Chapter 62: The Cicada Part 2
“A ship is coming!”
John, speaking halfway, suddenly spotted a pirate ship appearing in his vision, and judging by the other party’s clear target heading, they had definitely already discovered them.
He barely propped up his body, placed his hand on the somewhat damaged saber hilt, and stared intently at the ship approaching from the distance, his expression serious.
Babu beside him also quietly lightened his breath, preparing to use his ability again.
Slowly, the ship drew closer and closer, and the saber in John’s hand was inching out of its scabbard.
“Hmm? That’s…”
Finally, at a certain moment, after John clearly saw the flag on the opposite side, he relaxed completely again, and the long sword slid back into its sheath.
“That’s our pirate crew’s flag! The sub-flag looks like Foll’s ship. Why is he here?”
Babu also recognized the two flags hanging on the distant ship’s sails and mast.
……
That’s right, the one who came was Foll, Skipgate’s boss, the executive of the John Pirates originally stationed on Fenrir Island.
Strictly speaking, Foll wasn’t a member of the John Pirates, but the captain of a pirate crew under John’s command; he had defected to John with his own pirate crew a few years ago.
Although his strength was considerable, he was still an ‘outsider’ who came with his crew, so John assigned him to Fenrir Island, an important but not ‘vital’ place, to ward off Kaido’s raids.
It was border troop treatment.
At the same time, the still uneasy John sent a confidant subordinate, Fogg, to ‘assist’ him in managing the weapon storage and the surrounding other subordinate islands.
Seeing Foll, who should have been on Hachinosu Island, appear here, John was momentarily undecided.
But seeing the other party sailing straight toward him without hesitation, he simply decided to take it one step at a time.
Facing Babu’s question, he answered directly:
“I don’t know either. My order was for him to go straight to Hachinosu Island. But running into him here is good; we can use his ship to cover our tracks.”
The small boat under John’s feet now was prepared for temporary pickup, and to ensure its concealment, it wasn’t large in size and couldn’t support supplies for long-distance sailing.
……
As the big ship drew near, Foll standing at the front of the deck finally revealed his figure.
He was a man about three meters tall, giving the first impression of being lean and bold.
His resolute face, solid jaw, sword-sharp eyebrows, and neatly trimmed black hair made Foll look tough and reliable.
Looking downward, the powerful muscles on his chest stretched his upper body’s tank top taut, as if it would burst the thin fabric at any moment.
His arms crossed over his chest were like steel casts, appearing immensely strong and containing tremendous power.
His plain long pants paired with the cloak flapping loudly in the sea breeze behind him further accentuated his strong aura.
“Is that Captain John ahead?” A full, resonant voice boomed from the ship’s prow, easily overpowering the sound of the waves.
“That’s right, it’s us.” Babu answered in John’s place.
“It’s really you?! Quick! Lower the rope ladder immediately.”
After confirming that the people below were indeed John and the others, Foll immediately had his men lower the ladder to bring the two aboard.
“Foll, why are you here? My order was for you to go straight to Hachinosu Island, right?”
After boarding the ship, John immediately began questioning Foll about their situation.
“It’s like this, Captain…”
Foll answered while leading John and the others into the cabin:
“The fleet I was leading was indeed heading toward Hachinosu Island, but suddenly a storm arose in the sky, massive in scale and astonishing in momentum.
We exerted all our strength but couldn’t resist, and the fleet was scattered directly.”
As Foll spoke, a trace of worry appeared on his face.
“Not long ago, the wind and waves calmed a bit. I originally wanted to go search for them first, but after adjusting the course and not going far, I spotted you.”
“Boss, that huge wave was probably…”
Sitting on the sofa in the cabin, Babu took the wine and meat handed over by Foll’s subordinate and turned his head to John.
“Yeah, it should be the chain reaction caused by the explosive rock. I didn’t expect it to come so quickly or so coincidentally.”
John had actually anticipated this situation, but he didn’t mind.
After all, compared to himself, who was now almost alone, people like Shiki and Whitebeard with many subordinates in the New World would be more affected.
After cleaning the bloodstains from his chest, changing into a clean shirt and captain’s jacket, John also began to enjoy the high-grade red wine Foll brought.
Money and wine—these were the things John had pursued all his life.
“Explosive rock? What’s that?” Foll, who came over to deliver the wine, heard this unfamiliar term and asked curiously.
“Nothing, just think of it as a powerful explosive. Anyway, since you’re here, let’s head back to Fenrir Island first.”
John planned to hide out on Fenrir Island for a while and see how Shiki and the others reacted.
“Captain, Fenrir Island is probably…”
“Hm?”
Seeing Foll hesitate to speak, John seemed to understand.
“Kaido… that damn brat!”
“Captain, since Fenrir Island has also been lost, where do we go now?”
Hearing the news that Fenrir Island might have changed hands, Babu also became a bit unsettled.
After all, that was their second stronghold, and most likely their first choice for making a comeback later.
“We can’t stay in the New World for now; let’s go back to Paradise.” Understanding the current situation, John made a decisive decision.
“Foll, don’t go looking for your men yet. Go change the main flag on the sails first and hang your own flag.
I’m faking my death to escape; I can’t draw attention.”
“This… alright, Captain.”
Foll hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed.
Although he was very worried about his scattered subordinates, John was still nominally his captain, and he couldn’t disobey the captain’s orders.
“Shiki, Linlin, Kaido… wait for me, I’ll be back.”
After giving these instructions, John threw his head back, ignored the intense pain in his chest, downed the entire bottle of red wine, and then crushed the wine bottle directly.
What John didn’t know was that the impact of the explosive rock was far more than that.
Outside the cabin, Foll personally climbed the lookout tower, carefully observing the sky and sea surface, fearing another sudden storm like before.
But what must come will come.
In the New World, where the magnetic field is chaotic and the weather even more so, the flap of a butterfly’s wings causes far more than just a hurricane; their road back to Paradise was destined not to be smooth sailing.
But before that, an unexpected group of guys tasted this “gift” first.
……
