Chapter 197: Roger’s Ashes Were Nearly Scattered
“Kid, have you heard? Recently, a new pirate has risen on the sea, and even Krieg was defeated.”
“Really? That East Blue Overlord? He was defeated by someone?”
“The battle happened at the Sea Restaurant Baratie. Many guests saw it at the time. Krieg’s entire suit of armor was smashed to pieces by that rookie. Not only Krieg, but the entire pirate crew was beaten into collapse. Unfortunately, Krieg was rescued by Ghost Person Akin in the end.”
“That powerful? I hope…… he doesn’t come to Loguetown. I don’t want to run into such a brutal guy.”
Street-side outdoor seating,
Tired recruits from patrol were sitting together listening to the sergeant brag.
“Haha, don’t worry. With Smoker Colonel here, they wouldn’t dare cause trouble in our Loguetown even if they had a hundred guts. When Krieg Pirates went to the Grand Line, they didn’t even dare approach and directly bypassed our Loguetown, which made Smoker Colonel so angry he jumped in frustration!”
The older sergeant was telling the recruits interesting stories they didn’t know.
Loguetown,
An extremely special island in the East Blue. As the birthplace and burial place of the Pirate King, it is called the ‘Town of the Beginning and End of the Pirate Era.’ Every year, countless pirates come here for sightseeing and worship.
Not only East Blue pirates, but also those from the West Blue, South Blue, North Blue, and even rookie pirates from the Grand Line travel thousands of miles to Loguetown for a holy land pilgrimage……
This has made life miserable for the local residents.
No matter the reason they became pirates, pirates are no good—that’s for sure. The pirates coming for the so-called holy land pilgrimage once made Loguetown’s public security the worst in the East Blue.
Roger’s reputation in his hometown completely plummeted to rock bottom. If they knew where the Navy buried Roger’s body, the locals would scatter even his ashes…… Loguetown’s once extremely poor security environment finally alarmed Headquarters.
Thus,
A new colonel officer was airlifted from Headquarters.
The once-future star at Headquarters, [White Hunter] Smoker. However, later many officers felt this mad dog star was too impetuous, so to properly temper this mad dog star, they simply threw him to the East Blue for honing.
Just right as a rare Logia Ability User.
Smoker in a place like the East Blue is practically the incarnation of invincibility.
In fact, it was indeed so. After Smoker took office, Loguetown’s poor security environment was quickly reversed. Whether elusive pirates or deeply rooted gangsters, in front of Smoker they were nothing more than sandcastles on the beach, vanishing once the waves passed.
A large number of famous rookies fell to Smoker. The rookies who learned their lesson no longer dared approach easily.
Nowadays, Loguetown may not be crystal clear, but it can be called bustling and tranquil.
“By the way, Sergeant…… what’s the name of this rookie pirate?”
“Seems like Straw Hat. Although he defeated Krieg, his debut time is still too short. Headquarters hasn’t decided on an appropriate bounty yet…… In a few days, we’ll probably see this Straw Hat’s bounty poster.”
“Straw Hat? Doesn’t sound very intimidating?”
“Heh heh, you guys lack experience. Pirates are different from gangsters; they don’t scare people with nicknames and tattoos. Nicknames don’t matter at all. Does Whitebeard’s nickname sound scary to you? That’s a great pirate comparable to the Pirate King.”
Receiving a circle of awe from the recruits, the old sergeant got even more excited and began bragging about his time training at Navy Headquarters back in the day……
……
Loguetown, Navy base.
Smoker, with a cigar in his mouth, looked at the intelligence just delivered, his mood extremely irritable.
“Smoker Colonel, did something happen?”
A slim and tall beautiful girl wearing glasses walked in holding a stack of documents. Seeing the colonel’s unhappy face, she habitually asked, “Pirates again?”
“Something like that!”
Smoker’s face was grim.
In a bad mood.
“It’s from 16th Branch’s Captain Mouse. He sent word that a group of rookie pirates attacked the Fish-Man Park in Cocoyasi Village, and the 16th Branch’s fleet’s encirclement also failed……”
“Ah!! That Fish-Man Park?” Tashigi placed the documents on the table, pushed up her slipping glasses, “I heard it’s a special park built by Fish-Men from Fish-Man Island. I was just telling a friend we’d go play there on vacation! Such a shame……”
“Shame my ass. Those bastard Fish-Men got what they deserved.”
Smoker erupted in fury.
“Eh? Colonel?”
Startled by Smoker’s sudden temper, Tashigi instinctively shrank her neck, unsure what she said wrong.
“What damn Fish-Man Park? I sent people to investigate Cocoyasi Village and found that so-called Fish-Man Park was a scam. A bunch of bastard Fish-Men colluded with that trash Mouse, lording over Cocoyasi Village and more than twenty other villages, forcing villagers to pay them money every year. If they didn’t pay, they killed people……”
By the end, his voice gradually lowered. Smoker was furious to the extreme, veins bulging on his forehead.
If not for being the same rank colonel with no jurisdiction over the 16th Branch, he would have personally captured that trash Mouse. Unfortunately…… he lacked jurisdiction over the 16th Branch. Besides reporting to Headquarters, there was no other way.
He had already reported the intelligence he had to Headquarters.
But obviously Headquarters needed time to investigate and gather evidence; they couldn’t just remove another Navy Colonel based on his word.
In the short term,
No chance to take down Captain Mouse.
What angered him more was that if not for discovering the shady dealings in Cocoyasi Village while investigating that Straw Hat, he had been completely unaware of these matters before. Captain Mouse had concealed the Fish-Men’s crimes well, and not for a short time— a full eight years……
“……”
Tashigi was stunned by this sudden intelligence.
“Right, remember to photocopy this bounty poster and post it to alert the men below. The pirate on it might come to Loguetown recently. Report immediately if spotted.” Smoker picked up a bounty poster from the table and handed it to Tashigi.
Tashigi took it and looked down.
The bounty poster showed a boy wearing a Straw Hat, Monkey D. Luffy…… This name seemed familiar? A flash of doubt passed, her attention drawn to the bounty below. One, two, three…… seven zeros?
“30 Million Beli?”
Tashigi’s eyes widened in surprise.
This bounty…… wasn’t it a bit too high? That so-called East Blue Overlord Krieg only had a 17 million Beli bounty, and that was after several increases. The bounty poster in her hand…… if she wasn’t wrong, it was his first wanted poster?
Especially in the East Blue, where pirates’ average bounties were only about 3 million Beli.
“Colonel…… this is?”
“The rookie who wrecked the Fish-Man Park, Monkey…… Hmph! Really unpleasant.” Smoker turned his gaze to the window, his eyes vacant. Clearly, he was thinking about something. A friend at Headquarters had told him something recently.
Vice Admiral Garp had returned to the East Blue again.
Monkey D. Garp—this name inevitably linked him to the newly emerged Straw Hat.
Not that there were no duplicate surnames or names.
But the Monkey surname wasn’t common, and there was the rare middle initial ‘D’…… Plus Vice Admiral Garp was from the East Blue…… But if he could think of this, the big shots at Headquarters could too, right?
Speaking of which, Navy Headquarters seemed to be up to something big lately. Tina had been recalled to Headquarters, reportedly for Instructor Zephyr’s intensive training…… And she wasn’t the only one; many with similar potential young officers had been summoned without exception.
But,
Why was he still in Loguetown, not summoned?
At thirty-four, he was still solidly in the Navy’s young vanguard!
Could it be…… he was doomed to be stuck in the East Blue for life?
Tashigi had left at some point, leaving Smoker alone in the office smoking and lost in thought.
————
Navy Headquarters,
Fleet Admiral Sengoku was once again furious because of Vice Admiral Garp. Even in the corridor, the “bang bang bang” of slamming the table could be heard, even though Vice Admiral Garp wasn’t at Headquarters recently!
One couldn’t help but marvel at their long-time camaraderie.
Countless times Fleet Admiral Sengoku had been angered by Vice Admiral Garp……
“……That bastard Garp, does he even know how to raise kids? His son went astray and he didn’t learn, now even his grandson’s gone down the wrong path, and it’s the second time…… That jerk, really pissing me off……”
Fleet Admiral Sengoku paced back and forth in the office in rage.
Vice Admiral Tsuru calmly sipped her tea.
Zephyr didn’t come this time, focusing on intensive training for the young colonels recently recalled from branches to Headquarters. That bastard Garp wasn’t doing this for the first time anyway; in the end, Sengoku would clean up the mess, with or without him made no difference.
“Alright, Sengoku, it’s about time. The Five Elders side…… should be manageable now.”
Finally,
Vice Admiral Tsuru set down her teacup and interrupted Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s performance.
Yes, performance.
Sengoku’s anger was just a show to cope with the Holy Land’s questioning. By venting here, he expressed his fury and gave Garp some punishment, like hunting a certain number of pirates within a timeframe, etc……
Then,
He could argue with the Five Elders on principle.
“……Tsuru, this time I’m really pissed off by that bastard Garp.”
Sengoku sat back in his chair, venting his frustration to his old comrade. “Honestly, Garp’s child-rearing method is absolutely problematic. Never mind that kid Dragon, both grandsons—one after the other—ran off to be pirates. That Fire Fist is now Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates…… Really don’t know what big trouble this ‘Luffy’ will cause.”
Looking at the bounty poster on the table, that carefree idiot smile was just like young Garp.
The more he looked, the angrier he got. Sengoku simply flipped it over, face down on the table.
“Garp…… doesn’t have much talent for raising kids.”
Vice Admiral Tsuru strongly agreed with Sengoku on this point.
She’d heard Garp brag countless times about raising his grandsons into super excellent Navies, but the result…… Sigh! No need to say it. Garp really had no knack for raising kids. Compared to Zephyr, it was heaven and earth—the gap was incalculable.
“These are small matters.”
Vice Admiral Tsuru didn’t plan to keep listening to Sengoku’s complaints. Talk of that bastard Garp, and Sengoku could rant all day. She didn’t want to sip tea here all day.
“The focus is still the New World. As long as it doesn’t delay the operation against the Whitebeard Pirates, the Holy Land won’t move Garp over something like this right now. He’s a Navy Hero; dealing with him now would only unsettle the Navy and hinder upcoming actions.”
Even in the future,
As long as Garp himself didn’t rebel, she didn’t think the Holy Land would insist on punishing him. Not just his Navy Hero status, but also his freakishly strong personal strength.
“The New World! Not much progress there.”
Mentioning the New World, Sengoku shook his head helplessly.
The New World is the Four Emperors’ New World—this saying wasn’t so popular anymore, since a new Overlord capable of standing equal to the Four Emperors had appeared. But that didn’t mean the Navy’s influence in the New World had expanded much.
Though with the Black Prince’s help, Zephyr’s Pirate Guerilla Squad had gained a foothold in the New World.
But that was it.
The Navy’s power still couldn’t extend into the Four Emperors’ territories, even with CP0 long lurking in the New World. For the time being, no starting point against the Whitebeard Pirates had been found.
“Can only slowly look for opportunities.”
Sengoku sighed as he spoke. This was truly tough.
“Slow is fine too. Too hasty…… prone to mistakes.” Vice Admiral Tsuru said.
“Not that simple. The Five Elders are very focused on this. If not for CP0’s similar lack of progress…… my days would be even harder.”
“When have your days ever been easy?”
“……True! Your position…… never a peaceful day.”
————
Grand Line, Drum Island.
A cruel island forever locked in winter. Relentless wind and snow enveloped the island and surrounding seas. Yet the nation on this island was once a renowned great power, famed for its numerous excellent doctors and top medical technology, called the ‘Medical Great Power.’
Unfortunately, as mentioned before, that was once.
Since the old king’s death, new king Wapol took the throne. This selfish and cruel Tyrant issued the inhumane “Hunting Doctor” decree, causing the medical great power to gradually wither. He exiled nearly all of Drum Kingdom’s excellent doctors, leaving only 20.
Island residents wanting treatment had to kneel and beg Wapol.
“……The reason for such a boring law is nothing else—just because our Wapol Your Majesty thinks it’s fun, seeing the people kneel and beg before him……”
Elus took a sip of steaming coffee milk.
“Lucci, you should understand your mission by now, right?”
On the sofa opposite him sat all of CP9, including the big-mouthed Fukurou. This guy, not good at secrecy, wasn’t involved in covert ops, but as a CP9 member, he was a loyal follower of Lucci like the others.
After choosing to submit to Elus, Lucci and the others just called Fukurou out from Enies Lobby via Den Den Mushi in front of Elus.
“Take out Wapol.”
Lucci knew what a pledge of allegiance was.
Taking out a World Government Member Nation’s king was a fine pledge.
“Don’t kill him! This Tyrant is a Gulp-Gulp Fruit ability user. It’s an interesting ability! I want him alive. Only if he’s alive can I strip the Gulp-Gulp Fruit from him…… So, capture alive and bring Wapol before me.”
Elus stood, walked to the bridge window, “Drum Island…… arrived.”
Outside the window, snowflakes fell. Their luck was good—no blizzard. This light snow wouldn’t hinder Lucci and the others’ actions.
Gulp-Gulp Fruit,
That was why Elus brought Lucci and the others to Drum Island.
A very interesting Devil Fruit. It could consume any substance or creature, turning what was eaten into part of the body. For example, eating a cannon and cannonballs allowed turning an arm into a cannon to attack targets.
And eating people or creatures seemed to allow using the devoured’s abilities, almost like gaining a second Devil Fruit’s power.
Elus didn’t care about that.
He was more interested that things eaten by a Gulp-Gulp Fruit user could be synthesized in the stomach and regurgitated as something else. Wapol had accidentally created a shape-memory metal—common memory metal.
Memory metal was good, but Elus felt it wasn’t the Gulp-Gulp Fruit’s limit. Perhaps more wondrous things could be made.
Anyway, nothing much in Alabasta lately. After finding Pluto, the adventure game lost flavor. Didn’t want to return to the New World…… Then remembered nearby Drum Kingdom.
So,
This operation happened.
As for Lucci and their pledge idea…… Sure, there was that intent, but to Elus, a World Government Member Nation king’s head wasn’t worth much. Taking one or two Celestial Dragon heads was the most reliable pledge.
Of course, most Celestial Dragons were in the Holy Land. Even outings rarely went beyond Sabaody Archipelago. Few ventured far.
To chop Celestial Dragon heads, they’d wait till Sabaody Archipelago.
In any case,
The warship, bearing no flags indicating identity, had arrived at Drum Island’s port. King Wapol had obviously received word; troops guarded the port, cannons aimed at the entering warship, awaiting orders to fire.
“Who are you? State your identity!”
Someone in the shore army shouted.
Though no identity flag, this massive warship clearly wasn’t something a few cannon shots could scare off. Before knowing the details, the shore army wasn’t eager to start war.
The reason for no identity flag was Drum Kingdom being a World Government Member Nation. Openly coming to kill their king…… troublesome. Would stir up a mess afterward, not necessarily threatening, but World Government guys were annoying.
Elus was too lazy for verbal battles with World Government high officials, so he removed the flags and hid identity.
He didn’t even plan to disembark, leaving it all to Lucci and the others.
Now at the window, looking at the arrayed troops on the shore port, he waved lightly, “You may begin.”
Thus,
War began.
Lucci, Kaku, Jabura, Kumadori, Bruno, Kalifa, Fukurou…… seven people exited the bridge, eyed the shore distance…… within Geppo’s limit range. No need for boats.
Geppo to shore on foot.
Perfect—they’d all changed into white trench coats, blending seamlessly into the snowy camouflage.
While the shore army awaited response,
Lucci and the others silently approached the army commander’s side. This man had wavy thick lips, long arms, wore thick plush clothing in mismatched chessboard colors, held a large bow, quiver on back.
By the outfit, seemed skilled with bows.
Unfortunately, no chance for performance this time. With CP9 agents upon him, no chance to use archery. Lucci personally struck from behind with three consecutive Finger Pistols, thoroughly piercing the man’s heart.
Blood dripped steadily; the lifeless body thudded into the snow.
“Lord Jess?”
“Lord Jess!!”
Surrounding soldiers saw their commander suddenly fall, panicked. Rushing forward, finding Jess truly lifeless, chaos erupted. Kaku, Jabura, and others in hooded white trench coats ghosted through the ranks, hunting officer-like figures.
How could an army of just five or six hundred withstand these killers.
Seeing comrades silently drop without spotting enemies…… the army finally collapsed. Surviving soldiers fled inland in panic, shouting about snow ghosts killing.
In moments,
Shore port left with only corpses and weapons like cannons.
Lucci and the others pursued fleeing soldiers inland.
“……Your Highness, what if they use this chance to contact the World Government and flee?” Fran returned, resuming personal maid duties. Poor Clarice became Fran’s attendant again.
“They won’t dare.”
“Won’t dare? But I feel that Lucci isn’t some obedient type.”
“Your feeling is right. Lucci…… isn’t very obedient. But he’s a very pragmatic smart guy. Fran, you know I haven’t monitored their every move, but they don’t. And…… you’ve seen the Door-Door Fruit ability; that can be used for surveillance too.”
Fran blinked.
Understood Elus’s meaning.
“……Fine! Bunch of pitiful unlucky bastards.”
She knew standing here His Highness wasn’t monitoring Lucci and them, but the ascending Lucci group didn’t know if His Highness was surveilling them. With vast strength gap, they couldn’t detect tracking traces……
Unless suicidal and desperate to fight, most wouldn’t risk it.
But in fact,
Fran’s worry was unnecessary.
Lucci’s loyalty to Elus wasn’t much, but awe was deeply etched in his soul. Elus’s overwhelming power, unbeatable in his heart, was the firmest leash. Unless it broke, no rebellion planned.
As long as Elus maintained undefeated might, Lucci would be the most obedient hound.
