Chapter 14: Lads, Let's Set Sail!
After the Krieg Pirates' defeat in the Grand Line and their escape to the East Blue, they encountered a Marine encirclement. By the time they reached Baratie, they had just over a hundred men left. After their defeat at Baratie, many pirates deserted and left the crew.
On this island, there were only about thirty men left.
Lily hadn't killed any of these pirates; she had only knocked them unconscious. They were all still alive.
Pearl was the first to wake up. The first thing he saw was a dazzling firelight. The bonfire had been rekindled. Sag and Lily were sitting around the bonfire, looking at them.
He quickly got up, and his hands rubbed his shields together, igniting flames. "Taste the flames of my Flame Pearl!"
"Pearl, stop."
A voice sounded beside him. Pearl turned his head and stopped.
Gin was next to him, watching the gradually awakening pirates, and said, "There's no need to fight anymore."
"Captain Gin?" Pearl was puzzled, then seemed to remember something. He looked around and asked, "Where's Captain Krieg?"
"Dead."
Gin uttered a sentence that terrified the pirates. He pointed to Krieg's location. "Killed by Captain Sag."
They looked in that direction and broke out in cold sweat.
There was no one there, just a pile of minced meat...
"Captain Sag?" one pirate noticed a key point. "Captain Gin, you joined them?"
"That's right."
Sag took over, standing up. "We're all pirates. It doesn't matter who you follow. Gin has already joined my pirate crew, and now I sincerely invite you to join my pirate crew. What do you say?"
The pirates looked at each other. One of them, holding a knife, took two steps forward, staring intently at Sag, and then raised the knife to the sky. "Captain!"
"Captain!"
"Captain Sag!"
Shouts erupted from the pirates, without the slightest awkwardness.
"Captain Sag defeated Krieg, he must be stronger! We're still the overlords of the East Blue!" a pirate said excitedly.
Captain Gin had joined, so what else was there to say? Just join directly.
Sag wasn't surprised by this at all.
Not everyone was like Gin. There were indeed those in the sea who, once they recognized a captain, would recognize them for life. But more pirates would act according to reputation and profit.
Expecting all pirates to be loyal and unyielding to the death?
This was the cruel sea, not a children's game.
A pirate captain's duty was to maintain the gang, not to nitpick and find who was the most loyal.
"Very good! You won't regret following me. We're all pirates, and it's all about freedom and money. I'm not stingy with money. For future loot, I'll take 50%, and the remaining 50% will be divided. Those who participate in the robbery get two shares, those who don't participate also get half a share. I guarantee everyone gets a share!"
"Really? Captain Sag!" A pirate's eyes lit up.
"Absolutely!"
Sag raised his head. "If you become a cadre, the share will be even higher. Everyone work hard!"
"Oooooh!!!"
This made all the pirates raise their weapons and roar.
Sag was confident about this and didn't worry about anyone being resentful.
Before the others woke up, he had asked Gin how the loot was divided.
The answer surprised him.
The Krieg Pirates were a standard pirate crew, and their loot distribution was also the most standard: the captain took 80%, and the remaining 20% was divided. Pirates who participated in the robbery got a share of the loot, those who didn't participate got nothing, only food and drink.
Hearing this almost made Sag's teeth fall out.
In his memory, the traditional old pirates in his hometown, the captain only got a few shares of the loot, no more than 14% in total. That was still the most tyrannical, and they might be overthrown and thrown into the sea in a couple of days.
Proper pirate captains only took two shares, and the rest was for everyone.
What did two shares mean? Not 20%. It was *after* the loot was divided equally, an extra share was given to the captain.
If ten people robbed a piece of gold, it had to be divided into eleven shares! Ten apples had to be cut into eleven pieces, instead of the captain taking two apples.
Why had Sag tried various professions and only become a pirate at the end? Because he felt that pirates didn't really make money. Carrying a bounty, robbing everywhere, putting their heads on the line every day, braving wind and rain, and in the end, they didn't earn much money.
Who would want to do that?
But the sea here had its own ways. Others took 80%, but Sag was very generous, only taking half!
If they robbed ten thousand Berries, he would directly take five thousand!
This was a good deal!
If he kept this up, it wouldn't take long for him to accumulate enough wealth to buy a large piece of land, recruit a bunch of underlings, live a corrupt landlord's life, and reach the pinnacle of his life!
"Lads, let's have a party! Let's get to know each other!" Sag laughed.
"Oooooh!!" The pirates shouted excitedly.
Then... no one moved.
Sag blinked and repeated, "I said, let's have a party."
"Oooooh!!" The pirates continued to shout.
"What the hell are you shouting for!"
Sag furrowed his brow. "Bring up the food. We're having a party. Don't just stand there. Get moving!"
"Captain..."
Pearl weakly raised his hand. "May I ask where the food is?"
Sag: "..."
He looked at the pirates and had a bad feeling. "You... don't have food?"
The pirates all shook their heads.
"What a coincidence..."
Sag spread his hands, his expression drooping. "I don't have any either."
He had been hoping these guys had backup food, so they could eat something warm and have some drinks, and have a good time.
But none of them had any food!
Gin spoke up, "Captain Sag, let's set sail directly. There are many ships on the sea route nearby. We can rob one."
"Good suggestion, but there's a small problem..."
Sag smiled. "I don't have a ship."
Gin: "..."
No ship?
How did they get here?
Could it be that they flew...?
He looked at Sag, who had just been speaking so boldly, and suddenly had a bad feeling. He felt that following this captain might have a small... problem.
"Not a big problem."
Sag waved his hand. "If we don't have a ship, we'll build one. Let's get to work. There's plenty of wood here. Let's make some rafts. We're going to sea!"
As long as one's mind doesn't give up, there are always more solutions than problems!
It's just that they don't have a ship. This was a forest island, full of raw materials.
...
Sag didn't have a ship, and these pirates only had a small boat, which could only hold five people at most. But there were thirty-five of them in total, so they had to build rafts on the spot.
Originally, Gin had a chance to get a ship.
After they retreated from Baratie to this island, they had very few supplies, and food and drink were a problem. They originally planned to rob a ship at sea, so Gin took some men on the small wooden boat and went out to sea. They happened to encounter a merchant ship.
But he felt that they couldn't do such despicable things anymore. They had to rob with the pirate flag flying, and do it openly, rather than following Krieg's plan of pretending to be shipwreck victims and then launching a sneak attack.
But how could a small boat catch up to a large sailing ship? Moreover, the other ship had cannons. Before they could get close and show their pirate flag, they were discovered, and naturally, they returned empty-handed.
This was also the reason why Krieg punished Gin. And then, Krieg died...
*Boom!*
As the sky began to lighten, a large tree crashed to the ground. Several pirates holding axes trimmed the branches from the tree, shaping it into a log. Then, two pirates carried it towards the beach.
"Captain!"
Pearl walked over and shouted, "We've cut down enough wood. We can set sail at any time!"
Letting pirates cut down trees, of course, wouldn't be slow, especially with Lily and Gin. Lily's rapier could cut down a large tree with a single slash, and Gin used his staff to destroy the base of the trees. It only took some time to shape the trees into logs and tie them together with rope.
As for suitable rope to tie the logs together, Krieg had it.
His shoulder shield still remained, and inside were a few poison gas bombs and pistols, as well as some very good quality net-like rope, perfect for tying the logs together.
Sag was currently playing with a pistol. This was taken from Krieg's shoulder shield. It was of good quality.
As a pirate, how could he not have a gun?
In addition, Krieg's cloak had also been confiscated and draped over his shoulders.
He nodded at Pearl, then said to Gin, who was beside him, "Gin, are you sure there will be ships passing by on this route?"
"Yes, quite a few. As long as we set sail, we'll encounter them," Gin replied.
Sag smiled, raised the pistol high, and pulled the trigger.
*Bang!*
The gunshot rang out on the island, attracting the attention of the other pirates.
"Lads! Let's set sail!!"