Chapter 30: Beasts Pirates: Vice-Captain Arc

——Months had passed since the "God Valley Incident," the cataclysmic event that saw the annihilation of the infamous Rocks Pirates, the most feared crew in the world.

On a summer island along the Grand Line, one of the many lawless territories outside the World Government’s control, the air was thick with the usual chatter of scoundrels and seafarers.

"—Hey, ya hear? Roger’s at it again…"

"That bastard’s always been crazy. But forget him—what about Rocks’ remnants? ‘Golden Lion’ Shiki’s already formed his own crew and is wreckin’ the New World… This is their era now!"

"Dunno ‘bout that. Big Mom’s no joke either. Heard she wiped out a whole country just ‘cause she wanted sweets… took thirty kids with her."

"If we’re talkin’ raw power, it’s Whitebeard. That guy’s a damn monster. Even Shiki and Big Mom watch their backs around him. Only one who can stand up to him is Roger."

"Tch. Roger oughta pick a fight with Garp the ‘Hero’ and get locked up already. Pisses me off—that bastard screwed me over back in the day!"

"Heard all of Rocks’ remnants are freaks. Who’s gonna come out on top? No way to tell yet."

"Hell, anyone’s better than Rocks… At least now we can breathe a little."

Even in a lawless land, some semblance of order existed. Pirates and criminals came and went, but the island had its own people—families, livelihoods, kids growing up tough, and merchants who knew how to profit off outlaws.

Bars were where scum gathered to drink, gamble, and trade rumors over bounty posters and newspapers. Deals were struck, fortunes discussed, and insults flew as freely as cheap rum. Pirates had no rules. They were free.

And right now, the hottest topic was the fallen Rocks Pirates—or Roger, or Garp. Truth be told, the whole world was probably talking about the same things.

But in this bar, there was one fresh piece of gossip:

"Hey, y’hear? A Navy prison ship sank near this island."

"No shit?! Hah! Serves ‘em right—tryin’ to haul prisoners, only to drown with ‘em. Fuckin’ hilarious."

"Right? Just heard it. But get this—the guy who told me was shakin’ in his boots. Said he saw some kinda monster out at night…"

"The hell? Drunk off his ass, more like."

"Nah, man! Ahahaha!"

Raucous laughter erupted at the counter. Cheap jokes paired well with cheap booze—a perfect way to pass the time.

But then, cutting through the noise like a knife, came a voice that didn’t belong.

"——Woooooow! That’s amaaaaazing~ ♡"

"Ushishishishi! Damn right I am! I’m the strongest there is!"

A girl’s innocent giggle. A man’s distinctive, grating laugh.

"…Huh? The hell—?"

"Oi, dumbass! Don’t look!"

The hardened pirates in the bar didn’t turn toward the source. Only the newcomers dared.

"Who… who’s that?"

"That’s ‘Bloodstained’ Rabbit… Captain of the Rabbit Pirates. He runs this island."

"No way… Is that girl suicidal? She’s gonna get killed…"

"Yeah… Rabbit’s a real psycho…"

In the VIP section, lounging on a sofa with women on either arm, sat a rabbit-eared pirate—Rabbit, the man who ruled this lawless island.

A brutal, merciless captain who had risen through the ranks in just two years on the Grand Line. Nobody here dared defy him.

And yet—

A black-haired, red-eyed girl with a bob cut and a dark outfit leaned in, eyes sparkling, grinning like she was hearing the most exciting story in the world.

"An 80-million-berry bounty?! That’s craaaaazy~! Hey, hey, what’ve you done to get that high? Tell me!"

"Ushishishishi...! So far, I've killed at least 500 people! Pirates, Marines, civilians—makes no difference to me!"

"Huh?! Five hundred?!"

The girl couldn't hide her shock at Rabbit's claim. Not surprising—to her, that number was nothing short of horrifying.

"...I see..."

"Scared now?! I don’t even spare kids! Anyone who crosses me on this island gets wrecked! Hell, I might just eat 'em too! Ushishishishi!"

"...Hmm..."

"...? Hey, that brat... Ain't she weirdly calm?"

"Leave her be. She’s gotta be pissing herself. No kid stays cool talkin’ to Rabbit."

"......Nah, man... I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before..."

While one pirate scratched his head, the girl stared at Rabbit with a strange, appraising gaze—less impressed now, more... disappointed?

"...? The hell you starin’ at, brat? Creepin’ me out... What d’you even want with me?"

"...Hmm... Well... Oh well! Okay, decision made!!"

"Hah?"

Ignoring him, she tapped her chin, muttered to herself, then suddenly beamed and declared—

"Congrats~!! You’ve been chosen to join our glorious Beasts Pirates!! From now on, you’ll swear loyalty to our captain and me, the vice-captain, and work like a pack mule! But don’t worry, we’ll throw you some scraps too, so give it your all!!"

"....................."

Silence.

The entire bar froze.

Then—

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

The room exploded in laughter.

"What kinda pirate crew?! Kukuku, is this brat recruiting him?!"

"Someone tell her!! Gyahaha! Must be some kids’ pirate game goin’ around... How cute!"

Even the most hardened pirates couldn’t stop laughing—especially since Rabbit himself was chuckling.

"Ushishishi... So it’s a game invite, huh?"

"...Fufu... Nope~! I’m recruiting you for real. As a real pirate. ♡"

"Tch... I’ll give you points for guts, brat... But don’t push your luck. Who’d join some kiddie crew?"

"Ehh~? It’s a pretty sweet deal, y’know. Sure you don’t wanna reconsider? I’m the vice-captain, and my sworn sibling’s the captain. You’d better join~. I might still forgive you if you change your mind now—"

"—Hey. Brat."

Rabbit stood, pulling a knife from his coat and pressing it to her cheek.

The bar’s mood flipped instantly.

"Listen real good. Get lost. Who the hell would follow some weak-ass brat and a nobody captain? Keep pushin’ me... and I’ll slit your throat."

No mercy for a kid. The crowd held its breath. Would he actually do it?

They expected tears. Begging. Maybe a pathetic scramble to escape.

—But that’s not what happened.

"...Which one of us is really playing pirate here?"

"......Hah?"

Rabbit blinked. What?

Then he noticed—

She wasn’t crying.

She was smiling.

"You think a real pirate would be scared of a little knife like this? How pathetic. Real pirates don’t flinch at death. And here you are, clearly pissed off but still trying to threaten me instead of just doing it... Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much after you bragged about killing 500 people, but wow—you really are just some small-time thug, huh?"

"Y-you...!!!"

Rabbit trembled with rage, speechless as the girl sighed like she was bored out of her mind. The bar held its breath, bracing for the bloodshed they knew was coming.

But the girl wasn’t done.

"Meh, whatever. I’ll give you one last chance. Swear loyalty to the Beasts Pirates as a low-ranking grunt, and I’ll spare you. Refuse? I’ll kill you. So—which’ll it be?"

"Y-you LITTLE SHIIIIIT!!!"

"!!"

Rabbit swung the knife down at her. The bar braced for blood.

But the one who bled—

"...Ahaha, you’re terrible with knives~♡"

"Wha—?!?!"

—wasn’t the girl.

It was Rabbit.

She’d caught the blade mid-air with her bare hand, yanked it free, and stabbed it straight through his palm in one fluid motion.

For a moment, Rabbit just stared, too stunned to even feel pain—until he saw her grin. Wide. Hungry.

"Even I was better at this as a kid~! You’re doing it all wrong. Gotta put your weight into it—like this!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!"

His scream tore through the bar.

Chaos erupted. A little girl had just maimed the pirate who ruled this island.

Yet no one moved to help him.

No—they couldn’t.

"Hmm~ I really didn’t think you’d refuse! So disappointing. So frustrating! Ahahaha!!"

"G-get your foot off—GAAAAH!!"

She pinned him down effortlessly, her boot crushing his wrist as he writhed. The strongest pirate on the island—helpless against a child half his size.

The sheer wrongness of it paralyzed the room.

"No way... That’s Rabbit...!"

"An 80-million-berry man!! There’s no one stronger on this island!!"

"How is this happening?! That smile—she’s toying with him like he’s nothing!!"

It wasn’t a fight. It was play.

The kind where a child, grinning with innocent cruelty, pulls the wings off a bug.

But their horror didn’t end there.

A new voice boomed through the bar—

"Ooooi—!! The hell’s takin’ so long?! You scoutin’ or babysittin’?!"

"!"

A massive figure loomed in the doorway.

Young, but towering. A kanabo in one hand, a sake bottle in the other. Drunk, furious—and sporting a pair of horns.

The girl’s face lit up like a kid spotting her best friend.

"Oh, Kaido!! Listen to this! I tried recruiting this guy ‘cause he said he runs the island, but he was sooo rude!! Called us a ‘kiddie crew,’ said I was ‘some weak brat,’ even dissed you as ‘some nobody trash’! So I figured I’d vent a little before killing him~!"

"...He said WHAT?"

"Eeek...!?"

The girl—whether intentionally or just genuinely pissed off at the insults—kicked Rabbit aside and tattled to Kaido like a child complaining about a playground bully.

"He said what about us...?!" Kaido’s voice was a low, seething growl, his pupils thinning into slits as he glared down at Rabbit.

"N-no, I didn’t—!!"

Finally, Rabbit realized it.

This man—Kaido—and the girl were monsters far beyond him.

The aura of violence clinging to them, the way they carried themselves like predators who saw murder as trivial… His instincts screamed at him to run.

But Kaido’s rage only boiled hotter.

"You little shit... Mocking us?! Calling me—some nobody playing pirate?!

Veins bulged across his forehead. His fists clenched hard enough to crack bone. Teeth ground together—

Then—

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!!"

"Wha—?!?"

It wasn’t a roar.

It was a dragon’s cry.

And the reason for that became horrifyingly clear as Kaido’s body began to change.

"Wha… what’s…?!?"

"H-hiiieee…!!"

"KYAAAAAAAAH!!"

His skin darkened to a stormy blue. His body twisted, expanded—bursting through the bar’s roof as he grew larger. And larger.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"

"That’s… That’s not human!!"

"A m-monster…?!"

By the time the transformation finished, the entire island could see him.

A dragon.

Over a hundred meters long, coiled in the sky, glaring down at Rabbit with eyes that promised annihilation.

Rabbit couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. He could only stare, paralyzed, at the thing that had rewritten the scale of his world.

Panic erupted across the island. People screamed, collapsed, fled—no one even considered fighting. There was no fighting that.

Except for one person.

"Tch. And here I thought this island would make a nice base for our crew’s debut… Oh well! Guess we’ll just rule by fear instead~! Hey, Kaido! Sound good?!"

"!! That girl—she’s flying too?!"

"B-both of them… Devil Fruit users?!"

With a flap of her crimson-and-blue wing-like scythes, the girl—Nue—soared up to the dragon’s eye level, chatting casually as if this were normal.

The dragon didn’t snap at her.

"Yeah… Good. Save us the trouble of recruiting… We’ll take this whole damn island instead!!"

"Okaaay~! So, how hard should we break them?"

"Go wild…!!! I’m pissed…!!!"

"Mmm, fair! Getting captured and tortured right after going independent would sour anyone’s mood. Sinking one ship wasn’t enough, huh? And you’re drunk too~ Well then—let’s play!!"

With a flick of her wrist, she conjured something in the sky.

Something impossible.

"U… UFOs?!"

Ten of them. Glowing red, blue, and green, hovering ominously above the island like harbingers of doom.

A dragon. A winged girl. UFOs.

And then—

"I… I remember now!!" A pirate from the bar—the one who’d thought the girl looked familiar—suddenly paled. "That’s Nue and Kaido!! The Rocks Pirates’ remnants… Those mad apprentices…!!"

“Oh? Looks like some folks already know us~ What should we do? Wanna give ’em a little fan service?”

“Don’t care… I’ll just kill that guy over there and wreck everything…!!!”

“…Ugh… Aah…!”

Ignoring even Nue’s casual banter, Kaidou’s words as he glared down at the man were nothing short of a death sentence.

Amidst it all, Nue made her announcement—loud enough for the entire town to hear:

“Alrighty, then!! Let’s kick off a little carnival starting nooow!!!”

It was a declaration of despair.

The island’s inhabitants were about to become unwilling participants in nothing more than a stress-relieving rampage—a means for these two to vent their frustrations while serving their goals.

And resistance was impossible. The moment these two appeared, this island had already become theirs.

“Starting today, we—the Beasts Pirates—are taking over this island! Or rather… consider this a little demonstration of what that means~♪ Oh, feel free to resist if you want! Though, y’know… we might just kill you if you do~♡”

“WORORORO…!!! From today onward, this island is MINE…!! And if anyone dares defy me… I’ll make sure they learn exactly what happens…!!!”

“N-No way… This can’t be real…?”

“If those monsters go on a rampage…!!”

“This… This is a disaster… There’s no winning…!!”

All they could do was tremble in fear.

On this day, everyone—whether they knew them before or not—would remember their faces and names.

The remnants of the annihilated Rocks Pirates. A monstrous man who could transform into a massive dragon, and a girl whose deceptively cute appearance belied an unfathomable terror.

Two pirates of overwhelming strength—far beyond the caliber of ordinary rabble who’d normally come to this island.

Their names were—

Captain of the Beasts Pirates, “King of Beasts” Kaidou—Bounty: 411,100,000 Berries.

Vice-Captain of the Beasts Pirates, “Monstrous Beast” Nue—Bounty: 380,100,000 Berries.

Even back in their days as infamous rookies in the Rocks Pirates, these two had been known as utter madmen. Now, with the dawn of the true era of pirates upon them, they had set their sights on becoming the strongest.

And as they raised their pirate flag over this island—marking it as their first stronghold—their reign of terror had only just begun.

---

"Whew~... Never thought we'd end up in the Grand Line right off the bat... Ahaha."

"Damn those Navy bastards...! I’ll slaughter every last one of 'em next time...!!"

In the center of the moderately wrecked island, Kaidou and I sat on one of the few surviving sofas, eating while reminiscing—and cursing—about how we got here.

The story was simple enough. After God Valley, we set out from an island in West Blue to strike out on our own as pirates... only to get captured by the Marines.

Bad luck, really. They were strong and had numbers on their side... Next thing we knew, we were knocked out and tossed in a prison ship’s cell. After enduring torture for a while, we woke up to find ourselves being transported to the Grand Line.

The torture left us weakened, and for some reason, they’d chained us up even tighter than before, so breaking free took a while. But we managed it, sank the prison ship for good measure, and washed up on this island by pure chance... Now, we figured we might as well scout for crewmates here... and that brings us to the present.

Long story short, we kinda just stumbled into making this island our base. So Kaidou was understandably pissed—he’d been drinking and fuming earlier when I wasn’t looking. Seems he’s sobered up now, though.

"Still, our bounties got updated... and they jumped way higher! That’s a win!"

"Yeah. But the world still ain’t scared enough of us. We’ll wreck shit till they have to raise it more...!!"

"Oh, it’ll go up whether they like it or not! —Hey, you. This food’s kinda trash. You got anything better?"

"S-s-sorry...!! W-we, uh... lost the kitchen, so..."

As we chatted about our shiny new bounties, I turned to one of the trembling lackeys nearby and made my request. He was terrified—understandable, given he’d just witnessed our rampage firsthand. So, naturally, I hit him with this:

"Huh~? So you’re saying this is the best you can do? Well then... maybe I’ll just eat you instead~♡"

"Eek—!!? R-right away, ma’am!!!"

Tilting my head cutely while leaning into his face did the trick. The guy turned sheet-white and bolted. See? They can do better when their lives are on the line. Gotta keep 'em on their toes, or they’ll start thinking they can slack off. Maybe I should have eaten him... Nah, the message got across. Not that hungry anyway.

"More importantly, we need a ship and a crew."

"A ship and a crew, huh... Ship’s doable, but how about the crew? Plenty of weaklings around, but..."

"We’ll scout for the strong ones. Hear rumors, recruit. Unless you got a better idea?"

"Nope. Sounds good. This island’s rough—perfect for picking up intel like that."

I nodded at Kaidou’s suggestion. A ship was necessary, but the priority was power—crewmates who could fight.

To build the strongest pirate crew, that was key. Money, ships, weapons? All useful, but none could replace raw strength. That’s why, when we first arrived, I tried recruiting the toughest pirate here... Turned out to be trash, so, well, former toughest pirate now. Lesson learned: if they haven’t killed enough people to be memorable, they’re not worth it. Hell, back in the Rocks Pirates, none of us could even count our kills.

"Plus, we gotta get stronger. As we are now, we’d get crushed by Whitebeard or Shiki in the New World."

"Tch... We’ll be the ones crushing them soon enough. You better keep up."

"Obviously! I’m gonna be the New World’s cutest, strongest, most mysterious pirate!!"

Above all, we needed to grow. We were strong now, but Whitebeard, Shiki, or Linlin? No contest.

Kaidou’s aiming for the top, and I’ve got my own rep to build. The ultimate badass beauty of the seas—well, excluding that freak Linlin. She barely counts as a girl... But still, I’ll need to reach her level eventually.

"What else do we need? Money?"

"Money? Well, aside from our pirate savings, we can just start squeezing tribute outta this town for now. And after that, we’ll take whatever we want from any dumb pirates who wander in."

"Do it. Handle the details yourself, Nue."

"Aye-aye, Captain~♪ Ahaha, I’ve always wanted to try running a proper gangster racket like this~♡ It’s fun getting to call the shots! So try not to wreck everything this time, okay? The whole ‘demonstration’ thing’s already over."

"Didn’t need you to tell me. I ain’t wreckin’ shit. This place is gonna be our damn stronghold—"

—The next day.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!?"

"P-please, stooooop…!!"

"T-the whole island’s gonna—!"

"WORORORORO!!! BRING ME MORE BOOZE!!! Hic…"

"…………"

Once again, the island trembled under the rampage of a dragon—Kaidou—and I could only stare in silent disbelief. Then, leaping into the air, I channeled Haki into my trident and—

"—I told you not to wreck the place, dumbass!!!"

"—OOF!? The hell, Nue!?"

"A-AAAAAH!! They’re fighting again~~!!"

I proceeded to beat the crap out of Kaidou, reigniting our usual brawls… Ugh. So much for collecting tribute—now we’d have to rebuild the damn town first… Our pirate careers, freshly independent, were already off to another disastrous start.