One Piece: Sunlight in the New World

That night, on an island in the Grand Line.

"Hee-hahaha! Each of you only needs to hand over five hundred thousand Berries!"

"What? You don’t have it? Then die!"

The bonfire roared, sending crackling sparks into the air. The crimson flames illuminated a wide area.

Around the fire, nearly a hundred villagers knelt, all of them common folk, their faces etched with terror. Their hands were tied behind their backs, making them nothing more than lambs awaiting slaughter.

A band of fierce pirates, weapons in hand and blood-stained blades raised, stood behind them, threatening their fragile lives at every moment.

A young girl knelt before a man nearly three meters tall, repeatedly bowing her head to the ground, begging for a shred of mercy—begging to be spared. She had a younger brother who still needed her; she could not simply die.

The man had an enormous beer belly, his clothes stretched tight and splitting above his navel, exposing a hairy chest. His face was covered in warts, his skin rough like old tree bark, and whenever he smiled, his crooked black teeth were revealed.

Peppo drew his pistol from his waist and pressed it to the girl's forehead. "No money? Then die! Begging is useless, because we’re pirates! Hee-hahaha!"

"Kill her! Kill her!"

"Kill her! Kill her!"

The other pirates shouted with sick excitement, their faces twisted in perverse grins.

The girl stared in despair at the ground, tears streaming down her face. She was going to die.