WebNovels

Chapter 66 - Chapter 66: Departure to the Sky Island

However, the premise was that they could encounter them; they weren't interested enough to actively seek them out.

This so-called Shichibukai summoning meeting concluded, but how could Sengoku possibly give up on such good cannon fodder as the Shichibukai? After the interrogator repeatedly emphasized the situation to the three present, he specifically sent people to find the other three Shichibukai.

These were the Knight of the Sea Jinbe, the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, and the weakest and most disgraceful of the Shichibukai, Gecko Moriah.

At the same time, it was also mentioned that the former Seven Warlord of the Sea, Crocodile, had been deposed and new members were being sought.

The three who learned of this had no interest, as the Shichibukai didn't usually contact each other much; their relationships couldn't be described as very good, but not bad either, so even if new members joined, they remained indifferent.

As for the Pink Hat Pirates? Jinbe showed no interest. Hancock, however, reacted similarly to the Three Swordsmen, as she also wanted to see this Pirate Crew formed by young women, who were so outstanding in strength and each a beautiful budding maiden.

As for Gecko Moriah, he arrogantly declared that if they came to his territory, he would definitely turn them into zombies using their shadows.

Such arrogance and conceit! If Luna knew, she would definitely sneer. Although she sympathized with Moriah's past experiences, a pitiable person must have something hateful about them. What's with self-degradation? For so many years, he's relied on external objects instead of properly improving his own strength.

One must know that when Moriah challenged Kaido, in terms of strength, Moriah was only slightly weaker than Kaido. He lost because he didn't have strong companions, while Kaido had already gained the two great commanders, King of All Flames, Jack and Queen.

Moriah was a person who deeply loved and cherished his companions. The deaths of so many companions were a heavy blow to him, leading him to stop recruiting companions later, as he didn't want to see his companions die in front of him again.

Later, he came up with the idea of creating zombies using his own abilities, which he is now realizing.

But in Luna's opinion, if Moriah hadn't self-degraded, or had pulled himself together earlier and continued to properly train and improve his strength, even if he couldn't defeat Kaido, he could have become a major threat to Kaido in the New World.

Perhaps if Moriah became strong enough, Whitebeard, to avenge Kozuki Oden, might even seek him out to team up against Kaido, as Kaido was their common enemy.

But for now, Luna had no interest in entering the Devil's Triangle, that wretched place; it had no value for tourism or adventure.

What a dark, desolate, and rotten place.

Moriah should be left to Luffy and his crew.

If Moriah dared to come out on his own, haha, then he'd get a beating... Meanwhile, Blackbeard, with four of his crew members, found Luffy's new bounty poster outside the original tavern. Blackbeard was very shocked; he hadn't expected that Luffy, whom he had somewhat looked down upon but secretly acknowledged, not only might have genuinely had a 30 million bounty before, but now his bounty had risen to 100 million Beli.

Casually dealing with a pirate with a 42 million Beli bounty, he declared that this was just a small fry. He had now set his sights on the big fish, Luffy, and immediately took his four crew members, Van Auger, Burgess, Lafitte, and Doc Q.

They were preparing to find Luffy, but on the way, seeing the severely injured Burgess, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to ask what happened after finding Luffy's bounty poster, so he immediately asked.

Burgess's face was very grim, but he gritted his teeth and, feeling dejected, recounted how he had encountered Shiro and been beaten up.

The other three crew members were shocked. They also recounted their encounters with the Pink Hat Pirates.

Blackbeard also broke out in a cold sweat after listening. Good heavens, they had all encountered the Pink Hat Pirates.

He only hoped that their next actions wouldn't involve encountering the Pink Hat Pirates, as they truly couldn't win.

Unless his upcoming series of plans succeeded, allowing their strength to rapidly improve.

Otherwise, they would have no ability to face the Pink Hat Pirates.

But what Blackbeard Teach didn't know was that soon, the Pink Hat Pirates' strength and overall combat power would become even more terrifying.

It would shock the entire world—such a young team of women... And elsewhere, the future Four Emperors, Buggy the Clown, who possessed Haoshoku luck, had already arrived in the Grand Line to make a name for himself.

He inexplicably ended up digging in some mines and even met Ace.

The two got along quite well.

On the other side, Red-Haired Shanks had dispatched his new crew member, Rockstar, with a bounty of 94 million, to deliver a letter to Whitebeard, hoping Whitebeard would stop Ace from pursuing Blackbeard.

Whitebeard tore the letter to shreds on the spot, stating that Rockstar was not worthy and that Red-Haired Shanks should come in person with good sake to discuss it.

Nonsense, for such a matter, not coming in person but sending an intern, no wonder Whitebeard reacted that way.

Rockstar could only contact Red-Haired Shanks via transponder snail. Red-Haired Shanks, after hearing, also decided to go in person... Time slowly turned from night to day.

What happened outside was irrelevant to the Straw Hat Pirates.

They finally found the South Bird after much effort, but not before being tricked a few times.

Nami and Sanji were startled by spiders as large as their palms. Nami was fine; it's normal for girls to be afraid of some insects, even if it meant running away screaming.

But Sanji's fear, if Zoro saw it, he would probably laugh for a whole year.

Usopp, on the other hand, had a great interest in insects. And rightly so, this was a person who could use strange things as slingshot ammunition.

It must be admitted that the island where the Straw Hat Pirates were currently trying to catch the South Bird indeed had many strange insects.

Zoro had just killed a centipede larger than a human arm.

As he was about to leave, Robin, who was with him, spoke.

That was the way back, which made the originally cool-faced Zoro thoroughly embarrassed.

Later, Robin warned him not to fall into the mud pit, but Zoro fell in less than ten seconds.

Luffy and Chopper were together. Luffy wasn't looking for the South Bird anymore; instead, he was catching large beetles, the so-called Atlas and Heracles beetles. Luffy even said that these were the aspiration of all men in the world.

But when Chopper asked which was stronger compared to the One Piece, this simpleton actually hesitated. If Luna were there, she would definitely widen her speechless eyes and exclaim, 'Good heavens!'

Are you going to be the Pirate King or the bug-catching king?

However, their actions were constantly watched by the South Bird. The South Bird had the ability to command all the animals in the island's forest to protect it.

Bees, mantises as big as humans, ladybugs as big as basketballs—Zoro also had a fight with a group of strange beetles.

The group reunited and encountered the South Bird, who was mocking them, but Robin easily caught it using her Flower-Flower Fruit ability.

Indeed, for the Straw Hat Pirates, the most intelligent and reliable member at the moment was undoubtedly Nico Robin.

The Straw Hat Pirates, with the captured South Bird, returned to the going merry, only to see the Chestnut-Haired Uncle, who had been defeated and robbed of his gold by Bellamy, and the going merry, which had been left in ruins by Bellamy, bearing his special mark.

The Straw Hat Pirates were furious. Luffy decided to deal with Bellamy and retrieve the gold, while the others were responsible for repairing the ship.

If Luna were here, she would definitely be curious and puzzled. The going merry was so destroyed, yet it could still give birth to a ship spirit. Was it truly a miracle, or was it a matter of destiny?

The outcome, of course, goes without saying. Bellamy was merely a small-time opponent that Luffy could KO with a single punch.

Luffy brought the gold back and gave it to the Chestnut-Haired Uncle. Usopp and the others also repaired the going merry and converted it to flying mode.

They were officially preparing to set sail, but at the same time, a new morning arrived... "Beep, beep, beep." Luna was woken by the sound of the tracking monitor on her bedside table.

She groggily picked it up, but when she saw that the Straw Hat Pirates were heading their way, she immediately became fully awake.

Disregarding her morning routine, she quickly put on her clothes and went to the corridor.

She shouted loudly, "The Girls, prepare to depart!"

The sleeping girls were immediately startled awake. They quickly got ready and dressed.

They and Luna had a quick wash. Carmen was responsible for making breakfast, and Shiro inspected the entire ship, especially the things she had built, in preparation for riding the Knock Up Stream.

As for the other girls, they began to sail the pirate ship in the direction Luna had indicated.

However, the perfectly good tracking monitor was fabricated by Luna into a "special ocean energy fluctuation detector," then attributed to Shiro, claiming she invented it specifically to precisely locate the upcoming Knock Up Stream.

The Girls believed her. Luna had no choice; she had to deceive them, as she needed to provide a reason why they could precisely locate the Knock Up Stream.

After Luna finished her deception, she watched their pirate ship advance towards the target, getting closer and closer to the Straw Hat Pirates.

She couldn't help but smile. They were finally going up.

Skypiea, we are coming soon... Soon, while sailing, The Girls brought up the prepared breakfast. They ate heartily, filling their stomachs.

At the same time, Shino Asada, standing on the observation deck, spotted the target and, seeing the scene ahead, spoke to her companions below.

"Captain, sisters, what appears ahead seems to be the Straw Hat Pirates, and a huge ship, seemingly another Pirate Crew, is coming from 30 degrees east-northeast."

---------------------------------

If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.

I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.

patreon.com/SolyuraMT

And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!

More Chapters