Chapter 113: Let Me Ride It
“Wow! I don’t care! I don’t care! I want to ride on your back!”
“Let me ride~ Let me ride~”
At the foot of the Red Line, on the Beasts Pirates’ small boat.
Under the awkward gazes of the crowd, Aoxi was rolling around on the deck without any dignity, using her hands and feet.
Obei, on the other hand, stood far away. Even though everyone around was acquaintances from the Beasts Pirates, she pretended not to know Aoxi like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
As for why this scene was happening…
The cause was that Ember had just decisively refused Aoxi’s request to ride on his back, and instead brought a large basket, preparing to put everyone in it and transport them up the Red Line.
This mission was mainly to investigate the authenticity of the content in that navigational log, not a real combat mission, so the team only had a mere six people.
Including Ember and Aoxi and Obei, three executives, Wright as the guide, one navigator, and one ship doctor.
The small boat the group was riding was exactly the speedboat of similar size to the Merry that Ra used back then.
Now that they had arrived at the foot of the Red Line, this ship’s mission was complete.
After all, Ember couldn’t possibly fly a whole ship to the top of the Red Line; he wasn’t Kaido.
Anyway, for a ship, they could just grab one casually from “Paradise” later; it wouldn’t take much effort.
On the deck, seeing that everyone had packed their luggage, Ember had no patience to continue wasting time with Aoxi like this and directly threatened:
“If you keep making a fuss like this, when I get back, I’ll tell Ra that she won’t let you go to sea anymore.”
“Gua!”
Hearing Ra’s name, Aoxi, who was rolling on the ground, indeed quieted down, but she still didn’t get up from the ground. Instead, she rolled her eyes and said:
“Tattling to the parents? Ember, are you a child or something?”
“Shameless!”
“So disgraceful!”
As she spoke, Aoxi even stuck out her tongue and made a face at Ember.
“?”
“Ha~”
Facts proved that people would laugh in extreme speechlessness.
Ember could never have imagined before that one day he would be so exasperated by someone that he laughed.
Why was a guy rolling on the ground throwing a tantrum acting like others were shameless?
How could there be such a person in the world?!
The young Lunarian once again realized the vastness of the sea.
“Hoo~~”
Taking a deep breath and sighing inwardly about the diversity of creatures, Ember directly issued the ultimatum.
“Either you get in the basket now, and we set off immediately. Or you row back by yourself.”
“I’ll count to three!”
“Hmph~ Threats don’t work on me!” Aoxi used Hardening.
“One!”
Minimal effect.
“You’re actually disregarding the mission for your own selfish reasons. I’m going to write to Captain Kaido to impeach you!” Aoxi used Intimidation again.
“Two!”
Minimal effect.
“Just a little while, okay~ Just a little while~ Abel~” Aoxi finally used acting cute.
“Three!”
Minimal effect.
“Woo~”
Player Aoxi surrendered.
……
The process of flying over the Red Line was very calm. Ember in pterodactyl form pulling several people was effortless, and nothing unexpected happened along the way.
Except midway when Aoxi still relentlessly tried to climb onto Ember’s back with her claws, only to be hooked by the back of her collar and dangled outside directly by him.
The group in the basket was like taking a somewhat thrilling hot air balloon ride. After overcoming the initial fear, they all began to enjoy the rare scenery at this ten-thousand-meter high altitude.
Of course, Aoxi, who had bought the dangling ticket and was hanging there like a salted fish by the claws, was not included.
At the top of the Red Line, the group casually found a place to rest briefly and rechecked the basket and ropes.
“Hey! Masked Man, what are you looking at?”
Aoxi originally wanted to vent her anger on Ember properly, but found that ever since they landed, he had been in low spirits, always looking into the distance as if reminiscing about something.
“Nothing.”
Ember withdrew his gaze and warned:
“If you’re not well-behaved on the way down, I’ll just drop you directly. Anyway, you won’t die from the fall.”
“Also, don’t call me ‘Abel’ anymore. My name now is Ember.”
“Ha? Isn’t that your original name? Why can’t I call you that?”
Aoxi had heard this name from Kaido, who said it was Ember’s original name.
“And not only did you not apologize to me, you’re even threatening me?”
“Is that flame on the back of your head just for show? Can’t you even say some warm words?”
If they didn’t still need this guy for the descent, Aoxi would have already couldn’t resist letting Ember taste her Pirate Big Iron Fist.
『Damn it! Why can’t I fly! If I could fly, would it be like this?』
Ember ignored Aoxi and went directly to Wright’s side. He didn’t plan to stay in this place any longer.
“Is the basket checked? We’re preparing to set off.”
“Everything’s fine. Ready to depart anytime.”
“Mm.”
……
In the first half of the Grand Line, on the calm sea surface, a pirate ship with a skull pattern was quietly sailing.
“Captain, when are we going to the ‘New World’?”
A pirate who was bored sitting on the ship’s railing fishing asked.
They had been drifting aimlessly in this sea area for a week. Sabaody Archipelago was not far away, but the captain just wouldn’t order them to dock.
“Wait a bit more. The Navy seems to have been stimulated in the ‘New World’ recently. The newspaper says they’re strictly inspecting passing ships around Sabaody.”
“Going there now would be no different from walking into a trap.”
The pirate captain with a mustache and half-bald head was also leisurely leaning back in his chair, with the newspaper bought that morning covering his face.
“So how long do we have to wait? Can’t we just force our way through? You’re a great pirate with a bounty of 28 million, Captain!”
Another pirate wiping his cleaver said, and the other pirates on the ship chimed in agreement.
“Yeah, we’re invincible throughout the Grand Line! What do we have to fear from the Navy?!”
“Just charge right through and let those Navy know how formidable the Fedlin Pirates are.”
“Once we get to the ‘New World’, we’ll see just how much those hyped-up great pirates are worth.”
……
It’s no wonder these pirates were so arrogant. In this era, a bounty of 26 million in the first half of the Grand Line was already top-tier.
Almost equivalent to the future Supernovas.
If placed in the Four Seas, it would definitely be a terrifying force that no one dared to provoke.
“Wait a bit more. After all, it’s too close to Navy Headquarters there. If a vice admiral or admiral shows up, it’ll be trouble.”
Although Captain Fedlin said this, his tone was very relaxed, even carrying some undisguisable arrogance.
“Well~ I’m not afraid, but the ship needs coating there. If it gets damaged, that’ll be trouble.”
His composure also infected the others on the ship, and the pirates all started laughing and chatting.
“Haha, true. After all, this ship has been with us for a long time; we can’t let those Navy dirty it.”
“As for vice admirals, probably only that ‘Hero Garp’ could go a few rounds with the captain.”
“Eh~ What’s that ‘Navy Hero’? He might just have ridden on some coattails. Otherwise, why is he still just a vice admiral?”
“Haha, maybe that’s it.”
“We’re the ones who rolled out of real fights in the Grand Line; are we supposed to fear some coattail-rider?”
……
Just as the ship was filled with a cheerful atmosphere from the earlier banter, the lookout on the mast suddenly let out a startled cry.
“Captain, there’s something in the sky coming toward us!”
“Hm? Which direction?”
Fedlin slowly got up upon hearing this.
“Isn’t that just a bird? But what’s that big thing dragging below?”
Without a telescope, he squinted hard at the sky but could only see a vague outline.
“No, Captain, the silhouette doesn’t look like a bird.”
“And that thing seems to have fire behind it!”
The lookout above with a monocular telescope could see clearly and reported nervously.
“Wait! There’s what looks like a basket of people below!”
“People? Give me the telescope!”
An unidentified creature on fire pulling a basket of people—this bizarre combination made Fedlin feel a faint unease.
“Here—”
“Watch out! Captain!”
Boom!!!
Just as the lookout threw down the telescope, Ember’s group crashed down onto the ship.
