At Marine Headquarters, Wright's eyelids twitched as he read the intel Smoker had just sent in.
"Of all the damn things to run into… That guy Luffy really is fate's chosen one!"
The Straw Hat Pirates didn't have many safe places left to turn these days, but Wright never expected that Captain John's legendary treasure would resurface so abruptly.
If he remembered correctly, one of the Poneglyphs hidden among that treasure was the very same one Gol D. Roger once saw on Fish-Man Island, the one containing Joy Boy's apology.
It had vanished without a trace afterward, but now it seemed… Captain John stole it?
And the bastard hadn't let out the slightest hint, not even after spending all those years as a zombie general under Moria. No slip-ups. No odd behavior.
In that sense, it made perfect sense. A former Rocks Pirate, infamous across the seas, greedy, cunning… That was Captain John.
As for Crocodile… that guy was clearly heading straight back to Impel Down.
There wasn't much else to say. With his current power level, Ace practically turned Crocodile's sand into glass. In terms of Haki, Crocodile didn't even come close.
In the end, Crocodile and the Straw Hats blasted a hole through the top of the treasure vault, but Crocodile stood alone.
To put it bluntly, he didn't have backup. So Ace beat him down without mercy, and, quite regrettably for him, he was taken out by the sea.
The Straw Hats' top three fighters had no trouble holding off Smoker. Once Crocodile went down, Smoker had no more reason to fight them.
Now, the top priority was to report everything to HQ and secure the treasure before Kaido or Marco caught wind of it.
Then again, maybe the Straw Hats had simply gotten too strong for Smoker to handle on his own…
Or maybe Smoker wasn't the type to resort to dirty tricks.
Grumbling the whole way, Smoker cursed Wright for sending so few reinforcements. But after he left, the Straw Hat Pirates finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
They didn't make off with much treasure, but they did secure a rubbing of the Road Poneglyph, that alone made the whole trip worth it.
As for Nami…
She knew the difference between treasure and Impel Down. Even if she had to be dragged away in tears by Sanji, snot bubbles and all.
Still…
They'd sacrificed yet another "uninvolved passerby"—Crocodile.
It almost seemed like his sole purpose was to guide the Straw Hats, and once his usefulness had run out, he could go sip tea in Impel Down again.
This time, he had some company too, good ol' neighbor Gecko Moria.
With the Lightforged Beacon in play, the Navy quickly mobilized and locked down the island.
Ace and Tashigi were tasked with escorting the two former Warlords of the Sea to Impel Down. Smoker stayed behind to oversee the treasure.
Judging by Crocodile's reaction, that vault probably held more than just a Poneglyph.
…
Aboard the Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats narrowly evaded pursuit thanks to Merry's early warning system and finally managed to breathe easy.
"Good thing Crocodile drew most of the fire…"
Usopp wiped the sweat off his brow, still shaken.
"Luffy, if your brother had joined in, we might not have made it out at all!"
"Hehe… Kind of a bummer I didn't get to fight Ace!"
Luffy grinned, gripping his straw hat.
"But Crocodile, he's a really good guy!"
"Yeah, totally…"
Chopper and Usopp nodded in agreement.
"He guided us, shared intel, opened up the vault so we could escape, and even distracted Vice Admiral Ace all by himself…"
Chopper wiped away a tear, worried:
"You think the Navy caught him?"
"Oh, that's guaranteed."
Zoro's eye twitched. Clearly, these guys had completely misunderstood Crocodile's so-called "good guy" act.
"I'd even bet that Moria, who got taken out earlier, is already in Navy custody."
"If this whole thing was orchestrated by senpai… there's no way he'd leave them a chance to escape."
"Tch…"
Everyone shuddered and took a deep breath, grateful to have made it out alive.
But now that they had escaped…
"Hey Sanji! I'm starving! Hurry up and make meat!"
Luffy rolled around clutching his stomach, looking pitiful.
"We just had another fight, I'm really hungry!"
"Alright, alright… I'm on it. Just hang in there."
"Luffy, stop thinking with your stomach!"
Nami was checking their bearings, her expression tense.
"We're still near Yonko territory! There could be Navy ships, Kaido's forces, or Marco's fleet anywhere around here!"
"Before, they were too busy grabbing turf to monitor this area closely, but that's not the case anymore!"
"Aw, come on. We've always had good luck, it's not like we'll run into them so soon…"
Before Luffy could even finish, Usopp, peering through his goggles, let out a scream:
"Watch out! Ship incoming!!"
"That's… That's one of Kaido's ships!!"
"Waaah!! Scary!!"
Chopper and Nami were already in tears, shrieking in terror.
Zoro smacked Luffy on the head.
"Idiot! We used up all our luck back there!"
"…So hungry…"
"Cut the whining! Get ready to fight!"
Despite their complaints and despair, the Straw Hats quickly braced for battle.
Onboard the massive pirate ship flying the Beasts Pirates' flag, a towering man cloaked in fire opened his eyes, King the Wildfire.
"The Straw Hats… I've finally found you."
"I hope you won't disappoint Kaido-sama and me…"
He rose to his feet. Tall and imposing, a longsword at his waist, jet-black wings at his back, he slowly walked to the ship's bow.
"King-dono!"
A pirate ran over to report:
"News just came in, the Straw Hats were being chased by Navy ships from the direction of Big Mom's territory… err, Totto Land. They've crossed into our waters!"
"The Navy's already pulled out, their ships withdrew once they hit our turf!"
"Excellent…"
King narrowed his eyes and gave a cold snort.
"That means I can fight them without holding back."
"No more crazy Marines charging in like lunatics every time they see me!"
"Uh… Well, King-dono, your bounty does absolutely dwarf most others. It's only natural they get a little… excited by your overwhelming presence…"
The pirate wiped sweat from his brow and chuckled nervously.
"Those Straw Hats don't stand a chance against someone like you!"
"Enough. Prepare the cannons."
With that command, King leapt into the air, and his body began to shift—
Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Zoan Model: Pteranodon!
A massive pteranodon, its shoulders engulfed in blazing fire, soared into the sky, wings spread wide as it charged straight toward the Thousand Sunny!
"He's coming!!"
Luffy, chomping down Sanji's emergency rations, licked his fingers and stared at the approaching figure with shining eyes:
"A big bird!"
"And it's on fire!"
"Is it trying to cook itself for me to eat!?"
"…"
Everyone turned to stare at him in horror.
"That's the enemy, you idiot!!"
—————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanPiece [remove the parentheses ( )]
Note: This fanfic has been completely translated and is available on my Patreon.