Chapter 225: Opening Battle (part 1)
“Hey! Why are you sending only Sengoku? Why can’t I go!”
In the Fleet Admiral’s Office, Garp was dissatisfiedly slapping Fleet Admiral Sora’s desk, the slapping sounds clearly audible even to the soldiers on duty outside several corridors.
“Calm down, Garp.”
Wiping the spittle from his face, Sora said with a serious expression:
“This is a direct order from the Gorosei.”
“It seems Bondi Wald over there has clashed with the Beasts Pirates, so we don’t need to send as many people as originally planned. Sending Sengoku alone will be enough.”
“But that guy Wald is not easy to deal with. What if…”
“Don’t worry. This time, the CP organization will assist us too. They’ve planted a mole inside the Wald Pirates. We might not even need to make a move.”
“…”
“Tch~ Cipher Pol, huh… They actually deployed those shadowy, omnipresent guys. Looks like the World Government has everything arranged this time.”
“Is it because that guy Wald killed a few bubble scum? They only care a little about things like that.”
“Garp!”
Hearing this loose-tongued guy Garp call the Celestial Dragons scum, Sora couldn’t help but yell at him again.
“The Celestial Dragons are World Nobles no matter what. Even if you hate them, don’t say it out loud, or there’ll be a lot of trouble. Got it?”
“Tch! I don’t want to rely on those scum to get promotions or make money anyway. Why should I flatter them?”
After learning the truth about the God Valley Incident this time, Garp had developed a heartfelt disgust for those so-called “World Nobles” with their bubbles.
Not beating them on sight was already his limit, let alone showing them any good face.
“Hey~”
Sighing wearily, knowing that no matter how earnestly he advised, it would be useless—Garp’s personality made it impossible for him to listen.
Fortunately, the other party now had the title of “Navy Hero,” and with his prestige in the Navy, as long as he didn’t do something extreme like ‘beating a Celestial Dragon to death,’ the World Government wouldn’t easily do anything to him.
“Don’t just sit idle. The Gorosei have also assigned you a task.”
“Hm?”
“You’re not telling me to go to Mary Geoise to protect some damn Celestial Dragons, are you?”
Garp picked his nose, saying with a reluctant face.
“Tch~ Pretty much.”
“It seems someone is conducting illegal blasting activities near the Holy Land. Saint Máz hopes you’ll take people to drag the culprit out.”
“Tch~ Are they treating the Navy like hunting dogs now?”
“Well~ At least I don’t have to look at those Celestial Dragons’ stupid faces.”
With that, Garp stood up directly, poured Sengoku’s unfinished bag of rice crackers from the desk straight into his mouth, then strode away with a pace that recognized no kin.
…
Fenrir Island, Meeting Hall.
As one of the two main characters in various schemes, the Beasts Pirates side also began their own combat meeting.
“That’s how it is. Bondi Wald robbed one of our transport ships at the outermost edge of our territory.”
“Everyone on the ship was killed, and all the arms being transported were taken by the enemy.”
Burufaruto recounted everything he knew in a serious tone.
“This is no longer provocation; it’s a declaration of war.”
Wright said.
“Yeah, undoubtedly a declaration of war.”
Ember nodded, then looked toward Kaido in the main seat.
“Mr. Kaido, should we prepare to strike back immediately?”
“Uro-ro-ro-ro! Of course!”
“The enemy has come to our doorstep. There’s no reason to stay cooped up!”
“Gulp gulp~ Ha!”
Smack!
Kaido chugged a mouthful of wine, wiped his mouth, and slammed empty wine gourd hard on the desk.
“Burufaruto, gather all the personnel you can from every island and have them ready to deploy at any time!”
“Ember, monitor Bondi Wald’s movements and report back constantly!”
“Ra, you go get those two… What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing, just thinking you’ve grown, Captain Kaido.”
“Before, you’d probably just shout ‘War!’ and charge ahead alone.”
Ra set down the knitted bag he had woven halfway, taking out a Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
“Heh heh! Pretty much now too!”
“Go call those two brats back… War is about to begin!”
“Uro-ro-ro-ro!”
Kaido laughed excitedly, shouldered his wolf fang club, and walked out of the Meeting Hall, clearly intending to go ahead first.
“…”
“Uh… Is it okay to let Boss Kaido go alone like that? Won’t it be dangerous?”
Wright watched Kaido rush out energetically and said somewhat worriedly.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon. You go replenish that batch of stolen arms first.”
“Got it—”
“Uro-ro! Burufaruto, where is that guy Wald now?”
Sure enough, as Ra said, Kaido realized while preparing to take off that he didn’t know which direction to go, only then remembering he didn’t know where the enemy was.
…
“Wald, bad news!”
“Cough, cough cough!”
Ten sea miles east of Fenrir Island’s sea area, the Wald Pirates’ flagship was sailing recklessly.
On its deck, the Wald Pirates’ First Mate Bin Jack, whose body was as frail as a child’s, was tremblingly holding up the Den Den Mushi in his hand while on an IV drip.
“The Beasts Pirates have begun assembling forces, preparing to go to war with us!”
“Cough cough!”
Though his body was far weaker than an ordinary person’s, Bin Jack did his best in other areas.
Especially in intelligence gathering, with various Den Den Mushi, he always managed to anticipate the enemy.
“Ah? This…”
“The Beasts Pirates are already taking action so quickly?”
“Then, what do we do now?”
“I heard they’ve allied with the Big Mom Pirates. Won’t we be attacked from both sides?”
Hearing that the Beasts Pirates had assembled forces to prepare for direct war, everyone on the ship panicked a bit.
After all, they were just a pirate crew with one ship. Facing a major pirate crew like the Beasts Pirates, who dominated a region with their own fleet, they were still intimidated.
“Barararararara! Why are you panicking!”
“The mere Beasts Pirates—just a newbie crew formed not long ago.”
“When we were rampaging on the sea, they didn’t even know where they were!”
“Don’t forget, we’re the Wald Pirates!!!”
Perhaps infected by their captain’s confident aura, after hearing Wald’s fearless statement, the crew’s fear gradually dissipated, and they all raised their right hands, shouting:
“Wald!”
“Wald!”
“Wald!”*n
…
“Hey~”
Seeing the battle become unstoppable as usual, Bin Jack could only sigh helplessly.
He always felt that the current Wald was drifting further from the him who once wanted to freely circumnavigate the world and see what lay beyond the sea.
“Gai rararara! Don’t sigh, First Mate.”
“Hurry and have everyone prepare. After all, the captain is the type who disregards everything once battle starts.”
One of the Wald Pirates’ Executives, the Square-Square Fruit User Gai Ram, patted Bin Jack’s shoulder comfortingly.
“Xixi xi! I’m really looking forward to clashing with those Beasts Pirates guys! So exciting.”
The sunglasses-wearing Fish-Man giant Sebastian was fiddling with his spiked hammer, his tone impatient.
“Hey~ In that case… Sebastian, when the Beasts Pirates’ fleet appears later, cooperate with Gai Ram immediately to destroy their ships. We must not let them form an encirclement.”
“Their pirate crew also has a Fish-Man Executive, so be careful.”
“Nai Qin, as Ship Doctor, you stay out of the battle. Prepare medical supplies first, and treat the wounded right after the battle ends.”
“Xixi xi! No problem.”
“Got it, Gai rararara!”
“Understood, my lord.”
…
“Everyone else, return to your posts immediately and prepare for battle!”
“Yes!”*n
At that, all the pirates on the deck hurried to their positions.
Among them, two unremarkable crew members exchanged eye contact, quietly retreated to a corner, and took out Den Den Mushi from their bosoms…
