Water 7 — Harbor
After loading all the supplies they needed for the voyage onto the ship, Ren Kuro and his companions boarded one after another.
"Tom-san, thank you for everything." Standing at the edge of the deck, Ren Kuro waved toward the shore. "This ship will carry us all the way to the end of the Grand Line!"
"Go on!" Tom's eyes were slightly moist as he looked at the newly reborn Soul Society. "Take my child with you, and make its name resound across the seas!"
As a legendary shipwright, Tom had once built the finest ship in the world, and that ship had gone on to become famous alongside the Pirate King.
Now—
another of Tom's masterpieces was setting out on its journey.
From the bottom of his heart, he hoped the name of Soul Society would one day spread to every corner of the sea.
"That day will come." Ren Kuro waved one last time.
Then the Soul Society raised anchor and set sail, carrying Ren Kuro and his three companions toward their next journey.
Above them, the Jolly Roger fluttered in the wind.
On the flag were thirteen Zanpakutō, symbolizing the Gotei Thirteen, the guardians of Soul Society.
It also marked the birth of a new pirate crew.
The Shinigami Pirates.
Death — Bounty: 350,000,000 BerriesPoison Blade — Bounty: 500,000,000 BerriesCherry Blossom — Bounty: 550,000,000 BerriesKenpachi — No bounty yet
The Shinigami Pirates had only just been born—
yet they already possessed the power to shake the balance of the seas.
With three Admiral-level fighters in their ranks, they were already one of the strongest forces on the Grand Line.
The only pirates capable of standing on equal footing with them were the emperors who ruled the New World.
"This ship really is full of surprises." Gin Ichimaru looked around, clearly pleased. The interior was spacious and comfortable, and the style of the decorations made one relax without even noticing it.
"With a ship like this, the journey ahead will go much more smoothly," Byakuya said calmly.
"So…" Kenpachi Zaraki glanced toward the man trussed up on the deck with thick rope, his grin turning savage. "What do we do with this guy?"
The man he was pointing at was Spandine.
"Mmph—! Mmph!" Even with his mouth stuffed, Spandine kept struggling frantically. Though he hadn't been cut down like the rest of CP9, he had still suffered more than enough torment.
The once-imposing chief of CP9 now looked like nothing more than a prisoner begging for scraps of mercy.
Regret had already hollowed him out.
"Kenpachi Zaraki, do whatever you want with him. You caught him, after all." Ren Kuro took a glass of wine from the cabinet and spoke without much interest.
"I've got no interest in cowards." Kenpachi gave Spandine a contemptuous look and spat in disgust.
"Gin, then you handle it."
"Well, I doubt Captain Kuchiki would lower himself to this sort of thing." Gin walked over with a smile.
"What are you trying to do?!" Spandine screamed in terror. Compared to Kenpachi's raw violence, he found Gin—who always wore a smile—far more frightening.
"Relax. I'm just here to untie you."
Gin smiled as he said something that even he clearly didn't believe.
"No! Stay away from me! I'd rather stay tied up!" Spandine shrieked, on the verge of breaking down completely.
"Don't be so tense," Gin said gently. "It's not like I'm going to eat you."
As he spoke, he had already drawn his Zanpakutō.
Slash—
A streak of light flashed.
The ropes around Spandine were indeed cut—
but so was one of his arms.
"AAAAAHHH—!"
His face twisted hideously as agony tore through him.
"I told you to relax." Gin smiled as though mildly troubled. "Now the deck's all dirty. Captain Ren Kuro is going to blame me for this, isn't he?"
He lifted his sword again as if none of it mattered in the slightest.
Another streak of light—
and Spandine's other arm was severed as well.
"My arms—!" The pain was so intense that he lost consciousness on the spot.
"That's all you could take? Pathetic constitution."
Gin picked up the barely conscious Spandine, then casually tossed him into the sea.
The sharp smell of blood quickly spread through the air.
Before long, it drew sharks from the waters below.
"Chief, best of luck."
Gin waved cheerfully toward the sea, a playful smile on his face.
"…Meeting you was probably the worst luck of Spandine's life." Ren Kuro's mouth twitched slightly. Even he found Gin's methods chilling.
"But…"
"He deserved it."
Ren Kuro's eyes turned cold as he looked at the seawater slowly staining red.
Half a Month Later
Grand Line — Stuart Island
Stuart Island was home to a thriving port town, a beautiful harbor, and bustling trade.
But three days earlier, the island had received a very unusual guest.
Inside a tavern in town—
"To think Whitebeard beat me… Damn it, I can't swallow that."
A voice full of resentment rose from a dark corner of the room.
A man sat there drinking alone.
His hair was slicked straight back. A long scar ran horizontally across his face. An earring hung from his right ear, and a cigar rested between his lips. Most striking of all was the golden hook replacing his left hand.
The user of the Sand-Sand Fruit.
Crocodile.
Not long ago, Crocodile had challenged Whitebeard in the New World.
Even after going all out, he had still been crushed by that man.
Disillusioned and furious, he left the New World behind and returned to the first half of the Grand Line.
For a man with towering ambition, that defeat had become a thorn in his heart.
But reality was merciless.
Having lost everything, he had no choice but to start again from scratch—
and so he sat here, drinking away his frustration in a tavern.
At that very moment—
on the sea not far from Stuart Island, the silhouette of a pirate ship appeared.
Flying high above its mast was a flag marked with thirteen Zanpakutō.
It was the Soul Society.
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