Chapter 212: Guests Arriving One After Another
“The Black Prince?”
“Luffy, you guys really ran into some big shot. This matter… is quite troublesome!” Ace listened to everyone’s chatter, and his previously relaxed brows furrowed involuntarily. Getting involved with the Black Prince was no ordinary trouble.
Even he didn’t dare guarantee what he could achieve.
Even Whitebeard Dad didn’t dare say he could take down the Black Prince. He, who had lost to Whitebeard Dad over a hundred times front and back, still wasn’t the Black Prince’s opponent. This was a fact he knew full well, not swayed by his personal will.
“Luffy, about your father… doesn’t your brother know?”
Robin asked curiously.
Under her expert guiding questions, she had already figured out that Luffy and Ace were sworn brothers, not blood brothers. But she thought Ace knew about Luffy’s family situation… now it seemed not.
“Luffy’s father? Miss Robin, is there some story behind this?” Ace blinked his eyes in confusion. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was that stinky old man Garp, but Luffy’s father… come to think of it, does Luffy have a father?
Thinking of this, Ace was stunned for a moment. Growing up with Luffy and Sabo, aside from Garp the stinky old man occasionally coming to check on them, he never saw any other relatives of Luffy.
Used to a life without family, he never asked Luffy if he had other family members.
Moreover,
Luffy’s father isn’t Garp the stinky old man’s son?
“My dad probably hasn’t met Ace. I don’t remember much myself.” Luffy picked his nose and said casually, “There’s nothing that can’t be said. Ace is my brother.”
So Luffy wasn’t dumb at all. He might look brainless most of the time, but he was actually quite smart. He immediately caught the subtext in Robin’s words. He just didn’t like using his brain usually, so he could hang out with Usopp and Chopper.
“Luffy’s father is the Revolutionary Army leader, that Monkey D. Dragon.” Robin shared the intelligence Ace didn’t know.
“Revolutionary Army?”
Ace’s eyes widened.
This news was too explosive. Garp the old man’s son is actually the Revolutionary Army leader… it really made one’s heart pound.
“Luffy’s father is Revolutionary Army… no wonder that stinky old man would knock my head every time I said I wanted to be a pirate as a kid.” With a bit of thinking, Ace understood many things. It was normal for Luffy the little idiot to forget his dad, but Garp couldn’t forget his son. Now it seemed he was afraid they would follow the same path into the Revolutionary Army.
Unfortunately, Grandfather’s efforts ended up in vain.
Both he and Luffy had become pirates one after another…
“Miss Robin, you specially mentioned Luffy’s father… does that mean this matter is related to Luffy’s father?” Ace reined in his wandering thoughts and focused on the matter at hand.
“Luffy’s father met that Black Prince in Loguetown. He said he would keep an eye on the Black Prince to stop him from acting personally. But to save our partners… we still need to do it ourselves! The Black Prince left quite a few subordinates in Alabasta. Only by defeating them can we end this turmoil.”
“The Black Prince’s subordinates?”
Ace’s brows relaxed a bit.
As long as it wasn’t the Black Prince himself, Ace wasn’t afraid of anyone under the Black Prince… wait, don’t tell him Isca is in Alabasta too. If that woman is in this Desert Kingdom… he suddenly felt an inexplicable headache!
“Ace? Ace?”
Luffy waved his hand in front of Ace’s eyes.
“…Luffy, I’ll act with you guys. The Whitebeard Pirates have clashed with the Black Prince many times. I’ve dealt more or less with his powerful subordinates, so I should be able to help you some.”
Ace pressed down on Luffy’s head. Without that treasured Straw Hat, this brother really looked like something was missing.
Luffy didn’t reject Ace’s helping hand.
To save their partners, of course they had to use every available power.
“Hey, Luffy, what about this guy?” Sanji pointed at the tied-up Bruno with the cigarette between his fingers. Ordinary ropes couldn’t hold him, but he wasn’t escaping because Fire Fist was here—he had no confidence in succeeding.
But once Ace and Luffy left, just Sanji and Usopp couldn’t watch Bruno.
Unfortunately, the Going Merry didn’t have Seastone Handcuffs.
“Straw Hat Luffy, there’s no need for you to leave anyone to guard the pirate ship. His Highness and that one have an agreement. He won’t do something boring like destroying your pirate ship. That would only embarrass His Highness. Leave the pirate ship here. As long as you come back alive, I guarantee no one will damage this pirate ship even a little.”
With hands bound behind his back and sitting cross-legged on the ground, Bruno said gruffly.
“Who would believe that?”
Usopp was full of distrust. “The guy who kidnapped Nami and stole our stuff… why should we believe you?”
“You… aren’t you pirates? As pirates, isn’t it natural to be prepared to be hunted by everyone?” Bruno looked at Usopp with contempt. He didn’t expect such a clueless idiot here. “His Highness, as one of the Seven Warlords under the World Government, has the duty to strike down pirates by nature… You guys, on the other hand, came to the Grand Line without even this awareness.”
Bruno might look rough, but his sharp tongue was deadly.
Even Ace’s faint smile faded. Bruno’s words had no flaws to pick at. Pirates are evil—that was an absolute truth. Even Whitebeard, who protected a region’s peace, as long as he didn’t abandon the skull flag and try to go legit, he was still a pirate everyone wanted to hunt.
The Navy wasn’t without bad apples like East Blue’s Captain Mouse, but the Navy as a whole remained a symbol of justice. A few bad bugs couldn’t reverse the identities between Navy and pirates.
Usopp opened his mouth but was speechless.
“I get what you’re saying, but that’s not a reason for me to abandon my partners. I’m the captain. Protecting my partners is my responsibility. Even if I die… I should be the first.” Luffy said firmly, his resolute intent clearly more than just words.
“Luffy, take this guy and let’s all move together!”
Ace gave his opinion.
“This guy’s right. I don’t know much about the Black Prince, but he’s definitely a principled guy. He wouldn’t stoop to boring tricks like destroying ships. Probably once we leave, Alabasta Kingdom’s Navy will personally guard it to prevent accidents. Am I wrong?”
At the end, he looked at Bruno.
The captive Bruno nodded expressionlessly.
“I think it’s fine. Mister Dragon’s face shouldn’t be that useless.”
Robin cast her vote in favor.
Thus,
After another brief discussion, the Straw Hat Pirates decided to leave the pirate ship here and head ashore as a full crew to the Alabasta Kingdom’s capital Alabarna. The captive Bruno would be brought along too—maybe he could be useful. With Ace there, they weren’t worried about him escaping.
However,
They should still find a way to get one or two pairs of Seastone Handcuffs in the future.
Zoro and Sanji had similar thoughts. After arriving in the Grand Line, they’d encountered several Devil Fruit ability users one after another, making them keenly aware of how different it was from East Blue, where average bounties were only three million Beli and ability users were as rare as phoenix feathers.
Ability users in the Grand Line weren’t as common as carp crossing the river, but they weren’t rare either. Dealing with these Devil Fruit ability users with all sorts of strange powers would be troublesome without Seastone Handcuffs.
————
“Colonel Smoker, look, the Straw Hat Pirates’ flag.”
The young female lieutenant spotted the Going Merry docked at the port and excitedly stood on tiptoe, stretching her neck, wishing she could sprout wings and fly over to arrest the Straw Hat Pirates. That way, Navy Headquarters might forgive the major for leaving her post without permission, right?
This eager lieutenant wore red-framed glasses. She had a beautiful appearance, tall figure, wearing a floral shirt under a dark blue coat, radiating youthful energy all over. She adjusted her glasses and said excitedly:
“Let’s go arrest them right now!”
“…Tashigi, calm down. It’s not that easy.” The ever cigar-chomping smoke ghost Colonel Smoker coldly eyed the two patrol ships circling around the Going Merry. When their warship showed intent to approach, the patrol ships blocked them.
Not only blocking Smoker and their path, but someone stood at the ship’s bow and shouted:
“The approaching vessel, stop immediately. The area ahead is a military restricted zone. Unrelated ships are prohibited from approaching. If you dare come closer, we’ll open fire.”
“Unrelated ships?”
Lieutenant Tashigi incredulously widened her eyes.
She subconsciously looked up at the fluttering seagull flag. Since when was a Navy warship an unrelated ship?
Smoker frowned too. As a notorious thorn in Navy Headquarters, this big smoke ghost’s temper wasn’t good. He strode forward to the ship’s side and bellowed, “Is the Navy also an unrelated ship?”
“World Government Navy can hunt pirates on the high seas. This is Alabasta Kingdom’s territorial waters. Our Alabasta Kingdom Navy’s military restricted zone allows no one to approach—World Government Navy included.”
The Alabasta Kingdom Navy on the patrol ship were quite tough.
They faced Smoker’s fierce glare with chests out and heads high, showing no fear.
“…We’re here to pursue a group of pirates. The Straw Hat Pirates—that pirate ship you have in the military restricted zone belongs to them. We hope your country hands these pirates over to us.” Smoker’s temper was bad, but only toward incompetent superiors he saw as dead weight.
Otherwise, Smoker followed the rules.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please leave immediately, or the Alabasta Kingdom Navy will become your enemy.” The uncompromising attitude made Smoker’s brows furrow deeply, his forehead wrinkles able to crush a fly.
“Colonel?”
The young, twenty-one-year-old Lieutenant Tashigi was baffled. This was her first time encountering such a situation.
In past pirate hunts, even if the local kingdom didn’t support them, they wouldn’t deliberately obstruct. Such strong rejection… was truly her first experience. Losing her composure was understandable.
“What… do we do? Fight?” As she spoke, the young lieutenant gripped her hilt, ready to draw and fight.
“You idiot, fight what? We’re Navy, not pirates. If we clash with Alabasta Kingdom Navy, the punishment won’t be some kid stuff like confinement… we might end up in a military tribunal.”
Thorns often knew exactly what they could and couldn’t do. Without that insight, they’d have been cleaned out by Navy Headquarters big shots long ago.
“Change course. Dock at the berth in the opposite direction.”
Smoker’s order was quickly relayed.
The warship flying the seagull flag turned direction and headed to the docks outside the military restricted zone.
Nanohana Port was Alabasta’s port city for foreign exchange. The docks here were as numerous as stars. The designated military restricted zone was just a small sea area, not enough to prevent the Navy from docking. Bell had no intention of really making enemies with the World Government Navy. Guarding the Going Merry was enough.
Other matters,
were irrelevant to him.
Listening to his subordinate’s latest report, Bell, resting in the bridge, nodded. “Well done. No need to really offend the World Government and Navy Headquarters. But we can’t ignore Prince Elus’s request. Guarding that pirate ship is enough. As long as they don’t harm our citizens, don’t meddle in extras.”
“Then… should we report the Navy landing ashore to Prince Elus?”
“I said don’t do extras… Besides, no need for us to relay that. Don’t underestimate Prince Elus’s methods. Just do our job.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The subordinate withdrew.
Bell sat on the sofa, thought for seven or eight seconds, picked up the Den Den Mushi microphone, dialed, and after a few seconds, a familiar voice came through, “Bell? What is it contacting me?”
“Your Majesty, the pirates Prince Elus invited have landed at Nanohana Port. But then a group of Navy chased them and landed too. I’m worried they’ll cause destructive incidents domestically… I hope you prepare countermeasures in advance.”
“Got it, Bell. Don’t worry! I’ll have Jaka watch those Navy, won’t let them cause trouble with the pirates in the city…”
After chatting idly a bit, the busy King Cobra quickly hung up. Bell slowly set down the microphone, gazing toward Alabasta farther at the horizon.
Soon, a spectacular show would unfold there.
