Chapter 100: The Wind Stops
The group returned on the flagship of the original Foll Pirate Crew.
Although this large pirate ship had been ravaged by the storm, making its exterior look quite battered, the interior had no major damage, and the cabin was fully stocked with various supplies.
At least staying here was far more comfortable than being crammed in that speedboat.
Moreover, given the Beasts Pirates’ current shortage of guns and ammunition and their strained sea power, there was really no reason to give up this large ship.
As for the speedboat they had used to come, it was now tied behind this flagship, ready to be taken back together.
“Miss La, everything has been packed up, the supplies have been replenished, and we can set sail anytime.”
Mister Skipgate came to La’s side and said, his voice carrying a hint of undisguisable fatigue.
After several days of nonstop tense rushing, plus the events that morning… this man’s tightly strung nerves finally relaxed completely at this moment, and the exhaustion could no longer be held back.
Like the others, such as Wright, who was already snoring loudly in the cabin.
The pressure he had endured during this time was even greater than Mister Skipgate’s.
“Mm.”
La nodded, then said casually:
“Raise the anchor, then hoist the sails, and you go rest too.”
“Uh, then who will steer? And what if…”
“There won’t be any problems, go on. The return trip will be as smooth as the way here.”
This was the guarantee of a god.
Mister Skipgate wanted to say more, but La’s voice was as gentle as a warm sun, cozy and making it impossible for him to keep up his spirits, so he hazily went to raise the anchor.
The clanking sound of iron chains rubbing rang out, followed by the huge sails on the mast being unfurled.
No need for the helmsman to constantly watch the course; the mild sea breeze timely billowed, slowly guiding the ship to the predetermined location.
“It’s over.”
La watched the slowly setting sun and said softly.
……
“What did you say?! John’s Life Card suddenly disappeared?!”
Hainar, the Flying Pirates executive who had just gotten up and hadn’t had time for breakfast, suddenly received an urgent report from his subordinate and hurried to the main cabin where John’s Life Card was kept.
Ignoring the flustered pirates around him, Hainar went straight to the glass cover holding the Life Card and indeed saw only some black ashes.
“What happened! How did it suddenly turn into this!”
He yanked off the cover, wanting to carefully check if any unburnt bits of the Life Card remained, but the wind he stirred scattered all the ashes from the surface, leaving no trace.
Seeing this, he couldn’t help staggering back a few steps, as if unsteady on his feet.
“Boss Hainar…”
A pirate nearby wanted to step forward to support him but was stopped by a wave of his hand.
Hainar sat on the ground, his voice trembling: “Have you notified Boss Shiki?”
“N-not yet.”
Are you kidding? They ordinary members wouldn’t dare notify Shiki himself directly with news like this!
Even through a Den Den Mushi, no one wanted to face the Golden Lion’s wrath.
“Bring me the Den Den Mushi, I’ll tell Boss Shiki myself.”
The now-calmed Hainar spoke with a steady voice.
Although John’s death was now irreversible, they still needed to report it up as soon as possible; with quick action, there might still be a chance to find the location of John’s death.
“Puro puro…”
“Hey, is that Boss Shiki?”
“Hainar?”
The voice on the other end of the Den Den Mushi was very low, very different from Shiki’s usual unrestrained mania.
“You’re calling about the Life Card, right? Chete just contacted me too.”
Unexpectedly, Shiki on the other end spoke first, but his tone lacked the rage Hainar had imagined.
Or rather, Shiki’s anger had already been vented and was now in a cooldown period.
“You already know? Then Boss Shiki, what do we do now…”
“Hoo~~”
This was the sound of cigar smoke being exhaled; Hainar knew Shiki only did long exhales like this when his mind was unsettled.
Hainar fell silent, quietly waiting for the orders from the other end.
After about the time it takes to smoke a cigar, Shiki finally spoke again.
“You don’t need to worry about this anymore. I’ve already sent Chete to continue investigating in the direction John’s Life Card last pointed.”
“If he finds nothing there, then we’ll drop this matter.”
After consecutively enduring the Hachinosu Island and Navy campaigns, the Golden Lion’s subordinates—whether subordinate pirate crews or the direct Flying Pirates—had suffered losses that could be called major.
Even he himself still had bandages wrapped around his body.
The New World was no child’s play area; on the contrary, it was the most brutal and savage slaughterhouse on the entire sea.
Big fish devour small fish, the strong enslave the weak, and jungle law was displayed openly here for all to see, with no one bothering to hide it.
So even someone as strong as him, the Golden Lion, if he bled and showed weakness, would attract countless hyenas to spy and tear at him.
In the past few days, he had received several reports of subordinate pirate crews being attacked—something absolutely unimaginable before.
With his fame as the flying great pirate, in the New World others always steered clear of him; even World Government ships would actively avoid his pirate flag and yield the sea route.
But now that his injury and the successive blows to his subordinate forces were known, some had already grown impatient to provoke his lion’s mane.
After ordering that those daring pirate crews who provoked or even attacked—from their captains down—have their heads all severed and piled on their ships to intimidate onlookers, Shiki had no choice but to consider temporarily contracting his forces.
“John’s Life Card turned completely to ash in an instant.”
When Shiki heard Chete’s description not long ago, he understood this matter would likely have no resolution for now.
Given John’s strength, even injured, taking his life in an instant was no simple matter—something even he couldn’t do now.
So either some calamity beyond human resistance struck, or some faction had meticulously planned and set a sure-kill trap.
But how did the opponent know John wasn’t dead, and confirm his whereabouts before him, even setting up the trap in advance…
Various concerns led Shiki to set this matter aside for now; after all, if such a force truly existed, now was not the time to clash with them.
In any case, this storm over John’s treasure had finally temporarily subsided for now.
“Tell everyone outside to return, and gather up the subordinate pirate crews below too. We’re shifting our goal to the Ancient Weapon now.”
“Understood, Boss Shiki.”
Hainar listened to the Den Den Mushi hang up on the other end, feeling a sigh of relief in his heart while also some dissatisfaction.
They had paid such a huge price and lost so many members, yet ended up with nothing.
“Just who killed that guy John…”
……
“Miss La.”
“Hm? How was your sleep, Mister Skipgate?”
La, who was watching the sunset on the deck, slightly turned her head to greet the just-awakened big man with the explosive hair.
“Haha~” Mister Skipgate embarrassedly scratched his head; he hadn’t expected to sleep until almost evening.
He saw many people already up and bustling about in the cabin and on the deck.
Before, because of the John matter, no one had the mood to tend to internal affairs, leaving the whole ship reeking; now they naturally had to clean it thoroughly.
First, they had to pack up that guy John’s used cup, the wine bottles he’d drunk from, and the bedsheets and pillows he’d slept on… no, just throw the whole bed into the sea.
After all, they would use this ship in the future, and keeping those things was really off-putting.
“Dinner is ready, on the table in the left kitchen.”
La pointed to the cabin on the left, indicating he should go eat dinner first.
The Foll Pirate Crew’s flagship was very large, with not only many rooms but two kitchens, one on the ship’s far left and one on the far right.
The reason for this odd design was actually due to a “kitchen war” that had erupted within the pirate crew back then.
It started when the two head chefs responsible for meals argued over whether glutinous rice balls should be sweet or savory.
The old head chef from the East Blue insisted rice balls should be sweet, and anything else was heresy.
While the young head chef from the Grand Line believed they should try different flavors to suit all tastes, since not everyone liked sweet…
As time passed, this minor spat escalated, from the two chefs personally, to the whole kitchen, to the entire ship… ultimately even drawing in Captain Foll and First Mate Mister Skipgate, starting a protracted war of words.
Historians call it the “Salty-Sweet Factional Struggle.”
In the end, under the mediation of then-Logistics Minister Trans Wright, Captain Foll ordered a new kitchen opened on the other side of the ship, dividing the two sides by the mast.
Those who liked new flavors went to the left restaurant, traditionalists stayed on the right for meals.
As for Captain Foll himself, on Wright’s suggestion, he went left on odd days (1,3,5) and right on even (2,4,6), emphasizing unity.
Of course, this also related to his dislike of both sweet and savory, preferring spicy instead.
But when he confidently proposed spicy glutinous rice balls back then, he faced unanimous opposition from the crew; that old head chef nearly choked upon hearing his captain suggest rice balls stuffed with chili…
Thinking of those past events, the corner of Mister Skipgate’s mouth unconsciously curved up slightly.
Pushing open the kitchen door, a large bowl was prominently placed on the spotlessly wiped dining table, with an even larger bowl inverted over it, probably for keeping warm.
Pulling out the stool and sitting down, Mister Skipgate expectantly lifted the covering bowl, and a burst of steam immediately filled the air; the insulation was excellent.
But when the steam cleared and he saw what was in the bowl below, he couldn’t help but freeze.
“This is… glutinous rice balls?”
Dozens of translucent, delicate white balls were neatly arranged in the bowl, each like the finest jade, emitting a warm glow.
And these balls were all uniformly sized, perfect spheres.
Somewhat disbelieving, Mister Skipgate picked up the nearby spoon and poked them; the Q-bouncy texture confirmed they were indeed glutinous rice balls.
With anticipation for the flavor, he scooped one into his mouth…
Mm, not sweet, not savory, but spicy.
Very spicy, but delicious.
One after another, without even swallowing the previous ball, Mister Skipgate shoved the next into his mouth.
His mouth full of balls, the spice made tears stream uncontrollably down his face…
Volume one formally ends here; including the launch announcement, exactly one hundred chapters, over 200,000 words, just as I planned.
I’ve read all the comments; post-launch, there’s a lot of criticism, mostly about it being too draggy, too much focus on side characters, battles not thrilling enough, etc. I feel that way myself too.
But as I said in the launch announcement, rather than writing a rambling ensemble piece, I’m actually more afraid of churning out something where big events wrap in three chapters, a volume knocks out everyone, and the protagonist completes daily quests with skipped dialogue like a log.
So when writing the plot, I spread it out wide, even treating some important side characters with main-character-level detail, fearing they’d feel too thin and give readers the sense the protagonist is just monologuing alone… then it turns into an ensemble.
I’ll pay attention to this later and do more from the protagonist’s perspective. But side characters still need writing; even if they only appear in one arc, I want readers to remember who they are upon seeing the name again.
As for battles, I realize I’m not good at creating conflict. Every time I think from the protagonist’s view about who to fight, either it feels unnecessary to fight （La）, or they’d probably lose now to （Aoxi, Obei）, anyway it’s awkward.
I get everyone’s dissatisfaction; after all, two chapters a day, but the protagonist barely says two lines. The author is a chase-reader too; if others wrote like this I couldn’t take… ah, 500 words reached.
