Chapter 79: The Sea, It's Magical, Isn't It?
"Seriously, what are you doing!"
Renettia slung the mechanical hammer over her shoulder, glanced unhappily at Pearl, and was about to continue scolding when the sound of a cannonball bombardment reached her ears. The fierce wind blew her pink hair wildly.
A cannonball shot straight towards them. On the side deck, a Marine Lieutenant was aiming a cannon barrel at her, smoke still emitting from the muzzle.
"Lady Renettia!"
Gin cried out in alarm. He wanted to act, but there was no time. The cannonball was already about to hit Renettia's face.
Such a small body, if hit by a cannon...
A small hand pressed onto the rapidly fired cannonball. Electric sparks flashed from her palm, wrapping around the projectile.
"Dynamic Stop."
The cannonball stopped dead in Renettia's small hand, neither exploding nor falling.
The power of dynamics, besides accelerating impacts, could also be used in reverse to brake forces applied from other directions.
A cannonball being fired and flying also required force. Counteracting this force in reverse could offset the cannonball's momentum. Even an activated cannonball wouldn't explode unless it suffered a violent impact.
It wouldn't even fall down.
Renettia's physical strength, of course, couldn't possibly hold a cannonball single-handedly; the thing was very heavy. But applying reverse dynamic force to counter its downward momentum, she could manage that, and even achieve brief levitation.
If she didn't have this control ability, she couldn't possibly handle the massive Death Omen Star.
"Don't try sneak attacks!"
Renettia released the stopped cannonball, gripped the mechanical hammer with both hands, and swung it fiercely forward. "Dynamic Home Run!"
Boom!!
The cannonball was struck by this hammer. The accelerated dynamic force sent the cannonball flying back even faster than before, bombarding the Marine Lieutenant wearing the cloak, exploding in a cloud of smoke.
"Tekkai!"
From within the smoke, a loud shout was heard. As the smoke dissipated, the Marine Lieutenant stood firm. The cannonball's explosion had only damaged his clothes and the cannon weapon. Although blood flowed from his body, he could still stand.
"I am Marine HQ Captain, known as 'Iron Cannon' Wonka! You naturally evil brat, I will definitely—"
"Dynamic Whack-a-Mole!"
Renettia twisted the hammer handle, and electric sparks conducted along the handle, rapidly extending it. She raised the long hammer high and smashed it down fiercely onto the Marine Lieutenant's head. The hammerhead, urged by dynamic force, was both fierce and fast. With one strike, she smashed him into the floor, even penetrating the entire ship and crashing heavily into the seabed.
"What Tekkai? This lady has smashed that countless times!"
Renettia bared her small tiger teeth, then looked fiercely at Pearl, who had climbed up. "Hey, Pearl?!"
"Yes, yes!" Pearl snapped to attention, responding subconsciously.
Tekkai's defensive power was certainly commendable; after all, it could block lead bullets. This Marine Lieutenant could even withstand the power of cannonballs, so he must have trained well.
But personal defensive power was personal defensive power, and the strength of a ship was the strength of a ship.
Whether she could knock someone down was uncertain, but sending someone flying out, Renettia could do easily.
At most, it was like hitting an iron gopher; just blast it down.
When Pearl practiced Tekkai, she also sent Pearl flying like this. Then the subordinates would jump into the sea to bring him back. Against someone using Tekkai, this move was the most effective.
"Ara, Renetti, be careful. If the ship is damaged, it will take on water."
Marika, not far away, gave him a gentle smile, casually swinging the iron rod in her hand towards the head of an attacking Marine. With a muffled sound, a dent appeared on the Marine's skull, and he collapsed.
"Ah!"
Renettia cried out, sweeping away the Marines in front with her hammer. She jogged over to the hole, looked down, and turned back with an aggrieved expression. "It's taking on water…"
"Then we need to end the battle quickly," Marika said with a chuckle, swinging the rod again, breaking the swords of nearby Marines and hitting them squarely in the chest, causing them to cave inwards.
However, the iron rod in her hand also bent and broke under the continuous blows.
"Isn't there anything harder? Compared to fighting with hands, I still prefer using my hands for cooking." Marika threw away the iron rod, scanned the surroundings, and walked towards a sword lying on the ground ahead.
Bang!
A sharp sound echoed from nearby. Marika's ears twitched. Her bent body instantly straightened, and a hole appeared in the deck.
Marika turned her head and saw, squatting on the warship's railing, a thin Marine Lieutenant holding a long gun different from the standard flintlock rifle, aiming at her.
"Ara, an officer from the warship?" Marika smiled.
"Marika! Cadre of the Natural Disaster Pirates!"
The thin Marine Lieutenant said gravely, "I can't let you continue fighting."
Bang!
He pulled the trigger again. A fast afterimage burst from the muzzle, heading straight for Marika.
Marika's pupils contracted. She subconsciously grabbed a sword from the ground and instantly blocked in front of her.
Clang!
A shower of sparks erupted, lifting Marika's waterfall-like black hair. A small hole was chipped into the side tips of her hair, the broken strands falling onto the deck. The afterimage embedded itself in the warship railing behind her, emitting another crisp sound.
The sword blade had been chipped open, and a crack extended from the opening, breaking the blade.
Marika turned her head to look. Nailed to the railing was a bullet, still emitting smoke.
Unlike the lead bullets mostly used, this was a shuttle-shaped bullet, extremely sharp at the tip.
"Not an ordinary gun."
That gun was also different. Compared to ordinary flintlock rifles, this gun was longer, the steel used for the barrel was clearly better, and the stock was also different from normal guns.
"I am Marine HQ Captain, called 'Flying Gun' Wright! Remember my name; the one who arrests you will be me!"
Whoosh!
Just as Wright finished speaking, Marika swung her arm, throwing the broken blade. The huge force sent the broken blade flying with a whistling sound, smashing towards the Marine squatting on the railing.
Just then, Wright quickly jumped forward, displaying extremely high jumping power and speed, landing instantly on the middle platform of the warship's second mast. He aimed at Marika and fired another shot.
Bang!
Marika had already started moving the instant he jumped. Even so, this shot aimed at her almost grazed past her shoulder, tearing her clothes and leaving a bloody streak on her snow-white shoulder.
"Oh… no need to reload?" Sag, at the bow, showed a look of surprise.
On this sea, not mentioning the strong individuals with some combat ability, the vast majority of ordinary people also used a mix of swords and guns, rather than firearms being dominant. It wasn't that firearms lacked attack power, but close combat was more cost-effective.
Because it was too slow.
A normal flintlock gun required reloading after every shot. The attack power wasn't small, but with that reloading speed, if the first shot didn't kill someone, the time it took to reload and fire a second shot would have been enough for someone to be cut down seven or eight times.
Otherwise, how could there be people who, after firing one shot, held the barrel and used the stock as a weapon to smash people?
But there was also black technology.
Like the flintlock gun Renettia made for Sag, which could hold six bullets. And now this rifle, whose power, range, and speed far exceeded ordinary firearms.
The sea, it's magical, isn't it?
"Moves very fast too," Marika looked up, her smile unchanged.
"Because I'm thin and light, my speed and jumping power are top-notch! I know your strength is great, but if you can't catch me, it's useless!"
Wright showed a confident smile. "On the contrary, I can snipe you freely!"
"Really nice..."
Marika chuckled, picked up a weapon, and threw it fiercely upwards.
Strength also represented speed. As long as the strength was great enough, the thrown object would be very fast, and speed also represented power.
Boom!
The weapon she threw shattered the platform in the middle of the mast, reached higher up the mast, and broke open a large crater before stopping.
But Wright had already jumped away.
"I told you it's useless!"
Wright jumped towards the top of the warship's building, continuing to aim at Marika while in the air. But just as he made a move, a black shadow rapidly floated up, wrapping around his hands, feet, and neck.
That was…
"Hair?!" Wright cried out in terror.
Marika's black hair flew up like snakes. Several strands extended forward like black ropes, wrapping around Wright's body and binding him in mid-air.
Life Return.
Hair Binding Technique!
"If you're bound, you can't move, right?"
Marika extended her palm with a smile. "If you had obediently let me knock you down from the beginning, maybe it wouldn't have been so painful. Be careful now."
Shu!
The extended hair suddenly retracted fiercely, bringing Wright's body rapidly towards her.
Bang!!
A palm strike, powerful and heavy, struck his throat, causing his neck bones to fold forward. The man's face turned blue, his tongue extended, and he slumped down powerlessly.
The hair released his body, letting him fall to the ground. The few strands of long hair retracted to their normal position, returning to their original state.
Marika glanced at the breathless person on the ground and shook her head. "Pity, couldn't withstand it."
Sag smiled faintly. He knew this woman was still hiding things.
Knowing Life Return and using Life Return to control hair were completely different concepts.
The former might just be rapid energy absorption, perhaps without even realizing this power. The latter meant consciously controlling every part of the body.
With the three troublesome HQ Captains dealt with, Lily and the others rejoined the battlefield. Although the number of Marines on the three warships was considerable, in front of strong individuals, numbers weren't much of an obstacle.
By the time Sag's cigar burned down to the end, the battle on the warships was over.
"Quick!"
Lily slashed with her sword, felling the last squad of Marines still fighting, and quickly shouted, "Save those who can be saved, loot what can be looted! This warship is sinking!"
Renettia had blasted a hole in the ship with her hammer earlier. The bottom of the ship had long since started taking on water. Although the hole wasn't large, the battle hadn't been short either. By now, the entire ship had sunk more than halfway. If they didn't loot now, the ship would definitely sink.
On this sinking ship, they certainly wouldn't look for supplies. Mobilizing the remaining subordinates to find that 'pointer' was important. As for the other two ships, there was no rush; they could be looted slowly.
The pirates divided into groups. Dozens rushed into the deck buildings and cabins inside, while the rest began rescuing the surviving subordinates.
One by one, those injured and fallen in battle were helped up. Gin found a gangway on the warship and placed it on the bow of the Death Omen Star, allowing the injured personnel to return to their ship.
Lily, however, was quickly counting the personnel. The more she counted, the worse her face looked. Finally, she boarded the ship, walked to the bow of the Death Omen Star, and stood behind Sag.
"Sag…"
"Just say it."
Sag picked up the gemstone wine glass and poured himself a drink.
Lily pursed her lips. "At least two hundred…"
No need to finish the sentence; Sag knew what she meant.
The people of this world, the most ordinary ones without training, were still normal. But those who had trained slightly and had some ability possessed terrifyingly high physical constitution. The fatal injuries he knew from his past life were simply not fatal to them.
Things like lead bullet shots, knife cuts, sword wounds – they wouldn't die easily. Those slightly stronger, even with fractured skulls or pierced chests, would at most be seriously injured and could recover with enough time.
Like the subordinates he had recruited, they were the type who wouldn't die easily.
But not dying easily didn't mean they wouldn't die.
Sufficiently heavy injuries would still kill people.
In this battle, he had lost over two hundred subordinates, forever remaining on this warship.
"I told them when I recruited them, following me means going to die."
Sag slowly stood up, looking at the densely packed people lying on the deck below. The bodies of his subordinates were in the minority; most were Marines.
From his perspective, the number of Marine deaths exceeded half. The rest were seriously injured and unable to get up. If not treated promptly, more would likely die.
Five hundred plus against over a thousand. With the enemy completely defeated, having only this level of attrition was already very good.
The opposing warship officers were only Captains, and the personnel they brought were basic Grand Line Marines. Otherwise, this level of attrition definitely wouldn't have been enough.
The higher the rank, the more numerous and elite the personnel on a warship. If a Vice Admiral led the team, it would definitely be a large warship, with at least fifty Captains. That would be difficult to deal with.
Sag could certainly use Haoshoku Haki to stun the Marines here. Judging by their strength, it would be good if even one could remain standing.
But he wasn't here to play house games at sea with his subordinates. He could do this now, but could he still do it in the New World?
Without resolve, dying sooner or later was just a matter of time.
He turned his head to look at the subordinates who had boarded the ship. "Regrets?"
"How could that be!"
A subordinate clutching his chest slumped on the deck. Hearing this, he struggled to raise his head, letting more blood spill from the corner of his mouth, but still grinned.
"From the moment I rushed towards freedom, I was already a man of the sea. A man of the sea's final resting place is also the sea, Captain!"
The other pirates either showed smiles or excitement. There were also those near death showing fear, but as for regret… not a single person had this emotion.
"Aaaaaah!"
Mute Miote had just placed two subordinates down and was shouting, holding his fists. His expression seemed unconvinced, as if he still wanted to fight the Marines again.
"Very good."
Sag tilted the gemstone wine glass, spilling the liquid inside into the sea. "This is just the entrance to the Grand Line, and the place we're going is the New World! Men, strive to improve! Until you can keep up with my steps, keep up with my ambition!"
"Oooooh!!"
Whether seriously injured or able to stand, everyone shouted in unison at this moment.
"Lily, I'll leave it to you."
Sag said faintly, turning and walking towards the captain's quarters.
"I understand."
Lily nodded, looking at Sag's back, her fists clenched tightly.
I must become stronger! Otherwise, let alone Sag's ambition, even her own dream would likely be difficult to achieve!
Only after Sag's back disappeared into the second-floor captain's quarters did Lily react, going below to loot the remaining two warships.
And the warship that was taking on water gradually became submerged by the sea.
Before long, the remaining pirates finished looting. Those needing treatment received it, those needing rest rested. All returned to the ship. And those pirates, whether lucky or unlucky, who had been knocked out by Sag's Haoshoku Haki during the encounter with the Sea King, also woke up one after another.
After learning about the battle that had just occurred, some were filled with unwillingness, others with lingering fear. But regardless, to vent their anger, they fired the cannons and sank all the warships.
"Sag, the tally is finished."
Lily pushed open the captain's room door and walked in with Marika and Renettia. They were holding several hourglass-like devices, each containing a glass-like sphere inside which hung a needle. (Log Poses)
"Our entire ship now has four hundred and twenty-one people remaining. Those who didn't participate in the battle are fine, but among those who did participate, over a hundred are seriously injured, and the rest have minor injuries. They've been simply bandaged with medicine, but the seriously injured can only maintain basic vital signs. We need a doctor."
"Find an island with a town to rest, find doctors to treat them. Did you get the sea charts?" Sag asked.
Log Poses were the most important; sailing the Grand Line without them was impossible. But sea charts were also very important; at least they needed to know where they were going.
A chart of the entire region was definitely out of the question. Even in the East Blue, after robbing so many warships, the sea charts they obtained were only for the local sea area. As for that basic world map, it didn't matter whether they had it or not.
The world was too big; no one knew how many islands there were. The world map was just a rough outline. Relying on that thing to find a geographical location, you could search until you died and still not find it.
Even a detailed sea chart couldn't possibly clarify how many islands were in its respective sea area, but it could provide the basics.
"Got them."
As a navigator, Lily naturally knew the utility of sea charts and had taken them from the warship.
"Also, found bounty posters."
She placed several Log Poses on the table and also took out several bounty posters. "It should be about the Loguetown incident. We've all been given bounties."
There were eight bounty posters in total, including Gin and Pearl. Gin's bounty had risen to fifteen million, and Pearl's bounty had also risen to ten million.
There was also a photo of Mute Miote wielding his large tachi, his expression ferocious.
His name had also been discovered. Bounty: six million, not high.
As for the rest…
One was a photo likely taken in Loguetown, showing Renettia participating in the robbery. In the photo, she was carrying her mechanical hammer, her laughing face full of pride.
Renettia, DEAD OR ALIVE, bounty twenty-three million.
"Hehe, this lady is also a wanted criminal!" Renettia put her hands on her hips, looking pleased.
"What did you do?" Sag asked curiously.
He had been fighting Zephyr at the time and wasn't clear what these people had actually done. But since there was a bounty, it meant they had done something attention-grabbing in Loguetown. Otherwise, everyone was robbing; why were only these few people listed?
"Hmm…"
Renettia thought for a moment. "Seems like I disliked how slowly the doors opened, so I blasted them open one by one!"
He remembered now. When this girl robbed using the Black Sail pirate name, she was the type to easily destroy half a town, emphasizing violence.
It seemed Loguetown was left in quite a mess.
Sag looked at another poster, also taken in Loguetown. It was a photo of Marika with a smiling face, only showing her from the chest up, though a pile of ruins could be seen behind her.
Marika, DEAD OR ALIVE, bounty thirty million.
"What did you do?" Sag asked.
She was a cook, not someone who easily fought with others. Suddenly jumping so high, even higher than Renettia, she must have done something extraordinary.
"The rare ingredients in the food market were too few, but I found a large manor with plenty of good things inside. Although I wanted to buy them with money, I didn't have any money at the time, and the other party wouldn't sell…"
"So?"
"So since I'm a pirate, robbing is also acceptable. However, the opponent's defensive capabilities were quite prominent, and many reinforcements came, heard they were subordinates of some nobles supporting them. To be quicker, I had to lift the house up. That's how it was resolved."
Marika hugged her arms, one hand supporting her cheek, and smiled gently. "Turns out besides that manor, other places also had many good ingredients, so I robbed them all together. It took some effort."
With this hug, her arms made the grandeur of her chest appear even more magnificent, a scale completely comparable to Lily's.
Sag nodded, understanding!
One destroyed the commercial street, the other smashed the noble and wealthy district. No wonder the bounties were so high.
"Sag, are we lacking some public funds?" Lily asked at this time.
Robbery also needed purpose; they couldn't just rob everything. Some places still required spending, like seeing a doctor or finding a place to hold a party. Things that could be handled with a little money, why brew them into danger?
They were pirates, not destruction maniacs.
Sag also felt it was reasonable. "Having no money isn't ideal. How about this? Reducing the cadres' shares is okay, right?"
Several people uniformly shook their heads.
Of course, they had no objections.
None of these three had an obsession with money. Lily was fine just following Sag. Marika only wanted to cook. Renettia only wanted to research ship technology.
If she really started building, her own bit of money definitely wouldn't be enough. In the end, Sag would have to pay. But the results belonged to Sag anyway; it all came back to him.
As for the others, no need to ask.
Gin certainly had no objections.
Pearl… not considered.
Sag's loot division was already different from other pirate crews; reducing it further wouldn't matter.
"Uniformly reduce the share by 2%. In the future, you major cadres will take 3%, minor cadres will take 1%. My share and the ordinary subordinates' share remain unchanged. That's it."
Sag nodded, continued looking down, next was Lily.
Bientetta Lily, DEAD OR ALIVE, bounty thirty-six million.
The photo hadn't changed, and the bounty increase wasn't high. She probably hadn't personally robbed much, being busy commanding.
Immediately after, was himself…
Lily took out a newspaper obtained from the warship. "I've read the news. It says we destroyed four kingdoms and robbed Loguetown. Besides that, there's nothing. Even if the government considered the Zephyr factor, wouldn't it still be too high?"
Beneath the wildly laughing headshot was an extremely large number.
Norton Sag, DEAD OR ALIVE, bounty two hundred seventy million!
"Crossed two hundred million?"
Even Sag himself was startled.
"Just Loguetown?" Sag raised an eyebrow.
The matter of Bridge-Top Kingdom, escaping from Garp, plus the factor of fighting Zephyr – the bounty wouldn't jump this much all at once. It was a bit too much of a leap.
"Hmm…"
Sag was just pondering when he suddenly froze again. Below his bounty poster, there was another bounty poster, one not belonging to their pirate crew.
On it was a little girl with black hair and blue eyes, seemingly on a ship, looking sideways, with vigilance and alertness.
"Found on the warship, a little girl," Lily said. "Nico Robin, bounty seventy-nine million. She looks even younger than Renetti."
"Yeah, what did she do? For the bounty poster to be so high?" Renettia also asked curiously. "Did she rob a hundred towns?"
And…
Lily glanced at Sag, then swept her eyes over the little girl on the bounty poster. She always had a feeling, weren't they somewhat similar?
Although that one had black hair and blue eyes, and Sag had white hair and black eyes, even if there was some age difference, the facial contours, at first glance, were still somewhat similar.
But similarity was also normal; the sea was so vast, after all.
"Ah…"
Sag lifted the wine glass and took a sip, looking deeply at the bounty poster. "This isn't current. This is a bounty poster from twenty years ago. But, why bring it out now?"
Lily was sixteen, Renettia ten, Marika only twenty-four this year. Although very approachable, she wasn't old.
Twenty years ago, the oldest was only four years old.
Of course, they wouldn't know about things from the past, especially from the West Blue…
The things he did weren't enough to raise the bounty this much, but now it crossed such a large margin…
Was the intelligence found?
"Forget it, not important…"
He swept all the bounty posters aside. "The subordinates who died, when we recruited them back then, their names and hometowns seemed to be remembered, right? Tally them up, store their remaining property, and send it to their hometowns when there's a chance."
He aspired to be a landlord, but he wasn't stingy, let alone disdainful enough to embezzle the money of his deceased subordinates.
They weren't born from stone cracks. Who didn't have family, relatives, and friends?
Orphan?
Orphans also have hometowns!
Probably…
Sag thought of a certain destroyed island in the West Blue, tutted, picked up a Log Pose, and looked at it.
"Hmm?"
Just one look, and he felt something wasn't quite right. He picked up another one to look, his expression becoming strange.
There were twelve Log Poses in total. Among six of them, there were three different pairs. On the hourglass of each pair, the same word was carved.
And the other six were exactly the same!
"ARABASTA"
Sag read the word on top, raising an eyebrow. "Arabasta?"
"Sag, aren't you illiterate?" Renettia discovered the blind spot.
"I'm illiterate, doesn't mean I don't know how to pronounce things? It's impossible that I don't even know how to read my own name, right?" Sag said, annoyed.
He was indeed illiterate, but what he couldn't understand was the text combined together, not this kind of simple pronunciation!
He threw the pointer onto the table. "This isn't a Log Pose, this is an Eternal Pose. If I'm not mistaken, three pairs point to the Marine base islands those warships belong to, and these six are heading to Arabasta."
Marines wouldn't mobilize without reason; they mobilized with missions. Of course, they wouldn't carry Log Poses; Eternal Poses were enough.
One heading to the destination, one returning to base.
"What do we do?" Lily asked.
"Of course, head to Arabasta. Are we going to a Marine base? One ship has three hundred people; how many people would a base have? Go to Arabasta, just right to find a doctor, and see where we can find a Log Pose."
The direction was determined. There was a place to go, so there was no problem.
He still had some impression of the events that happened in Arabasta, but it had nothing to do with him. He was a pirate, not some messenger of justice.
Maybe when he got there, he could even rob the king.
He vaguely remembered that place seemed very poor, but no matter how poor… the king wouldn't be too poor. At least in that royal palace, there were definitely treasures worth robbing!
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