Chapter 80: The Escaping Fire Fist
The second day dawned clear and bright, with not a cloud in the sky.
Water 7 remained peaceful as always, but the underground forces in the backstreet experienced a small bout of chaos due to the loss of their informants. However, unable to figure out exactly who was behind it, and with Water 7 under heightened alert due to the arrival of the Prince of the Eckmond Kingdom recently,······
Everyone restrained themselves from causing trouble, fearing retaliation from the city government, while quietly conducting investigations in secret. But the targets and directions of their investigations were their usual enemies.
Franky House.
After a night of drunken revelry, the hungover thugs woke up with throbbing headaches and noticed no signs of anyone having visited, including the gate guard fighter who rubbed his sore head, assuming the wine from yesterday had been laced with fake stuff. He was plotting to cause trouble for the tavern, completely unaware of the possibility that they had been attacked.
Even Franky himself had not fully sobered up from his hangover. He grabbed a chilled cola from the refrigerator and chugged it down to relieve the effects.
The sweet taste of the cola brought him a bit of comfort.
He let out a long sigh.
He reached to open the hidden door on his stomach, removed the emptied cola bottle, put in two fresh bottles of cola, then closed his belly panel. Everything was just as it always was—his life was like a headless fly, aimlessly circling around the city.
His stomach held the Pluton Blueprint, the design for the world’s most powerful warship, but ever since receiving it from his senior disciple Iceberg, he had kept it hidden inside without so much as glancing at it again. The boy Cutty Flam, who once loved shipbuilding more than anything, had vanished into the past along with their teacher’s death.
Now alive was the fallen, dazed, lost Franky, unable to find a direction forward or see a future worth striving for, obsessed with dismantling pirate ships······
“Big Brother Franky, our wallet is empty!”
A scream rang out.
The square-headed sisters held up the empty wallet.
They were the Square Sisters Kiwi and Mozu, the deputy leaders of Franky House, in charge of its financial power.
“Ahh! Out of money again. Zambai, Peepley, Korp······ time to get to work! Any valuable pirates around lately?” Franky brushed aside that brief complex emotion. The future was too distant; living well day by day was already his utmost effort.
“Oh yeah!”
“Big Brother Franky, I know of a crew of pirates who landed yesterday!”
The perverts of Franky House burst with flame-like enthusiasm. They gazed at the man in just his swim trunks with adoration and reverence. No matter how badly the residents of Water 7 thought of Franky, it couldn’t shake their loyalty to him.
————
While his junior disciple Franky led his band of pervert underlings to hunt pirates who had landed in Water 7, Iceberg once again arrived at the Raccoon Dog Hotel next to the city government. After a night of contemplation and weighing options, he had finally made his decision.
Still in the same reception room, host and guest sat facing each other.
“Prince Elus.”
“Mayor Iceberg, you’re here a bit early today!”
“The Sea Train technology is here.” Iceberg picked up the briefcase he brought and pulled out an extra-large kraft paper bag. “All the manufacturing processes for the Sea Train are inside. It only takes a few shipwrights who aren’t too bad to master the technology within.”
The kraft paper bag was placed on the coffee table and pushed in front of Elus.
He revealed his answer.
“What? Aren’t you afraid I’m tricking you?” Elus didn’t touch the kraft paper bag but stared at Iceberg.
“Impossible not to be afraid! But I’ve figured it out—being afraid won’t help. Whatever Prince Elus wants to do, Water 7 has no strength to resist. Even the World Government······ as long as Your Highness doesn’t go too far, they probably won’t bring punishment for it.”
Iceberg spoke very bluntly.
If Elus wanted to seize something he had his eye on, no one in Water 7 could stop him. From their previous interactions, Elus was determined to get the Sea Train technology, whether he agreed or not; it would likely end the same way.
If so, better to agree!
Even if all he got was a vague promise, it was better than nothing. He didn’t know if the promise would come true, but this was a chance to build a good relationship with Elus, which shouldn’t be hard. It could also be used to intimidate the World Government agents hiding in the shadows by borrowing the tiger’s skin.
He knew full well that the World Government agents had never stopped searching for the Pluton Blueprint. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have handed it to his unreliable junior disciple who faked his death to escape. If he had any choice, he really didn’t want to give something so important to that foolish Franky who was always daydreaming.
“Of course, future promises are a bit unsettling, so I hope Water 7 can become allies with the Eckmond Kingdom. Prince Elus, you can rest assured—I’m not asking the Eckmond Kingdom to spare any forces to protect Water 7. I just hope to borrow Your Highness’s reputation to deter some brazen lawbreakers.”
Iceberg made his request in an utterly sincere tone.
“Sure.”
Elus agreed readily.
It was just lending his reputation—no real cost for getting the Sea Train technology. In his eyes, it was a great deal. Plus, it gave him a taste of the pleasure of others borrowing his name.
“I’m all for an alliance! Here’s an idea: let our people discuss the alliance details properly. Once the terms are set, hold a formal alliance ceremony, invite a few reporters, and announce it through the newspaper.”
The more Elus thought about it, the better the idea seemed.
He could send more shipwrights to Water 7 for advanced training, legitimately absorbing the world’s top shipbuilding technology, and poach talent under the guise of exchange.
Shipbuilding technology wasn’t just about building ships.
It actually encompassed skills like cannon casting and weapon forging. Water 7 sold the most warships, not civilian merchant ships—Navy warships, pirate ships for pirates. Though the Galley-La Company was the World Government’s go-to shipbuilding company, it didn’t refuse commissions to build pirate ships. Many custom pirate ships even outgunned the Navy’s top-spec warships in firepower.
So,
Never underestimate Water 7, the world-famous Shipbuilding City.
This city indeed had many treasures worth poaching.
After concluding the Sea Train technology deal, the conversation became much lighter. Elus placed many orders with Iceberg. The expansion in the New World had put immense pressure on his nation’s shipbuilding companies; just repairing warships was pushing them to the brink, let alone replacing losses.
With no hope from his own shipbuilding companies in the short term, he had to seek external sources.
Perfect timing with him in Water 7. Though a bit far from the New World, he could procure a few batches of warships temporarily to ease the urgent need.
“Speaking of which, a non-World Government member nation from Paradise ordered a batch of warships from us earlier, but before delivery, their enemy nation wiped them out. These warships are sitting here. If Prince Elus hadn’t mentioned it, I was about to sell them to the Navy.”
Iceberg said with a smile.
“Looks like my luck is good!” Elus laughed too.
He didn’t care if Water 7 just happened to have these stockpiled warships or if Iceberg specially pulled finished ones from other orders for him. Getting a fresh batch without waiting was undoubtedly a good thing.
Ally with Water 7 indeed had plenty of benefits.
————
The Eckmond Kingdom of the New World and the autonomous city of Water 7 in Paradise formed an alliance, but this news in the newspaper didn’t make much splash. Compared to such unexciting reports, news involving pirates or wars was far more thrilling.
Of course, many people were still keeping tabs on Elus’s every move.
Like the Pirate Emperors of the New World, the birdman Seven Warlord holed up in Dressrosa, the Pirate King’s right wrist hiding in the Sabaody Archipelago, the blind swordsman wandering solo through the New World, the Supernova pirate crew currently being chased by the former Navy General······
New World, some sea area.
Dark clouds roiled in the sky, darkness blanketing everything. Sudden lightning flashed through the clouds, blinding the eyes momentarily. Howling gale winds roared like demons, skewing the rain lines falling from the clouds. Pelting raindrops hammered the pirate ship’s deck, while towering waves like giant hands slammed hard at the drifting pirate ship on the sea.
The pirate flag with goggles-wearing skull and spade emblem fluttered wildly in the storm.
“Boss Ace.”
“Shaken off that old man yet?”
His partner, hands trembling from exhaustion, looked at Ace standing on the stern deck. After a day and night of skirmishes with the Pirate Guerilla Squad, everyone was on the verge of collapse.
“Yeah, shaken him off for now!”
Ace nodded lightly.
The moment he spoke, several utterly exhausted partners collapsed onto the deck with thuds, soon followed by earth-shaking snores echoing in the wind. They didn’t care about the bean-sized raindrops hitting them—they were simply too sleepy.
Staying up a day and night without rest wasn’t much, as the Spade Pirates had no decrepit elderly with declining stamina. They were all sturdy young men, and even the female pirate Banshi, jokingly called “auntie” by everyone, was just a young woman not yet thirty.
What truly drained them was the pressure. Under pursuit by the former Navy General, the immense stress doubled their energy and stamina consumption. Holding out this long was already remarkable willpower.
Even Ace’s face was pale with a greenish tint.
He was equally exhausted.
As captain of the Spade Pirates, he had to stand at the forefront in the chase with the Pirate Guerilla Squad. Only he could; otherwise, no one else could hold off that former Navy General, [Black Arm] Zephyr.
He had clashed with that Black Arm many times.
Every time, he lost. If not for the battles being at sea with vast distances, he would’ve long been pummeled by that ferociously savage old man. Those fists booming from afar easily shattered his Fire Fist.
Even their pirate ship had nearly been smashed apart several times.
Thanks to the united support of his shipmates, they barely escaped the tiger’s maw, finally shaking off the Pirate Guerilla Squad’s pursuit using the changing weather—at least, their fleet was now outside the range of Ace’s Observation Haki.
As the saying goes, every loss comes with gain, and every gain with loss.
Being hunted by Zephyr was a nine-deaths-one-life ordeal, but Ace had gained hugely from it. He knew that if Zephyr caught him, he and his partners would either be executed or imprisoned for life.
Even if not for himself, for these partners who trusted him, he had to grow stronger. He pushed himself beyond limits time and again, making rapid progress in Armament Haki mastery, awakening Observation Haki in battle, and honing it substantially.
“Ace, go rest a bit. Leave the ship to me for now.”
Ship Doctor Deuce came over, wiping the mix of rainwater and sweat from his face, urging Ace to rest. “You’re the pillar of our pirate crew. If you don’t rest well and Black Arm catches up again, we’re really done for.”
Ace was forcibly dragged into the cabin by partners who still had some stamina left, compelled to rest.
But,
Back in the captain’s room, Ace didn’t lie down for a nap. Perhaps because he usually napped sporadically, making his sleep overly sufficient, he felt no drowsiness now—just heavy fatigue causing a slight dizziness, and that was it.
He unrolled the folded map.
This trophy snatched from some pirates was a chart of partially explored New World sea areas, and their current position was marked on it. He was studying it to decide where to head next to fully shake off Black Arm Zephyr’s pursuit.
The Log Pose would guide them to the next island, but upon arrival, they’d need to plan the step after. Unlike Paradise, New World Log Poses pointed to three different islands, so he needed to pick a destination in advance.
Once the Log Pose was fully magnetized, they could head straight there without wasting time.
“·····Possible destinations······ Edamame Island, Curved Neck Island, and Black Swan Island······” Heading to Edamame Island would gradually enter Four Emperor BIG·MOM’s territory.
Curved Neck Island meant two mid-route stops to approach the isolationist Wano Country, territory of one of the Four Emperors, Beasts.
As for Black Swan Island, it was one of the islands under the Eckmond Kingdom.
The three islands represented three choices.
Ace’s gaze wandered back and forth on the map, finally settling gradually on one spot.
