking a Finger Pistol into him.

With said strike being stopped the instant it struck his body, the hardened digit couldn't pierce through the surprisingly hard skin as he barely even flinched from it.

The agent's eyes widened in shock as Sen turned to him with a bored detached look, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

"You Cipher Pol people sure like attacking people when their guard is down."

"…Guess there is a reason for Tentol's hesitation–hrgk!?"

The agent quickly stepped back and created distance with a Shave just as the broken Nanashi slashed right at him.

Yet despite succeeding in avoiding the sudden attack, it did manage to leave a cut on his chest, right under where Rein's successful counter.

"Dragon Sword Style: Plunging Claw."

Sen closed the distance between them with a blur and swung down on the agent; said agent barely managed to react by steading himself with Iron Body to defend himself.

But the technique broke the instant the broken blade made contact with his skin, cutting into flesh and slashing open his chest.

It was not a fatal wound, on the account of the blade being barely half its original length, but the fact that Iron Body had failed to block the strike left the agent stumbling back in shock once more.

"Rising Claw."

Which left him open to Sen's follow up attack as he swung the broken sword up at him, this time slashing into the face.

At least that was what it first appeared to be before the agent's figure fizzled away like a mirage, leaving what looked to be Steve's torn off face.

Sen glanced around before swinging his arm to parry away a Tempest Kick flying at him with a backhand, the blade of sharpened wind harmlessly pinging off his knuckles.

He then took note of the man standing quite the distance away from him, his body leaning forward with an arm cocked back.

Said body blurred with a Shave as a fist came flying straight towards him like a cannonball, aiming to smash into his torso and break his ribs like it had did Rein.

"Tail Spike."

Unfortunately, that attack would not reach him as Sen stabbed at the incoming strike, the broken blade striking the fist and instantly stopping the attack upon impact.

This allowed him to take a better look at the agent's true face; unlike Steve's more average-looking features, his spoke of years of harsh training befitting the most experienced of soldiers.

Said features were currently expressing a mixture of fear and frustration as he tried to push back Sen to no avail.

"Mixing Shave with Solid Beast for a punch that rivals a cannon." Sen noted, "And you used Iron Body on your fist as well. Not bad."

"You… who are you…?" The agent grunted out, "And why do you know the Six Powers techniques?"

"You aren't the first Cipher Pol agent I had to deal with."

With a great heave, he pushed the agent back; said agent stumbling on his backfoot for a moment before managing to regain his footing and took a stance.

Sen flicked the broken sword to his side to get rid of the blood before raising it in front of him, aiming at the agent as he gave him a feral grin that sent shivers down his spine.

"Though this time around, things are much more personal."

"Any signs of them yet!?"

"N-No… Not yet…"

Lee sighed at the answer the lookout told him before looking on at the sight of the last of the hostages escorted aboard the Signoria and the Silver Fang, along with their respective crew members.

His eyes then glanced back towards where the prison was, silently hoping for their last member to arrive. But in the end, the port was empty with no sight of the young swordswoman or the straw hat wearing pirate.

"Lee; that's the last of them." Sam told him, "It's time."

"…Guess I had my hopes up…" He mumbled with a sigh before barking out orders, "Raise the anchor!"

"No, please wait!" Nami cried out, "Luffy is still not here yet!"

"We don't have time!" Lee told the navigator, "If that man catches up to us, Rein's efforts would have been for nothing!"

"Just a few more seconds! Please!"

"I'm sorry; I have my crew to consider. Lower the sails!"

"Hey! Wait!"

Just as the sails were lowered down and caught the wind, a voice called out as the straw hat-wearing pirate came running out into the port and towards the Silver Fang.

A familiar young girl was carried on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, unconscious with her blood dripping down his arm and onto the floor, leaving a trail of crimson droplets behind him.

"Luffy!" Nami cried, "And he's carrying Rein!

"Wait!" Luffy called out, "I say, wait!"

The pirate captain cocked his free arm back before throwing and stretching it towards the Silver Fang; the moment his hand grabbed onto the ship's railing, it pulled him aboard within moments.

But due to the speeds in which he was pulled, he ended up slamming into the men closest to the railing and sending all of them toppling onto the floor, including the unconscious and injured Rein.

"Hoo…! Barely made it…!"

"Luffy, you crazy bastard!" Nami angrily swung her fist down on him, "Don't run off like that!"

"Hehehe, my bad."

"Rein!" Lee ran up to them in a hurry, eyes widening at the sight of the girl's wounds, "Th-This looks bad…! Is she…?"

"Ah, she's still alive." Luffy told him, "If it weren't for her mentor, we would be dead for sure!"

"Mentor…? Wait, has anyone seen Sen?"

The crew of Silver Fang looked around the ship and at each other with shrugging shoulders much to their acting captain's dismay and annoyance.

"Urgh… of all the times…! Oh, forget it; someone call Justin onto the deck, now!"

"Aye, sir!"

"What the hell!? Hey, there's someone coming straight at us and fast!"

As one of the able-bodied members ran below deck to fetch the ship doctor, the lookout screamed out in shock which got everyone to look over at the port.

Dashing out from behind the building towards them at insane speeds was a man in a carbon copy of Steve's outfit, only he had blood staining the many cuts on his shirt.

"Hey, does anyone recognise him?"

"No, I don't remember seeing him before."

While everyone was confused about the sudden appearance of an unknown stranger, the man picked up the pace before leaping high into the air, higher than any normal person could ever hope to achieve.

At the apex of his jump, his eyes locked onto the Signoria as he swung his leg, sending a blade of wind flying at the galleon and cutting through its main mast like a hot knife through butter, causing the top half of it and its sail crashing down in the ocean and leaving the ship at the mercy of the tides.

"D-Did anyone else see that!?"

"Yeah; he just kicked and sliced the mast in two!"

"Shit, is he a pirate we missed!?"

"Shoot him down! We have to defend the Signoria!"

Guns were quickly drawn, and a barrage of lead balls were fired at the mystery assailant, but they would all miss their mark as he quickly jumped out of their way, in the middle of the air.

That elicited several reactions, ranging from bewilderment over the superhuman feat they had just witnessed to the shock of someone being capable of performing it.

A few were quick to snap out of it, Lee being one of them as he immediately took aim and fired his pistols; the rest of the Silver Fang crew following his lead and firing their respective firearms at him at quick succession.

'Even if we can't hit him, we must at least keep him from attacking!'

The plan worked for a moment as the stranger zipped through the air to avoid their bullets, until he turned his attention to them and swung his leg, releasing a wind blade towards the Silver Fang.

Everyone quickly jumped out of the way of the attack as it cut into the deck, before another blade of wind sliced into the mast of their ship, sending the top half falling as their lookout barely managed to get out of the crow's nest before it fell into the ocean.

That left both ships stranded in the waters at the mercy of the tides.

"Lower the anchor! We need to keep the ship from floating away!"

"A-Aye sir!"

A couple of men quickly ran towards the drawn anchor and threw it overboard, with its chains soon tightening and causing the Silver Fang jerked to a halt; Draconis had the same idea as the Signoria also dropped anchor and swerved to a stop right next to them.

As everyone struggled back on their feet from the sudden stop, the assailant leaped from the air towards the galleon in a blur of speed; many fired their rifles at him in an attempt to stop him but like before none of the lead bullets hit him as he zipped around them.

Once he landed on the deck with a loud thud, his eyes locked on with Draconis and he immediately dashed towards him, maneuvering through the crew towards the elderly captain like a snake in grass.

"Shit! He's after the captain!"

"No, you—Gah!"

Many tried to get in his way but were quickly taken out with swings of his knife, the short blade cutting into their bodies and limbs as he mowed through them with deadly precision.

It didn't take long for the man to reach Draconis, the elderly captain barely managed to step back as the knife swiped at his neck, leaving a thin shallow cut where the tip of it had grazed the skin as he quickly backpedaled to create some distance.

That distance wouldn't help him at all, as the assailant closed it in a flash; it was as if he had teleported right in front of Draconis in the short instance he took to blink.

"Captain!"

Many rushed to his rescue, arms reaching out in desperation to reach their captain and pull him out of harm's way.

But many were too far or blocked by their fellow men and could only watch as the assailant stabbed forward with his knife, blade piercing into—

"GRGK!?"

But it would not come to pass, as a broken katana found itself embedded deep into his forearm and causing him to drop his knife, allowing the crew to quickly pull their captain away from him.

Sen immediately made himself known as he leaped off the port and onto the Signoria in one wide leap, landing in front of the assailant with a loud thud that shook the ship.

He then turned to Draconis and asked, "You alright?"

"Yes, I-I'm fine." He told Sen, before noticing the body under his arm, "Is that…?"

"It's Balck." Sen slowly and gently lowered the body down onto the deck, "I didn't want to leave him to get eaten by rats, so I brought him out."

"I see… thank you."

"No problem."

The assailant grunted in pain as he pulled the broken weapon out, blood pouring out of the deep wound it had inflicted on him as he turned to the one that threw it at him.

"How… How did you get here so fast!?"

"What, you think you're the only fast one here? Though I had to give you props for throwing Balck at me as cover to run away; as expected of—"

He was cut off when the same broken sword came flying at him, which he easily grabbed out the air with it a mere inch from piercing his head; the move's true intention turned out to merely be a distraction as the assailant quickly swung his leg and released a blade of wind at him.

Sen was about to parry the attack away, but he then remembered where he was standing and lowered his hand and braced for it; he did not so much as let out a grunt when the sharp wind cut into his chest.

But even as the attack sliced into his body, no blood was spilled from it; only a damaged shirt revealing the undamaged skin of his upper torso for all to see.

"…Yeah, this isn't the place to fight…" His hand shot up and grabbed the assailant's wrist as he stabbed at him with his knife, "Hey, let's take this elsewhere."

"That's not for you to decide–UWAH!?"

Before any objections could be heard, Sen spun around with the assassin's hand still in his grasp and threw him over his shoulder like a javelin, sending him flying in the air and into the horizon before leaping after him.

And leaving everyone on both ships staring with jaws dropped in the sheer bafflement at the comical scene that had just unfolded in front of them.

With a grunt, Zoro tied up the last of the pirates before shoving him towards his fellow tied-up brethren at the base of their ship's main mast, "Is this the last of them?"

"As far as I can tell." Gin told him.

"H-Hey, you guys! Let's just go already!" Usopp urged from the Going Merry's crow's nest, "We need to get out of here before more shows up!"

"Hm… what about that water lady?" Zoro asked, "Should we go after her?"

"Unless you find a way to cut water." Gin pointed out.

"Fair enough. At least with that cannon damaged like that, they will not be able to fire it anymore."

"Zoro! Gin! Come on!"

"Yeah, yeah; we're coming–"

Just as they were about to jump over the railing onto the Going Merry's mast, something landed onto the deck of the ship behind them with a loud crash and caused it to rock against the waves.

Quickly regaining their footing, Zoro and Gin turned around and found themselves surprised as the dust cloud cleared to reveal a man slowly getting up from the broken wooden boards with a pained grunt.

"Grgk… damn him…" His gaze then turned to the two of them, "Pirate Hunter Zoro and Demon Gin…"

Despite being covered in injuries, with the most severe of them being the pierced eyeball, his emotionless eyes were causing their survival instinct to kick in hard as they quickly drew their respective weapons in preparation for a confrontation.

"Usopp! Get the Going Merry away from here!"

"Z-Zoro!? What are you…!?"

"No time to explain, just do it!"

"A-Alright!"

The long nose sniper swiftly climbed down the ropes and began to lower the sails of the caravel, just as the mystery man glanced at the tied-up pirates then to the damaged cannon.

"...back-up plan is in shambles… this mission is a failure…"

While his voice was of a cold and almost robotic tone, there was a hint of frustration and malice under it all which sent shivers down their spines as the feeling of dread filled their hearts.

It only intensified when his eye met theirs as he took a step towards them.

"All witnesses must be eliminated."

In an instance, the man closed the distance between them; Gin immediately swung his tonfa into him in response, the weighted ball slammed into his side as hard as he could.

But the attack did not affect him at all as he stabbed his knife down into the former pirate commander's shoulder blade, blood spewing out of the wound as Gin cried out in pain.

"Gragk!?"

"Gin!"

Zoro swung down his sword at him, which the assailant quickly struck away with the back of his fist that knocked him back much to his shock.

He then pulled his knife out of Gin, the former pirate commander dropped to the floor as he turned and swung at the pirate hunter's throat, Zoro barely managed to lean back to avoid the strike.

The man then dashed forwards and stabbed at him, Zoro raising his swords and blocking the attack while struggling against the incredible force behind it.

It became very clear that this stranger was more dangerous than anyone he had dealt with before; excluding Mihawk, naturally.

The clash didn't last long, as the knife eventually broke through the two blades, shattering them into shards of metal and would have stabbed into his chest if Zoro hadn't tilted his body so that it stabbed into his shoulder instead.

"Grgk!"

"Tch, this is taking too long…"

The assailant pulled out his knife, shifted his grip on it and swung down towards the pirate hunter's neck–

"Incoming!"

"Gah!?"

A pair of feet slammed down onto him from above before he could pierce skin, the newcomer dropping onto him with a loud crash and leaving the two pirates to stare in disbelief at Sen who slowly got back up.

He turned to them with a look of surprise, "Huh? What are you guys doing here?"

"That's what I want to know!" Zoro cried out, 'Or rather, how did he even reach here!? Temasek is too far away to just leap over…! Not without any special help…'

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be on the island!?" Gin cried out, "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"No thanks to him." Sen pointed down at the man he had landed on, "If I fight this bastard at full strength, there will be a lot of collateral and not just the buildings either—"

"GET OFF!"

With a loud shout, the man pushed himself off of Sen who simply jumping off him; hand resting firmly on his fedora as he landed on the deck with a grin.

"Tsk, tsk… Watch your temper now." Sen waggled his finger at him like he was scolding a child, "That's not how an agent of Cipher Pol should act, especially one from CP9."

"W-What…!?"

Within Cipher Pol, there were many units separated by numbers according to the kind of assignments they were issued; with the higher numbers being assigned the more important tasks.

Among them, CP9 was considered an unofficial unit; one that was only known to the highest rungs of the World Government's bureaucracy.

And yet, here was an unknown individual out in the East Blue that was fully aware of its existence.

"…You are too dangerous…! You need to be neutralized immediately…!"

The agent disappeared in a blur of speed; traces of smoke filled the air as his figure flashed all around him in every direction possible much to the two pirates' shock.

In the next moment, a slash appeared on Sen's arm, immediately followed by another on one of his pants' legs; one after another, marks of a knife slicing into him appeared all over his body in rapid succession like a cyclone of blades was surrounding him.

And yet, he didn't even make any attempt to defend himself against the attack, the grin still planted firmly on his face, unphased by the number of wounds he was receiving.

It became clear very quickly why he didn't, for no blood was spilled from any of the 'injuries' he had sustained, the only thing that was getting damaged over time was the clothes he was wearing and the bandages around his hands.

"W-What the hell is this…?" Gin muttered in bewilderment at the bizarre scene happening before him.

"Not bad; incorporating Shave with Moonwalk for an omnidirectional attack." Sen noted, "Most people would have gotten taken out by it. However…"

His grin faded as he shifted his posture, both his hands grasping onto the broken sword tightly which he lowered it down to a resting position in front of him, leaving him just as defenceless as he was previously, if not more.

To anyone else, what he had done was the epitome of foolishness, for no one would leave themselves unguarded before their opponent.

But in Zoro's eyes, Sen's current posture was anything but unguarded; his instincts as a swordsman told him that there was more to that posture than meets the eye, that if he were to underestimate it, they would regret it.

And he would be proven right.

"Dragon Sword Style; Ninth Stance: Swiping Tails."

"Grk!?"

For in an instance, his body spun around and the broken sword swung like a whip behind him, clashing into the knife and parrying its wielder out of his technique.

That sent him stumbling across the deck from the sudden change in momentum, though he was quick to get back his footing moments later as turned around to face a grinning Sen.

"T-That's… How did you…?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm not most people."

"Grr…! This can't be…!"

The agent disappeared once more into a blur as his figure sped around him like before; but this time, the technique didn't last a second as Sen swung up and parried him out of it once more, before stabbing at him before he had a chance to regain his footing.

The agent had managed to block his attack by allowing the blade to pierce through his hand before it could reach him; blood spilling from the wounds as he gripped onto the blade tightly before pulled himself towards Sen and jabbed his knife into his neck.

That move proved to be a futile one when its blade snapped off its hilt upon impact, the shard of sharpened metal landing behind itself wielder with a soft thud as he looked down at the broken knife with a shocked expression.

A foot slammed into the agent's gut before he could react to it, forcing him to release his grasp on the broken sword and sending him flying across the deck, crashing into the ship's main mast.

"Well, this has been fun." Sen noted, "But I think it is about time we finished up this fight."

As he stumbled back onto his feet with shaky legs, Sen widened his stance as leaned forward with his broken sword to his side parallel to the ground held in a reverse grip.

"Dragon Sword Style; Tenth Stance: Soaring Wings."

The wood planks under his feet splintered as his body blurred into motion, a burst of air exploding behind him as he sped towards him at an insane level of speed.

The agent barely managed to brace himself as the broken blade struck into his body; tightened muscles struggled to guard against sharpened metal for a fraction of a second before failing and allowing it to slice through it.

"GRAAAGK!"

Blood came spewing out from the deep slash wound across his gut as Sen skidded to a stop behind him, turning around and flicking the blood off the splintered blade.

The agent stumbled about the deck in a daze; his feet tripping over each other before falling to his knees near the ship's railings, much to Sen bemusement.

"Huh. That usually kills them. Guess I held back a little too much."

"Grg… Grgk…"

With heavy grunts, he grabbed onto the railings before pulling himself up against it; all the while blood poured out of him from the exertion of his wounded body.

He glared at Sen for a moment, teeth gritted so tightly to the point that they were visibly shaking, before falling backwards overboard and into the ocean.

The sound of a loud splash was the last they heard of him.

"…Guess he decided to run after all." Sen noted, "Not that he'll last much longer anyways."

"Who… was that…?" Gin asked.

"The real mastermind behind this whole incident." He told him, "Count yourselves lucky; not many people survive an encounter with someone like him."

"I'm not sure if this could be considered lucky…"

"You most definitely should; he could have done a lot worse."

"…You called him Cipher Pol." Zoro noted, "That's the rumored secret police of the World Government, right? Is… the World Government the one behind it all?"

"That's right. Ah, but keep it to yourselves for now. If people realized that the World Government is responsible for this, it would cause an uproar."

"Yeah, we know. But what did you guys do to get on the World Government's bad side?"

"…I can think of a few things; most of which are basically excuses for paranoia."

The dark scowl on Sen's face was enough indication of his feelings towards the current situation; if the intense murderous aura radiating off him was not clear enough.

"Hah… At least he is taken care of for now." He sighed tiredly, "I'll let the others handle the rest of it."

"That's… rather irresponsible of you, isn't it?" Gin pointed out.

"I'm their hired hand, nothing more, nothing less; I have no right to their internal affairs."

"I… guess that's true…"

"At any rate, we should head back to Temasek; I need to inform Draconis about this, and you two need to get those injuries looked at."

"Ah, right…"

The two wounded man managed to climb over the railing and onto the Going Merry's mast, while Sen looked over into the ocean where the agent had fallen into; there were faint signs of blood mixing into the seawater that quickly faded away.

While he had said that the agent's death was inevitable, he was well aware of the sheer tenacity of the agents of Cipher Pol, even more so the ones of the CP9 unit; the chances of him surviving was pretty high.

But with the injuries he had given him, it was unlikely that he would any action against the East Traders anytime soon; which would give them plenty of time to figure out a plan to get through this.

"At the very least, this battle is now officially over."

"Good call, boss!"

"Yeah, you are one clever little sneak!"

'Orca Hunter' Billy couldn't help but beamed at the praises he was getting from his subordinates, as they sailed further away from the island of Temasek with their stolen vessel.

Unlike the other pirate captains of the East Blue Pirate Alliance, he wasn't as skilled and powerful as the rumors made him to be; with the only sense of strength he had ever displayed was the odachi he had wielded to cut down an orca.

And when he faced off against the small female captain of the East Traders, it became extremely clear very quickly that this was completely out of his league; for all the skills he had acquired would not help him in dealing with her.

So the moment he saw the ex-marine fell in battle, he quickly ran away from the battlefield and when he found an opening, got himself and his men off the island on one of the stolen ships.

"Heheh, looks like I'll get the last laugh after all—!"

"C-Captain!"

His gloating was cut short when a man abruptly climbed aboard their ship, missing an eye and soaked from head to toe in the mixture seawater and blood as he tumbled onto the deck with his arm pressed against his torso that was stained completely red.

Billy wasn't sure what to make of the stranger, but it was clear that this person was in need to dire medical help; and he was nothing if not willing if it meant he would get another subordinate under his wings.

"Oh my, that does not look good for you." He noted as he walked up to him, "I'll be willing to led you my aid, if you promised to serve—"

In an instant, his throat was pierced with a finger and blood spurted out of his neck like a red geyser; the pirate captain stumbled back as he choked on his own life essence before collapsing onto the floor.

"Captain!"

"You bastard—grgk!"

Two more were killed the same way when they tried to avenge him, causing the rest of the small crew to immediately keep their distance from the man out of fear and terror.

Several of them had drew their pistols and aiming it straight for him, but lowered them the moment the man glared at them.

"Shit, shouldn't have killed him…"

"W-Who are y-you…!?"

"That's none of your concern. What you all should be concerned with is getting me to Shell Town."

"W-Why s-should we l-listen to you!?"

He pointed down at the dead Billy, "Because unless you want to join your captain and friends, you will do as I say."

"Grgk…!"

"And one of you bring a first aid box to me. Now."

"…I-I think there's one in the desk in the captain quarters…"

"…Right. Then get to steering."

With great reluctance, the pirates got to work adjusting their sails and steering the ship, all the while their hijacker staggered into the captain quarters.

Once he closed the door behind him, he staggered towards the chair before slumping on it like a puppet off its strings; shaky breaths escaped his lips as he struggled to keep himself conscious.

He forced his hand to opened drawer after drawer, before finally pulling out a white and red box out onto the desk with a loud thud.

As he began patching himself up, his mind returned to the ones that left the injuries on him; the young girl and her mentor.

Both of them were clearly not of East Blue descent, with neither of them having any records prior to joining the East Traders; no matter how much he had dug, their backgrounds were a complete enigma.

That was especially true for Sen, for it was next to impossible for someone of his strength to not be known worldwide and not be on the Cipher Pol's watchlist.

'Not to mention he was able to deduce that I was a member of CP9 so easily… who the hell is he…? I'm already not looking forward to writing that report…'

He was already dreading the asinine shouting from his dumb chief about his failed assignment, and the judging look of his fellow agents for it.

Then, when he kept failing to thread the string through the needle, it made him remember the lack of depth perception he now had, and the one who did it to him.

It was infuriating, that someone as weak as Rein had been able to leave him blind in one of his eyes; even more when it was from a lucky strike that shouldn't have landed.

'Of all the things that would leave a lasting mark on me, it was a young, weak girl…!'

"I'll remember you, Rein…! Just you wait…!" He growled, "I'll make you pay for this humiliation…!"

…
To be continued…

Ho boy, finally finished this chapter! Sorry it took so long; writer's block is a bitch!

With this chapter, it marks the end of this whole East Blue Pirate Alliance arc. And just days after the finale of the anime's Onigashima arc too!

What are the odds of that happening?

With that, I thank you all for reading this!