Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

After failing in the Grand Line, the Krieg Pirates fled to the East Blue. They encountered a Navy siege along the way, and by the time they reached the Baratie, only about 100 people remained. After their defeat at the Baratie, many pirates deserted and left the crew.

On this island, only about 30 people were left.

Lily hadn't killed these pirates, just knocked them unconscious. They were all still alive.

Pearl was the first to wake up. When he opened his eyes, he was dazzled by a bright firelight. The bonfire had been relit, with Sagg and Lily sitting around it, looking in his direction.

He quickly got up, rubbing his shield-covered hands together to ignite flames. "Taste the flames of Pearl the Fire Man!"

"Pearl, stop."

A voice sounded beside him. Pearl turned to look and froze in place.

Gin was next to him, watching the gradually awakening pirates. He said, "There's no need to fight anymore."

"Commander Gin?" Pearl looked confused, then seemed to realize something and glanced around, asking, "Where's Don Krieg?"

"Dead."

Gin uttered a sentence that shocked all the pirates. He pointed to where Krieg had been, saying, "Killed by Captain Sagg."

They looked in that direction, all breaking out in a cold sweat.

There was no person there anymore, just a pile of minced meat.

"Captain Sagg?" Some pirates noticed the key point. "Commander Gin, you've joined them?"

"That's right."

Sagg took over, standing up. "We're all pirates, it doesn't matter who you follow. Gin has already joined my crew, and now I sincerely invite you all to join my pirate crew. What do you say?"

The group exchanged glances. One pirate stepped forward holding a sword, staring intently at Sagg. Then he raised his sword to the sky and shouted, "Captain!"

"Captain!"

"Captain Sagg!"

Shouts erupted from the mouths of these pirates, without any hesitation.

"Captain Sagg defeated Krieg, he must be stronger. We're still the rulers of the East Blue!" a pirate exclaimed excitedly.

If Commander Gin had joined, there was nothing more to say - they might as well join too.

Sagg wasn't surprised by this at all.

Not everyone was like Gin. There were indeed those on the sea who would follow a captain for life once they pledged loyalty, but more pirates would move based on reputation and benefits.

Expecting all pirates to be unwaveringly loyal until death? This was the cruel sea, not playing house.

A pirate captain's duty was to maintain the gang, not nitpick to find who was most loyal.

"Very good! You won't regret following me. We're all pirates for freedom and money. I'm not stingy with wealth. From now on, I'll take 50% of the loot, and the remaining 50% will be split - those who participate in the raids get two shares, those who don't still get half a share. Everyone is guaranteed a cut!"

"Really, Captain Sagg?!" A pirate's eyes lit up.

"Absolutely!"

Sagg raised his head proudly. "If you become an officer, your share will be even higher. Work hard, everyone!"

"Oh!!!"

This made all the pirates raise their weapons and roar.

Sagg was confident about this, not worried about anyone harboring resentment.

While the others were still unconscious, he had asked Gin how they used to divide the spoils.

The answer was unexpected.

The Krieg Pirates were a standard pirate crew, with a standard way of dividing loot - the captain took 80%, the remaining 20% was divided up, pirates who participated in raids got one share of loot, those who didn't participate got nothing, just food and drink.

When he heard this, Sagg nearly lost his teeth in shock.

In his memory, traditional old pirates from his hometown only gave the captain a few shares of loot, never exceeding 14% - and that was for the most brutal captains who might face mutiny and be thrown overboard after a couple days.

Proper pirate captains only took two shares, with the rest belonging to everyone.

What did two shares mean? Not 20%, but giving the captain one extra share on top of an equal division of loot.

For ten people stealing a gold bar, it would be divided into eleven parts. Ten apples would have to be cut into eleven pieces, not the captain taking two whole apples.

Why had Sagg tried all sorts of professions before becoming a pirate? Because he thought piracy didn't make money - running around with a bounty on your head robbing people, risking your life every day, wind and rain, only to earn a pittance.

Who would want to do that?

But the seas here had their own rules. Others took 80%, while Sagg generously only wanted half! Steal 10,000 Berries, he'd directly take 5,000! This was a great deal!

At this rate, it wouldn't take long for him to accumulate wealth, buy a large estate, recruit a bunch of underlings, and live a life of corrupt luxury as a landowner, reaching the peak of life!

"Men, let's have a feast to strengthen our bonds!" Sagg laughed heartily.

"Oh!!" The pirates shouted excitedly.

Then no one moved.

Sagg blinked and repeated: "I said, let's have a feast."

"Oh!!" The pirates continued to shout.

"What the hell are you yelling for?!"

A blue vein popped out on Sagg's temple. "Bring out the food, let's feast. Don't just stand there, get moving!"

"Captain..." 

Pearl weakly raised his hand. "Where is the food?"

Sagg: "..."

He looked at these pirates, a bad feeling rising in his heart. "You... don't have any food?"

The pirates all shook their heads.

"What a coincidence."

Sagg spread his hands, his expression crumbling: "I don't have any either."

He had been hoping these guys would have some backup food, so they could eat something hot and drink some alcohol, really liven things up.

But not a single one had anything to eat!

Gin spoke up at this point: "Captain Sagg, let's just set sail. There are many ships on the nearby sea routes, we can hijack one."

"Good suggestion, but there's one small problem," Sagg said with a smile. "I don't have a ship."

Gin: "..."

No ship? 

How did he get here without a ship? Did he fly or something? Looking at Sagg who had just been making grand statements, Gin suddenly had an ominous feeling. He sensed that following this captain might involve some slight issues.

"It's not a big problem," Sagg waved his hand. "If we don't have a ship, we'll build one. Let's get to work - there's so much wood here, we'll make some rafts and set sail!"

As long as you don't give up, there are always more solutions than difficulties! So what if we don't have a ship? This is a forested island, raw materials are everywhere.

...

Sagg had no ship, and these pirates only had one small boat that could fit five people at most. But their total number was 35, so they had no choice but to build rafts on the spot.

Originally, Gin had a chance to get a ship.

When they retreated from the Baratie to this island, they didn't have many supplies to begin with, even food and water were a problem. They had planned to hijack a ship at sea, so Gin took some men in a small wooden boat. They happened to encounter a merchant ship.

But he felt they couldn't do such a despicable thing anymore - they had to fly a pirate flag and rob openly and honorably, not sneak attack by pretending to be shipwreck victims like Krieg had ordered.

But how could a small boat catch up to a large sailing ship? Moreover, the other ship had cannons. They were spotted before they could even get close enough to raise the pirate flag, so naturally they returned empty-handed.

This was also why Krieg had punished Gin at the time. And then, Krieg died.

Boom!

At dawn, a large tree crashed down. Several pirates wielding axes stripped off the branches, turning it into a log. Two pirates then carried it towards the shore.

"Captain!"

Pearl walked over and shouted: "We've prepared the wood. We can set sail anytime!"

Of course pirates would be quick at chopping trees, especially Lily and Gin. Lily could cut down a large tree with one slash of her thin sword, while Gin destroyed trees from the base with his staff. It just took some time to shape the logs and tie them together with ropes.

As for ropes suitable for binding logs, Krieg had those.

His shoulder armor shield was still intact. Besides some poison gas bombs and guns, it also contained high-quality net ropes, perfect for tying wood.

Sagg was now playing with a gun he had taken from Krieg's shoulder armor. The quality wasn't bad.

How could a pirate not have a gun?

Besides that, he had also confiscated Krieg's cloak and was wearing it.

He nodded at Pearl, then said to Gin beside him: "Gin, are you sure there will be ships passing on this route?"

"Yes, quite a few. We'll encounter some as soon as we set sail," Gin replied.

Sagg smiled, raising the gun high and pulling the trigger.

Bang! The gunshot rang out across the island, attracting the attention of the other pirates.

"Men! Set sail!!!"