The ship sailed smoothly on the silent sea. The jolly roger of the ship, a skull with an open mouth and pointy teeth, fluttered in the wind. Every crew members except for the helmsman was seated around the captain, who was drinking from a mug of sake and lamenting the loss of his third wife.

"Why did she leave me?" the captain cried, taking another swing from his mug. He was wearing a long, sleeveless coat and leather pants, his boots reaching up to his knees. His head was shaved on either side, and the hair on middle was spiked upwards and dyed blood red. Various metal rings and studs adorned his ears and pointy nose.

"I was good to her, wasn't I? I stole a necklace from the Foxy Pirates just for her. But now that some random bounty hunter is chasing us, she's run away." The captain wiped his running nose and took another gulp from his mug.

"I'm sorry for that," someone said from the small crowd surrounding him.

"I know..." The captain suddenly stopped. The voice was not familiar to him.

The captain put down his mug and looked around for the speaker. He found the person at the back of his crew, leaning against the side of the ship with his arms crossed.

The intruder was a young man wearing a black jacket over a white shirt. He also had a sword strapped to his side over his black, skin-tight pants. He wore a dark bandana with print of skull over his face, covering his mouth and part of nose. His hair was also black and long, tied behind his head with a silver band.

"Who are you?" the captain screamed as his crew members jumped up and scrambled for their weapons.

"Who I am is irrelevant," the intruder said, taking out a wanted poster from inside his jacket. His voice was soft and barely audible. "You are Captain Hinlo of the Worm Pirates, correct?"

"Yes, I am," the captain puffed out his chest a bit. "Since you already know who I am, just throw your belongings to me and jump off this ship."

The intruder ignored the captain's threats and simply looked at the poster, letting out a monotone whistle. "Fifty million bounty."

Captain Hinlo grinned while some of his crew members snickered. "That's right, foolish boy. We are the real deal."

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"I hope you are," the intruder said, as if to himself. He rolled up the poster and put it back in his jacket, then straightened up from where he was leaning and drew his long sword. He did it all in a casual, lazy manner, as if he had all the time in the world.

The pirates watched him with confusion. They had never seen someone this calm while facing them.

Captain Hinlo shook his head and shouted, "Kill him!"

Before the crew members could register their captain's order, the intruder moved. Before anyone could understand what had happened, two of the pirates had already fallen to the ground, blood pooling around them.

The rest of them gasped as they saw him in the midst of their formation. None of them could follow his movements. Without giving the pirates a chance to attack, the intruder spun on his feet while extending his arm holding the sword. The blade ripped through the flesh and bones of the pirates near him.

Seeing that the intruder was not some other low-level thief, the rest of the pirates backed away, except for the captain, who stared at him furiously.

"Do you know what I am capable of, boy?" the captain barked. "I am Hinlo the Bloodsucker, and I will drain you of blood till you are empty skin and bones."

Captain Hinlo charged at him with his cutlass raised high and swung it down hard. But before the blade could connect with his skin, the intruder sidestepped and rammed his knee into Hinlo's kidney.

The pirate screamed and staggered back, still holding on to the cutlass.

"Playtime's over," the captain wheezed. Then, taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on the cutlass. Something like a dark shade covered the blade.

The intruder didn't seem bothered by this display of haki. He simply waited for the captain to make the first move, which the captain did.

Just like before, the captain charged at the man in black without a second thought. And just like before, the man evaded the blade. Before the captain could bring back his cutlass, the intruder vanished.

Hinlo twisted on his feet, trying to find the intruder, when he felt the thick soles of a boot striking his face. The captain flew across the deck from the kick, this time losing his grip on the cutlass.

Captain Hinlo laid still for a while, waiting for his head to stop spinning, then giving his head a little shake he crawled towards the cutlass, but before his fingers could touch the hilt, the intruder had gotten to the blade first. The intruder's placed his feet over the hilt of the cutlass.

"Fifty million, really?" the intruder thought aloud in his soft, low voice.

Hinlo folded his fingers into a fist. "I avoided using my powers because I hated the mess it made, but you are too skilled for me to handle otherwise."

Without warning, Captain Hinlo's body began to change. His muscles bulged and his skin began to change color. His pale skin darkened into a deep brown, and the texture of it changed to smooth and shiny. His eyes turned a blood red and his teeth became sharp and pointed. When the transformation finally ended, a large, human-sized leech stood in place of Hinlo, facing the intruder.

"I hope your blood tastes good," the leech hissed with the raspy voice of Hinlo, the captain of the Worm Pirates, who also happens to be a devil fruit user.