The Daughter of the King (English)

Chapter 17 - Battle for the Baratie - Part 1

Hawkeye looked sideways at Luffy. "You have agood crew there. I hope that one day we will meet again." He turned awayand went to his ship. Suddenly, behind him, two heavy shoes sounded on theruined deck. It was Krieg. He still had his arms crossed as he began to speak:"Listen, Hawkeye! I thought you came here to put ME out of action! Me, Don Krieg,ruler of the East Blue!" Luffy just shook her head internally, how couldsomeone be SO self-absorbed? The swordsman didn't turn around as he answered,"Yes, that's right, that's what I was planning on doing. But I've hadenough fun for today. I'm going to take a nap." Krieg grinned as he relaxed hisneck a little. "Huh, you're boring! I didn't think you'd give up so quickly."His crew looked at him in shock. "D...D...Don Krieg?" "Isn't he clear in his head?THAT'S the last thing we need rieght now!" Suddenly the hiddencompartments of his armor opened before he opened fire and shouted: "Go tohell, Hawkeye!" "He probably still hasn't had enough." Hereached for his sword. No one could really see what had happened when suddenlythe water sprayed meters high. Luffy had gotten to safety at the last momentand was now hanging on the railing of the Baratie from the outside, trying notto lose her grip. "Shit, he got away again," Krieg cursed as the smoke began toclear.

"Usopp!" He looked over the railing at the black-haired woman. "Luffy!" She had found her footing and was holding on to the railing with one hand, the other resting on her hat as she looked at him. "You follows Nami!" "Got it! Me and Zoro will definitely bring Nami back! Make sure the chef joins us! Then the five of us will conquer the Grand Line!" "Yes, let's do this!"

"Men, now that the troublemaker is gone,the real fight is just beginning!" said Krieg, grinning, "Let'shijack the ship!" "Aye!" "Hey old man, let's make a deal!If I get these guys off your back, I won't have to work for you anymore,okay?" "He, alright. If I really let you work here for a year, therestaurant would be pretty much ruined," Zeff grumbles. "Great!" she grinnedhappily before swinging herself over the railing. "Are you serious aboutbecoming Pirate King?" asked the one-legged man. She looked at him in surprise."Of course I'm serious! I will be the next Pirate King!" Why did so many peopleask her that? Zeff grinned. "I've met a lot of people who have bit off morethan they could chew. But you're someone who seems very confident.""I heard that you were once a pretty strong pirate. Did you also want tobecome Pirate King?" Zeff looked at the sky as a seagull flew past. "I havealready forgotten the past. Now I am the Chefs de Cuisine of this restaurant.That's enough for me." Out of the corner of her eye, the young piratecould see Sanji looking slightly embarrassed at the ground while Zeff wastalking. What did he have?

"Men!" shouted Krieg, pointing his finger at theBaratie, "As long as we get this ship, we won't have to fear the Grand Line!That's even better than pretending to be the Navy or pretending to surrender.With this ship it will be easy to approach the enemy and loot! It's perfect forour surprise attacks." "If you see this ship..." one of his menbegan before another continued, "...no one will suspect a pirate shipbehind it!" "But...but Don... Even if we meke it to the Grand Line...what if we run into someone like Hawkeye?" Krieg growled before shootingthe questioner in cold blood. "What are you still afraid of?!" He aimed thestill smoking pistol at some of his intimidated men. "Nothing at all!" "Do youthink that a NORMAL person is able to split a ship in two with one strike?" Thepirates looked at each other uncertainly. There captain was right. No normalperson would be able to do that. "That was certainly the power of a devilfruit. If legend is to be believed, the Grand Line is teeming with people withdevil fruit powers. Mihake must have eaten one too and used its power to destroythe ship. The straw hat brat won't be anything special if she's on the GrandLine." Hawkeye and a devil fruit? Luffy wanted to laugh. It might be thatthere would be people on the Grand Line who, like her, had devil fruit powers.But HE didn't look like he had any. This was definitely the result of hardtraining, she was sure. "Anyway, Red Leg Zeff was there for a whole year. I canonly assume that he had some strategy to deal with these monsters. A strategythat he wrote down in his logbook. Information about the One Piece is certainlyincluded." "I get it now. You're the best Don Krieg!" "Withthis ship and the logbook, we'll have the opportunity to grab the OnePiece!" Luffy raised an eyebrow. Were they serious? If it were that easy,her father's legacy would have been found years ago! Furthermore, it would nolonger be a legend if there were tangible records that everyone could somehowobtain. "Do you understand now, men? Now let's take over that ship!""Aye!!!" The pirates held their weapons in the air, completelymotivated. When the black-haired woman looked around, she noticed that twocooks were missing. Where were Patty and Carne? Sanji was ready to lightanother cigarette when he took it between his fingers and said, "Therestaurant will become a battlefield." He could remember when Zeff firsttalked about a floating restaurant. He turned his head to one of the cooks andsaid, "Go into the control room and open the fin." "Eh...openthe fin? Wouldn't that give the enemy room to fight?" the cook askedskeptically. The blonde had put the cigarette back in his mouth as he hit thewall with a smile and said, "Who cares? We can't allow the inner part tobecome a battlefield." Zeff subtly glanced at his protégé. "If we foughtinside, the old geezer howl." "Did you just say something, youbrat?" "Yeah, I said you'll screm like a baby Now go!" The cookturned on his heel and disappeared inside just before the pirates began theirattack. "Well, they're finally coming! This will be great fun!" said the black-hairedwoman excitedly as she held on to the railing. Behind her, the remains of thedoor still hung on its hinges. "And here we go!" She ran backward in therestaurant, her arms stretching. "GomuGomu no Rocket!" Some of the chefs watched her in surprise as she flewtowards the panicked pirates. "The girl can fly?!" "And...Gomu Gomu no..." She held out her arms and let them stretch. "...Ogama!" She sent the pirates into thewater before she quickly grabbed one of the masts sticking out of the water andsat on it. Krieg gritted his teeth angrily. "Great job, girly!" shouted one ofthe chefs behind her. One of the pirates had pulled himself onto a smallerpiece of wreckage when he said, coughing, "What...what the hell...isshe?!" "There's a bunch of people like her on the Grand Line?"Sanji muttered. He was still a little shocked by the inhuman strength of thisblack-haired angel. Everything inside him screamed that he had to protect her.A lady had no place in a fight! But he had seen it in her enchanting eyes. Thewill to fight. So what kind of man would he be if he went against her wishes? "Sanji,"Zeff's voice brought him out of his train of thought, "Look closely at HOWshe fights. Watch her until the battle is over!" What did Zeff mean by that? Hewould have watched her anyway, but why pay such close attention to her fight?