East Blue - An unknown location on the sea.

The 'Black Star' was sailing through the sea, with each one of the Black Storm pirates doing their own things on board.

Austin, who was sleeping in his room, suddenly heard the alarm ring on the ship. So, he immediately woke up and rushed to the meeting room, where he found everyone already gathered there, waiting for his arrival.

" What's wrong?" Austin asked Sebas since he was the one who called for the meeting.

" I was in the control & monitoring room, and I noticed three shadows appearing on the screen, most likely ships." Sebas paused and added, " ... Even though they have noticed our ship, they still continued on their way toward us ... which means they are likely aiming to attack us!"

" Huh? ... Didn't they see we have a battleship?" Zero raised his brow, clearly puzzled.

" Alright, let's see who they are," Austin said and left the room towards the ship's deck to investigate the three upcoming ships.

Far away, the three shadows started taking the shape of ships, which made Austin smile because that meant free Experience Points.

He just hoped they were powerful enemies, which would help him earn some extra Points.

" They are indeed ships." Brain narrowed his eyes.

" And Pirates ships on top of that," Erya interjected coldly.

Austin took out a telescope spyglass from his Inventory to identify the upcoming ships' identities.

Looking via the telescope, he focused on the flags fluttering on top of their masts. And soon, he spotted the same pirate's flag on the three ships.

The pirate flag consists of a bear head, with the classic two crossed bones behind and the symbols of cards around it. The spade is on top, the club below, the diamond on the left, and the heart on the right.

Austin was confused since he couldn't recall what pirate crew had that mark. He knew that he had seen this pirate flag before in the anime, but he just couldn't exactly remember who they were.

Austin thought for a moment. - ' Since I can't remember their flag, then they are probably some small fries.'

Shrugging his shoulders, he stored his telescope back in his Inventory and turned to his subordinates.

" I can't recognize their flags ..." Austin paused " But it doesn't matter ... Since they are brave enough to come our way, we shall take care of them."

" Indeed, my lord. We are not afraid of challenges, " Erya said seriously, adding, " My lord, why not let me take care of them. I haven't had my first battle yet."

Austin looked at Erya and thought it was a good opportunity to test him out. But before he could agree, he was interrupted by Zero.

" Wait! ... I haven't forgotten the problem with the bounties. " Zero grinned as he looked at Brain and added, " Let's settle this with a clear result."

" Let's see who can kill most of the upcoming enemies!" Zero smirked, taunting Brain, " Do you dare accept the challenge?"

" Humph ... Childish!" Brain snorted and ignored Zero.

" Hahaha! Look at this, " Zero grinned and continued taunting, " The Great Brain Unglaus, with a bounty of 20 million, is afraid of accepting the challenge of someone with a 'small' bounty of 18 million Berries."

Brain continued to ignore Zero, but his twitching eyes were all Zero needed to see to know that his taunt was effective and that all he needs is a little push to succeed.

So, he smirked evilly and resumed his attack, targeting one of Brain's biggest weaknesses.

" And you dare call yourself the right hand of our lord ..." Zero mocked him, " Pathetic, really pathetic."

" Alright." Brain frowned as he glared at Zero, adding, " Since you want to lose to me that badly, I will fulfill your wish."

" But why not put something on the line?" Brain grinned.

" Like what?" Zero narrowed his eyes and replied cautiously.

" The loser will be the winner's servant for a day!" Brain smirked, taunting back, " So do you have the guts to accept the bet?"

" Hmm," Zero eyes twitched at the clear provocation, but he accepted in the end. " Alright, so be it ... Just make sure to keep your word when you lose."

" Humph! The same goes for you." Brain scoffed in return.

" My lord, please allow us to finish this thing once and for all." Zero looked at Austin and pleaded.

" Alright." Austin shook his head. " Each of you will take care of one of the two ships at the sides while I will take care of the one in the middle."

Both Brain and Zero answered in unison. "Yes, my lord."

Austin then used his wind ability to speed up 'Black Star' towards the three ships.

On the other side, the pirate ships seemed to notice the change in speed as they started firing at the approaching battleship.

But with the help of Austin's winds, 'Black Star' easily dodged all the incoming attacks.

After arriving close to the three pirate ships, Brain and Zero jumped from 'Black Star' and used 'Geppo' to head towards their respective targets.

Austin smiled wryly at their endless competition and glanced at Sebas. "Just in case something unexpected happens, stay here on the ship."

"Yes, my lord," Sebas answered with a bow.

"Follow me," Austin instructed Erya, who nodded in response. The two also used 'Geppo' and headed towards their target, the middle ship.

.....

The moment Austin and Erya landed on the ship's deck, the pirates on board backed away in fear.

They had just heard the screams and the requests for help from their two allies' ships, so they knew they were facing some real monsters.

Austin looked around and nodded in approval at the sight of the frightened pirates.

There were approximately 30 pirates on this ship. And all of them wore clothes with the same symbol as their flag.

" Where's the Captain of this ship?" Austin asked one of the pirates.

The pirate he had addressed hurriedly pointed in response at the center of the crowd, where a man was backing away slowly, trying to conceal his presence and hide among the masses.

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Austin looked at him and frowned, thinking. - ' Both this person and the symbol on the flag were in the anime ... but I just can't remember them.'

Austin took another look at this man's unusual appearance. The man had a bizarre look with pointed ears. He was wearing a helmet with the number "1" on it, goggles, a fluffy jet-pack, and a brown shirt, which gave him the appearance of an airplane pilot.

The man noticed Austin's gazes on him and panicked. But noticing that he was in the ocean in the middle of nowhere, with no way out of this catastrophe, he sighed and walked forward with shaky legs.

" I'm Skunk-One, di-gas...I'm one of the Trump siblings, di-gas... The commanders of The trumps pirates, di-gas!" Skunk-One introduced himself, trying to act tough but clearly failing miserably in doing so.

" The Trump Pirates?" Austin narrowed his eyes." I have never heard of them."

" We are a big pirate crew with a huge fleet, di-gas... We are in control of the south part of the East Blue, di-gas." Skunk-One hurriedly explained, trying to intimidate these freaks by using the name and reputation of his crew.

" Ho! ... Where is your base?" Austin exclaimed and asked playfully.

" Why are you asking that, di-gas?" Skunk-One asked back nervously.

Austin looked at him for a second before activating his 'Predator Mode' Skill, pressing down and suffocating all the pirates present with his pressure and killing intent.

"It seems like you don't know your current situation ..." Austin said sternly, " I'm the one asking here, not you. "

" So I'm gonna ask one last time ..." Austin added in a deep voice. " Where is your base?"

The one who replied wasn't Skunk-One but a random pirate on board who was scarred by the suffocating bloodlust.

"In... Clockwork...Island!" The random pirate answered quickly, afraid to anger these monsters more, especially after he felt Austin's pressure and killing intent.

Skunk-One glared at the person who answered, but the latter ignored his glares.

' Huh? Clockwork Island? Isn't that the island that appeared in the second One Piece movie? ... No wonder I felt like I had seen that flag and this idiot before.' - Austin thought for a moment. - ' If I remember correctly, they have two Devil fruit users, and the captain has an even strong paramecia Devil fruit with a similar effect to the Haki.'

Austin smirked evilly, thinking. - ' Alright, I should pay them a visit.'

While Austin was thinking about his next move, Brain and Zero arrived at the pirates' main ship. Apparently, they have already slaughtered all the pirates on the other two ships.

" How much?" Brain was the first to speak, directing his question at Zero.

" 30," Zero answered proudly.

" Humph! ... We are even for now." Brain examined the pirates on the main ship before saying, " Which means these weaklings will determine the final winner."

Glancing at the two newcomers and the pirates, who seemed to be just prey in the duo's eyes, Austin shook his head and ordered both of them.

" Kill everyone here except that one." Austin pointed at Skunk-One.

Already on edge, just waiting for the orders to 'score' more points in their 'competition', Zero and Brain didn't waste time and attacked as soon as Austin finished speaking.

The battle quickly erupted between the scared pirates and the predators, Brain and Zero.

Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long before every one of the 30 pirates dropped to the ground, either unconscious or mostly dead.

Austin looked at the shocked Skunk-One, who was preparing to flee, and sneered.

" Why are you surprised? Didn't you try to attack our ship? What did you expect?" Austin said, mocking him.

" You!...you!...You will regret this, di-gas ... Bear King-sama will not let you off, di-gas." Skunk-One retorted back in fear.

" Yeah, yeah ... The same lines everyone says." Austin rolled his eyes and added boringly, " Erya, take care of him."

Skunk-One was prepared to use his gas ability to paralyze Austin and Erya before running away.

But Alas, his opponent this time was Erya, who is decisive by nature and wouldn't give his enemies any chance to even finish their moves.

Erya didn't waste time as he used 'Soru' to appear beside Skunk-One and attacked him quickly multiple times with his sword, inflicting countless wounds on Skunk-One's body.

The poor Skunk-One instantly fell to the ground coughing blood due to his injuries. He was defeated before he could even fight back!

Erya then dragged the injured Skunk-One to Austin, who looked at him momentarily before stating.

" Now, I will tell you what's going to happen," Austin paused. " You're either going to tell us where this Clockwork island is or die right here ... So what is your choice?"

" Are you gonna let me go...if I guide you to the island, di-gas?" Skunk-One replied with difficulty, clearly affected by his serious injuries.

"It depends on your cooperation," Austin smirked.

" Alright." Skunk-One said in defeat, " I will guide you there, di-gas."

" By the way," Austin narrowed his eyes, asking," You said your pirate crew dominates the south part of East Blue, right?"

" Yes, di-gas," Skunk-One replied weakly.

" We are right now in the west part of the East Blue, close to Loguetown and Reverse Mountain," Austin smiled slightly and added, " So what are you doing here?"

" I was sent on a mission by Bear King-sama, di-gas," Skunk-One answered.

" Ho? What mission ?" Austin got interested and asked.

" I was sent to ... search for and defeat ... the remaining Krieg pirates, di-gas," Skunk-One added while coughing.

" Hoo, Go on!" Austin smirked in amusement.

" Not long ago, we heard they had suffered another defeat by some unknown group at Baratie restaurant, di-gas ... " Skunk-One paused as he glanced at Austin. " That's why we came to search this area, di-gas."

" I see." Austin asked another question, " So you want to annihilate them to eliminate the competition, huh ?"

" ...Yes, di-gas." Skunk-One nodded " Bear King-sama wants to dominate the East Blue!"

" Naive. Do you think Garp will sit still and let that happen? " Austin shook his head before changing the topic and asked, " Did you find the location of the Krieg pirates then ?"

Skunk-One hesitated momentarily before answering, " ...Yes, di-gas."

" Hoh? Where is it then?" Austin's eyes shone as he still remembered that the Krieg pirates had some individuals with bounties on their heads.

" We were just going there to eliminate them, di-gas..." Skunk-One said in a sad tone.

" But you bumped into us on your way there, huh ?" Austin interrupted before adding with a smirk, " Quite the luck you have, mate."

Austin examined the three pirate ships and discovered many corpses scattered around on their decks, confirming that Brain and Zero had already finished with this ship as well.

Looking at the easily defeated pirates, Austin was puzzled and couldn't help but ask.

" I don't understand. You want to defeat the Krieg pirates with just this much ?" Austin asked, finding Skunk-One's preparation quite laughable.

" We already got information that they got badly injured in their last fight at Baratie Restaurant, di-gas," Skunk-One added in frustration, " So these forces are supposed to be enough to wipe them out, di-gas."

" I see." Austin nodded in understanding " Well, anyway, where are they?"

" Currently, they are on a nearby island, situated west here, di-gas," Skunk-One answered.

" Hmm ..." Austin called the ship's navigator. " Brain!"

" Yes, my Lord!" Brain soon came to his side quickly.

" Is there any island nearby west of our current location ?" Austin asked.

" Hmm, there is one, " Brain thought for a moment before answering, " But it's an uninhabited island, my lord."

" Yes., that one, di-gas," Skunk-One quickly replied, afraid that Austin would kill him, thinking he had lied to him.

" Alright ..." Austin grinned as he glanced at Erya, " Tell Sebas to take care of his wounds before putting him in prison."

" Yes, my lord." Erya took the heavily injured Skunk-One and left for 'Black Star.'

After Erya left, Austin shifted his gaze back to the scattered corpses on the three ships before he asked Brain and Zero.

" How much did you both kill?" Austin raised his brow in anticipation.

" 45 pirate," Brain answered.

" 45 pirates, too," Zero answered with twitching eyes. Clearly, he wasn't happy with the final result.

" So it's a draw, huh?" Austin smiled in amusement at their competition.

" Well, so be it ..." Austin added, " Brain, search all the ships for any treasures or money."

" Zero, collect all the corpses on each ship and gather them in one place for me to store later," Austin instructed Zero.

" Yes, my lord!" Both men replied and went to their tasks.

Austin thought. - ' I was thinking of going to Loguetown, but it appears I will have to take a tour and hunt these two groups first.' - He smirked, looking at the three ships.

....

Later on, Zero finished gathering all the corpses on the main ship.

On the other hand, Brain searched the three ships. But he didn't find something of significant value, except for 4 million Berries cash and some things barely worth anything.

After storing everything they found, including the 90 corpses killed by the duo and the three pirate ships, Austin returned back to 'Black Star' along with Zero and Brain.

Austin found Erya and Sebas waiting for them on the ship's deck.

" Did you take care of that guy?" Austin inquired.

" Yes, my lord," Sebas added, " I have mended his wounds a little bit and put him in prison afterward."

" Good," Austin smirked " Prepare yourself. We are gonna go on a hunting trip!"

The group then set off towards the uninhabited island where Krieg's pirates were supposed to be hiding at!

_________________________

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