chapter 204 part 1
Chapter 204: What Are The Seven Warlords of the Sea? Products of a Bygone Era
Inside the dim, ghostly old castle, mournful wails echoed intermittently.
In the grand hall on the highest floor of the ancient castle, Gecko Moria whipped the floor while shadows emerged from his body and flew toward the crowd.
On the throne, Pirate Ren Arakawa occasionally activated his Sharingan's genjutsu ability to hypnotize Moria, all while eating grapes. Perona, meanwhile, was peeling apples for him by his side.
As soon as an apple was peeled, Perona, rolling her eyes, handed it to Ren Arakawa. Ren Arakawa, without looking back, slapped the apple away, saying, "Who told you to peel it?"
"Me! You!" Perona fumed, but the entire Thriller Bark combined was no match for Ren Arakawa. She could only grab another apple. "Eat!"
"Smack~"
Ren Arakawa slapped it away again. "I don't eat green apples."
"Smack~"
"I don't eat red apples."
"Smack~"
"I don't eat yellow apples."
Perona finally couldn't take it anymore. "I've had enough! What color apple do you actually want?!"
Pirate Ren Arakawa scratched his head. "When did I say I wanted to eat an apple?"
Perona immediately suffered a Negative Hollow backlash and wilted. "I... I thought you wanted to eat them..."
"How presumptuous."
"Pfft!" Perona spat out a mouthful of blood, the recoil so strong it sent her flying backward, coincidentally knocking Absalom away.
Looking at the skeletons in the crowd, which were receiving their shadows back, Ren Arakawa called out, "Hey! That one, that one, yes, you."
Brook pointed at his nose. "Huh? Me?"
"Yes, yes, you. Come here for a moment."
Brook hastily approached Ren Arakawa, removed the top hat from his skull, and performed a gentleman's bow. "Esteemed sir, thank you for your generosity in allowing me to regain my freedom."
"No need for formalities." Ren Arakawa waved his hand. "You're Brook, right?"
Brook was stunned. "You know me?"
"No, just a guess. So, can you navigate?"
Brook shook his head then nodded. "Not particularly skilled, but after all these years, I can understand a few things. I usually won't be too far off with the general direction."
"Is that so?" Ren Arakawa stroked his chin. "Then would you be willing to be my navigator for a while?"
"Huh? Me?" Brook's skull jaw opened and closed. "Ah, okay."
"Ahhhhh!"
Carrot, who had been squatting under the throne, exclaimed, "Captain! A skeleton!"
Ren Arakawa nodded. "Yeah!"
"A s-s-s-skeleton is going to b-b-board the ship?"
"What else? With your navigation skills, how long would it take us to reach Skypiea?"
Ren Arakawa sighed. "Besides a navigator, I still need to find a cook. You've really put me through a lot. You said you could cook, but all you made were radish feasts. I've eaten them for half a month, and my face has turned yellow! I'm an idiot, too. What was I thinking, asking a rabbit to cook for me? What the hell would she know?"
Carrot stuck out her small pink tongue apologetically. "I'm sorry, Captain. I... I only know how to make those."
"It's fine, just be a combatant then."
"Alright, let's go check on how the ship is coming along."
With that, Ren Arakawa took a few steps to the balcony, spread the wings on his back, and flew out, carrying Carrot.
Gecko Moria breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ren Arakawa fly away.
The pirate opposite him, whose shadow Moria was about to take, immediately paled. "Mo... Moria..."
"Scram!"
Everyone immediately scattered.
After a large group of people ran off, Absalom walked over, clutching the large bump on his head. "This can't go on! Who knows when that guy's ship will be finished? If he takes a year to build it, won't we have to serve him for a year?"
Perona put her hands on her hips. "Damn it! I can't stand another day of this!"
Gecko Moria gritted his back teeth. The mere thought of his first encounter with Ren Arakawa, where he was instantly defeated, made him burn with rage!
"I was careless that day! That guy isn't that strong at all! I just wasn't prepared! If I had gotten the first move, then... I definitely would have won!"
"Excellent!" Hogback, one of the Mysterious Three, clapped his hands in approval. "Get rid of that brat! Return the gloom to Thriller Bark!"
Gecko Moria shifted his corpulent body. "Wait a little longer! Wait for a stormy day. When it's overcast and there's no sunlight, I can use my ultimate technique on the island! That will be the day that brat dies!"
"Achoo!"
Beside the colossal ship, Ren Arakawa rubbed his nose. "This dust is too much. It's going to trigger my rhinitis. Let's go."
Carrot hopped and skipped on the ship. "Wait a moment, let me see..." she said, pointing toward the bow. "Can we build a radish-shaped figurehead there?"
"No!"
Carrot blinked. "Please! Radishes look so good!"
"No!"
Carrot put her rabbit paws on her chin. "Then let's draw a radish on the flag! A radish piercing a skull!"
"No!"
"Then... then we can just wear T-shirts with radishes on them, that way—"
"Absolutely not! No way!"
The days flew by in the blink of an eye. Ren Arakawa's magnificent and massive ship was nearing completion, thanks to the round-the-clock, overtime efforts of the pirates who had regained their shadows and the Marines.
On this day, the sky looked as if someone had spilled an ink bottle. Thick, dark clouds rolled in, instantly shrouding the entire firmament.
Immediately after, large raindrops came pattering down, wantonly striking the unfinished ship and creating a dense cacophony.
The heavy rain lasted for a long time. When it finally stopped, the sea seemed to be covered by a thick veil, and a hazy fog quickly spread.
The fog was unimaginably dense, so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. It was as if the entire world had been swallowed by this vast, white mist.
The shipwrights stood by the ship, looking at the thick, milk-like fog before them, and helplessly put down their tools.
In such low visibility, continuing to work was undoubtedly dangerous and futile. They could only stop what they were doing and wait for the weather to improve.