Chapter 41: You’ll Die
Something big has happened!
This was the thought that naturally came to Smoker’s mind as he stood behind the single sofa where Garp was seated. He looked at the rear admirals sitting on the long sofa, their eyes revealing unease and anxiety, and his own mood felt heavy to the point of suffocation.
Exactly,
what happened?
“Vice Admiral Garp, is the news true?” Rear Admiral Sprugen asked impatiently, “That is, BIG·MOM left Whole Cake Island ten days ago.” His voice was very soft, especially when mentioning BIG·MOM’s name, that faint voice seemed weightless, as if it would scatter with a gust of wind.
“I’m not familiar with the intelligence department, but this matter came from Fleet Admiral Sengoku, so it should be true. That crazy woman seems to have gone looking for that guy called… Black Prince? That’s the name, right? Smoker?”
Garp turned his head to glance at Smoker, whose nerves were tense and who didn’t dare move a muscle.
“Don’t be nervous, smoke boy. It’s no big deal, just a crazy woman whose brain was damaged by excessively high blood sugar.” He said this, seemingly finding his own words amusing, and burst into laughter. The seriousness he had barely mustered before vanished instantly.
“Hoo—”
A very faint exhale echoed in the room’s space.
Smoker rolled his eyes, looking at Tina standing beside him who had clearly relaxed, and understood in his heart. He wasn’t the only one nervous; especially when Vice Admiral Garp, who was usually always joking around without any seriousness, put on an unprecedented stern face, it brought considerable pressure to these “youngsters.”
Realizing that he wasn’t the only one nervous, and that Vice Admiral Garp had also dropped his stern demeanor, Smoker, the notorious troublemaker at headquarters, finally relaxed a bit and regained some of his usual independent flair.
“Sokachio Elus, that’s the Black Prince’s full name.”
Smoker opened his mouth and answered Garp’s question in a slightly hoarse voice.
“Vice Admiral Garp, are you saying that one of the Four Emperors, BIG·MOM, went to cause trouble for the Black Prince?”
“That’s right!”
Garp nodded.
“Damn it, doesn’t this mean our mission is doomed?” On the long sofa, Rear Admiral Bishiman, sitting beside Rear Admiral Sprugen, let out an annoyed complaint. He looked at Garp and asked, “Vice Admiral Garp, is there still any need to continue the mission? With a Four Emperor making a move, that kid called Elus will probably either die or be forcibly recruited into the BIG·MOM Pirates, losing any value for contact.”
As he spoke,
Rear Admiral Bishiman glanced up at Smoker and Tina standing behind Garp.
“You two probably still don’t know the details of this mission, right? Listen up. This time, we’re going to make contact with the recently rising Black Prince. Fleet Admiral Sengoku believes he can break the current solidified situation in the New World. If possible, it’s best to win over this prince and make the Eckmond Kingdom a reliable ally for the Navy in the New World, not just a World Government member nation.
Here, one thing needs to be made clear:
The Navy is the World Government’s direct armed force, while World Government member nations are a key cornerstone of the World Government. The Celestial Dragons and the Holy Land are just the World Government’s brain, while those more than 150 member nations form the main body of the World Government.
In other words, World Government member nations hold a higher status than the Navy. Although these nations can’t directly interfere in Navy affairs, the Navy has the corresponding obligation to provide them with a considerable degree of protection, while also not interfering in the kingdoms’ internal politics.
The most obvious example is how the Alabasta Kingdom openly sheltered the Straw Hat Pirates in the original work, keeping them in the royal palace and lying straight-faced to the Navy, yet the Navy had no recourse and could only wait at sea outside the port for the Straw Hat Pirates to come to them.
In the New World,
The World Government actually still has numerous member nations, such as Dressrosa and the Eckmond Kingdom, which are just two of them.
But these member nations are not allies of the Navy because the Navy can’t ensure they are free from Four Emperors’ invasions, so they also refuse to support the Navy’s authority. The reason the Navy was so easily driven out of the New World by the Four Emperors is inextricably linked to these member nations’ indifference.
Clearly, the setbacks in the New World in the past made Fleet Admiral Sengoku realize that for the Navy to gain a foothold in the New World, it can’t do without the support of the New World’s World Government member nations.
The World Government’s territory is simply too vast, and the areas the Navy needs to cover are astonishingly large as a result. The Navy, with nearly ten million personnel, seems terrifyingly numerous, but spread across the Four Seas and the Grand Line, it’s gone. Otherwise, the Navy wouldn’t fail to hold the New World territory.
Not to mention anything else, if the Navy’s three admirals teamed up for a hard charge, even Whitebeard couldn’t stop them!
But the problem is that the Navy can’t do such things. Too many places require admiral-level combat power. The three admirals wish they could split into nine people, so in many places, the Navy cooperates with local navies of various kingdoms to maintain stability and peace in a sea area.
This not only solves the manpower shortage but also reduces logistical burdens and pressure.
In a treacherous place like the New World, gaining support from local forces is even more important for the Navy, after all, no kingdom that survives in the New World is to be trifled with.
This time,
Garp leading the team back to the New World is to attempt contact with the Eckmond Kingdom, to see if it can serve as a bridge to rebuild ties between the Navy and the New World’s local forces… Rear Admiral Bishiman carefully explained this to Smoker and Tina.
This wasn’t because Rear Admiral Bishiman was the kind of senior who enthusiastically mentors juniors.
Rather, both Smoker and Tina were members of his faction, the one led by Admiral Aokiji. As a senior in the faction, he naturally had the duty to look after juniors, especially since Smoker had an excellent personal relationship with Admiral Aokiji, plus his status as a Logia ability user, he was destined to become a key figure in the faction. When Admiral Aokiji rises to fleet admiral, Smoker takes over as admiral… this was the beautiful future envisioned by many in the faction.
“Black Prince… I see.”
Smoker finally understood the purpose of this mission, but soon he also felt the same worry as Rear Admiral Bishiman.
“What’s the rush?”
Garp pulled a pack of sweets from under the coffee table beside the sofa and ate them nonchalantly, saying while munching, “BIG·MOM, that crazy woman, set out ten days ago. We definitely can’t catch up, but retreating now is way too premature. It’s still unclear what the outcome of this will be!”
“But, Vice Admiral Garp, that’s a Four Emperor!”
The third rear admiral, Rear Admiral Cajetan, couldn’t help but speak up.
“So what?”
Garp rolled his eyes, looking at Rear Admiral Cajetan with a look of exasperation, “The Four Emperors weren’t born as Four Emperors. Garp and Sengoku weren’t undefeated in our youth either! What kind of Navy officer gets scared by pirates? Too embarrassing! How do you know that little prince will definitely be killed or subdued by BIG·MOM?”
“It’s Black Prince, not little prince.”
Rear Admiral Cajetan retorted.
“What did you say?”
Garp widened his eyes, which were as big as ox eyeballs, scaring Rear Admiral Cajetan into shrinking his neck and falling silent. Vice Admiral Garp was like a crab, someone who could strut around Navy Headquarters. Even the fleet admiral and admirals couldn’t do anything about this navy hero.
He, a mere rear admiral, should just shut up obediently!
“Just wait and see! The result might surprise us all!” Garp continued enjoying the sweets he had scavenged from Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s office before departure. His calm and composed attitude also infected those around him, slowly weakening the previous anxiety and unease.
————
Saiboi Island.
At the port, the massive fleet blotting out the sky nearly filled the entire bay. Black flags fluttering in the wind were like densely clustered birds of death spreading their wings under the blue sky, proclaiming the arrival of death to all living beings on the island.
In the New World, no one doesn’t recognize that striking pirate flag.
Precisely because they recognize it, they feel the terror of death even more deeply.
“How could this…”
“Why at this time of all times?”
“Couldn’t it… couldn’t it be a bit earlier? Or even later would be better than now! This is it… we’re done for!!!”
The nobles, officials, and merchants who had previously pledged loyalty to Elus rushed out of the royal palace hall, raising pocket monocular telescopes to clearly see the pirate flag. In an instant, they wilted as if their backbones had been extracted.
Clearly, even when their His Majesty the King had his head chopped off by Elus, they hadn’t shown such dejected despair.
Because they knew exactly who would take their lives.
Based on Elus’s actions over the past month, it was enough for them to confirm that Elus was truly preparing to take over Umit’s greatest legacy—the vast maritime transport network spanning the New World. This gave them enough confidence not to fear Elus raising the butcher’s knife, because killing them would only plunge the country into collapse and chaos, hindering Elus’s plans.
However,
BIG·MOM, this mad emperor lacked the sanity to consider such minor matters. After killing the king, small fries like them wouldn’t even catch BIG·MOM’s attention. What awaited them was destined to be destruction.
“Four Emperors… is this the power of a Pirate Emperor?”
Looking at the despair and fear on these people’s faces, Elus deeply felt once again the kind of influence Pirate Emperors held in the New World. Just by displaying their flag, it scared the wits out of this group who had been putting on airs in front of him moments ago.
This was the resounding prestige of the Pirate Emperors.
Their names and flags were imbued with an awe-inspiring might that silenced people.
Such power, such prestige, exuded such an alluring scent, stirring his already restless heart. Ambition was almost uncontrollable, but he still placed his hand on his chest, pressing down the subdued Hogyoku and his pounding heart.
“You have to eat one bite at a time, walk one step at a time. Can’t get too hasty!”
Elus repeatedly admonished himself.
He didn’t think insatiable desire was a negative term, because desire was the driving force propelling humanity forward, but people should control desire, not let it cloud their brain…”What I should do now is test how big the gap is between me and a Four Emperor!”
Elus murmured softly to himself.
Through this act of speaking, he reorganized the future plans recorded in his mind.
“Really looking forward to it! This world… what will the future look like?”
Elus boarded the carriage driven over, and four purebred tall horses, under Fran’s whip, pulled this supremely luxurious carriage originally belonging to the nation’s supreme ruler, speeding toward the port to meet the approaching mad Emperor.
At the port,
The last remnants of this nation, the Ximuyel Kingdom’s defeated soldiers, had long fled. After being crushed once by Elus, they had no will left to fight, and now seeing the BIG·MOM Pirates’ flag, they fled as far as they could.
Not just the remnants, even the residents near the port had fled at the sight, each wishing their parents had given them two extra legs, fearing they’d become prey for the BIG·MOM Pirates if they ran too slow.
Before the BIG·MOM Pirates could even disembark, the port was already deserted.
Thus,
The luxurious carriage traveling from the island interior to the port dock stood out conspicuously.
Queen Chante.
This was the BIG·MOM Pirates’ flagship, a living warship endowed with a soul by BIG·MOM, famously known as BIG·MOM’s seat. Seeing this ship clearly indicated BIG·MOM had come personally.
On the deck of this seat.
Several tall figures stood.
They naturally noticed that striking luxurious carriage. Those with Observation Haki could clearly sense the powerful aura of the person sitting inside.
“Brother Katakuri, looks like a pretty troublesome guy!”
The man with a large katana on his back said with a smile. He reached out and gripped the hilt of the katana behind him, preparing to strike.
“Mm, indeed a tricky enemy. Snack, you’re no match. You’re not allowed to act.”
“Eh?”
Charlotte Snack, who had already prepared for battle, released his right hand from the hilt and stared blankly at his second brother, Charlotte Katakuri, regarded by his siblings as the perfect superhuman.
“Brother Katakuri, you mean I… am no match?”
He was unwilling to believe it, but since it was Brother Katakuri saying it, he didn’t doubt the judgment at all, just felt a bit… dejected.
Enthusiastic one moment, knocked off the peak the next.
Such ups and downs were somewhat impactful for a ‘youngster’ under thirty.
“That’s a fact.”
The man wearing a white scarf like a flower, dressed in a dark style, stated the fact he ‘saw’ in an unchanging tone, “The gap between you and the person in the carriage is too big. If the opponent doesn’t fear Mom, you’ll die.”
