The air on the Baratie's deck grew thick enough to choke on.
"Tricked?" Don Krieg's voice was a low, grinding stone. "You admit you were fooled by a single woman and a handful of pirates?"
Yosaku stood trembling, blood dripping from a dozen small cuts, but his eyes burned. "I admit it! But hear this—I am still the strongest! My will is unbroken!"
Krieg's laughter was a dry, hollow sound. He didn't even look at Yosaku. His gaze, cold and calculating, settled on Sanji instead.
"Gin," Krieg said, the name dropping like a verdict.
The silver-haired fighter stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "Captain."
"Take care of the cook. I'll handle the rubber fool myself."
Sanji lit a cigarette, the flame trembling slightly in his grip. "You sure you want to do this, tin man? I'm having a bad day. My kitchen's a mess."
Gin didn't answer. He simply moved.
What followed was a brutal, silent dance. Fists met kicks in sharp cracks that echoed over the sea. Sanji spun, his leg a blur, but Gin parried with a forearm hardened by years of battle. A kick meant to shatter ribs was deflected; a punch aimed at Sanji's throat was dodged by a hair's breadth.
*Thud. Crack. Wham.*
They broke apart, breathing hard. Neither bled. Neither yielded.
From the Krieg Pirates' ranks, a murmur rose. "Gin's losing ground!"
"Silence," Krieg snapped, not turning from where Luffy cracked his knuckles, waiting. "Gin does not *lose ground*. He is a calm demon. A collector of lives. He kills without pardon, without hesitation. That is why he commands my armada. Watch. The cook is already cornered."
He was right. Sanji favored his left side—a remnant of Pearl's earlier assault. A slight hitch in his movement. A fraction of a second too slow.
Gin's eyes, empty as polished stones, saw it all.
---
Meanwhile, Luffy launched himself like a cannonball. "GUM-GUM PISTOL!"
Don Krieg didn't dodge. He *shed*.
With a series of metallic clicks, sections of his golden armor disengaged, falling to the deck with heavy thuds. Underneath, his body was a canvas of scars and reinforced plating.
"Fool," Krieg spat. He raised his arm. A hidden panel slid open. *Click-hiss.*
A spear shot out, faster than sight.
*THWACK.*
It impaled Luffy's foot, pinning him to the wooden deck.
"GYAAAH!" Luffy yelled, more in surprise than pain.
Another click. A small barrel emerged from Krieg's shoulder. *Boom-boom-boom!* Three bombs erupted, engulfing Luffy in smoke and flame.
The Straw Hat pirate staggered, the spear still through his foot, teetering at the deck's edge. The ocean churned hungrily below.
"Why won't you fight me straight?!" Luffy roared, yanking at the spear.
Krieg's smile was a thin, cruel line. "The most important skill in battle is not strength. It is *killing*. You attack like a monkey, without strategy. I am a general. And generals eradicate pests."
---
A sickening *CRUNCH* echoed from the other side of the deck.
Sanji cried out, stumbling back, his arm hanging at a wrong angle. The bone in his forearm was clearly broken.
"SANJI!" Patty screamed, struggling against the cooks holding him back.
Gin moved in. No flourish. No wasted motion. A fist to the gut. An elbow to the back. A knee to the ribs. Ten brutal, efficient strikes in as many seconds. Sanji hit the deck, gasping, blood flecking his lips.
The Krieg Pirates erupted. "FINISH HIM! DEMON GIN!"
Gin stood over the fallen cook. He raised his foot, poised to stamp down on Sanji's skull—a killing blow.
Sanji looked up, one eye swollen shut. He didn't plead. He just… looked.
And in that look, Gin saw something else.
A dark, stormy night. The stench of his own starvation. A plate of food, pushed toward him without a word. A simple act of kindness from a man who owed him nothing.
*"Eat."*
The memory hit Gin like a physical blow. His raised foot trembled.
A single tear traced a clean path through the grime on his cheek. Then another.
The cheering died, replaced by confused silence.
"I… can't," Gin whispered, his voice breaking. "I cannot kill the only man who showed me kindness in this wretched life."
He lowered his foot. He turned to face his captain.
The disappointment on Don Krieg's face was colder than any fury. "Gin," he said, the word heavy with finality. "You were the one I trusted most. Your excess of spirit, your demon's heart—it was what made you perfect for the battlefield."
Gin fell to one knee, head bowed. "Captain. I will always respect you. I will always admire your strength. But I beg you… spare this restaurant. Let them go."
Krieg stared at his kneeling commander. The silence stretched, taut as a wire.
Then, he moved.
Not toward Gin. Not toward Sanji.
He strode toward the edge of the deck, where Luffy finally wrenched the spear from his foot with a pained shout.
"You beg for their lives?" Krieg said, his voice carrying across the still deck. He raised his massive, armored arm. A dozen panels slid open along its length, revealing a bristling array of muzzles, barrels, and spear tips—a symphony of destruction. "Then watch, Gin, as I demonstrate what true strength looks like."
He aimed the entire arsenal not at Luffy, but at the Baratie's main mast—and the crowded galley beneath it, where the wounded Zeff and the remaining cooks huddled.
"Let's see if your kindness can survive *this*."
His finger tightened on the trigger.
**BOOM.**
The world exploded in fire and sound.