"No. For now, we need to meet someone first."
"Meet someone? Aside from that lighthouse over there, there aren't any other buildings."
"When we entered Reverse Mountain, we did see the lighthouse at Twin Cape, but out of caution, we didn't make contact with anyone there."
Kasta and Chalcis spoke one after the other, the two of them showing remarkable coordination.
"Mm. The person I want to meet lives in that lighthouse."
"Someone you want to meet, Captain? That guy must have some secret no one knows about, right?"
"There isn't anything especially strange about him. He simply served as Pirate King Roger's doctor and accompanied Roger through the final leg of his voyage."
"Oh, so he was Roger's ship doctor. That's not really anyth—"
Someone answered subconsciously, but immediately afterward, the atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.
Then—
"Eh?! The Pirate King's ship doctor?!"
...
Under everyone's slightly excited and nervous gazes, the Thunder God docked at the lighthouse pier. Then, faint rustling shadows moved inside the lighthouse. The door opened, and an old man walked out.
The conversation between Roy and Crocus was actually very ordinary.
When Roy said he wanted to meet Crocus, he truly only meant that he wanted to meet him. There were no other intentions behind it.
For Crocus to have taken care of Laboon here for decades, day after day, year after year—and even when he went to sea with Roger, it had only been to search for news about the Rumbar Pirates—that kind of spirit was worthy of Roy's respect.
After vaguely revealing that Brook of the Rumbar Pirates might still be alive, Roy led his crew onward.
"Captain, which route should we choose?" Laffitte asked, holding several Log Poses that Crocus had gifted them.
"The Log Pose marked Whisky Peak," Roy instructed.
On that route, they could uncover many outstanding ship doctors. At the same time, perhaps he could also uncover the secret behind the special physique that allowed Blackbeard to wield two Devil Fruit powers.
In his previous life, Roy had once read a theory in a certain One Piece fanfic about Blackbeard's body structure and why he could eat multiple Devil Fruits.
Roy felt that theory made a lot of sense, so he planned to investigate it personally.
After Roy and the others decided on their route, there was also movement on the Marines' side.
With cooperation from Cipher Pol, they had already confirmed the route Roy and his group would take next.
"Whisky Peak, is it? Then after that should be islands like Little Garden."
Borsalino tapped his fingers on the table and spoke in a leisurely tone.
"Then let's set it at Little Garden. We just so happened to receive information that the two former captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates are on Little Garden. Let's settle everything in one go there. What do you all think?"
As he spoke, Borsalino looked toward several people standing to one side, dressed in loose white robes and wearing strange masks.
CP0!
The Celestial Dragons' holy shield, and the strongest force within Cipher Pol!
"We have no objections," said the leader in a deep voice. He wore a mask that resembled something from an ancient tribal culture.
"We only received orders from above to capture the ringleader, Roy, alive. Of course, if he cannot be captured alive, he is to be killed on the spot. As for the specific arrangements for this operation, we will leave them mainly to your Marines."
"Then there's no problem. This old man will keep a close eye on the Thunder God Pirates at all times. Of course, if they suddenly change course, I'll have to rely on you experts."
Borsalino leaned back into his chair as he spoke.
"That is part of our duty."
"Then everything is perfectly fine. Here's to a pleasant cooperation."
...
They had gathered here because they had their eyes on the bounties of pirates heading into the Grand Line. Many young and inexperienced pirates had become their prey.
Unfortunately, starting today, Whisky Peak would become history.
"Yohoho, I didn't expect this place's stockpile of supplies to be so abundant. It looks like it will be enough to support our voyage for quite a long time."
While Laffitte counted the supplies in the warehouse, outside, Chalcis shook the blood off his twin mantis blades and transformed back into his human form. Daz also wiped down his bladed arms.
Behind him, someone who had originally been lying on the ground pretending to be dead suddenly raised the gun in his hand and aimed it at Gin.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
However, the shot had not been fired by that man. On the contrary, a bullet hole had appeared in his head.
Yasopp blew the gunsmoke from his barrel with a relaxed expression.
"Wihahahaha! If you want to be a bounty hunter and hunt others here, then you'd better be prepared to be hunted yourself!"
Behind Burgess, corpses lay all over the ground. The blood flowing from them gave off intense heat, like boiling water.
Arlong and Kuroobi tossed aside the human corpses in their hands. Then, when they looked at Gin's results, their unwillingness to accept him faded.
"I didn't expect these humans to actually be this strong. For now, it's better not to provoke them."
After dealing with the bounty hunters of Whisky Peak, Roy and his group headed toward Little Garden.
On the ship, after the adventure at Whisky Peak, the crews of all three ships were holding a banquet.
Just as the banquet atmosphere reached its peak, Roy gave them a timely reminder.
"At our next destination, Little Garden, the Marines and the World Government's intelligence organization, CP0, have joined forces and already set up an ambush there."
With that simple sentence from Roy, the entire atmosphere aboard the ship froze.
"What's meant to come will come."
Tiger's expression was serious. Ever since they had gone out to sea, they had known that this clash would break out sooner or later.
"Wihahahaha! Captain, has your Observation Haki already become this powerful? As expected of the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit. We should still be quite a distance away from Little Garden, right?"
Burgess swallowed a huge chunk of meat and grinned.
"It's just brief future sight," Roy said, bluffing.
Through his ki sensing, he had naturally detected the abnormality ahead at Little Garden.
"Yohoho, what a miraculous ability. Then, Captain, what did you see?"
"According to the future I saw, there will be many Marine soldiers lying in ambush on Little Garden, led by Admiral Candidate Borsalino. Among them are also two Rear Admirals. Aside from the Marines, there are also four CP0 members. All of them are strong enough to be no weaker than ordinary Vice Admirals."
After hearing Roy describe that lineup, most of the crew's faces turned cold and stern.
(End of Chapter)
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