After Bai Qi's heartfelt expression, Bernal was moved by his sincerity and, with tears in his eyes, promised to take Bai Qi to Marine Headquarters.
Without much preparation, Bernal that day prepared a warship, loaded with supplies and crew, and embarked with Bai Qi on the path to becoming the King of the Marines—no, the road to Marine Headquarters.
It's important to note that the world of pirates is one where technological development is quite peculiar. Some areas have entered the age of electricity, while others are still in the primitive era. The vast majority of high technology in this world is held by the Marines; the Pacifistas alone are a century ahead of other regions in technological advancement.
Yet, even though the Marines can create robots, their lower-ranking soldiers are still using primitive flintlock pistols—a perplexing extreme imbalance.
However, it must be said that the Marines spare no effort on their warships; their speed is at least one full ship length faster than merchant ships of comparable size.
"Captain, a pirate fleet has been spotted ahead and is approaching us."
On the warship, the Marine on lookout saw a fleet of fifteen large ships approaching not far in front of the warship. The pirate flag with a skull was clearly visible on their flagship.
"What? They're audacious enough to even dare stop a Marine warship."
Bernal was furious upon hearing this. He was from Marine Headquarters, and he was usually the one chasing pirates at sea; he had never endured such insult.
"Attack them, strike them hard."
The sub-lieutenant beside him tried to dissuade him, "Sir, we only have one warship, and they have fifteen. Two fists are no match for four hands. Perhaps we should try to evade them."
As the sub-lieutenant said, the reason this fleet of fifteen large ships dared to openly attack a warship was primarily because they saw it was alone.
On the pirate flagship.
A man clad in golden armor, wielding a massive spear, stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at the distant warship with undisguised greed in his eyes.
"Hahaha, today this lord will hijack a warship to be our flagship! Numbers one and two, you go to the left flank. Numbers three and four, go to the right. Encircle them from both sides, and the rest of the ships will attack head-on with me."
A subordinate approached and tried to dissuade him, "Captain, is it wise for us to do this?"
"Hm?"
The man's brow furrowed, and he turned his head to look at his subordinate. "Do you have a problem?"
The subordinate, not yet catching the tone in the man's voice, continued, "I just feel that the other side is the Marines. If we attack them openly, won't we be hunted by the Marines?"
"So, you're afraid of the Marines?"
"No, no, Captain, how could I possibly be afraid..."
Seeing the man's angry expression, the subordinate immediately knew he had said the wrong thing and wanted to salvage the situation, but it was too late.
The man placed one hand on the subordinate's head and, with a single hand, lifted him into the air.
"I am Krieg, the Hegemon of the East Blue! All who dare oppose me will be annihilated!"
With that, he flicked his arm, throwing the subordinate into the sea about a dozen meters away.
After finishing, he turned to the other subordinates behind him and asked, "Do any of you have any other problems?"
Seeing the fate of the subordinate, all the underlings shook their heads like rattling gourds.
"Then hurry back to your posts!"
Watching his subordinates scurry away in panic, Krieg scoffed dismissively.
"As expected, they are all useless trash."
As soon as Krieg finished speaking, he turned back to look ahead and saw a streak of fire flying towards them, hitting the number one ship closest to the warship.
"What's going on?! Has the Navy developed some new black technology?"
Amidst a sea of fire, the number one ship instantly turned into wreckage and plunged into the ocean.
Faced with this scene, everyone broke out in a cold sweat. Such fierce flames implied that of the people on the number one ship, perhaps not even ten percent had survived.
Unlike the others, Krieg, after witnessing the power of the flames, not only wasn't afraid but trembled with excitement.
"Incredible! Such destructive power! I must have it! It's mine! All hands, full attack on the Marine warship!"
Krieg believed this was a new black technology invented by the Marines. If he could obtain such a powerful weapon, returning to the Grand Line would no longer be a dream.
However, gradually, Krieg began to notice something was wrong. These flames were coming one after another, with no sign of stopping. Even weapons would surely have a cooldown period, especially such powerful attacks; how could they be fired continuously?
In the blink of an eye, only five of Krieg's fifteen large ships remained, with two-thirds gone.
"Captain, let's retreat, or all the brothers will be lost."
At this point, the subordinates no longer cared about their own lives. If they didn't persuade the captain to turn back soon, the next flame might hit the flagship.
"Retreat, quickly retreat."
Krieg himself was stunned by what was happening. Regardless of what the opponent was, based on the destructive power alone, it was not something he could contend with.
"Going? Where do you think you're going?"
Unfortunately for Krieg, it was too late.
Just as he gave the order to retreat, a voice sounded next to his ear.
Krieg followed the direction of the voice and froze.
Before him was a colossal... Sea King?
Even more astonishing, this monstrous Sea King actually spoke human language.
Bai Qi looked at the approaching Krieg, finding him somewhat familiar but unable to recall his name. So, he asked, "Are you a pirate? What is your name?"
After a brief moment of shock, Krieg recovered. What was a Sea King to him? He had killed them before. Could any Sea King withstand the bombardment of warships?
With this thought, Krieg puffed out his chest and declared, "My name is Krieg, the Hegemon of the East Blue! If you know what's good for you, obediently let me capture you, and you won't suffer bodily harm."
After listening to Krieg's boastful introduction, Bai Qi remembered. He seemed to recall this guy from the Baratie episodes, where he was chased by Mihawk all the way from the Grand Line. Near death from starvation, he was revived by Sanji's fried rice. Upon recovering, not only did he fail to show gratitude, but he also tried to steal the Baratie's ship. His fighting style was despicable: cannons, poison gas; he would use any means to win.
However, he was ultimately defeated by Luffy.
It was just that Bai Qi never expected to encounter such a loser here. Furthermore, Bai Qi couldn't understand where the other party's misplaced confidence came from, daring to boast so brazenly in front of him.
"What is your current bounty?"
Krieg was confused by Bai Qi's question but proudly replied, "Hmph, don't be scared. My bounty is a whopping seventeen million Berries."
Bai Qi nodded and muttered to himself, "A bit low, but still has some value."