Chapter 180: The Transparent Fruit Is Men’s Dream!
The Navy’s operation to capture the Devil Child Nico Robin has once again been declared a failure.
The Revolutionary Army proved with their strength that they can protect Nico Robin very well.
This result,
spread out at an extremely fast speed. The Navy issued a gag order, but the Seven Warlords under the king had no gates on their mouths. The Navy couldn’t go so far as to forcibly order them over this matter, only making requests, but the Seven Warlords also had the right to reject the Navy’s unreasonable demands.
So,
the prelude and aftermath of this clash between the Navy and the Revolutionary Army were all disclosed.
Many World Government member nations were deeply worried about this, fearing that the Navy’s deterrence as this colossal entity would decline, leading to even greater chaos erupting on the Sea. Conversely, many ambitious individuals saw opportunities in this; the weaker the Navy became, the more possible it would be for ambitious people to rise.
But all this was temporarily unrelated to Elus.
Don’t think that just because the Revolutionary Army got the upper hand this time, it’s over—the Navy and World Government have deep foundations, and there’s still more fighting to come!
He had now detached from the Navy’s large fleet and was heading toward Doctor Hogback.
······
“Your Highness, we’ve arrived at the Thriller Bark.”
Fran pulled open the curtain.
No glaring sunlight shone into the cabin. Elus twisted his neck and glanced sideways out the window; thick mist concealed everything, making it vaguely indistinct.
“Is it dark? How long did I sleep? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Elus sat up, flipping over.
“It’s just past seven o’clock, Your Highness. You slept for eight hours.” Fran’s answer stunned Elus instantly.
He looked at the thick fog outside the window and suddenly slapped his forehead. “I slept too soundly.”
The Thriller Bark never sees daylight, so it is also called the Misty Sea.
Not seeing the sun is normal.
Precisely because this place is perpetually deprived of direct sunlight, Moria, that otaku whose mentality was shattered by Kaido, holes up here without ever stepping out, wholeheartedly operating his zombie legion, awaiting the day he returns to the New World to take revenge on the Beasts.
Well!
Though such a future seems rather distant.
Pinning hopes on external things—Moria isn’t a genius like Vegapunk, the ‘one in five hundred years.’ Give him a hundred years and he still wouldn’t catch Kaido’s shadow.
After getting up and washing up, and having breakfast in the restaurant, Elus came to the bridge and took the telescope from Fran. He could already vaguely make out the outline of that colossal thing hidden in the mist: the Thriller Bark, from the West Sea, claimed to be the world’s largest ship.
It really is huge,
and the closer they got, the more one could appreciate the enormity of this Thriller Bark.
Calling it a ship is an understatement—it’s practically a small island, much larger than the mobile kingdom formed by splicing together multiple warships from the Jermma Kingdom.
“Fran, have you noticed?”
Elus’s gaze suddenly turned toward the ship’s bow deck, which had suddenly become noisy.
The sailors were shouting loudly, grabbing their companions’ collars, angrily raising their fists… the deck was in chaos.
“Should we take out that rat?”
“No need, just capture him.”
Elus said with a smile, “Charging in shouting about fighting and killing is too unfriendly. After all, we’re guests! If possible, I don’t want to sour relations with the host too much.”
“······”
Fran didn’t say a word.
This matter couldn’t possibly end peacefully from the start, right?
If she remembered correctly, Doctor Hogback seemed to be Lord Moria’s confidant subordinate. How could poaching someone else’s talent end with everyone happy?
However,
the maid miss’s stance was very upright.
His Highness’s will is absolutely correct.
Pushing open the door and walking out of the bridge, Observation Haki had already enveloped the entire ship. Every move of that transparent figure on the deck was fully in her ‘eyes,’ wantonly teasing the sailors on the deck… This must be the one!
The Devil Fruit that girls find the most disgusting and hateful: the Suke Suke no Mi.
This thing,
shouldn’t exist.
On the deck,
The invisible Absalom was having a great time, relying on this fruit ability that made countless men envious to the point of bloodshot eyes, plus his backing as a subordinate of one of the Seven Warlords under the king. He had rampaged through the first half of the Grand Line without ever tasting defeat…
Today, one of his zombie generals spotted the approaching ship, and the bored Absalom, as usual, took the lead to board it for reconnaissance.
“A bunch of idiots—no beauties at all?”
Having had his fun, Absalom’s lust began to stir.
Unfortunately, all the sailors on deck were burly men, each tall and sturdy, all good hands for scrubbing the deck. Forget beauties—not even a single woman… Huh?
“Oh oh oh!!!”
Absalom excitedly cheered in his heart.
It’s a beauty!
A super great beauty!
Her crimson long hair shone like flames, her scarlet eyes gleamed with cold brilliance, and most thrilling of all was the curvaceous figure accentuated by that black-and-white maid outfit. Absalom’s eyes went straight.
Watching the beauty emerge from the bridge, Absalom suppressed his breathing and footsteps to the extreme, quietly approaching…
“Bang!”
A beautiful jade-like fist filled Absalom’s vision.
Before he could react, the pain from his facial nerves reaching his brain made him involuntarily let out a miserable wail. He clutched his face, rolling back and forth on the deck like a maggot, his invisibility dispelled as a result.
The boisterous sailors all saw this suddenly appearing guy.
The sailors aren’t idiots.
The smart ones immediately realized they’d been played, and played by the Suke Suke no Mi ability user at that. The Suke Suke no Mi is a dreamlike treasure in men’s mouths—even if they hadn’t seen it, they’d heard of it, fantasized about it… Never thought they’d actually see it today.
“Get the Seastone handcuffs and cuff this trash up for me.”
Fran issued the order.
Someone immediately rushed into the cabin, fetched the Seastone handcuffs from the storeroom, and with the help of a group, they forcibly subdued this beast-like man with astonishing strength, cuffing him with the Seastone handcuffs.
In the chaos, some took the chance to sneak in a few kicks on this enviable bastard Absalom.
The Suke Suke no Mi!
For such a treasure to be eaten by this beastly bastard—it’s enviable to death!
With the Seastone handcuffs on, the Devil Fruit power was suppressed, but fortunately, Absalom had undergone Doctor Hogback’s modifications, possessing the feral strength condensed from bear and gorilla.
Even suppressed by Seastone handcuffs, he wouldn’t collapse into a puddle of mud like ordinary ability users lacking physical training.
He still had the strength to roar,
“You bastards, let me go! Do you know who I am?”
“Hey, you bastards, believe it or not, I’ll take you out.”
“I’ll definitely take you all out—you bastards wait for it.”
The clichéd threats had no effect.
These sailors were all brought by Elus from the New World; they knew full well how solid their backing was. Absalom’s threats were no different from a dog’s bark to them.
The sailors followed Fran’s orders and dragged Absalom to the bridge.
“Click.”
The door closed.
The sailors withdrew.
In the vast space, only Elus, Fran, and the now-captive Absalom remained.
Arriving in the bridge,
Absalom, who had been cursing nonstop, suddenly fell silent, not even daring to breathe loudly, obedient like a newborn puppy.
“You know me?”
Elus asked with a smile.
“Lord Black Prince, I didn’t know it was Your Excellency visiting. Please forgive my rudeness.” Absalom flashed a fawning smile, his humble and cautious attitude like a worm groveling in the dust.
He had no choice but to act this way.
Though he only mingled in Paradise, who could help it that he had a boss crushed by one of the Four Emperors!
The fear Kaido instilled in Moria was endless, and this terror had unconsciously spread to the subordinates. Absalom didn’t know exactly how strong the so-called Four Emperors were, but he knew that even with such a massive zombie legion, Lord Moria still believed he was no match for the Beasts.
So,
the Black Prince, who stood equal to the Four Emperors, must be extraordinarily terrifying.
It had to be said that Absalom still had brains. As one of the three freaks of Moria’s pirate crew, the commander of zombie soldiers and zombie generals, and in the original timeline a famous free contributor in the future… his thinking ability was at least above average.
“Since you know me, that’s easy.”
Elus smiled amiably, but spiritual pressure surged out like a tsunami, smashing down hard. In that instant, Absalom felt like he had become a small boat adrift between storm and tsunami, teetering on the edge of capsizing, brushing past death again and again… Monster!
Not human!
In his eyes, the smiling Elus had become an indescribable terror monster, the primal fear striking straight to the heart nearly shattering his sanity.
“I’m here to visit Doctor Hogback this time. The doctor should be on the island… um, cough cough, on the ship, right?” The spiritual pressure receded in an instant, allowing the mentally near-collapsed Absalom to catch his breath, not scared to death on the spot.
“Yes, yes, Doctor Hogback is on the ship. He just went out recently to gather a batch of corpses and won’t be leaving for a long time.”
Absalom forced a smile, wailing inwardly.
Too unlucky!
Truly too unfortunate!
If he’d known he’d run into such a terrifying monster, he’d never have come scouting alone so recklessly.
“That’s good—if he weren’t here, it’d be a headache. Since Doctor Hogback is on the ship… Absalom, right? Could you show us the way?” Elus made the request with a smile.
Hearing this, Absalom nodded frantically at once.
How could he not agree?
How could he dare not agree?
Faced with such an irresistible monster, he couldn’t muster any courage to resist.
The warship, bearing no flag indicating identity, anchored to a stop not far from the Thriller Bark. Elus transferred to the small submarine that Absalom had used to arrive, which Absalom had employed in tandem with the Suke Suke no Mi for secret infiltration.
And it had to be said,
this combo was pretty good.
Even the Straw Hat Pirates were successfully pranked by Absalom in the future.
It could be said that without mastering Observation Haki, or similar perception skills and abilities, it was really hard to detect Absalom’s movements.
The submarine docked at the dock.
The Thriller Bark is claimed to be the world’s largest ship, its area already that of a small island, complete with a dock, expansive forests on board, graveyards lined with tombstones, grand palaces… this ship is truly massive!
Walking through the forest, Elus kept looking around.
The commotion from the forest depths was so obvious, all sorts of bizarre things hiding in the forest secretly peering at the passersby on the path. Perhaps because Absalom was leading the way, the creatures in the forest didn’t rush out to cause trouble.
Wait, not all weird things would give Absalom face.
Trouble appeared…
Playful, shrieking ghosts blocked the only path through the forest.
“Your Highness, ghosts! Ghosts!”
Fran tugged at Elus’s sleeve.
“I see them. Ghosts… By the way, Fran, aren’t you scared?” Elus looked at the unusually excited Fran, a bit curious.
“Huh? Why should I be scared?”
Fran asked in return.
“You ask why… Fine! Whatever. Hey, Lion Face, lead the way! Why are you just standing there?” Elus kicked Absalom’s butt.
Absalom felt very wronged.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to move—he didn’t dare!
These ghosts were beyond him; Perona that violent woman’s ability was too disgusting. Every conflict ended with him at a loss. But the problem now was that the Black Prince behind him was equally untouchable. Wolf before, tiger after—Absalom felt like crying!
However,
his luck hadn’t bottomed out yet.
Just as he was racking his brains for how to stall Elus, the restless ghosts made the first move, diving toward Elus and Fran.
Seeing this, a spark of hope ignited in Absalom’s heart.
Perhaps,
if it was Perona that violent woman’s ability,
it might just work wonders?
“Ghosts? A clash on the soul level? You’ve picked the wrong opponent.” Elus narrowed his eyes, pale blue-white light gathering in his hand into the form of a long sword. But just as he prepared to swing and slice the incoming ghosts,
Fran stepped forward first with a punch.
A fist wrapped in golden-red flames struck flying the pouncing ghost.
“Aiyaiyai!!!”
Absalom screamed like he’d seen a ghost.
“Shut up, you’re noisy.”
Elus rebuked, pressing the Moonlight Sword against Absalom’s neck. The screaming Lion Face instantly went still as a corpse.
