One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

Campas Town was not small, and within this island, there were many more villages and small towns, though not along the coast.

Pirates of course robbed along the coast - venturing deeper inland would risk being surrounded.

Water, food, salt, wood planks and nails for repairs - Sage took whatever he could get his hands on. Everything was loaded into barrels and crates and brought back to the ship by the pirates.

As for Sage and the civilians, they got along without incident.

How much could one ship carry anyway?

Even if the town was destroyed, they could easily provide that much.

The reason the civilians didn't mind at all was firstly, they had already been ravaged by pirates before, and secondly, these pirates had saved their people - wasn't it only right to give them some supplies as thanks?

The town mayor looked at the nearly falling-apart ship docked at the port and said, "Captain, although we can't offer anything too valuable right now, we could provide you with a ship."

"Old man, I'm robbing you!" Sage's eye twitched. "Don't insult the pirate profession, will you? No matter what, I take my job seriously!"

Was he supposed to be less professional just because he was down on his luck?! "I'll take what I want myself. Hand over the ship." Sage waved his flintlock pistol.

He wouldn't accept if others gave it to him. But if he robbed it himself, that was fine!

"As for ships, we'll have to wait for the other cargo ships to return before we have any extra. We don't have any now," the mayor shook his head. "But if you wait a while..."

"Captain!!" A shout came from the port. A pirate ran over quickly, panting and pointing towards the sea. "War-warships! The Navy is here!"

Boom!!

As soon as he finished speaking, several cannonballs flew from the distant sea and struck the ship with pinpoint accuracy.

The already damaged ship was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The mast and wooden planks went flying, and the main body split in two, becoming part of the wreckage in the port's waters.

The pirates left guarding the ship all jumped into the sea under the blast's aftershock, quickly climbing onto the dock.

"My ship!"

Sage's eyes widened as he watched the ship sink, completely dumbfounded.

The ship he had just stolen was gone, just like that?

The warship sailed right past the wreckage and docked at the port. A group of Marines jumped down and charged over.

"This is the 23rd Branch of the Navy. I am the Marine Lieutenant Commander. Pirates, you are under arrest!"

The Marine who rushed out first shouted, quickly cutting down a fleeing pirate. Two Marine soldiers behind him surrounded the pirate, pointing their guns at him.

"Captain Sage, what should we do?" Ajin hunched over slightly, gripping his cane tightly as he asked.

"What to do?"

Bang bang bang! Bullets whistled past, some hitting pirates and knocking them down.

Several bullets flew towards Sage, grazing his body. One was about to hit him when he raised his arm and caught the round bullet between two fingers.

The bullet fell to the ground with a light clink. Sage looked at the approaching Marines and sneered, "I've lost my ship, so I'll just steal the warship to use as our new one! Men, counterattack!"

"Oh!!"

At the captain's order, the pirates around him let out a battle cry and charged at the Marines.

In terms of numbers, the pirates were certainly at a disadvantage. The Marines that had disembarked outnumbered the pirates at least two to one. In terms of combat ability, the average pirate and Marine were evenly matched, with the pirates perhaps slightly weaker.

But from the perspective of elite fighters, the Marines did not have the advantage, because pirates with bounties were all extraordinary.

Bang bang bang! The sound of gunfire rang out again, but the bullets hit a shield.

Paru knocked on the large round shield in front of him, letting the bullets hit it and spark off.

He stretched out his five fingers and threw firefly stones, igniting a fire on the ground to block the Marines from pursuing the remaining pirates.

"I am the invincible iron wall Paru. I can even withstand your cannons. How about that - invincible and handsome? I'm quite experienced, aren't I?" Paru grinned crookedly, flashing his reflective teeth.

The shield on his back had been shattered by Ajin and he hadn't had time to repair it, but the front shield was still usable and more than enough to block bullets.

Whoosh! A figure darted past Paru like a cheetah. Ajin charged rapidly towards the Marines, the iron ball on his cane plowing a trail on the ground. As he approached the Marines, he suddenly swung upwards.

Bang!!

The ground shattered as the powerful blow sent the vanguard of Marines flying.

Ajin straightened up, twirling his cane in a circle before resting it on his shoulder. He looked at the remaining Marines with a smirk.

Zing! But before he could say anything, a silver flash appeared beside him, forming a 'Z' shape as it quickly slashed through the center of the Marine formation.

It was Lily.

"Void Slash."

She flourished her sword and flicked it to her side, then slowly sheathed it. The Marines around her seemed frozen in place, waiting for Lily to fully sheath her blade.

Click.

"Cut."

Shick!!

As the thin sword quietly slid into its sheath, blood suddenly spurted from the Marines' bodies. Their eyes rolled back as they collapsed.

"Charge!!"

Seeing this, the pirates' morale soared. Those who had been fleeing now became energized, brandishing their weapons and engaging the remaining Marines.

Blades clashed, guns fired, flames burned. Sage walked slowly through the crowd, his cloak fluttering in the wind. With each step forward, the pirates pushed the Marines back a bit more, all the way to the port where all the Marines fell.

Under the attack of the three, these Marines were no match at all.

"I am a Marine Lieutenant Commander! I will not retreat!"

The remaining branch Lieutenant Commander's hand shook as he gripped his flintlock, aiming at Sage but unable to pull the trigger.

Sage glanced at him but didn't make a move, just silently watching.

"I-I..."

Under Sage's gaze, the Lieutenant Commander still couldn't bring himself to fire.

Sage smiled slightly and slowly walked up the gangplank onto the warship.

"Men."

With his back to everyone, he said, "Load the cargo. We're setting sail!"

The Marine Lieutenant Commander finally lowered his gun. He couldn't fall - he still had to take care of the injured Marines. He could only leave with harsh words: "The Navy won't let you get away with this!"

Sage chuckled softly and shook his head without saying anything.

As if the Navy would have let him go even if he hadn't stolen the warship.

Being attacked by the Navy was par for the course once you became a pirate. There was no such thing as peaceful coexistence.

The pirates loaded the goods they had plundered from Campas Town onto the ship, raised the sails, and departed from the port towards the open sea.

This warship was a typical patrol ship that could hold up to 80 people. It wasn't large, but it was certainly better than their wrecked ship.

And it had cannons.

Sage sat contentedly in the captain's quarters and opened a bottle of rum.

In terms of supplies, what the warship carried was quite good, as it was meant for the Navy's needs.

Now he not only had alcohol to drink, but he also found cigarettes in the captain's quarters.

After taking a few big swigs of rum, Sage lit a cigarette and took a deep drag before exhaling a cloud of smoke with a sigh of relief.

"Whew..."

He even felt like crying a little.

It hadn't been easy!

He hadn't dared to imagine being able to drink and smoke so comfortably for years. He had been constantly hustling for his business, if not dirt poor then at least worrying about where his next meal would come from.

In any case, he had been somewhere between starving and full - never quite satisfied.

Otherwise, why would he have needed to steal alcohol from mountain bandits in Oikot?

Sage picked up a cup and said to Lily, who was collecting nautical charts and other information in the captain's quarters, "Would you like a drink... oh, never mind, you're underage, you can't drink."

Lily looked through the documents without raising her head and asked, "Sage, what are we going to do next?"

She didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with stealing a warship. Isn't that what pirates do?

Besides, they had already committed major crimes, so it didn't matter if they offended the Navy further.

If anything, a higher bounty would help raise Sage's reputation.

"Keep robbing."

Sage took a drag on his cigarette and leaned back comfortably in his chair. "What's the use of just eating and drinking our fill? We still haven't gotten any money. If we can't rob one town, we'll move on to another. We'll get money eventually!"

Pirates can't just be satisfied with food and drink. Going to sea is about getting rich. Even searching for the One Piece is about wanting to obtain the Pirate King's treasure and become filthy rich.

His current crew may be desperate men, but some of them have families.

If they weren't so poor, who would want to go to sea? Sage needs money for his dream, and the pirates need money too, so they obviously have to rob.

You can't just make empty promises to employees without paying wages.