Chapter 116: Drought Vs Executioner
“Lord Jack, there’s a ship appearing ahead, flying the Eckmond Kingdom’s flag, but······ there’s only one, charging straight at us······” The lookout standing high up could see the distant scene, and when a large ship appeared, it naturally couldn’t escape their eyes.
Upon receiving the message from the pirate responsible for keeping watch, Jack, who was eating and drinking in the cabin, immediately released his Observation Haki and, following the guidance, detected the vivid life forces approaching, among which one was exceptionally strong and vibrant.
Very strong!
Jack made the judgment in an instant.
His beast-like instincts and experience from countless battles told him that the newcomer was extraordinary.
“They actually took the initiative to attack, not bad guts!” Jack quickly arrived on the deck, and soon, without needing a telescope or any tools, he saw the warship appearing in the distance, its blue flag embroidered with a golden coffee tree fluttering in the wind. As the target of this campaign, he naturally recognized such a conspicuous emblem.
“The Black Prince?”
He focused his gaze on the warship heading straight toward them, his eyes gleaming, his chest filled with a blazing fighting spirit like fierce fire.
“Today, let me test the skills of the Fifth Overlord of the New World!!!”
Jack commanded his subordinates to maneuver his flagship, the Mammoth, to charge head-on toward the approaching warship. The bow of his warship was shaped like an elephant’s head, with two long tusks protruding, looking extremely ferocious from afar. In the New World, most people would tremble in fear and flee upon seeing the Mammoth.
This was because the three top executives of the Beasts Pirates, Flame Disaster and Plague Disaster, had rarely been venturing out in recent years, and Jack, Drought Disaster, was the one who handled most matters. Jack’s style was extremely domineering and brutal; he would never waste words on problems that could be solved with martial power.
Thus, he had earned a fearsome reputation on the seas of the New World that made people flee at the sight of him.
However, the enemy he encountered today was not like those gutless small fry from before. Seeing the Mammoth approaching, that warship showed no signs of wavering, maintaining its original speed as the two ships closed in on each other rapidly.
Soon,
they could each see the figures on the other’s deck.
“It’s the Executioner.”
Someone from the Beasts Pirates recognized Dillon.
As Elus’s aide-de-camp, Dillon had earned the moniker of Executioner through extremely cold and cruel methods while suppressing disobedient magnates in parts of the Dark World. This title not only described his brutality but also acknowledged his strength.
Even Jack had heard of this name.
Jack was reckless, hot-tempered, and impulsive, but the other two of the three disasters were calm individuals. Although the other two had stayed at the main base this time and did not join the operation, they had gathered ample intelligence beforehand, conducted corresponding analyses, and forced Jack to memorize several names.
And Executioner – Dillon was among them.
“Executioner, huh? I hope you’re as formidable as my two big brothers said.”
Jack took down the two strangely shaped weapons hanging around his neck—straight blades at the bottom half and scythes at the top. These two weapons were custom-made for him. He had learned their unique usage before; they looked odd, but their lethality was not to be underestimated.
While Jack was staring at the opposite side,
Dillon on the opposite side was also looking over.
“Drought Disaster, Jack.”
Dillon stood at the ship’s bow. His 250 cm frame was no longer short, but compared to Jack, who was over 800 cm tall on the opposite deck, he didn’t even reach a third of his height. If they stood together, he would probably only reach Jack’s knee.
He softly repeated Jack’s name a few times, his iron-like face showing no change—no fear, no excitement.
Blocking Drought Disaster was just a mission.
All he needed to do was complete the task assigned by His Highness.
Dillon reached out and took the rarely used heavy Iron Ruler from one of his nearby subordinates. When he was young and learning weapons, among so many options, he had taken a liking only to the Iron Ruler, the weapon symbolizing the enforcer of order.
The Iron Ruler was custom-made.
The six-sided prismatic Iron Ruler was extremely heavy, and it was embedded with dozens of pieces of Seastone. Being hit by it would definitely not feel good.
Interestingly, these two men had vastly different personalities—one reckless and impulsive, fiery-tempered; the other rigid and stubborn like stone. Yet both were utterly loyal, hardworking without complaint, and particularly fond of solving problems with martial power.
So—
The battle began just like that.
Without a single word, when the two ships approached a certain point, the two men on the decks simultaneously made their move, leaping into the sky almost at the same time—one swinging his two strangely shaped sabers, the other raising his Iron Ruler.
“Clang!”
A metallic clash echoed in mid-air, sparks flashing and vanishing.
“Such strength.”
Jack, who had been pushed back onto the Mammoth’s deck, roared out.
The recoil force transmitted through his hands was so powerful; in terms of pure strength alone, the opponent was not inferior in the slightest. This probing result only heightened Jack’s excitement—he hadn’t encountered such a worthy opponent in a long time.
“Pirate, die obediently!”
Dillon had no interest in talking to Jack. After dispelling the recoil force on his body, he immediately leaped up again, charging onto the Mammoth’s deck with extreme ferocity and engaging Jack in an intensely fierce battle.
For a moment, saber lights and ruler shadows intertwined, dense sparks flickering indeterminately, as the tall and short figures crisscrossed like lightning.
The battle entered a white-hot phase from the very start.
The Mammoth, as Jack’s flagship, was naturally extremely sturdy.
However, no matter how sturdy, it was still just a ship, not made of Treasure Tree Adam. In fact, it couldn’t withstand the level of fighting between Jack and Dillon. Large areas of the deck were trampled to pieces, and the ship’s side had several large and small breaches torn open.
Even the mast,
that massive mast, was cracked by the Iron Ruler, with fissures spreading at an alarming speed. It wouldn’t be long before the mast completely snapped, not to mention that Jack and Dillon’s fight was still ongoing.
Fortunately, the pirates on the Mammoth moved extremely quickly. From the moment the battlefield shifted to the bow deck, they drove the Mammoth toward a distant deserted island at full speed.
The sea was not a good place for battle. Without the ability to fly or stand freely on the water, it was hard to fully unleash one’s fists and feet.
This was the case when Zephyr pursued the pirates: on land, he could close in and knock them down with a few punches, but at sea when separated by great distances, without flight or the ability to walk freely on water, he could only throw cannonballs from afar or attack with fist winds.
Such fighting methods were filled with too much uncertainty. Fire Fist and White Horse escaped from Zephyr’s hands relying on their strong luck.
The current situation was the same.
Neither Jack nor Dillon could fly, and as ability users, they couldn’t fight in the sea either. Continuing the battle on the ship would only result in dismantling the Mammoth into fragments—or rather, all surrounding ships would be shattered by the two combatants.
The pirates, fully aware of these consequences, drove the Mammoth forward with all their might. Dillon’s subordinates understood the reason as well and did not block the Mammoth’s advance; instead, they actively led the way ahead—not for the Beasts Pirates, but to protect Dillon’s safety.
They were Dillon’s subordinates and knew their top superior was an ability user. If he unfortunately fell into the sea, they would have to dive in to rescue him; otherwise, if anything happened to Dillon, they wouldn’t fare well either.
Moreover, they had great confidence in their superior. Once on land, he would surely deal with that so-called Drought Disaster.
······
Deserted island,
At the natural port, the Eckmond Kingdom’s fleet was anchored here.
“How did they get back so fast?” Fran, who had just walked out of the cabin holding iced coffee milk, spotted the ship appearing in the distance at a glance and widened her eyes in surprise.
The Mammoth in the distance was charging fiercely toward the deserted island but wisely avoided the fleet docked at the port.
Luckily, they didn’t need to enter the port either.
As it approached the reef area, the Mammoth gradually slowed down and came to a precarious stop just outside the reefs. Before the Mammoth fully stopped, Jack, who had long felt restrained, immediately jumped down from the nearly destroyed deck. His over-800-cm frame moved nimbly like an ape, and Dillon chased after him without hesitation.
The battle resumed in the seaside reef area.
Fran watched the two battling on the reefs and murmured, “Dillon came back too fast, didn’t he? And he brought someone······ a Fish-Man? Your Highness, that’s a Fish-Man, right?”
“How did you tell it’s a Fish-Man?”
Elus took a sip of the ice-cold coffee milk, savoring the pleasant taste comfortably. Hearing Fran’s whisper, he couldn’t help but show a surprised expression.
Drought Disaster Jack.
Few people knew this one was a Fish-Man; Elus knew only because of memories from his previous life.
“Uh, not······ well, didn’t Princess Shirahoshi bring quite a few mermaids and Fish-Men? After encountering them multiple times, you can sense the difference between Fish-Men and humans. Yeah, observing with Observation Haki makes it very distinct.” Fran spoke rather vaguely.
But Elus believed her.
Observation Haki differed from Armament Haki; the Observation Haki cultivated by different people had subtle variations. Perhaps Fran’s Observation Haki had the trait of seeing through the essence of living beings?
“Drought Disaster Jack is indeed a Fish-Man.”
Elus didn’t dwell on the specifics of Fran’s Observation Haki. A small uniqueness didn’t affect the big picture. His gaze focused on the two fighting in the reef area. “Speaking of which, there are actually quite a few experts among the Fish-Men! It’s a pity that among these experts, there’s only one Jinbe.”
Fish-Men were born with stronger physiques than ordinary humans, but unfortunately, their population was limited, so they couldn’t produce too many experts. Moreover, even when one or two experts emerged from the group, they usually wouldn’t stay at Fish-Man Island.
For example, Drought Disaster Jack and Namiur, the 8th Division Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates—both top-tier experts in the New World—yet such experts didn’t care much about Fish-Man Island’s safety.
“Oh oh!”
Fran had no interest in Fish-Man tribe matters. Her interest in Fish-Men was limited to Princess Shirahoshi; as for other mermaids or Fish-Men, she didn’t care about their situations. Compared to that, she was more curious about Dillon’s current situation.
“Your Highness, Dillon he······”
“No foothold at sea, hard to unleash fists and feet.”
“Ah! I see!”
Fran suddenly understood.
Her combat experience was still a bit lacking, and since she could fly and Elus could fly too, she was used to fighting in the sky and momentarily forgot that without flight, one needed a solid foothold. Though her combat experience was somewhat deficient, her strength and eyesight were not lacking.
“It looks like Dillon won’t win anytime soon, Your Highness.” Fran asked softly, “Should I go help him?”
For this trip, Elus had only brought Fran and Dillon; the other aide-de-camps had their own assignments. Kappas was still at the research institute supervising Caesar’s work, while Eschbach and Dick were out patrolling, monitoring the operation of maritime transport networks everywhere.
The New World, as the dreamed-of treasure land hiding the Pirate King’s secrets, saw pirates from the Four Seas and Paradise pouring in endlessly. Most of these unruly guys didn’t yet understand the New World’s rules of the game.
To intimidate these ignorant ‘newcomer’ pirates, two aide-de-camps were always out and about.
Dillon had only recently rotated off duty.
For this confrontation with Beasts, Elus hadn’t deliberately obsessed over troop numbers, as there was no need. As long as he could hold off Beasts, even if the Beasts Pirates came out in full force, they couldn’t do much to the Eckmond Kingdom. And if he wasn’t a match for Beasts, gathering all the aide-de-camps would be useless.
“Just watch calmly; this is Dillon’s battle······”
Elus sipped the ice-cold coffee milk slowly. This deserted island was a summer island, and it was just past noon, with fairly high temperatures. Seeing the ice cubes at the bottom of the cup exposed, he continued, “Moreover, this battle can let those onlookers know that the Eckmond Kingdom isn’t supported by just me alone.”
