Chapter 74: Battle For The Oriole (part 1)
First half of the New World.
On the way back to Navy Headquarters, Garp did not continue staying on his own warship, but instead came to Zephyr’s side.
“Hey, Zephyr. What do you think that little girl’s deal is?”
Lying on the deck chair on the deck, the Navy Hero with a big bump on his head asked while eating the rice crackers he bought in the town at the Beasts Pirates stronghold.
“What deal? Isn’t she just an ordinary little girl? At most, she’s a bit pretty and sensible.”
Zephyr was tasting the pastries made by Ra at this time.
This sour and sweet little snack had a flavor as dreamy as its appearance, making him want to bring some back for his wife and child to try.
But unfortunately, although Ra made a full six hundred of them, on average each soldier could only get two or three, just enough to have a taste.
Zephyr couldn’t bring himself to rob things from the soldiers below.
And thinking about how a certain Vice Admiral secretly ate dozens of them in one go, his fist clenched again!
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!”
Garp sat up from the deck chair, placed the rice crackers aside, and said in a serious tone:
“I thought about it carefully, and that little girl seemed overly mature from beginning to end.”
“Not only that, her physical fitness is also abnormally good.”
“Physical fitness?”
Zephyr was somewhat puzzled.
“It’s that food box for the snacks!”
Garp reminded him:
“It was a soldier from the galley who reminded me earlier.
Such a big food box, still full of snacks.
Even an ordinary person would struggle to carry it with both hands—how did a little girl of about ten carry it over with one hand?”
This was a blind spot that neither Garp nor Zephyr had noticed at the time.
After all, both of them were the type who could drag warships, so seeing Ra carrying a slightly larger food box didn’t seem off to them.
They themselves often casually picked up things several times larger than their own bodies.
But when Garp had someone take the food box to clean it, they discovered that the seemingly solid wood food box was so heavy that even an adult orderly needed both hands to lift it.
So how could Ra, who looked about ten years old, carry it around with one hand?
She didn’t seem to struggle with it at all at the time.
“Hmm…”
With this reminder from the other, Zephyr couldn’t help but fall into thought.
『What exactly is Ra’s identity?』
『Why was the town chief at ease entrusting a group of unfamiliar Navy soldiers to a child?』
『Why was that child so calm when mentioning pirates, and why was she so familiar with the pirates’ dorm?』
『Why…』
Free from Ra’s innate “friendly aura,” the clear-headed Navy Admiral also began to notice a series of suspicious points about Ra on the island.
『Could it be… Ra is a pirate?』
『No! That’s not right!』
『She showed no fear at all when she heard about me and Garp’s identities, nor any hostility, and that concern and goodwill didn’t seem fake.』
Zephyr shook his head, denying this guess. No matter what, Ra’s attitude and appearance didn’t seem like a pirate’s.
『Not a pirate, nor like an ordinary person…』
“Zephyr, Zephyr… Hey! Zephyr!”
Garp called out a few times, but Zephyr, immersed in thought, showed no reaction, forcing him to lean close to Zephyr’s ear and shout loudly.
“Huh?! Oh, what is it, Garp?”
“Did you think of something?”
Zephyr was pulled from his tangled thoughts, turned his head, and looked at Garp, who was preparing to shout again.
“I didn’t think of anything. Wasn’t I just about to ask if you had any conclusions?”
“Hmm…”
Zephyr pondered for a moment before saying:
“That little girl—Ra probably harbors no malice toward us. As for the wrist strength issue you mentioned…
Maybe that little girl has special talent. After all, nothing is strange on this sea.”
Hearing Zephyr’s words, Garp nodded, reluctantly agreeing.
After all, with BIG MOM as a precedent, a little girl with slightly greater strength wasn’t unacceptable.
Still, the same old saying: nothing on this sea is worth being surprised about.
Besides, he similarly didn’t think Ra was a bad person.
As a veteran who’s roamed the seas for many years, Garp had experienced all sorts of things and seen all sorts of people.
He could easily tell if someone harbored malice toward him.
And Ra…
From beginning to end, Garp saw not a shred of malice on Ra.
“Stop overthinking it. She’s just an ordinary little girl who had to mature due to her circumstances.”
“Instead of suspecting her, we should wipe out the New World pirates as soon as possible, so kids like her can have a safe and carefree childhood.”
Zephyr thought of the pure, flawless smile Ra had shown him in the town, and it reaffirmed his belief once more.
“Alright then. By the way, where are we now?”
Garp picked his nose and casually changed the topic.
“We’re sailing straight toward Headquarters. It’s been two and a half days.
Even though we’re not at full speed due to the mast issue, we should reach near the G5 branch before nightfall.”
Zephyr looked at the Eternal Pose in his hand and roughly calculated their current possible location based on his mental estimate of the Beasts Pirates stronghold’s position.
“G5 branch? A few days ago, I also lost Roger there on the way back.”
“I even ran into that guy Kaido back then. Should’ve yanked him down from the sky and beaten him thoroughly.”
Garp looked up at the sky, recalling the giant dragon that had shuttled through the clouds a few days ago…
“Huh?!”
Suddenly, his eyes widened!
“Zephyr! What is that?!”
Garp grabbed Zephyr’s arm forcefully, pointing at a small black dot on the horizon and shouting in some excitement.
“Uh…”
Seeing Garp’s excited expression, Zephyr narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the faint black dots on the horizon.
Perhaps sensing Garp’s enthusiasm, those originally faint black dots suddenly changed direction, slowly approaching the area ahead of their course.
As time passed, the black dots grew larger, and their outlines became clearer…
“It’s ships! Pirate ships! So many pirate ships flying in the sky!”
The scout holding the spyglass suddenly shouted loudly.
“Haha! I knew our luck couldn’t be that bad—they were waiting right here!”
After identifying the pirate ships, Garp burst into laughter.
“Hm~ It’s that guy Golden Lion. No one else in the New World has that kind of flair.”
Zephyr made the same judgment.
“Pass the order! Full sails! Full speed ahead! This time we have to corner that guy!”
Garp immediately took action, his eyes fixed on the fleet flying in the air.
But just as almost everyone was staring intently at the sky, the scouting soldier’s surprised voice suddenly rang out again.
“Report! An unidentified ship spotted in the sea area ahead. Judging by the style, it appears to be a pirate ship too!”
