### Chapter 46: The Battle for Maritime Supremacy

In a tavern in Riverbend Town, the key members of the Krieg Pirates were gathered.

Admiral Krieg sat boldly at the center, a headscarf tied over his light purple hair, laughing loudly as he held several beauties in his arms.

His prized golden armor was placed to the side, closely guarded by two subordinates, ready to strike anyone who dared to approach.

In a corner of the tavern, a male Reincarnator was drinking alone, trying to suppress the murderous intent boiling within him.

The woman in Krieg’s embrace was a member of his team, someone he hadn’t even made a move on yet, and now, a character from the plot had already taken the first taste.

It wasn’t that he was particularly in love with her; it was just that his possessiveness was quietly at play. He couldn’t win in a fight, so drinking seemed to be the only way to deal with it.

“I really hope a strong fighter comes and takes you out,” he thought, his jealousy flaring as he watched his female teammate laugh and smile.

Beer after beer went down his throat, and before he knew it, it was late at night. Even with his remarkable physique, he had to go relieve himself.

“Hey, the boss wants you outside. I’ll take over guarding here.”

“Thanks, brother. Appreciate it.”

Ignoring the two pirates changing shifts, the male Reincarnator staggered to the bar, pondering his next move.

With the Krieg Pirates backing him, no one dared to cause trouble. Just by participating in a few raids on merchant ships, his bounty had skyrocketed to over a million.

In contrast to the hardships faced by the Black Cat Pirates, the two Reincarnators had practically been coasting through their mission.

With only two days left until the mission deadline, the man didn’t want to exert himself anymore. He was thoroughly enjoying his hedonistic lifestyle.

“This is the advantage of having a keen eye,” he thought, feeling proud of himself for being different from those who only knew how to fight.

To survive in the Reincarnation Space, just “fighting hard” wasn’t enough. You had to know how to leverage the local forces.

Learning to use power wisely is the mark of a true smart person.

“Brother, stop standing guard. The others are calling you to drink. I’ll take over here.”

“Hahaha, thanks a lot.”

The familiar words made the Reincarnator slowly turn his head, watching as a pirate walked alone toward the tavern's exit.

At some point, the once lively tavern had mostly emptied out, with even one of the pirates guarding the equipment gone.

Don’t be fooled by Admiral Krieg’s formidable power; he was incredibly afraid of death, always surrounded by a large group of subordinates wherever he went.

It was highly unusual for the tavern to be so empty.

“Something’s wrong,” the man instantly sobered up, replaying the earlier scenes in his mind.

Ever since his jealousy arose, people had been finding various excuses to lure the pirates outside.

Most of them hadn’t returned, and those who did only came back to switch out others.

Pulling out a small wand, the man looked toward the tavern’s door.

After a brief consideration, he decided against exploring alone. As someone specializing in mental abilities, he knew better. If he stumbled into an ambush, his life could be over in an instant.

Calmly, he stood up and made his way to the second floor, soon arriving outside the pirate admiral’s room.

Listening to the passionate sounds inside, his eyes narrowed as he knocked rhythmically on the door, giving them a subtle warning.

While he was indeed jealous, a little displeasure meant nothing in the face of life and death.

Thanks to his warning, the female Reincarnator appeared outside the door, fully dressed within seconds.

“What happened?” She seemed just as composed.

Raising a hand to cover his mouth and nose, the man wasted no words, simply uttering three words: “We have enemies.”

No sooner had he spoken than a big, burly man smashed through a window, charging up to the second floor, shouting, “Krieg, your time is up!!!”

Buchi was in a frenzy, eager to prove his strength, or else the Black Cat Pirates would have no place for him.

With the golden armor on, he wouldn’t have dared to challenge Krieg, but now things were different.

Without that invincible defense, the pirate admiral was just flesh and blood, and his steel claws could tear him apart.

As the plot character charged toward them, the two Reincarnators remained unmoved.

“Looks like they’re even dumber than I thought.”

“Yeah, and I was worried for nothing.”

Just as Buchi reached them, a golden war lance suddenly shattered the door, swinging like a baseball bat and sending him flying.

The crisp sound of bones breaking echoed as Buchi’s body bent into an inverted V, with the back of his head touching his own butt for the first time.

A one-hit kill!

### Elite Pirates: No Match for the Enraged Admiral

The wooden door on the second floor shattered as Krieg, swinging his massive golden war lance, glared fiercely, his eyes wild like a beast's.

The weapon, weighing over a ton, moved with the force of a tiger in his hands. The sheer power of it made both Reincarnators tremble slightly.

"This guy's strength attribute must be at least 30 points," one of them thought.

By this time, the entire island had descended into chaos. A group of pirates, seemingly from nowhere, had launched an attack on them.

“Hmph, it’s the Black Cat Pirates,” Krieg growled, slamming the lance's shaft into the ground with such force that the entire tavern trembled slightly.

Turning his icy gaze toward the woman who had just been serving him, Krieg spoke as if addressing a stranger: “You two, go check out the situation. Bring back my golden armor and other weapons.”

Hearing the prompt in their minds, the two Reincarnators exchanged glances before rallying a group of pirates and charging out of the tavern.

No matter who the enemy was, they couldn’t take on the Krieg Pirates head-on. With 5,000 pirates in their ranks, even if they stood still, killing them all would take until morning.

The only way to win was to execute a decapitation strike, taking out Admiral Krieg before the main force could react.

Though they understood this, the Reincarnators chose to leave the tavern, intending to observe the situation from the shadows first.

If the enemy proved too strong, they would simply run away; after all, bounty money wouldn’t be deducted. If the enemy seemed weak, they could jump in to help finish them off and reap some benefits.

It was a solid plan, well-suited to the cold, calculating nature of Reincarnators, but they made a fatal mistake.

They underestimated the enemy's greed.

When a figure wearing a yellow straw hat blocked their path, the man's heart sank. He realized the enemy had no intention of letting them escape.

"Finish this quickly."

"Right."

As the man waved his wand, terrifying lightning began to gather around them.

Not giving the enemy any time to dodge, he swung the wand forcefully, unleashing the “Thunderclap” spell from the world of Mushoku Tensei. The spell hit the oncoming Ushi-oni dead on.

Panting, his hands on his knees, the man expected the attack to be a success, but what he saw left him stunned.

The red-tongued demon endured the lightning, seemingly enjoying the sensation.

“Heh, looks like your luck is pretty bad,” a soft laugh echoed as the Onmyoji lady walked gracefully toward them. “Akashita’s Thunder Drum can absorb electricity. Your magic is useless.”

Ushi-oni and Akashita appeared together, accompanied by swordsman Paul and cyborg Jack. They had been waiting for the Reincarnators to flee the tavern.

Kiba was indeed greedy; he had no intention of letting the easy prey escape.

Whether they tried to flee or confuse them, killing them was the surest way to avoid any mistakes.

The hypnosis plan had worked unexpectedly well, allowing them to steal several crucial pieces of equipment from the pirate admiral.

Without the invincible defense, even Kuro alone was enough to give Krieg trouble, not to mention Kiba, who was ready to pounce at any moment.

As for the others on the ship, they were struggling to fend off the waves of thousands of attacking pirates.

There was no helping it; the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming. Reaching this point was already a testament to Kuro’s brilliant strategy.

Had they clashed directly with the enemy, the Black Cat Pirates would have been the ones to truly despair. The overwhelming numerical advantage was the most potent weapon in Krieg’s dominance over the East Blue.

Ryuuno engaged the two Reincarnators. She wasn’t weak to begin with, and with the assistance of two elite pirates, taking them down shouldn’t be too difficult.

Meanwhile, inside the small tavern, Captain Kuro discarded the scabbard of his cat claws, his sharp gaze fixed intently on Admiral Krieg.

“Didn’t expect me to come back, did you?”

“Heh,” Krieg sneered, his expression full of disdain as he looked down at Kuro and Kiba as if they were ants. “Do you really think you two worthless fools can defeat me?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, two figures appeared beside the admiral.

On the left stood a medium-built man with a scruffy beard. The gray-blue striped headscarf on his head made him look more like a street thug than the combat commander of a pirate fleet.

This was Ghin, the Demon Man, a ruthless man of formidable strength.

To Krieg’s right stood a man completely encased in shields—Pearl, the Iron Wall, the third in command of the Krieg Pirates.

With these two by his side, Krieg had no fear of the Black Cat Pirates.

All they needed to do was hold out for ten minutes, and their main force would break through the lines. After that, they could deal with their enemies however they pleased.

“What an arrogant bastard,” Alvida scoffed as she kicked open the door, her spiked club pointing straight at the fierce-eyed Ghin.

That walking chunk of iron didn’t look easy to deal with, so she chose the seemingly weaker enemy instead.

As for whether this choice was the right one…

Bang!

With a bullet fired, the battle for the dominion of the East Blue finally erupted.

(End of Chapter)