Author's Note:

Some changes have been made in the previous chapter(in the red-haired pirates interaction scene), so please read that before continuing.

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Bang! Bang!

The sound of two bullets being fired resounded on the deck of Wicked Wench as the man flying on a broom about a mile away was shot in the heart and head.

“Well… that’s some amazing marksmanship skill you have, Van, no wonder Captain recruited you into the crew.” Praised Escanor as he looked at the man falling from his broom upon being consecutively shot in his heart and then in the head.

Hearing Escanor’s praise, Van stoically accepted the praise, “It makes me happy that my skills are valued in the crew.” But internally, he couldn’t help but think something else, ‘What pleasure, I didn’t even have a choice, the way Captain Ban presented me with the offer of joining his crew, it felt more like a threat and less of an offer that I had the option of refusing.’

It was exactly as Van said, there really was no option for Van Augur, when Ban spotted him on the Merchant Ship his crew was about to rob, Ban was surprised, he didn’t really expect that he would encounter Van Augur, a future member of Blackbeard Pirates in such a manner, this is great luck!

So, when robbing the merchant ship, as per Ban’s order, the Khaos Pirates spared Van Augur, and when the matter with the Merchant ship was dealt with, Ban presented him the offer of joining his crew.

Van Augur was taken aback by Ban’s offer because Ban’s way of asking was very intimidating, it felt more like an order than an offer, and with so many dead bodies surrounding him, Van didn’t really feel that he had any choice except accepting the offer if he didn’t want to die young.

Van had the gut feeling that the members of Khaos Pirates are extremely strong, not the likes of people one would normally encounter on this sea, he understood that he didn’t stand a chance against this pirate crew, so he was left with no other choice but to accept Captain Ban’s offer.

Although Van had accepted Ban’s offer back then, this doesn’t mean that he was loyal to the crew. He had only verbally joined them and has been considering what he should really do now, and couldn't help but sigh, ‘What should I do?’

As Van thought all this, Esdeath who was looking at everyone was able to sense his thoughts because of Intent and Emotion Sensing, she didn’t berate or scold Van for having such a thought and simply said, “Van, if you really don’t want to join our crew, then you don’t have to. If you tell the captain that you want to leave, I am sure he won’t stop you… however, I will ask you to consider Captain’s offer.”

Van hesitated, “I… it’s not that I don’t want to join or anything… it’s just that… how do I put it… it’s a bit too sudden.” although he was forced to join the Khaos Pirates, it’s not that he hates them or anything, it’s just that he barely knows anything about them, and in the face of deputy Captain Esdeath’s words, he didn’t know how to respond.

Esdeath nodded, “I understand what you mean.” And after a while of thinking, she suggested, “In that case why don’t you do this… stay on board with us for some time, maybe a month or two, after that, if you still feel that you don’t want to be part of our crew, then you will be free to leave, we will drop you wherever you want to go.”

Van looked skeptically at Esdeath, and questioned, “Deputy Captain… are you serious?” Even Escanor and Medusa were taken aback by what Esdeath said, “Lady Esdeath… Captain/Master might not like that you made such a decision without asking him.”

Esdeath shook her head, and explained, “I have known Captain the longest, and, I understand him quite well. Therefore, I know that when it comes to the crew, he will not force anyone to join, because this might cause problems in the future… Rather than possible betrayal in the future, it’s better to resolve such matters at the start. That’s why, Van if you don’t feel like joining, you can leave, no one will force you to stay on board.”

Van thought about Esdeath’s offer for a while, then nodded, “In that case, I will accept the offer… After sailing for a month or two, if I still don’t feel like joining you guys, then I will leave.”

Esdeath smiled, “All right then.” No one, except Medusa, noticed the playfulness in her smile.

…

Sometime later

“Captain… here is today’s newspaper.” Said Kuina, as she passed the newspaper to Ban.

Ban put down his coffee mug on the table, took the newspaper from Kuina, as he thanked her, “Thanks”, and started to read it.

Since he left Shimotsuki Village, Ban has developed a daily habit of reading newspapers, by doing so, he can learn the detail of a lot of things currently going on in the world, and at the same time make his future plans.

After a while, he closed the newspaper. Esdeath who was sitting next to Ban asked, “Captain… did something catch your eye?”

After taking another sip of coffee, Ban nodded, “There are a few things… First, our actions in the past three months seem to have become a big deal in East Blue, everyone is trying to figure out who are the people responsible for sinking so many ships. It seems Marine of East is going to get active to eliminate us.”

Esdeath said, “Well, that’s not really such a big problem.”

Ban nodded, “Yes, as long as they don’t send one of the three Admirals or the Marine Hero, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

Esdeath nodded, and asked, “Then is there anything else that caught your attention?”

Ban said, “Yes, second news is that there was an addition to the Warlords, so now there are three Warlords.”

Esdeath was surprised, “And who is the new Warlord?”

Ban answered with a smile, “It’s the current Queen of Amazon Lily, the Captain of Kuja Pirates, Empress Boa Hancock. She seems to have accepted the offer of becoming a Warlord.”

Esdeath asked, “Is she strong?” she didn’t particularly know who Hancock was, however, given that she has become one of the Warlords must mean that she must be strong.

Ban nodded, “Very strong.”

Hearing that, Esdeath smirked, “Then I look forward to the day I fight her.”

Ban knew that Esdeath likes to fight strong foes and there is no doubt that she really wants to fight Hancock, so he reminded her, “She is likely to be a master in all three forms of Haki, plus she should also have a Devil Fruit with broken ability. Given your current strength, I don’t think you will be able to defeat her… Heck, even the current me won’t be able to defeat her. So, if you wish to fight her, then get stronger, because I don’t want my right hand to be defeated.”

Hearing Ban’s words, Esdeath’s cheeks turned rosy, as she nodded, “I will work harder.”

Ban smiled, and said while patting her head, “I know you will.” Patting made Esdeath shy and she smiled happily. After a while, Ban stopped and said in a serious tone, “And finally, there is this third news… this one is very important for us.”

Seeing that Ban was serious, Esdeath’s shyness disappeared, and she asked, “What is it?”

Ban answered, “An auction is about to be held at the Fraunce Kingdom,” And added, “And their MVP is one of the 50 Skilful Grade Swords.”

Esdeath immediately understood the importance of the matter, and said, “We need to get that Sword.”

Ban agreed, “Yes… Whether, me, you, or Kuina… all three of us are using simple Iron swords. Kuina can wait for a few years since she isn’t going to face any formidable enemy, but the two of us really need to get better Swords, because sooner or later we will start facing strong enemies, and at that time, the grade of our sword will also become very important.”

Esdeath nodded, “And this auction is our best bet to obtain a Good Sword.”

Ban added, “In fact, if we have good luck, we might even have the opportunity to get our hands on more than just one good Sword.”

Esdeath’s eyes widened in realization, “That’s right since this is an auction where the MVP is a Skilful Grade Sword, the chances that a Swordsman who already has one of the named Sword might also visit… and if such a thing happens, we can get more than just one good sword!”

Ban said with a smile, “I like how you are able to understand my thoughts so accurately, Esdeath.”

Esdeath lowered her head shyly.

Seeing Esdeath being shy again, Ban shook his head helplessly, “Anyway, the auction is three days from now.” then looking at the map of east Blue, he added, “I believe we can get there in time if we go full speed ahead.”

Esdeath said, “In that case, I will immediately inform Genos to change course to the Fraunce Kingdom.” Then she stood up and walked out of Captain Cabin.

Ban nodded, “Please do.” As he also stood up and made his way to the training hall of Wicked Wench, “In the meantime, I will check on Kuina and Van and see how they are doing.”

…

At the same time – Marine Warship.

“Doc, is anyone still alive?” questioned Commodore Pudding Pudding as the doctor of their warship came out of his cabin.

Doc shook his head, “No… all of them are dead either by being shot in the brain or heart or both brain and heart.

One of the seamen muttered, “Seems to be the work of an expert sniper.”

The second seaman said, “However, this is the first time when the bodies were shot dead instead of being slashed… this can mean that they have added a sniper among their ranks.”

Another seaman added with a bitter expression, “They were already troublesome as it is, now they have an expert sniper in their ranks… this matter is starting to become more and more troublesome.”

Everyone couldn’t help but nod.

Doc suddenly thought of something, and spoke, “Considering the state of dead bodies, this ship shouldn’t have been torched long ago, a few hours I suppose… meaning they aren’t far away from us.”

Pudding Pudding nodded when the seamen brought the dead bodies on deck, he also realized that they haven’t died for very long, and muttered, “But the question is… where are they headed? If we figure this out, maybe we can find who these people are, and put them to justice!”

Lieutenant Commander Hardy ordered a seaman, “Bring the sea chart of this area, I want to know all the nearby islands.”

“Yes sir.” The Seaman nodded and immediately brought the sea chart.

Hardy studied the sea chart for a while, then said, “There are three islands that they could head to… Oykot Kingdom, Fraunce Kingdom, Conomi Islands.”

Pudding Pudding also studied the map and agreed with Hardy, “These seem to be the most probably locations… so what do we do? Shall we separate and each of us head to an island?”

Hardy nodded, “Seems to be the most logical choice in my opinion, what do you think Captain Smoker?”

Smoker has been silent all this time, it was as if he was thinking something. As his name was called out, Smoker broke out his thoughts and nodded, “That would indeed be most efficient, let’s do that, also relay messages to the nearby Naval branches to send reinforcement to these three islands. I don’t want these people to cause any harm to the people living there!”

“Yes Sir!”

“Yes Sir!”

Pudding and Hardy, as well as the seaman, nodded and passed the message to several Marine branches nearby the three islands.

Meanwhile, the Khaos Pirates were completely unaware of the spider net being woven around them as they sailed full speed to the Fraunce Kingdom.

 

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Author's Note:

Alright, now we are done with Chapter - 8.

Ban and the crew are on their way to Fraunce Kingdom to get their hands on a Skillful Grade Sword, and the Marines have been able to determine where they 'might' go and are preparing accordingly, let's see how the situation will play out.

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Important Point: The age of any character, and their gender is not going to be changed for the plot's sake, unless Devil Fruit ability is involved because butterfly effect doesn't make sense here, and I just don't like this idea.

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Question: If Ban were to get a Devil Fruit, which one should it be? Should he even eat a Devil Fruit?  Because he 'WILL' become an anchor once he eat a devil fruit, this fact isn't going to be changed no matter what. Keep this in mind while giving suggestions.