Chapter 77: Water 7
The two groups of pirates added up to probably over a thousand men, coming from South Blue and North Blue respectively, all wicked villains who burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of atrocities. As a former Second Lieutenant Officer from Navy Headquarters, Second Lieutenant Isca had these intruders into the Grand Line all memorized on her blacklist.
Therefore, when she made her move, she was not polite at all, letting Prince Elus witness firsthand how the “Nail Hand” got her fierce reputation.
She was genuinely fierce.
She didn’t care if there was a name on the bounty poster; as long as they were pirates on pirate ships, she killed them all, leaving no survivors.
Prince Elus asked curiously: “Second Lieutenant Isca, why not leave a few alive? Among so many people, not all of them deserve to die, right?” He didn’t care at all about the lives of these pirates.
On the contrary, collecting over a thousand souls could somewhat replenish the previous consumption. Second Lieutenant Isca’s Swordsman Realm was not achieved out of thin air.
The reason he asked this was just to understand the mindset of this subordinate he had already added to his “reusable list.”
“Pirates all deserve to die. Perhaps some were forced into it, some went astray by mistake, but if you spare them, how do you explain it to the innocents they harmed? Only those who haven’t stained their hands with civilian blood barely have any value worth saving.”
Second Lieutenant Isca sheathed her sword and looked at Prince Elus. “Your Highness, do you have any instructions?”
“No, you did very well.”
Prince Elus had no objections.
He didn’t like pirates either.
Someone like Whitebeard, who never harmed ordinary people and instead protected civilians in his territory, wasn’t a pirate in Prince Elus’s view at all. If Whitebeard had the inclination, he could establish a proper country, one that would absolutely be a more ideal nation than most in this world.
Unfortunately, pirates like Whitebeard were ultimately a rare few.
Most pirates were still laden with evil deeds, scum not worth pitying upon death, like BIG·MOM and Beasts—these two were the real pirates.
“How does it feel to stretch your legs a bit?”
Prince Elus got to the main point.
“No problems, just… psychologically, there’s still a subtle sense of difference that’s hard to describe specifically… but it’s not a big issue. It feels like after a few more real battles, I’ll fully adapt.”
Second Lieutenant Isca answered very seriously.
She looked at Prince Elus, her eyes still holding deep curiosity even now.
In just three days,
her strength had undergone a earth-shaking improvement. The “Rokushiki” she had never fully mastered became as familiar as her own fingers, the “Haki” she had no clue about directly entered the hall and chamber, and her best swordsmanship stepped straight into the heavens, directly crossing into the “Swordsman” realm.
One must know that at Navy Headquarters, the dozen or so swordsmen were at least Vice Admirals in rank at their weakest.
And all of this
stemmed from the strange potion Prince Elus had given her, something she had never heard of.
It was a faintly glowing potion, with deep blue light flowing and rippling in the potion tube like moonlight… As the price, she joined the Eckmond Kingdom’s navy. Prince Elus still held the position of Vice Navy Minister without relinquishing it, so he directly gave her the rank of Second Lieutenant.
According to what Prince Elus said at the time: “Although giving you Major directly wouldn’t be an issue, and with your strength, you wouldn’t need to worry about anyone objecting, but since the rules are established, we can’t casually break them.” So she remained a Second Lieutenant, just no longer from Navy Headquarters.
She had asked about that potion before.
But Prince Elus had brushed her off.
No way around it; that thing was manifested by the Hogyoku following Prince Elus’s will, with the effect of comprehensively enhancing a specific target’s strength. Because Prince Elus wanted to boost Second Lieutenant Isca’s strength and awaken her potential ahead of time, the manifested potion only worked on her.
This thing couldn’t be explained in detail; it all came down to brushing off.
Fortunately, this sea had all sorts of bizarre Devil Fruits, so Second Lieutenant Isca was just curious.
“There are plenty of real combat opportunities. There’s nothing good to practice on in Paradise. Once we reach the New World, there’ll be no shortage of whetstones.”
Prince Elus said with a smile.
The higher Second Lieutenant Isca’s strength improved, the better his mood naturally.
After all, the Hogyoku had consumed quite a bit of power to manifest that potion. If the enhancement effect wasn’t obvious, Prince Elus would have been quite depressed.
The warship continued into the port. If not for the wooden planks and corpses still drifting on the sea, later arrivals wouldn’t know that over a thousand pirates had died in this short time. But as the renowned Shipbuilding City on the Grand Line, Water 7 had pirate infighting or navy pursuits of pirates every day.
Of course, a big scene like today’s was still rare.
Over twenty pirate ships fighting it out on the sea couldn’t possibly escape Water 7’s notice.
Speaking of which,
Water 7 was a very interesting city.
This island, this city—it wasn’t the territory of any kingdom but an independent autonomous city. Here, there was no king or nobles, only a mayor elected by the citizens’ votes.
And because it was the Shipbuilding City, the city’s prosperity was entirely built on the shipbuilding industry.
So every mayor was basically a prominent figure in the shipbuilding industry.
For example, the previous mayor was the president of a large shipyard. The current Mayor Iceberg was an even more legendary figure. Starting from nothing, he acquired and merged the island’s seven shipbuilding companies to establish Galley-La Company, and cooperated with the World Government to make Galley-La Company the World Government’s exclusive shipbuilding company.
This made the CP9 agents, who had always coveted the Pluton Blueprint, feel troubled. Without solid evidence, they couldn’t make a move on Iceberg.
Port.
Mayor Iceberg brought his secretary and city government staff to welcome Prince Elus’s arrival.
Eckmond Kingdom was a World Government member nation, and Prince Elus was the first crown prince and one of the Seven Warlords, multiple identities making him a distinguished guest of Water 7. At the very least, Mayor Iceberg was happy to build a good relationship with him.
The Pluton Blueprint matter was always a ticking time bomb. To keep this bomb from exploding as much as possible, ideally turning it into a dud completely buried by time, he had spent no small amount of money and effort to build ties with World Government high officials.
When Prince Elus contacted Mayor Iceberg through World Government channels and proposed visiting Water 7, Iceberg agreed immediately.
Whether it was Eckmond Kingdom as a powerful great nation of the New World or Prince Elus as a prince with overwhelming martial power, both were worth him paying a certain price to befriend. At worst, he couldn’t afford to offend them.
“Prince Elus, welcome to Water 7.”
Mayor Iceberg stepped forward two steps and greeted Prince Elus with a smile.
He had already met Prince Elus earlier via Video Den Den Mushi.
“Mayor Iceberg, pleased to meet you!”
Prince Elus shook hands with Iceberg.
Mayor Iceberg was thirty-five this year, in the prime of life, not tall at over 190 cm, but very slim. From a distance, he didn’t seem too short. His hair was cut short and neatly combed, wearing a sharp-fitting dark red pinstripe suit, black trousers, and leather shoes.
Outwardly, he looked like a typically shrewd and capable powerhouse.
And that was indeed the case.
A man who built Galley-La Company from nothing was top-tier. And the beautiful secretary standing next to Iceberg… golden long hair, wearing glasses with tinted lenses, a tight hip-hugging skirt, high heels on her feet, perfectly outlining her curvaceous, fiery figure, paired with that cold and glamorous face—
If scoring, at full marks of 100, this was absolutely top-tier beauty at 95 points or above!
And she was a CP9 agent too.
A bit thrilling!
You’re watching people, and people are watching you.
While Prince Elus was sizing up Iceberg, the mayor was also observing him. Though they had contacted via Den Den Mushi before, the Video Den Den Mushi screen only showed a face, different from seeing the real person.
Outstanding appearance, proper attire, remarkable poise… but what drew attention most was still that pair of emerald green eyes.
At first glance, icy cold like a cold-blooded sea serpent, but after two seconds of eye contact, they released warm and approachable goodwill. Quite interesting! As expected of the Fifth Overlord of the New World, one of the Seven Warlords… quite a few titles!
Couldn’t underestimate him at all just because he was young!
Iceberg secretly sighed in his heart, becoming even more cautious in speech and action.
After a few bland pleasantries, Iceberg led Prince Elus onto the local specialty transport named “Buru,” arriving at the most luxurious hotel next to the city government in the island’s center. This hotel was also a Galley-La Company property, used to host visiting distinguished guests.
Prince Elus was naturally an unquestionable distinguished guest.
Iceberg hosted Prince Elus with the highest standard.
After checking into the hotel, Iceberg and Prince Elus chatted briefly more, and time unknowingly reached evening. Using the excuse of travel fatigue to decline the city government’s banquet, they agreed to discuss business tomorrow, and Mayor Iceberg tactfully took his leave.
————
Evening,
The afterglow of the sun passed through Water 7’s super massive fountain, scattering brilliant light.
A bar on the commercial street put up a “temporarily closed” sign. The honest-looking bar owner apologized repeatedly to regulars, saying the bar’s refrigerator was broken, someone was called to fix it, and if it couldn’t be fixed, they’d probably have to wait until tomorrow to reopen.
After sending off the reluctant drunks, the bar owner with his hair combed into two cow-horn shapes entered the door and closed the shop door.
He went straight behind the bar and asked in a slightly slurring tone: “What’ll it be?”
“The usual.”
The man wearing a tall bowler hat, one-piece work clothes, with a pigeon on his shoulder answered in a low voice.
“Same for me, old timer.”
The man sitting nearby, with a square long nose and wearing a white cap, had a friendly smile on his face. “By the way, Bruno, extra ice, it’s a bit hot today!”
The drinks were served quickly.
The large bar was empty due to the closure.
Until—
The crisp sound of high heels stepping on the wooden floor came from the bar’s back kitchen.
“Lucci, Kaku, Bruno, sorry I’m late.”
The secretary-dressed beauty sat in the empty seat next to Lucci. She picked up the iced water Bruno pushed in front of her and drank it down, letting out a long breath, her face revealing the deep fatigue she had been hiding.
“Kalifa, that tired?”
Kaku held his wine glass with three fingers, gently shaking it. The sound of ice clinking could be heard, and just listening brought a thread of coolness.
“Not tired! Too much pressure.”
“Pressure? You mean… Black Prince?”
“Who else? Standing in front of that monster, my heart was about to stop.” Kalifa tapped the table, venting her pent-up pressure. “In the hotel parlor, he looked at me several times. My hidden strength is probably seen through. Lucci, the operation… should we make changes?”
“Strength being seen through doesn’t matter. The key is, did you figure out why the Black Prince came to Water 7?”
Lucci, with the pigeon on his shoulder, asked.
“From the intelligence so far, the Black Prince is here for the Sea Train and plans to establish a long-term procurement relationship with Water 7…” As Iceberg’s secretary, Kalifa had access to all city government information. Iceberg’s conversations with Prince Elus wouldn’t be hidden from her.
Iceberg had no suspicion his secretary was a World Government spy, and Prince Elus saw no need to deliberately avoid Kalifa. Anyway, his cooperation intentions with Water 7 were genuine, and the terms weren’t anything shady.
Having a pretty, easy-on-the-eyes secretary standing by was quite enjoyable!
So,
Kalifa accompanied Iceberg in receiving Prince Elus the whole time, until Iceberg bid farewell and left Prince Elus’s hotel. Only then did Iceberg, considerate of his subordinate, give Kalifa time to rest. Using the excuse of going home to rest, she quietly came to the bar to meet her colleagues and report to Captain Lucci.
“Keep watching the Black Prince. As long as he’s not after the Pluton Blueprint, don’t care what he does—cooperating with Water 7 or anything else, it has nothing to do with us. Of course, if he discovered your hidden strength… no matter what you do, absolutely do not expose your identity.”
Lucci slowly sipped the spirits in his glass.
Kalifa was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.
“I understand. It won’t interfere with the mission.”
“Kaku, Bruno, be careful this period. Until that Black Prince leaves, try not to attract attention.” Lucci instructed the other two team members.
At this moment,
The closed shop door was knocked with “bang bang” sounds.
“Hey, Bruno, open up! Why close the shop now? I want cola, iced cola!!!” Outside, a man in only swim trunks pounded on the bar door.
“It’s Fish-Man Tom’s other apprentice.” Bruno, wiping a glass, said slowly.
“You handle it.”
Lucci finished the drink in his glass and stood up. “Kaku, Kalifa, let’s go.”
“Wait, I haven’t finished mine yet!”
“I just got here.”
Though complaining, the two didn’t dare disobey Lucci’s orders, following their captain out the back door of the bar. Riding the just-fallen night, they quickly vanished into the streets.
