22 Chapter 22

Third Person's PoV:

Remember when Josh mentioned to bonk any other blues idiot who claims to want to become the pirate king? Well...get ready for it, because this man is very special. He is more of a clown than Buggy himself!

As the two raggedy looking people entered the restaurant. There was silence once again.

Just before they entered, whispers and murmurs of "Don Krieg", "Strongest pirate in East Blue", or "Most despicable pirate", were heard among the customers of the Baratie when the Krieg pirate ship appeared.

To everyone's shock, the presumed "Great" Don Krieg got on his hands and knees. It looked like that was all he could manage to do in his pitiful state.

Much to Gin's already growing worry, Krieg actually lowered his head and....begged!

"Please...give me anything to eat. I don't...care if it's just scraps." He started in a raspy voice, sounding already half dead. "I have plenty of treasure...I can pay."

"No Don! Please get up! A great man such as yourself shouldn't be begging...!" Gin quickly exclaimed. He was horrified by the actions of the captain he admired. Gin saw Krieg as a great and respectable man, so to see him in such a state, it saddened him.

Don just ignored Gin as he continued his never ending offers of riches if they just fed him once. Nobody in the restaurant were stupid enough to give him even a drop of water. All the cooks of the Baratie readied themselves to kick out the still kneeling man.

Just then, Sanji walked over with a plate in his hand. Pushing aside a lobster looking man named Patty who fell down with a thud, he continued until he reached the kneeling "Great Pirate".

The sous-chef put the plate of amazing smelling fried rice down right in front of the pirate. Everyone in the restaurant were horrified by his actions once again. Some weaker willed customers even fled the scene immediately.

"S-Sanji-san..." when Gin realized who was helping them again, he felt the gratitude in his heart multiply. If one looked closer, his eyes could even be seen to be a bit misty.

Before anyone else could react, a random cook berated the chef. "What the hell are you doing,Sanji!? Don't you know who Don Krieg is!? Who knows what he will do after he regains his strength!!" His voice echoed loudly, bringing everyone back from their shock.

Sanji calmly took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. The man took a deep breath and breathed out before replying, "I don't care who it is...anyone hungry is a customer!"

As soon as the pirate captain saw the food, he scarfed it down like it was the last meal he'll ever have. The more he ate, the more horrified everyone in the restaurant got!

"Hahaha...Thank you for the food." When Krieg finished, he got up and knocked Sanji away without any regret. When Gin protested, he grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it hard enough for his subordinate to yell out in pain. "I'm at full strength again.."

At this point, half of the customers already fled out of there in fear of losing their lives. Josh and Zoro remained unmoving as they just watched the whole thing play out. The same couldn't be said for Nami and Usopp.

As they would be known largely as the 'weak trio', with Chopper included, by the fans of One Piece. This unofficial title doesn't come without a meaning. They knew about the horrors of the Krieg Pirates because they grew up in the East Blue hearing about it.

Nami and Usopp were rightfully fearful at the worsening situation. However, they calmed down a bit when they realized that they weren't in conflict with them....yet.

"Nami, can you take Usopp with you and bring the Merry around the Baratie so that nothing happens to her?" Josh asked the still stunned girl. Nami snapped out of it when she heard the voice next to her. With a nod, the girl dragged Usopp off with her to the exit before he could even protest.

"This is a nice ship. I think I'll take it, after all, my ship is damaged severely." Krieg said as he let go of Gin's shoulder. His tone of voice sounding like it's the most natural thing to say.

"What!? Do you think we'll just hand you over our restaurant!?" The cooks of the Baratie shouted together. This only made Don chuckle before assuming a threatening tone. "This isn't a request, it's an order."

Hearing the pirate's order, Patty couldn't take it anymore and brought out a gun. "After a meal, you should have some dessert!" He pulled the trigger to shoot off multiple rounds of bullets at Krieg.

With a thud, Don Krieg fell on a table. The bullets pushed him back while creating a plume of smoke that covered his whole body, making it hard to see him. Patty smiled proudly at the result of his action.

"That was the worse dessert I've ever tasted..." from the debris, the non-sarcastic voice of the man thought to be dead or heavily injured spoke up. Krieg got up from the scattered remains of the table, his entire visage showed for all to see.

Not only was he not injured, the ragged clothes he previously donned was nowhere to be seen. In it's place, a bright golden armor replaced it. "You cooks shouldn't have opposed me, I'm the strongest man in the world!" He arrogantly said.

That was all Josh was willing to take. As a diehard fan of One Piece, Josh had a lot of respect for Whitebeard, especially now that he is in the same world. This man in front of him proclaimed himself to be someone that not even Whitebeard claim to be.

The monicker of "strongest" was probably given to him by the marines or other pirates. As far as Josh knew, Whitebeard never once said that he was the strongest.

The blonde was unable to humor the ignorant fool in front of him any longer. "Your the strongest man in the world? Then who the hell is Edward Newgate? Your female cousin!?" He spoke up loud enough to be heard by everyone.

When everyone heard that voice, they turned their heads toward Josh, especially Zeff who knew what the man was saying. They were first horrified that someone spoke out against Don Krieg, but then looked confused when they processed his words.

"How the hell should I know who this Edward Newgate is?" Krieg grunted back in clear annoyance. This only made Josh look down on him even more.

"You don't even know the name of Whitebeard. No wonder you couldn't even survive Paradise for a week." Josh sneered. As they heard the name "Whitebeard", all of them couldn't help but take an uneasy gulp... 'Good, at least they've heard of him.' Was the only thing Josh could think.

Krieg's face was red with anger and embarrassment. Even he knew who Whitebeard is...so his earlier statement would only sound like a man making a fool out of himself. He calmed down for a bit before focusing back on the earlier topic.

"You'll make enough food and water for 100 people to feed my men. If your still here by the time I return, I'll kill you all." He said, trying to bring everyone away from his earlier humiliation. As much as he wanted to beat the living daylights out of the brat, he had better things to do.

"Now you want us to feed the people who will invade us!? Looks like Don Krieg is nothing but a fool!" Patty said, regaining a bit of his confidence.

Just then, Sanji got up. He dusted himself before calmly making his way towards the kitchen. "Where the hell are you going!?" A cook stopped him.

"To the kitchen. I have to prepare food and water for a hundred people." Sanji replied. This made all the people present want to puke out all of their blood, but not before ripping Sanji apart.

As they were all accusing the swirly browed cook, Zeff stepped up with a giant brown bag and laid it right in front of Krieg. "That's enough food and water for one hundred people. Take it and leave." He calmly said. This got disapproving shouts of "Owner Zeff!" from everyone nearby.

"You...you're 'Red-Leg' Zeff!?" Instead of immediately taking the food, Krieg questioned the old man instead. "That's right. What of it?" Zeff, however, simply replied dismissively.

As their banter kept going on and on, Josh could feel the suppressed presence of a monster closing in. He furrowed his brows slightly at this. He had no idea how strong this human beast was because of his masked presence. The one thing Josh was sure about was his identity.

Further away from the restaurant, a man on a small raft slowly drifted ever closer. The man's name is Dracule Mihawk, also known as 'Hawkeye Mihawk'. One of the seven Shichibukai and current holder of the title, 'World's Strongest Swordsman', and Zoro's ambition.

Mihawk is a tall lean man with black hair, a short beard, mustache and sideburns that point upwards. His nickname comes from his strangely colored yellow eyes, which resemble a hawk's eyes.

He wears black and red ornate clothing with a crucifix pendant that hides a little dagger, which gives him the appearance of a Spanish swordsman. His attire consists of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume, and a long, open black coat with no shirt underneath, with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar.

He wears light purple pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked inside overly large boots in comparison to his leg size.

He wears a kogatana around his neck, appearing as a golden cross-shaped necklace.

His weapon is the legendary 'Black Blade' Yoru, and it is said to be one of the strongest swords in the world. Yoru is apart of the twelve 'Saijo O Wazamono', a grade above the Zoro's Wado Ichimonji which is an 'O Wazamono' grade sword.

With this confirmation, a devilish smile spread across Josh's cheeks from ear to ear. Zoro looked at him funny because he had never seen his mate act that way. If only he knew the reason, his smile would be even wider.