Chapter 49: The New World Fifth Overlord!
After the BIG·MOM Pirates sent Elus back to Saiboi Island, they sailed back to Whole Cake Island. The alliance matter was temporarily shelved. This was just a one-sided enthusiasm like shaving a bald man’s head—BIG·MOM was extremely eager to win over Elus, who currently had no conflicting interests with her, to become her ally and help her achieve domination of the New World and seize the Pirate King’s crown.
However, compared to BIG·MOM’s enthusiasm, Elus remained completely unmoved.
In his view,
allying with BIG·MOM currently had more drawbacks than benefits. Doing so would only pull him away from the World Government’s front lines and make him an enemy of the Navy, while also bearing pressure from the other three of the Four Emperors. The benefits he could get were just some degree of aid from the BIG·MOM Pirates and a hollow check about dividing the New World equally in the future.
Risk and benefit,
completely imbalanced.
This kind of losing business couldn’t be compensated just by BIG·MOM shoving a few daughters his way.
Also, the waters of the New World,
very deep,
very murky.
The Elbaf Giant Kingdom, hailed as the world’s strongest nation yet with very little news leaking out; the Revolutionary Army, whose movements are elusive and regarded by the World Government as its top enemy; the dreamlike nation Zou where the rare Mink Tribe is said to live······ The New World’s waters hide too many monsters with unknown intelligence.
Whether organizations or individuals.
There really are quite a few monsters!
Even at the peak of Pirate King Gol D. Roger, he wouldn’t claim to be invincible in the New World. If not for the intervention of heaven’s will in the Edd War, the entire Roger Pirates would have been forced into a desperate end by the Flying Pirates at their peak.
But in fact, Gol D. Roger had heaven’s will on his side and miraculously survived a desperate situation. A sudden storm outright defeated the Flying Pirates who had the upper hand, and the Golden Lion, who dominated the New World, was caught off guard and toppled from his throne by the mighty power of nature.
On this vast sea, there are too many uncertain possibilities.
Cough cough, got sidetracked,
In short, judging from the current situation, he had no intention at all of getting involved with the BIG·MOM Pirates. Instead, he would take over and properly operate the maritime transport network left by Umit, while securing a Seven Warlords signboard to protect his maritime transport network, strengthen his own strength and influence—this was what he should do next.
Moreover, once a plan is set, it must be executed,
waffling back and forth would only make things a complete mess.
“Domination of the New World? What nonsense!”
Elus stood on the dock reduced to ruins, watching the massive fleet of the BIG·MOM Pirates sail away into the distance, muttering to himself, “Even if I really want to dominate the New World, I can do it myself. Why ally with an old lady? Right, Fran?”
The dock,
had long lost its original appearance due to the previous battle’s destruction.
The maid couldn’t find a flat spot to land, so she violently leveled the nearby ruins first, then gracefully flapped her wings and descended from the air. Her pure white bloomers flashed by in Elus’s view, followed by her crimson hair brushing across his cheek in the sea breeze.
“Your Highness, congratulations!”
After landing steadily, Fran dispelled her wings and lifted the black-and-white hem of her skirt, performing a very formal congratulatory curtsy toward Elus.
“A three-day-and-two-night battle with BIG·MOM without a decisive victory or defeat.”
“Your Highness, your reputation has spread throughout the New World!”
The girl’s crimson eyes were filled with proud joy on his behalf, her excited and elated expression almost impossible to suppress.
“Already known? As expected of the New World.”
Elus wasn’t too surprised.
The New World was just such a magical place.
Say it’s mysterious! Indeed, there are many mysterious sea areas still shrouded in fog, and the range of human activity is actually just a part of the true New World. The Raftel hiding the Pirate King’s great treasure is in these vast mysterious seas.
But the New World is also a place where nothing can be kept secret. Any slight disturbance spreads immediately.
“Your Highness, Eschbach, Kappas, Dillon, and Dick have all sent messages. Umit’s remaining forces have been completely cleared out. Some who previously refused cooperation have now submitted surrender pledges. Umit’s maritime transport network is now entirely in our grasp.”
Fran continued,
delivering an unequivocally good piece of news to Elus.
However, before Elus could savor this good news any longer, she followed up with a somewhat puzzling message.
“Oh, right, His Majesty the King asked me to relay something to you. A group of Navy personnel landed on Bikahi Island yesterday evening, entered the Royal Palace and met with His Majesty the King. They said they were acting on orders from the Fleet Admiral to make early preparations to ensure the escort of this year’s Tenryuubito’s Tax. But His Majesty the King said this group of Navy is actually coming for you, Your Highness.”
“Navy?”
Elus was stunned.
It had been a long time since the New World had heard the Navy’s voice. Now, in the vast New World, only G1 and G5 bases maintained the Navy’s last shred of face. No matter how chaotic things got in the New World, the seagull flag was nowhere to be seen.
Only during the annual escort of the Tenryuubito’s Tax from the New World’s World Government member nations could Navy warships be seen appearing in the various sea areas of the New World.
And right now, it wasn’t yet time to deliver the Tenryuubito’s Tax.
“Arrived at Bikahi Island yesterday evening, meaning they set off quite early? Fran, did Father tell you who from the Navy came?”
“It’s Vice Admiral Garp, the famed Navy Hero.”
Fran subconsciously swallowed when she said this name.
In this New World, even five- or six-year-old children knew this Vice Admiral Garp who had multiple times forced the Pirate King into life-or-death predicaments with his iron fist. He was the Navy with the highest appearance rate in the Pirate King’s story, and in many dramas and novels about the Pirate King, Vice Admiral Garp was portrayed as Gol D. Roger’s lifelong enemy.
This Navy Hero,
was a true celebrity!
Even the current Three Admirals combined didn’t have as much fame as Vice Admiral Garp.
“Vice Admiral Garp?”
Elus furrowed his brow into a knot.
He didn’t doubt the judgment relayed by his father. The Tenryuubito’s Tax was just an excuse; this group of Navy was here for him. But the problem was he couldn’t figure out what the Navy wanted. From the timing, their action shouldn’t be because of his three-day-and-two-night indecisive fierce battle with BIG·MOM.
But aside from that,
he really couldn’t think of anything else about him that could attract the Navy’s attention.
“Fran, did Father say anything else?”
“His Majesty the King said he also couldn’t figure out the Navy’s intentions, so Your Highness should just follow your own heart, whether returning home immediately or continuing activities outside······ it’s up to you to decide.”
Fran faithfully relayed the opinion of Eckmond Kingdom’s sixth-generation King Sokachio Berville.
Hearing Fran’s relay.
Elus fell into thought.
But with a lack of information, no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out what the Navy wanted. “Any messages from others besides Father?” Elus asked pointedly.
“No message from former King Sokachio.”
Fran shook her head.
No message······ meaning this was the Navy’s action, not the World Government’s intent?
Things were getting interesting!
Elus narrowed his eyes.
Make contact with the Navy now? Or······
“······Fran.”
“Your Highness.”
“Prepare the ship. We’re going to ask another of the Four Emperors about something.”
“Eh!?”
————
New World, Eckmond Kingdom.
Bikahi Island.
This was the kingdom’s capital, Arabica, a beautiful city known as Coffee City.
“Coffee, really nice!”
“After all, it’s Coffee City······ Damn, the prices here are so cheap too. Last time I went to Sabaody Archipelago, coffee from the same brand was five times more expensive than here. These damn merchants, truly hateful!!”
“You actually went to Sabaody Archipelago to drink coffee? Tina is very shocked!”
“Shut up! It’s all that idiot girl Tashigi’s fault!”
“It’s younger sister Tashigi! Why didn’t she come with you this time? That girl isn’t always stuck to your side? What? Could it be that younger sister Tashigi finally couldn’t stand your smoky smell and dumped you, the big chain-smoker?”
“Huh? What nonsense are you spouting? Is the New World, this godforsaken place, somewhere that dumb girl can come to now?”
On Sokachio Street, in a small, exquisite coffee shop at the corner, a man and woman in civilian clothes were enjoying a leisurely afternoon tea. This pair was Smoker and Tina, two young and promising majors from Navy Headquarters with bright futures.
They had followed Vice Admiral Garp to the New World and finally safely arrived at the mission destination yesterday evening.
It was Arabica City beneath their feet, the capital of Eckmond Kingdom.
However,
they hadn’t met the core figure of this mission, the kingdom’s crown prince nicknamed 【Black Prince】, His Highness Sokachio Elus, and couldn’t even confirm when this prince would end his wandering outside.
Helplessly, they could only stay in this city for now, waiting for Elus’s return.
Today,
with nothing to do, Tina had dragged Smoker out shopping.
“Smoker, I thought a guy like you didn’t know how to show consideration to subordinates! Isn’t this nice? If you treated others at headquarters as gently as you do younger sister Tashigi, you wouldn’t be seen as a mad dog.”
“Hmph! Who has the patience to waste words with those bureaucratic lords.”
Smoker was noncommittal, completely ignoring Tina’s words.
“Tch! Serves you right to be seen as a mad dog.” Her good intentions wasted, Tina’s eye twitched in anger as she shot a fierce glare, her vicious gaze seeming intent on drilling holes into Smoker,
but it was utterly useless against Smoker, whose brain was filled with ‘major events.’
······
“Hey hey, did you hear? About Prince Elus!”
“You mean the Battle of Saiboi Island? How could we not know? The girls at our company were discussing it today! They say he fought one of the Four Emperors, BIG·MOM, for three days and two nights without a decisive outcome. Is this real or fake?”
“It should be real, right? World Economic Journal hasn’t reported fake news yet, probably?”
“But His Highness Elus in the newspaper is so handsome! I really want to go to the Royal Palace as a maid, so I could see His Highness Elus every day!”
“Nice thought, but do you know how many maids are in the Royal Palace? No chance for you, an ‘old’ woman, to get close to His Highness Elus.”
“Ah! You’re so mean! I was just daydreaming! And I’m only twenty-four this year, how am I old?”
······
The neighboring table had four young women, passionately discussing today’s hottest topic.
Smoker heard their playful banter word for word, but his brain automatically filtered out the irrelevant nonsense, retaining only what he deemed to have some reference value. After listening for a bit, he suddenly asked: “Tina, how reliable do you think this news is?”
“One hundred percent.”
Tina answered instantly.
After answering, she set down her coffee cup and looked up at Smoker, who always seemed to have furrowed brows. “Smoker, what crazy thoughts are you having again? Don’t forget, Vice Admiral Garp is leading this time. If you act recklessly, his fists aren’t easy to withstand.”
“······I’m just thinking this Prince Elus is outrageously young.”
Smoker defended himself.
“So what? They say BIG·MOM could beat Giant Race warriors barehanded when she was five or six!”
“Tina, you’re just arguing for the sake of it!”
Smoker’s temple vein throbbed with anger.
“I’m reining you in. Eckmond Kingdom is a World Government member nation. Even if we are······Navy.” When saying ‘Navy,’ Tina lowered her voice—they were out strolling, no need to deliberately advertise their Navy identity.
“We have no right to interfere in Eckmond Kingdom’s affairs. All we can do is wait, and only wait. Don’t think about doing anything extra.”
As fellow friends from the same period,
Tina knew very well Smoker’s ability to stir up trouble.
If left unchecked, this guy Smoker might even poke a hole in the sky.
“Fifth Overlord of the New World?”
Smoker picked up the newspaper beside him and looked again at the World Economic Journal he bought this morning. As soon as he opened it, he saw the enlarged photo on the front page and the bolded, blacked-out huge headline.
《Rise!!!
Fifth Overlord of the New World!》
The title was extremely simple and crude, but this crude simplicity straightforwardly conveyed what it wanted to express.
“A 20-year-old overlord······ Truly don’t know what kind of monster this is!”
As Smoker spoke,
his gaze lingered on the enlarged full-body photo on the newspaper’s front page.
