Chapter 132: The Person In The Portrait
Another World Conference had come to an end. Navy warships carried kings back to their respective countries. The Holy Land, lively for a while, returned to calm once more. Life resumed its usual rhythm. Celestial Dragons continued indulging in their decadent lifestyle, while slaves worked numbly under the foremen’s whips.
Just like the hundreds of World Conferences that had passed in the eight-hundred-year history, no matter how much turmoil the conference named after the world caused, turning the world beneath the Holy Land into such chaos, for the Holy Land it was still the same as before. The tsunamis below could not yet reach the Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land.
However,
Many people were working hard to make the high-and-mighty Celestial Dragons taste the dirt and the soles of shoes, such as the Revolutionary Army, such as Prince Elus. They were all striving to pull the Celestial Dragons down from the throne. Of course, what to do after the throne was vacated—this question everyone cleverly avoided.
Before completely stomping the Celestial Dragons into the mud pit, discussing the ownership of the world throne would only bring unpleasant memories to everyone and ultimately benefit the Celestial Dragons. Such matters… it was still more appropriate to talk about them when that day truly arrived.
After a period of life on the sea, Prince Elus returned to the Eckmond Kingdom. This Holy Land trip had yielded rich rewards. Not only had he won over the predetermined Jermma Kingdom in his plan, but even the Alabasta Kingdom had fallen into his pocket.
The science and technology of the Jermma Kingdom, the history and heritage of the Alabasta Kingdom.
These two new allies could bring him greater influence in different fields. He was already planning to expand the maritime transport network, which had nearly stagnated once more. With the Alabasta Kingdom, plus Water 7, which had become an important hub in the maritime transport network—
His maritime transport network could almost encompass the entire Paradise.
As for North Blue… the Navy had firmly locked down the technology of installing Seastone on warships to cross the Calm Belt. Without crossing the Calm Belt, they could only exchange through the dangerous waterways of Reverse Mountain with the Four Seas, making it difficult to maintain the maritime transport network.
Moreover, Jermma was a mobile kingdom with no fixed base, unsuitable as a stronghold for expanding the maritime transport network.
But no matter what, through this Holy Land trip, he had gained enough benefits, and his good luck had not turned to decline. After resting on his soft big bed for three nights, on the fourth day he suddenly received a new message.
“You say you found the person in the portrait?”
“Your Highness, I swear on the honor of my faction, that guy is identical to the one in the portrait except for some extra scars.”
“No, no, I’m not doubting your discovery, just… um, alright! I thought this task might take two or three years to yield results, but I didn’t expect it so soon. Honestly, this is completely beyond my expectations.”
Prince Elus was dealing with a roasted octopus leg.
Undoubtedly, this was from an absolute giant. The octopus leg in front of Prince Elus was merely a small part of one of the many tentacles of that giant.
It was now noon, not long after the twelve o’clock bell. After finishing a morning of busyness, Prince Elus came to the dining hall to enjoy the gourmet food meticulously prepared by the royal chefs, but this process was interrupted by the suddenly ringing Den Den Mushi.
Having his enjoyable time eating gourmet food disturbed, Prince Elus was in a poor mood. Before picking up the microphone, he secretly swore that if it wasn’t something important, he would absolutely make Farrug, who disturbed him at this time, know what a mistake it was to ruin his appetite.
That’s right,
The one who suddenly contacted him at this time was Farrug, the Strangling Ghost Farrug. Once a subordinate of Umit, he was defeated by Dick in the process of opposing Prince Elus and thus became Prince Elus’s subordinate, even though he bore the identity of a traitor.
But Farrug’s abilities were quite good.
Not only was he adept at killing, but he could also handle administrative work steadily. Among all of Prince Elus’s subordinates, Farrug’s combat power probably couldn’t rank in the top twenty, but his overall abilities were definitely in the top ten.
For example, Dick, as Prince Elus’s aide-de-camp, his martial power was absolutely worthy of the aide-de-camp position, but he was quite worrying when it came to using his brain. There were quite a few guys like him who didn’t like thinking and preferred using their fists—this was also a characteristic of the New World.
In this godforsaken place, a big fist was the truth.
In short, after submitting to Prince Elus, Farrug was unwilling to sink to the lower ranks. He actively contributed his power for Prince Elus, for the Eckmond Kingdom, for the maritime transport network, and this time, he had made a new contribution.
Just ten seconds after picking up the microphone.
That thought of teaching a lesson had long been thrown to the dogs by Prince Elus. One hand holding the microphone, the other holding a dinner knife constantly slicing the sauce-drenched roasted octopus leg. The elastic meat provided a pleasant chewiness, and the sauce’s aroma perfectly blended with the octopus leg’s own flavor…
Ahem,
Of course, the food’s deliciousness couldn’t make Prince Elus ignore Farrug’s report.
“…Your Highness, should we arrest the target next?” Farrug finally asked cautiously. Along with the portraits copied tens of thousands of times and distributed to every subordinate, there was the order not to engage in martial conflict with the person in the portrait, and to report immediately upon discovery.
Farrug couldn’t possibly not know this order.
It was just that his desire to climb up made him always want to make more contributions.
“If you’re so eager to die, I suggest you slit your throat—it’s faster and more comfortable. Otherwise…” Prince Elus chuckled, and Farrug immediately realized his stupidity. No martial conflict with the person in the portrait… this order was to ensure the personal safety of lower-level cadres, not for any other unspeakable reason.
“Sorry, Your Highness, I was too eager for quick success.”
Realizing his mistake, Farrug straightforwardly admitted it.
“You say your current location is… Black Thorn Flower Island? That… where is this place?” Prince Elus had no extra interest in caring about Farrug’s thoughts. He searched his mind but couldn’t find this place called Black Thorn Flower Island.
“Your Highness…”
Farrug said a name, resolving Prince Elus’s confusion.
This Black Thorn Flower Island was not within the New World sea areas that had been surveyed. This small island, unknown to most people, was located in an extremely remote sea area.
As everyone knew, the New World and Paradise constituted the Grand Line.
But unlike Paradise, which had basically been occupied by humans, the New World still had many sea areas in a barbaric state.
Due to the New World’s climate and environment being more than ten times harsher than Paradise, plus historical disruptions and changes, humans conquered and then lost the New World. To this day, the New World occupied by humans was only a part of the true New World, not even half.
Here, there were many unnamed small islands like Black Thorn Flower Island. They were not under the rule of the major forces in the New World, but there were still human footprints on the islands. The history of many villages and towns could be traced back five or six hundred years.
Farrug came to this bird-shit-free place because of an accident. He was originally carrying out another mission, but halfway encountered a storm. The fleet was blown off course by this extremely fierce storm. They tried hard to get the fleet back on the correct route, but before that, they first discovered Black Thorn Flower Island.
Seeing land, they landed just to replenish fresh water. Who knew that Farrug spotted the target person in the portrait while exchanging with the island’s residents.
“Alright! Your luck is very good! I think perhaps… you can shoulder a more important mission.” Prince Elus praised Farrug. Reward for merit, punish for faults. Farrug brought him invigorating good news, so he was naturally not stingy with rewards.
No one could refuse the miracle brought by the Hogyoku.
Farrug happened to be one of the few insiders who knew of this miracle.
Hearing Prince Elus’s clearly implied words, Farrug in the captain’s room trembled with excitement. He tried to control his excited emotions, held the microphone in both hands, and expressed sincere gratitude to Prince Elus.
“Farrug, you continue staying on that island and keep a close eye on the target. Of course, if you don’t want to die, don’t let the target discover you’re surveilling him. From what I know, the target person may lack brains, but this kind of muscle-headed fool often has superhuman intuition… I don’t want to arrive and only see some beast-eaten remains.”
“Also, Black Thorn Flower Island, this name… are there many such flowers on the island? Black flowers?”
“No, that… Black Thorn Flower is the name of a bird.”
“…Black Thorn Flower bird? Whatever. In any case, Farrug, don’t disappoint me!”
Prince Elus hung up the call.
He pushed the Den Den Mushi aside, held the knife and fork, and continued feasting. Farrug’s report was very important, but Prince Elus thought his lunch was more important. Anyway, from Farrug’s intelligence, the target person had stayed on Black Thorn Flower Island for a long time and wouldn’t suddenly leave at this moment.
Moreover, if the target really prepared to relocate due to the arrival of Farrug and others, he couldn’t stop it anyway.
Black Thorn Flower Island’s location was very remote. From Farrug’s provided message, it would take no short time to rush there, and the most important person in charge of this matter wasn’t him.
It was Instructor Zephyr.
After finishing the huge roasted octopus leg on the food tray, Prince Elus drank iced juice, took the Den Den Mushi, and went to the outdoor poolside. He sat down on the beach chair under the parasol, then unhurriedly dialed Instructor Zephyr’s private number.
The Den Den Mushi rang for seven or eight seconds.
Connected.
“What’s the matter? Prince Elus.” That aged and majestic voice sounded. Coincidentally, Instructor Zephyr had also rarely set aside heavy work. A recliner was placed on the deck, and Instructor Zephyr sat on it sunbathing.
At this time, Prince Elus suddenly contacted him.
This made Instructor Zephyr involuntarily guess what had happened.
“Of course it’s good news.”
Prince Elus said with a cheerful laugh.
“Good news?”
Instructor Zephyr frowned in confusion.
He carefully recalled recent events and found no good news. The conflict with the BIG·MOM Pirate Crew had cost the Pirate Guerilla Squad many good hands. Although Prince Elus’s support quickly supplemented the lost forces, this was strictly an unfortunate accident!
Where was there any good news?
“That’s right, I can be one hundred percent sure—this is absolutely good news.” Prince Elus laughed happily. He didn’t continue teasing but directly said: “My subordinate found the person in the portrait.”
“The person in the portrait…”
Instructor Zephyr first blankly repeated it, then the former admiral accidentally crushed the fragile microphone into pieces. Fortunately, the microphone and dialing device were man-made, installed on the Den Den Mushi, so even if broken, it wouldn’t affect the Den Den Mushi.
The former admiral had no patience to wait for the ship’s technical staff to reset his Den Den Mushi. He soon got a spare Den Den Mushi from the ship and contacted Prince Elus again. Just as Prince Elus connected, Instructor Zephyr was already impatiently roaring.
“Where is he? Tell me! That guy… no, that beast, where is he?”
The deeply buried hatred and self-blame in his heart erupted like lava from a volcano.
“My subordinate is keeping an eye on him.”
Prince Elus answered irrelevantly.
Unable to stand the anxious Instructor Zephyr speaking, he continued: “More than that, I’m more curious about what you plan to do? Instructor Zephyr!!” He deliberately emphasized the last word ‘instructor.’
Non-killing Zephyr.
Even now having formed the Pirate Guerilla Squad, Instructor Zephyr still insisted on not killing with his own hands. He could maintain rationality against other pirates and continue upholding his belief, but… the person in the portrait was the enemy who took the lives of so many of his students.
“I will kill him with my own hands.”
Instructor Zephyr answered decisively.
“…Doing so, you won’t regret it? Once the news spreads, your reputation as non-killing Zephyr will be destroyed by your own hands.”
“Non-killing Zephyr… I’ve never cared about such empty fame. I only regret my soft-heartedness back then. This time, I absolutely won’t be soft again. So, Prince Elus, please tell me where that person is?”
“The place is very remote, no existing sea route, and the Log Pose doesn’t work well. We need a Life Card for guidance… Instructor Zephyr, you should come to Bikahi Island first!”
