Flying Pirates

The Flying Pirates are a pirate crew led by Vander Decken IX, floating over the ocean floor and endangering the citizens of Fishman Island. The crew is possibly named after the flagship used by Vander Deckens for nine generations, the Flying Dutchman. The captains of the Flying Pirates and the New Fishman Pirates have sworn an alliance with each other.

History
The crew scavenged the ocean floor, with Ankoro devouring any incoming pirate ships, an act which Decken reprimanded, as he wanted to collect the treasure on their victims' ships before destroying them. They also terrorized Fishman Island and its citizens, and were referred as bandits of the sea.

After failing to take the Straw Hat Pirates, the Flying Pirates eventually decided to enter Fishman Island, where they met with the New Fishman Pirates and formed an alliance, in the hopes of taking down Ryugu Kingdom and for Decken to take Princess Shirahoshi as his wife.

Vander Decken IX later threw several human pirates, all of whom were captured by the New Fishman Pirates to be used as servants and pawns, into Shirahoshi's tower. The Flying Pirates then, along with their allies, entered Ryugu Palace and prepared to attack the army. Decken himself separated from the rest in order to hunt down Shirahoshi, who left the tower with Luffy. Decken tried to kill them both, seeing that Shirahoshi rejected him, but Luffy easily defeated him. Afterwards, Decken uses his Devil Fruit to send Noah after Shirahoshi, in hopes of destroying her and Fishman Island. His crew were shocked by this action.

When Noah reaches the plaza, Wadatsumi fell off the ship. Decken decided to abandon Wadatsumi and continued on with his plan to kill Shirahoshi. Shirahoshi then fled Fishman Island to keep Noah from destroying the island. Back at the plaza, Wadatsumi defeated Surume after taking an Energy Steroid and then battled against Sanji and Jinbe. When Hody climbed onto Noah, he stabbed Decken with his trident. Decken tried to retaliate, but end up with more injuries and fell. As he slowly gets back up, he became determined to kill Hody, but he slipped, hit his head, and fell unconscious. Wadatsumi was eventually defeated as well. After the Sea Kings stop Noah from falling onto the island, the princes bring both Decken and Hody to the plaza and put them in chains.

Crew Strength
As a pirate crew of fishmen that operates underwater, they have the natural advantage against humans when trying to take their treasures from their ships. The two gigantic creatures, Wadatsumi and Ankoro, tend to destroy the ships with their massive sizes. The captain, Decken, is a fishman who has eaten a Devil Fruit, which grants him supernatural powers, in exchange for his ability to swim. The Flying Pirates are said to be quite infamous under the sea. Allied with the New Fishman Pirates, they are said to be an unstoppable force.

Jolly Roger
The crew's Jolly Roger is an oval skull with sharp teeth, no jawbone, and two black cutlasses as crossbones.