Chapter 133: Path Of Revenge, 1
Life adrift on the sea is actually not comfortable at all, even when riding on the Navy’s finest active warship. The Pirate Guerilla Squad’s warships come from Navy Headquarters. Not to mention ordinary sailors, for a senior officer like Ain—well, in terms of rank, she is still just a mid-level officer, but as Instructor Zephyr’s student and secretary.
Her status is actually second to one person, above everyone else.
So Ain enjoys the living treatment of a senior officer on the ship. She has a private room equipped with a bathroom and toilet, and even a small refrigerator in one corner of the room. However, the room’s total area adds up to only about twenty square meters. Of course, compared to cramming six crew members into one room—like a pigeon coop that might squeeze in even more depending on the situation—this is downright luxurious.
But no matter how you look at it, for a young girl, such a cramped living space cannot be called comfortable in any way. She has to time her showers every day; hot water is not supplied unlimitedly. Sometimes she can’t even take a bath for several days in a row.
If not for her belief and ideal supporting her, if not for her teacher still standing tall like an unyielding flag on the deck, after surviving that nightmare-like event, Ain might have already left the Navy.
That event,
is the nightmare she can’t shake off.
So many friends’ faces always appear in her dreams, making her sleep quality poor. Today during her nap, she dreamed again of those familiar faces she could never forget. When she could no longer sleep, Instructor Zephyr sent someone to find her. When she arrived on the deck and saw her teacher, she learned a piece of news that plunged her into immense confusion at that moment.
“Teacher, is what you said true? They really found… that guy’s whereabouts?”
Standing on the deck, Ain felt like she was dreaming. She suspected if she was hallucinating from recent overwork. She subtly jabbed her tiger’s mouth hard with her fingernail. The sharp stinging pain dispelled her escapist thoughts—this was not a dream.
“It’s Elus. His people discovered that guy’s whereabouts.”
Instructor Zephyr understood his student’s restless emotions very well.
Wasn’t he the same? The waves in his heart had not yet subsided. He relied on the strong willpower accumulated over the years to suppress all fluctuations on his face, maintaining as much as possible the calmness and wisdom required of a commander.
As the supreme commander of the Pirate Guerilla Squad, he needed to be responsible for the lives of over ten thousand Navy under his command.
Yes, the Pirate Guerilla Squad’s scale had expanded.
From the initial six thousand to now over ten thousand, with enthusiastic support from Elus, the Pirate Guerilla Squad’s scale kept inflating, with over half of the new recruits coming from Eckmond Kingdom. Some were even originally members of the Eckmond Kingdom Navy.
Elus’s little tricks couldn’t fool Commander Zephyr.
However, Zephyr did not restrict it. He didn’t know Elus’s true purpose, but as long as Elus’s identity remained the same—as long as Elus was still a prince or king of a World Government affiliated nation, and as long as these subordinates wholeheartedly fought pirates, he didn’t care about such minor moves.
As for whether Elus’s true purpose would have any adverse impact on the World Government or the Navy.
To be honest,
The old man no longer cared much. From the first day he joined the Navy, he had no fondness whatsoever for the World Government, the Holy Land, or the high-and-mighty Celestial Dragons. The Navy, the only thing he truly devoted his heart to, had disappointed him time and again over the years, especially with the appearance of that bullshit Seven Warlords under the king.
A bunch of legal pirates?
It was simply an insult.
He had argued with Sengoku many times over this and still held a grudge to this day.
The Navy… was no longer the Navy he joined back then. Zephyr scratched his head, his five fingers scraping over his scalp like a comb. His purple short hair stood up high. His hair quality was good. His body wasn’t as robust as that bastard Garp’s, but his hair still retained the luster of his youth.
“Teacher, are you sure there’s no mistake? All these years… the Navy found nothing…”
“That damn guy is in the New World.”
Hearing Zephyr’s explanation, Ain shut her mouth.
New World… that was the best explanation. The New World itself was shrouded in fog, and on this vast sea, there were many powerful countries and influences that had not joined the World Government, like Wano Country, the land of samurai that had never submitted to the World Government’s rule.
The Navy’s foundation in the New World was so weak that just monitoring the Four Emperors’ trends already consumed most of the Navy’s resources there. With the remaining manpower, finding one person was no less difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.
In comparison,
Elus was the undisputed Overlord in the New World.
He had always maintained good relations with the Whitebeard Pirates. His relationship with BIG·MOM was poor, but BIG·MOM, who acknowledged the Black Prince’s strength, wouldn’t easily provoke him. And Kaido, that suicidal madman, seemed to have reached some unknown deal with Elus. The Beasts Pirates had abandoned their war with Eckmond Kingdom…
In short, after clearing all obstacles, Elus’s maritime transport network in the New World was growing larger and larger. Now, even the World Economic News Agency couldn’t claim to receive the latest intelligence from somewhere faster than Elus.
The Navy not finding that guy’s whereabouts for so many years didn’t mean Elus couldn’t.
Though this discovery was indeed an accident.
But to be precise, this so-called coincidence wasn’t truly accidental. The expansion of the maritime transport network hadn’t stopped. He wouldn’t invade the Four Emperors’ territorial waters, but no one could stop him from heading to areas on the edge of human activity zones, like Black Thorn Flower Island.
Even without this accident, a fleet flying the Golden Coffee Tree Flag would eventually land on Black Thorn Flower Island.
This was an inevitable outcome.
It was just accidentally triggered early.
“Ain, get ready. We’ll head to Bikahi Island first.” Zephyr gazed at the sea, his sunglasses on his face hiding his eye changes. “It’s been almost six years. Finally, there’s hope.” His sigh was scattered by the sea wind.
But the blazing hot fire in his heart could not be extinguished by the sea wind.
Probably even the water of the Four Seas couldn’t quench the flames of anger, regret, and self-blame in Zephyr’s heart.
“Binz is still on Obiru Island.”
Ain reminded him.
“Contact him with the Den Den Mushi and have him go directly to Bikahi Island to meet us.”
————
Black Thorn Flower Island.
This is an obscure little island. Not just it, but even the sea area it’s in is equally unremarkable. Aside from local residents, even people in neighboring sea areas don’t know their neighbor’s name—unlike the Four Seas or Paradise.
The New World’s seas are half naturally formed, half artificially divided into distinct sea areas. For example, the Juice Sea Area in BIG·MOM Pirates’ territory has seawater like juice, giving it incredibly unique scenery.
There’s also Eckmond Kingdom’s Toothed Whale Sea Area. The name isn’t just because Whale Head, Whale Belly, and Whale Tail Islands together look like a whale. The main reason is that this sea area has a wide variety of toothed whales, from gentle white dolphins to sperm whales that can easily flip a large warship… It’s a paradise for toothed whales.
The sea area where Black Thorn Flower Island is located is called the Black Algae Sea Area.
Black algae is a unique species in this sea area. This special seaweed secretes a layer of black oil on its surface, with astonishing stickiness and corrosiveness. It’s unfriendly not just to creatures but even attacks ships.
Historically, there have been people who fancifully tried to research the benefits of these black algae, but the fact that Black Algae Sea Area remains an obscure backwater shows those researchers probably failed. These inexhaustible black algae plague sea creatures and passing ships.
Fortunately, over the years, while people haven’t found beneficial uses for black algae, they’ve figured out some technologies to protect ships from the corrosion of the black oil it secretes.
“Coating technology? This technology has quite a few uses.”
Elus stood at the stern, looking at the warships following behind the flagship. Without exception, the bottoms of these warships were covered by a semi-transparent membrane, including the flagship under his feet, which had the same protective membrane to prevent sudden attacks from the sea.
Interestingly, black algae is a plant with no intelligence, but survival instincts drive it to constantly attack and prey on anything it can, even warships passing on the surface—they’re all prey for these giant plants stretching thousands of meters.
Yes, no mistake—the shortest of these damn plants are three or four hundred meters, and the longest… no reliable data, but local records mention black algae over ten thousand meters long.
“This is just a degraded technique. The complete coating technology can withstand the immense water pressure below ten thousand meters. This degraded version can only prevent fire oil or other corrosive liquids from damaging the warship.”
Zephyr stood beside Elus.
After meeting at Bikahi Island, at Zephyr’s urging, a joint fleet of the Pirate Guerilla Squad and Eckmond Kingdom Navy quickly sailed toward Black Algae Sea Area. Guided by Farrug’s Life Card, except for necessary stops to replenish fresh water and other supplies, the fleet pressed on nonstop at maximum speed across the vast sea to reach this sea area.
“However, in actual combat, there’s rarely time for such preparations. Sea battles are often encounters with no time for this. It’s only useful now to avoid certain natural disasters.”
The craftsmen applying the coating to the ship bottoms came from the Pirate Guerilla Squad.
This technology was originally developed by the Navy’s Science Unit based on Sabaody Archipelago’s coating technology.
For this operation, Zephyr had done his homework. He brought all technical personnel from the Pirate Guerilla Squad. No matter what unexpected situation arose, they had enough confidence to overcome it. Of course, smoothly reaching the destination was best.
“…Black algae has appeared… a big one! It’s secreted so much oil—even steel would corrode quickly. Too bad it’s useless against the protective membrane.” Zephyr kept talking.
Elus: “…”
“Here it comes again. This is the tragedy of having no intelligence—doing futile work without knowing to give up…”
Elus: “…”
“The weather looks bad. There might be a storm tonight. Prince Elus, how far is Black Thorn Flower Island? If we can’t arrive before the storm hits, we’ll need to figure out how to handle it. The bottom coating stops black algae oil corrosion but can’t block storm waves.”
“…Instructor Zephyr, are you nervous?”
Elus finally caught a chance to speak. He didn’t answer Zephyr’s question but instead questioned Zephyr’s state.
“Nervous? How could I be?”
Zephyr denied it flatly.
“Alright! Then I’ll assume you’ve gained a chatty trait today.” Elus didn’t argue, just shrugged and casually added another odd persona to Zephyr.
Chatty…
Being called out like that, Zephyr immediately fell silent.
After his overheated brain cooled, he realized how abnormal his earlier state was. He had indeed talked a lot. As former Navy Headquarters chief instructor who educated so many students, he couldn’t do it without being able to talk.
But outside the classroom, he had never shown off his eloquence.
This was the first time he’d lost control to this extent.
“If you don’t like killing, no need to force yourself. Leave it to my country’s judges; he’ll get the punishment he deserves.” Elus spoke to comfort him.
“It’s not unrelated… but I’ve made up my mind. I’ll personally deliver judgment to that damn bastard.” Zephyr clenched his fist, releasing a majestic, mountain-like aura.
“As long as you’re fine. Though I helped remove your malignancy, don’t forget your age. Extreme emotions aren’t good for your body. I don’t want to scatter your ashes into the sea so soon. By the way, if you die, you really not planning to send your ashes back home?”
The topic inexplicably turned to posthumous matters.
Zephyr’s brewed emotions were completely ruined. He just wanted to punch this little bastard Elus. He wasn’t dead yet! All this talk of ashes… enough to bring him back from the dead in anger.
