Chapter 309: Old Places, Old Friends
Navy warships are usually built to the standards of large warships, often a full size or several sizes larger than ordinary civilian or Pirate Crew ships.
Ships of this size are actually quite rare on the Sea, generally only equipped by main warships of Overlord Pirate Crews or merchant ships.
Of course, compared to the Celestial Dragons’ rides, Navy warships as large warships are somewhat lacking.
It’s not just the size—even in terms of speed, the warships are inferior to the other side.
The Celestial Dragons’ luxury yachts are generally equipped internally with power sources identical to the famous ‘automatic stairs’ of the Holy Land.
These ‘biological power’ sources provide extra boost beyond wind power, easily allowing them to catch up to lighter ships.
“Damn it!”
“It’s the Celestial Dragons!”
Looking at the giant ship sailing straight toward them, and the densely packed black-suited agents on the ship, even the Beasts Pirates could guess who was on board no matter how slow they were!
“Brother Burufaruto, what do we do?!”
“The other side seems to be Celestial Dragons!”
“They seem to be coming for us—did they discover our identities?”
“Should we board them?”
The people on the ship chattered noisily, clearly not expecting to encounter Celestial Dragons here, and were at a loss for a moment.
“Hm…”
Brother Burufaruto also propped himself up and stood, coming to the ship’s bow position.
Seeing the massive warship clearly heading straight for them, and the black-suited men on board holding guns at the ready, the smile on his face that had lingered since recognizing his godson completely vanished.
So if possible, he really didn’t want to provoke this group of guys who were like hornet’s nests on the Sea at a time like this.
But if you don’t seek trouble, trouble will come to you.
The wave of weakness and dizziness surging from within his body when he just stood up reminded Brother Burufaruto that he was now at the end of one’s rope.
If he continued to force high-intensity battle with his injured body, he could collapse at any moment.
Brother Burufaruto wasn’t afraid of death—or rather, as a Pirate, having lived to this age, he already felt he’d gotten his money’s worth.
But Brother Burufaruto wasn’t alone now; on his ship was his long-lost childhood friend, who had finally escaped a hell-like slave life and should have a new life ahead.
And his child, his own godson… he had only just come to this world, his life hadn’t even begun, and it couldn’t end like this…
『……』
『At least, they must safely reach Fenrir.』
“Hoo~”
Brother Burufaruto roughly calculated their speeds and realized there was no escaping, so he stopped hesitating.
Taking a deep breath, he forcibly rallied the last bit of strength in his body and commanded loudly:
“Fire immediately! Take out the enemy at max speed before that group of Navy in the rear catches up!”
“Yes!”*n
Boom!!!
The roar of the cannons immediately ignited this stretch of the Sea…
……
In the Calm Belt at the border of the New World and West Sea, on a desert island.
“They say returning to old haunts often brings ‘things have changed, people have not,’ evoking reflection… Now it seems there’s some truth to that.”
Slowly descending from the sky to the ground, she stepped onto this familiar island once more after many years—the primordial island where she first intersected with this strange world.
“Uro-ro-ro-ro~ I still remember clearly the scene when we met you three on this island back then.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Kaido’s wild laughter followed right after.
Boom—!
Compared to her dragonfly-touching-water landing, Kaido directly reverted to human form mid-air and crashed down heavily, creating a not-small crater in the ground with a massive boom.
Hoo~
The gust from the giant creature’s landing blew her brilliant golden hair into a wild mess, but she didn’t rush to fix it, instead waving her hand to first dispel the smoke and dust obstructing her line of sight.
With a symbolic wave of her slender palm, a breeze naturally swept over this small island in the Calm Belt, refreshing the air on the island.
However, the country-style skirt she wore still got dusted; after all, it was just ordinary clothes, a gift Aoxi bought from a shop and gave her, unable to stay spotless like divine gear.
Brushing off the dust, she glanced lightly at Kaido, then said nothing and walked off toward the north of the island on her own.
Kaido: “…”
……
Brown boots stepped on the grass, making rustling sounds.
The land under her feet had once been scorched by Kaido’s dragon breath back then, nearly turning into a complete white wasteland… Now, years later, the wild grass here grew even lusher than other areas on the island.
But though the grass was thick, few trees had grown; the once dense forest had only just recovered to shrubbery level.
Rustle~ rustle~
Insect chirps lingered around her ears, mixed with someone’s muttering, as if recalling the battle that erupted here years ago, occasionally exclaiming loudly~
“That battle back then was so exhilarating! I nearly got burned to death! Right, La?”
“Speaking of which, I clearly won back then~ But I, the winner, was covered in wounds, while you didn’t even have your clothes messed up~ Right, La?”
“I remember Aoxi that brat blabbering~ Right, La?”
“And Obei, if she blabbered~ Right, La?”
……
“Speaking of which, what a coincidence—that guy hid everywhere, but ended up on this island too… Right, La?”
Snap~
“We’re here; he should be hiding in there.”
After walking silently for nearly ten minutes, she stopped in front of a very ancient-looking brick wall, the location of the ruins on the south of the island back then.
Compared to other areas of the island flattened by battle, this area had miraculously suffered little damage; though many walls had collapsed, they remained largely intact.
Reaching out to touch the moss-covered wall, she politely knocked.
Clang~ Clang~ Clang~
As the knocks landed, the ancient brick wall before her emitted a crisp metallic sound.
Undoubtedly, this ‘brick wall’ that looked identical to the other ruin walls was some smokescreen by someone; there was definitely a person hiding behind this wall!
……
……
Half a minute passed with no response.
She wasn’t impatient and raised her hand to knock again, but Kaido had no such patience.
“Let me; you step back a bit.”
Without even calling for the door, he swung his club and smashed it down—
Clang!!!
The Haki-wrapped wolf fang club smashed with immense force onto the fake ‘brick wall,’ blasting the ‘wall’ along with the mountain wall behind it straight into the sky!
Sunlight shone into the mountain body interior, revealing the unexpected setup inside—a somewhat crude but fully equipped laboratory.
In a compartment of the laboratory, a golden-haired, rotund fat man sat on the toilet, holding a newspaper in hand, staring blankly at the ceiling flipped open above him.
“…”
Plop~
The cigar in the blond fat man’s mouth unwittingly dropped to the ground, his expression gradually shifting from blank to terror, his voice even distorting from tension.
“Y-y-you… K-Kaido?!”
“Yo~ Long time no see, Sain.”
Smack!
Leaping right in front of him, Kaido shouldered his club, looking down at the man on the toilet.
“Since you didn’t report to me as promised, I came to find you myself!”
“So now, can you explain?”
