The heavy clouds in the sky moved rapidly with the fierce wind, the layers of dark clouds like hungry beasts eyeing the sea.
Navy Captain Krohne looked up at the sunless sky, muttering, "...The rain is coming."
Lieutenant Deniz, Captain Krohne's subordinate, stood beside him and reminded him, "Sir, time is almost up. In less than 30 minutes, 'Ferocious Chains's' ship will arrive near the entrance of Reverse Mountain, and the wind is in their favor."
Captain Krohne forced a bitter smile: "Even if they arrive, what can we do?
Headquarters' order is clear – don't provoke 'Ferocious Chains', let them enter the Grand Line."
Krohne was very unwilling. His best chance to return to headquarters was about to brazenly run off to the Grand Line. And he himself would still have to stay in this barren West Blue, and very likely for the rest of his life.
He had to do something.
Just then, exclamations came from the crow's nest.
"They're coming! It's 'Ferocious Chains's' ship!"
"Too fast! How can a ship be so fast! In 10 minutes... No, in at most 3 minutes, 'Ferocious Chains' will arrive in the vicinity!"
Krohne hurried to the edge of the deck. In the distance, the 'Ferocious Chains's' two-masted schooner was already faintly visible to the naked eye on the sea.
What astonishing speed! This deep blue two-masted schooner was like a flying fish among the waves, darting through the billows.
Krohne narrowed his eyes. This draft... did they not bring any supplies? No, not just essential survival materials, this ship even had very few cannons!
This is no longer overconfidence, but pure foolishness, Victor? The sea is not an amusement park. Don't you, as a fisherman's son, understand even this simple truth?
Krohne then thought again and realized something was wrong. Based on past behavior, Victor was not the kind of recklessly overconfident hothead. Could it be... that he used his Zip-Zip Fruit ability to store all supplies in the zipper space?
Damn it, why didn't the Navy realize that the Zip-Zip Fruit was such a powerful combat and support-type Devil Fruit back then!
This couldn't really be blamed on the Navy.
When Captain Marvin ate this fruit, it was by chance. Although he subsequently reported the fruit's ability and its previous appearance, he had only had the fruit for a short month, and his own talent was limited.
Marvin had only developed the logistical ability of material storage.
Initially, Navy Headquarters intended to summon him to the logistics department to play a role, but unexpectedly, before the order arrived, Marvin encountered the infamous 'Copper Apple' Pirate Crew and was tragically killed by 'Copper Tooth' Shuraeger. The Zip-Zip Fruit then disappeared into the sea.
No one expected the Zip-Zip Fruit to reappear in such an astonishing form.
The ship was getting closer.
On the deck of the Beagle, Victor leaned on the railing, controlling the sails with zippers. Under his control, the Beagle slowed down, gradually approaching the several Navy warships guarding the entrance to Reverse Mountain.
"Good afternoon, Captain Krohne." Victor smiled and greeted the middle-aged Navy officer on the deck of the opposite warship.
"I didn't expect the recently prominent 'Ferocious Chains' to know the name of an ordinary Navy captain like me?" Krohne's eyes narrowed even further. He had never directly dealt with this zipper man, yet the other party recognized him at a glance.
Had he already investigated him?
Before he could think further, Victor spoke with a smile: "After all, I make a living in Algero Town, how could I not know the commanding officer of Navy Branch 91?"
Krohne gave an noncommittal smile and asked, "May I ask where Mr. Victor intends to go? Algero Town is not in this direction."
"Some things are better left unsaid, Mr. Krohne." Victor's smile faded slightly, clearly annoyed by Krohne's lack of tact: "Are you sure you want to stop me?"
Krohne forced himself to stay calm and said loudly, "I know you're powerful, 'Ferocious Chains.' But the battlefield is at sea now.
Two of your three people have eaten Devil Fruits. Even if you survive the gunfire of these three warships, can you survive at sea?"
Victor sneered, opened the five fingers of his right hand, rotated his wrist, and five golden chain blades swiftly connected to the hulls of the three Navy warships.
"Metal Zipper - Five-Stringed Biwa - Puppet Ballad!"
Both Krohne and his marine subordinates felt everything was starting to go wrong.
First, the ropes began to betray them.
All the ropes started to become restless and broke free from the sailors' hands. They watched in horror as the ropes gradually turned metallic in color and twisted and writhed like snakes.
Lieutenant Deniz immediately ordered them to open fire on the Beagle, but there was no movement. He ran to the lower hold and saw that all the cannons had begun to be assimilated by zippers and couldn't fire shells at all.
Someone shouted, 'Devil Fruit users are afraid of seawater!' The marines hurriedly scooped up seawater and splashed it on the cannons and ropes. But apart from completely extinguishing the cannon's fuse, nothing else worked.
The marines raised their muskets, wanting to fight back, but were all bound and hung upside down from the mast by the treacherous ropes. Muskets and swords clattered onto the deck. Only Captain Krohne remained unharmed on the deck.
Captain Krohne stood on the edge of the deck, his face ashen, his knuckles white as he tightly gripped the railing.
Humiliation! Is there anything more humiliating than forcibly plundering a ship in front of a Navy officer? This damned gangster punk!
Ropes slowly coiled around the necks of the marines. With just a thought from Victor, hundreds of marines would immediately be tragically strangled on their own warships.
"...I'm sorry, I misspoke just now. We were merely preventing illegal individuals from forcibly crossing Reverse Mountain, and Mr. Victor and your party are clearly not among those to be prevented. ...Please show mercy."
Krohne bowed slightly in humiliation, apologizing to Victor.
"Mr. Krohne, what are you saying? I was just playing a joke on everyone." Victor smiled faintly, curled his right hand, and the five chain blades instantly retracted. The ropes on the warships also returned to normal, and the Navy soldiers all fell onto the deck.
It was only after being enlightened by Gecko Moria that Victor truly understood why his Zip-Zip Fruit was classified as a special Paramecia-type fruit by the special Observation Haki 'Revelation'. It wasn't just because it possessed 'super human body', 'super power', and 'super creation' abilities simultaneously, but more importantly, it was naturally endowed with a half-awakened ability!
Upon contact, it could arbitrarily open Ferocious Chains on non-living objects and control them. And the zippers themselves were not afraid of seawater or Seastone, unless these two directly touched his body.
The three warships cleared the way towards the entrance of Reverse Mountain. Under the silent gaze of the Navy soldiers, the Beagle's sails were re-hoisted, and it sailed straight towards the entrance of Reverse Mountain.
As their ships passed Krohne's, Victor smiled and said to him, "Don't worry, Mr. Krohne, I'm just going for a joyride in the Grand Line. I'll be back when I get tired of it, and we'll have a good drink then! See you!"
The Beagle gradually accelerated, sailing out of the area.
Lieutenant Deniz, still disgruntled, walked up to Captain Krohne and whispered, "Sir, should we use some means against those 'Coral' people who remained in the West Blue?"
Krohne shook his head and sighed, "Forget it. Let's do as Headquarters said, don't provoke him. Didn't you understand what he meant just now? Once we touch his people, he won't let us off. Besides, we don't have a suitable reason... Such a monster cannot be confined to the mere West Blue anyway. Let the Headquarters officers in the Grand Line worry about him!"
Krohne still didn't understand why Victor, who had severely slapped the World Government in the face, wasn't given a bounty, and even the internal Navy simulated bounty was canceled.
But that was no longer his concern.
"...Let's go back to Algero Town. I want to eat 'Simon Cheese Ring's' baked cheese bagels."
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