Chenos: "???"
Judging by how fiercely Shark had resisted earlier, Chenos had been prepared for a long, exhausting round of persuasion before Shark agreed to join them.
He never expected Shark to just… agree outright.
Although Chenos had no idea why Shark's attitude had changed so drastically in such a short time, this was undoubtedly a good thing. Laughing happily, he stepped forward and gave Shark a big hug.
"Hahaha! Welcome to the crew!"
Shark laughed as well and hugged him back, then suddenly asked:
"By the way… what's our pirate crew called?"
The moment that question came out, both Chenos and Tesoro froze.
They exchanged a glance, then both fell into silence.
Up until now, they had only discussed how to get a ship and find someone who could actually sail it. After that, they'd been busy training nonstop—especially Tesoro.
Tesoro's foundation was weak. He was still training in the Six Powers and Haki under Chenos's guidance, and on top of that, he had only just obtained the Gold-Gold Fruit. Developing and mastering his Devil Fruit ability alone already took up all his time.
As for Chenos, he had been consumed with thinking about their future path—especially how to convince Fisher to join them.
Neither of them had spared even a second to think about something as basic as a pirate crew name.
Now, Shark's question had completely stumped them.
Chenos coughed awkwardly.
"Well… our crew was only just formed, so we haven't picked a name yet.
How about… we come up with one now?"
And so, the three of them sat down on the deck, frowning deeply as they brainstormed.
Tesoro stroked his chin. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"How about Grand Tesoro? It means 'great treasure'!
I've got the Gold-Gold Fruit—later on, I could even build an entire ship out of gold. Anyone who steps aboard would feel like they've discovered a treasure!"
"And isn't the ultimate goal of pirates the great treasure, One Piece? That fits perfectly with the pirate spirit!"
"Chenos, doesn't that sound great?"
Chenos smacked his forehead.
Only Tesoro—no, Golden Emperor Tesoro—could come up with something like that.
In the original canon, Tesoro's ship was called Grand Tesoro, a massive ten-kilometer-long vessel recognized by the World Government as an independent nation.
But still—
I'm the captain here!
How could the crew be named after him?
"No way," Chenos said firmly. "We're pirates. Naming ourselves after a 'treasure' is just asking people to come rob us!"
Shark also shook his head vigorously.
"A pirate crew needs a pirate-like name. Something fierce!
'Treasure'? That's soft and vulgar. Pirates chasing treasure—how boring."
Then his eyes began to sparkle with excitement.
"We should call ourselves the Invincible Mechanical Battle Angel Pirates!"
"Give me money and research equipment, and I'll turn our ship into a winged mechanical battle angel! The moment enemies see us, they'll be so scared they'll piss themselves!"
"How about it? Isn't that name霸气 enough?!"
Shark shouted enthusiastically, waving his arms and even miming the pose of a battle angel.
Then he turned around—
Only to see Chenos and Tesoro staring at him with looks of pure disgust.
Shark bristled.
"What?! It's an amazing name! You guys just don't have any taste!"
After hearing two names that were equally unreliable, Chenos decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.
Among pirates, crew names were usually based on the captain's defining trait:
Red-Haired Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates, Blackbeard Pirates, Straw Hat Pirates…
So what was his defining trait?
…Should he call them the Handsome Pirates?
Handsome was one of his traits—but that would attract way too much hatred. He'd be getting challenged every day by jealous pirates.
Not dangerous. Just annoying.
If his biggest trait was out, he'd have to go with the next one.
Aside from being handsome, his defining feature was his Rebound Devil Fruit.
So… the Bounce Pirates?
The moment that thought appeared, Chenos immediately recalled some strange phrase about "bouncing away wrinkles" and shuddered.
Nope. Absolutely not.
If he picked that name, every woman in the seas would come knocking.
Then, suddenly, a name flashed through his mind.
His eyes lit up.
"How about the Warriors Pirates?"
Both Tesoro and Shark looked at him, confused.
"Warriors Pirates? Warriors…? Heroes?"
"Why pick a name like that?"
Chenos laughed.
"Haha. Who usually slays dragons?"
"…Heroes."
Tesoro immediately understood.
By naming the crew the Warriors Pirates, Chenos was making his intent clear.
In this world, the true "dragons" were the Celestial Dragons.
This pirate crew existed to slay them.
Tesoro stared at Chenos silently for a moment, then nodded heavily.
"Alright. I agree. From now on, we're the Warriors Pirates."
Shark, on the other hand, looked completely lost.
He had no idea why Chenos chose such a cliché name—or why Tesoro agreed so decisively.
"Hey, hey, hey, seriously? That name's way too old-fashioned!
At least consider Invincible Mechanical Battle Angel Pirates!"
"Or even Tesoro's Treasure Pirates—it sounds a bit better than that!"
Seeing Shark's baffled expression, Chenos and Tesoro burst out laughing.
Chenos clapped Shark on the shoulder.
"There are three of us on this ship. We're democratic."
"Two votes for Warriors Pirates. One vote against."
"Motion passed. From today onward, we are officially the Warriors Pirates."
Shark sighed helplessly.
Outvoted. Nothing he could do.
In the end, the three of them went into the cabin, brought out some beer, poured a cup each, and raised their glasses to celebrate the birth of the Warriors Pirates.
After several rounds of drinking, Shark looked at Chenos.
"So, Captain—where to next?
Before, we were just fleeing the World Government, so we headed toward Sabaody. Now that the pursuer's dead, we can choose freely."
Chenos smiled.
"Our crew's still too small. Of course we're going to recruit more people."
"We already have someone in mind. If we don't act fast and he forms his own crew first, it'll be much harder to bring him in."
Hearing this, Shark became curious.
"Who is it? If he's planning to form his own pirate crew, he must be strong."
"Fisher Tiger."
"PFFFT—!"
Shark sprayed beer everywhere.
"Who?! Fisher Tiger?!
The guy who stormed Mary Geoise?
The one who killed a Celestial Dragon?!"
"Yes," Chenos said calmly.
"He's our next target recruit."
After confirming Chenos wasn't joking, Shark collapsed onto the deck in despair.
"…I'm done for.
What kind of insane pirate crew did I sign up for?"
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