Krieg Pirates

Under Don Krieg, the crew also called the Pirate Armada emerged from the East Blue as a genuine fleet. At their zenith fifty ships carried roughly five thousand men, and they bore the region's most dreaded name, right until Dracule Mihawk cut them to pieces. Standing as the principal foes of the Baratie Arc, they left a heavy imprint on that leg of the tale. Afterward, Krieg, Gin, and Pearl in time crossed into the New World and put down roots on Hachinosu.

The armada's flag shows a standard skull and crossbones bracketed by two hourglasses, a signal to each target that their hour has come. Sideburns run down the skull's cheekbones, mirroring those worn by Don Krieg in person.

Measured purely by military weight, the Krieg Fleet stood as the East Blue's strongest crew, owing to its enormous stock of ships, arms, and men. That standing, however, leaned on sheer numbers and underhanded tactics far more than on true prowess; the rank and file usually lagged behind rival crews of the region, with only Krieg, Gin, and Pearl counting as real fighters among the hundred who survived. Krieg's notion of rebuilding boiled down to press-ganging whatever loose crews he could scrape together, laying bare how little he prized individual talent.

The crew wildly misjudged both the Grand Line and Hawk-Eyes Mihawk, forfeiting forty-nine ships and almost every soldier, with the flagship's hundred men limping home on luck alone. Krieg placed his faith in armaments above all else, convinced that a large enough arsenal could carry any fight, a conviction that finally ruined him. Fear was his chief means of control, his orders often so reckless that only dread of death kept his men in line, though a handful like Gin genuinely respected him. Each member received a gas mask to guard against Krieg's MH5 poison bomb, a device strong enough to erase a village. Past the timeskip, the remnant grew hardy enough to traverse the Grand Line and gain the New World.

Don Krieg, titled Admiral of the armada, launched the fleet by seizing a Marine ship and using it as a mask for his raiding, in time gathering fifty vessels and five thousand troops. Beside him stood Gin, Combat Commander and right-hand man, while Pearl headed the second division. Krieg's unraveling started once he pressed into the Grand Line, only for Mihawk to wipe out his fleet by the seventh day, a storm alone sparing the flagship and its hundred remaining men.

At the drifting eatery Baratie, a famished Gin met kindness from Sanji, then led the recovered crew back to grab the place as a new flagship. Mihawk showed up, wrecked their last ship, and left after besting Zoro, yet Krieg pushed his assault until Luffy and Sanji swung the fight around. When Gin would not slay Sanji, Krieg loosed his poison gas, and after a drawn-out struggle Luffy brought him down. Herding the crew into a small boat, Gin resolved to bear his captain back toward the Grand Line. Two years later the three of Krieg, Gin, and Pearl reappeared on Hachinosu, having vanished from the manga for a stretch of roughly 1050 chapters, the longest such absence in the series.