Captain Mary D. Read walked onto one of her division's ships, she wore a red coat with no shirt or bra, and brown pants. She stayed out of the sun with a parasol.

The ship was a smaller one in the West Blue, where she kept the mooks. Along with one of the projects she's been working on for a while. She didn't announce her presence, or tell anyone of her coming. She made her way through the ship, it didn't take long to find the captain.

He was a pathetic man, who she only picked because of his impossibly high bounty. One hundred million berries for accidentally killing a prince of a lesser nation. She heard they were lovers and it was all a cover-up. That lesser nation wasn't part of the world government but treaties made the bounty happen. They largely ignored him because of that. The high bounty ensures no other pirates kill him. She still needed him.

He was in the captain's chair, he had a basic pirate outfit with a captain hat. He noticed the pirate approach him and started groveling on the floor. "I'm so sorry. Dymon D. Ciara got away."

Mary D. Read kept her composure, she took the captain's seat and the man crawled in to hold her feet up. That man messed it up, now she had to find her. She snapped her fingers, getting the attention of the rest of the crew. They finally seemed to notice her, and all of them pointed guns at her.

Side Story 1: Captain's Log

Mary D. Read

I sat in the chair of the pathetic captain. His crew was pointing guns at me, this was annoying. "Hey, what happened to the other guys?" I planted my shoe into the guy's skull.

"They died when Ciara left with Sandra." I could imagine her killing an entire crew. But why would she?

"And you failed to tell them about me."

"Forgive me, please." I thought of it for a second.

"Hey, don't ignore us!" I looked at the barrel of a gun. "Get off our captain right now!" He cocked the gun. "We're the legendary Kinslayer Pirates, who kill future kings." That's their name? Do they kill their family when they join?

I smiled. Did this guy think he was a threat? "Heh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. You could pop my head clean off." He squeezed the trigger slightly. "You might not like what happens."

"Listen to her!" The man below me desperately cried out. "You have no idea what she's capable of!"

The man fired the gun into my head. And my footstool dropped dead. "Oh, and I kinda liked him too." I kicked him over, showing the crew the bullet wound in his head. "Oh darn, it seems you lost me three valuable assets." They kept the guns on me. What is with these guys?

"What did you do!?" The man who killed his captain dropped his gun. He was dripping with sweat.

"Allow me to introduce myself." I stood on the corpse of the former captain. "I'm one of the five emperors. They call Mary D. Read. I was here to find my daughter, Ciara. But the people who were meant to keep her safe have come down with a case of being dead. I could kill the rest of you, it would literally cost me nothing. I might even enjoy it. But I'm a busy woman, so if the rest of you go find Ciara, I might let you live."

"But, we don't know where she went."

"Well, you better figure it out." I smiled at them. Right before I left I told them something. "I would check the Grand Line." I walked onto the dock and waited for a minute.

"NOOOOO!" Their cries of desperation made me giddy. I could see myself connecting with them, they were so fun to mess with.

I went to my ship, it was a smaller one that went through the Calm Belt. The Sea Kings never go near me, and several people paddle to make up for the lack of wind. I got to my seat and pulled out a newspaper. It said the Notorious pirate 'Sandra' was found braindead on a nearby island. I redirected the ship to go there, this could be fun.

I waited on the dock with the gift I prepared for my new friends, it was in a crate next to me. I kept out of the sun by being in the shade of my ship.

The island was Levington, a place that everyone went to to resupply on their way to the Grand Line. It was a mountain that was split in two, the front had a city with the richest people around, while the back was a barren location. A massive wall separated the two sides. The front side was much higher than the back, that's because they'd steal the land from the people in the back so they could make themselves higher. The back is nearly flat, so everyone left.

I was in the back, it was peaceful. The rest of my crew was searching the wasteland for extra food. I should consider feeding them more.

I looked up at the wall, it touched the sky, and it was much higher than how it started hundreds of years ago. I laughed, maybe I should destroy it, that'll help with my boredom, and my bounty hasn't gone up in a while.

I didn't have to because the 'Kinslayer Pirates' arrived, they docked and I waved up at them. "Hey, I have something to give you!" They fumbled and made their way onto the dock. "I've been waiting for days. What took so long?"

"But it's only been a few hours." The guy who killed his captain was wearing his hat. They must've applauded his ability to fire his weapon.

"Did I ask for your opinion?"

He bowed on the floor, putting his forehead on the wood. "I'm sorry, please spare me!" He was pathetic, just like the old captain. Only he didn't have a bounty.

It came to me at that moment. I smiled lightly. I took the guy's hat off his head. He accepted it. "I want you all to meet your new captain." I opened the crate. The 'Kinslayers' jumped back in fear. They must've hated my gift. "Come on, she's never looked better."

"But she was found braindead! They wouldn't let anyone near her."

"Really? I found her over there." They abandoned the poor girl in the back. The Navy couldn't execute her, and nobody knew I could make use of her. She was essentially a piece of meat in the shape of a woman.

Their gift was Sandra, brought back from the brink of death. Some nerd in the government made a device and I repurposed it, now she'll do whatever I say. "Sandra, destroy Leving's Town." The city in the front is named after their founder, a con man who once had more money than anyone else in the world. His wealth was so immense that if he lived today, he'd have ten times the wealth of the current richest man, 'Casino King' Gild Tesoro.

She left the box and went to the wall, she punched it. The shockwave made it to the dock, it felt like a harsh wind. I stood my ground, I had practice with that sort of thing. She ran back before the show started. Cracks formed in the wall, moving up, covering the entire thing. Then it collapsed.

Like a tsunami of land, the front side fell backward, filling the back of the island with the buildings of the rich, and their screams. They stopped after a while.

"Very good." I put the captain's hat on Sandra. "Be a good captain and find your sister for me." She nodded and got on the ship. The rest of the crew cried.

People might wonder why she's so strong. But she only made a small hole. The mountain was going to fall eventually, the wall only prolonged the inevitable. The punch caused a small weakness that led to its destruction.

"Alright!" I clapped my hands. The Kinslayers jumped back, they were afraid of me. Just the way I like it. "The rest of you stock up with the survivors. Make sure they know it was you."

"Uh," the captain killer turned former captain stuttered. "You just killed a lot of your men."

"Eh, they'll be fine." At that moment, my crew got out of the rubble of the island and got back to the ship. They were covered in dirt and grouchy. "See, they all lived." The Kinslayers kept crying. "Great talk. Now go resupply. I'm going home." Right before I got onto my ship, I remembered something. I turned around. "Stop."

The Knislayers turned back, their temporary captain walked in front of me. "What do you want?" Oh, look at this guy, he thought he was brave.

"Take this paper." I gave him a torn piece of a vivre card. "This would lead you right to her. Don't lose it." I got on my ship and gave the order to return to the New World. I needed to work on my other projects. Maybe see a musical.

TO BE CONTINUED...