Chapter 338: I Come to Fulfill the Promise!
"Magic Triangle Zone?" Kakuzu pulled out a sea chart from the inside of his black coat, "We can get there in a week if we leave from here."
Ulquiorra nodded, grabbing Drevan's corpse, "Let's go."
"Wait." Kakuzu pointed towards a pirate ship docked not far away, "There should be a lot of wealth on their ship."
"You shouldn't have killed them all. We need people to work and sail the ship," Kakuzu frowned, "Neither of us can operate that ship. I don't want to be dragged along on a flight again."
Ulquiorra paused, "…You have a point."
Kakuzu slung Drevan's body over his back, "I'll recruit some pirates from the local town. You guard the bounty criminals' bodies and the treasure on the ship."
…
Upon hearing that the Dawn Pirates were on the seventh route of the Grand Line, the Navy Headquarters sent Vice Admiral Tsuru and Rear Admiral Momousagi to monitor the movement of the Dawn Pirates.
Also, a newly promoted female Navy officer who had just been promoted to lieutenant colonel stubbornly followed them, joining their surveillance team.
"Damn it—why aren't they here yet?" Akame stood on the warship, waiting like a stone statue, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Dawn Pirates.
"Come on, Akame-chan, being too impatient is not a good thing~" The tall Gion walked over from behind.
Her pink top wrapped around her graceful form, and a beauty mark beneath her lips didn't spoil her attractiveness. Her upper eyelids were delicately painted with light purple eyeshadow, and beneath her hot pants were legs that would make any man's heart race.
"We're here to monitor the Dawn Pirates' route, not to fight them," Gion sighed, "I really don't understand why you're so angry with the Dawn Pirates."
Akame: "…"
"Akame probably wants to sever the chaotic connection, right?" Vice Admiral Tsuru shook her head, "When we met Eric in the North Blue, I could tell that your relationship with him is unusual."
Akame: "…"
"Eh?" Gion paused, "Akame-chan, do you know the Dawn Pirates' Eric personally?"
"No," Akame replied in a deep voice, continuing to recount the story she had told countless times, "Akame and Smoker were easily defeated by them on Sabaody Archipelago, and then they let us go. I'm afraid to them, whether Akame and Smoker live or die, it means nothing!"
"You're being too stubborn," Vice Admiral Tsuru comforted her, "It's not uncommon for the Navy to lose to pirates. You're just fresh out of boot camp and can't defeat a pirate who killed a Warlord of the Sea. That's not something to be ashamed of."
"Rather, you and Smoker did well. You followed the Navy's mission and fought against the Dawn Pirates."
Hearing Vice Admiral Tsuru 's words, Akame's tear ducts became more active, and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to hold back the tears of frustration.
Vice Admiral Tsuru misunderstood, thinking that Akame disliked people talking about her romantic feelings. So, she changed the topic, "Although the Navy's surveillance ship is docked behind Konaston Island and is hard for the Dawn Pirates to detect, we still need to be cautious."
"I wonder what the Navy Headquarters will do to deal with the Dawn Pirates," Momousagi twirled the hair in front of her forehead, "I heard they called all three Admirals to the Navy Headquarters to discuss this."
"Heh." Vice Admiral Tsuru had something to say about this, "It's because Eric said he would pull the Five Elders and the Celestial Dragons down, declaring war on the World Government. The high-ranking officials of the World Government are so nervous. But—who is Im, the one Eric mentioned?"
"Probably related to the Celestial Dragons," Gion shrugged, "But I've never heard that name before."
Seeing that the discussion was getting nowhere, Vice Admiral Tsuru began to focus on her sister's lifelong matters, asking, "Is Kaji still pursuing you?"
"…" Gion put her hand on her forehead, "That guy still hasn't given up."
"Young people are really something," Vice Admiral Tsuru laughed, the wrinkles on her face smoothing out as she looked at Momousagi kindly.
"Come on, stop joking, He-chan!" Momousagi laughed.
Suddenly, Momousagi raised her head and looked up. Vice Admiral Tsuru immediately realized something and followed Peach Rabbit's movements.
A steel warship was flying toward the sky.
"It seems we won't be able to track the Dawn Pirates' next position," Vice Admiral Tsuru sighed, "Letting the Golden Lion's ability fall into their hands really is troublesome."
Akame gritted her teeth, 'Darren Eric!'
"We'll stay here for a few days and see if they show up again." Vice Admiral Tsuru made a call and reported the latest situation of the Dawn Pirates to the Navy Headquarters.
At an altitude of 8,000 meters.
"Actually, the sky island isn't that great…" Perona panted heavily, "The air is thinner, breathing is… difficult."
Wendy advised, "Perona, speak less and don't move around, or you'll just make it worse." Her hands kept moving, trying to alleviate their altitude sickness.
On the other side, Porche, lying down, raised her head and asked, "Ugh~ Why are you and Kuina fine, and even Yotsuba is fine?"
"Hmph, Wendy is a Dragon Slayer Mage from the Sky, how could she suffer from lack of oxygen?" Carla u picked up her short legs, looking disdainfully at Perona and Porche, "You guys are really pathetic."
"Ugh~" Porche felt the scornful look from her pet.
"Kuina has been training all the time, her physical abilities are much better than yours." Artoria spoke coldly, "Unbelievable, you both lack willpower and physical strength. Scáthach , leave their training to me."
"Up to you." Scáthach shook her head, "Be careful they cheat."
Chiron sighed, "Both Scáthach and I have taught many heroes, but they are all people who love learning. We really have no way of educating these two."
"Then I'll let their bodies remember the pain."
"…!" Perona and Porche's eyes widened in fear.
Upon arriving at God Island, the appearance of the steel warship caused a stir among the residents. Gan Ford led a group of priests to greet them: "Welcome! The Savior of Apayado—The Dawn Pirates!"
"Savior? You're too kind!" Eric scratched his head awkwardly, then said, "We're here to fulfill the promise we made before!"
"You stopped the 400-year-long war between Apayado and Skypiea. Being called saviors is not too much!"
Akame whispered, "Actually, the real savior, Kurei, didn't come…"
The people of Skypiea and the people of Skypiea warmly welcomed the Dawn Pirates. Those who had visited before, like Akame, Chiron, and Da Vinci, greeted their familiar faces.
The battle-hardened Weipa walked over to inspect the guests, finally asking Eric, "Where's Kurei? Why haven't I seen him?"
Eric sighed, "Uncle Kurei wants to gather his companions and sail his ship to Skypiea."
Weipa looked regretful, "Is that so? That sounds like something he would do."
"Don't worry, he'll come up one day."
"I know." Weipa smiled confidently, "That guy is a real man. He'll always do what he says."
Afterward, he led the Dawn Pirates to the Golden City, Shandora.
The golden city dazzled some people's eyes, and the huge golden bell in the center of the square shocked those who saw it for the first time. Only Robin noticed the historical text engraved beneath the golden bell.
"I see, the golden bell is indeed beautiful." Esdeath stroked her chin.
"Mm." Scáthach nodded expressionlessly.
The two, who had martial arts as their goal, didn't care much for money, and no amount of gold could blind their eyes.
"Dang—Dang—"
The golden bell, symbolizing friendship, rang again, and the crisp, melodious sound echoed throughout Apayado, drifting far away until the sound could no longer break through the air.
Kurumi whispered, "Ah, if this bell could be the wedding bell, it would surely be…"
Eric reached out his right hand and took Kurumi's pale left hand, saying solemnly, "Don't worry, I'll make sure you hear a bell as beautiful as this."
"Listening to a girl's monologue isn't a good habit," Kurumi's pink lips curled, standing on tiptoe, leaning into Eric's ear and giving a gentle bite, leaving a slippery mark with her tongue, "I'm looking forward to it~"
Akame took out her notebook and secretly made a record.
Weipa then led everyone into a building, pointing to the pile of gold and saying, "This gold, we've been waiting for you to take."
"Now you've made me feel embarrassed to take it…"
"Gold!" Perona cheered and her spirit body floated out, diving into the gold.
"Sorry, my crew isn't very polite."
"No problem, you can take all of it." Weipa shrugged, "We're not guarding the gold."
Scáthach commented, "Unmoved by gold, you'll surely become a strong person in the future."
"Mm?" Weipa paused.
…
As night fell, in celebration of the Dawn Pirates' arrival, several bonfires were lit on the flat ground of the Golden City, with flames shooting high into the sky as if illuminating the entire night.
That evening, the residents of Angel Island and the people of Skypiea gathered together, reveling in the joyous atmosphere of the banquet with the members of the Dawn Pirates.
A large amount of roasted meat was placed over the fire, with fat sizzling and dripping down, making a crackling sound.
Skypiea's special fruits and seafood were prepared and chilled by Esdeath, placed in prominent spots for guests to help themselves.
For ordinary people (pirates), the pleasures of life were no more than feasts with endless meat and wine.
Eric, the chief of Skypiea, and Gan Ford raised their glasses with smiles on their faces.
"Thanks to you, we can live in peace and share this land together."
"No, it's thanks to both sides. If one side didn't agree to stop fighting, this long-lasting war would have gone on forever."
"Haha, for today and for the peace ahead—cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The glasses clinked, and the rich aroma of wine lingered in their mouths as the various flavors of dishes filled the air, tempting everyone's taste buds.
However, only Artoria had a unique taste, specifically requesting a lot of high-calorie junk food.
Perona, who was afraid of men, and Yotsuba, who was afraid of most people, stayed in a group of all women.
"Yotsuba-chan, eating more fruit is good for your skin, ah~" Perona smiled as she picked up some fruit with her chopsticks, as though preparing to feed Yotsuba.
"That, um, I can do it myself…" Forced by Perona's oppressive demeanor, Yotsuba ate it.
Yotsuba puffed out her cheeks, eating like a hamster.
"How cute!" Perona melted seeing how Yotsuba ate, her idle left hand shrinking back and forth.
The doll shook its tiny fists, threatening, "Perona-, if you keep bullying Yotsuba, she won't be nice to you!"
"How could I?!" Perona said innocently, "I can't spoil Yotsuba-chan enough, how could I bully her?"
The doll pointed out, "Hmph, what's your left hand trying to do? Yotsuba saw everything!"
"I just want to hug Yotsuba-chan~" With that, Perona tossed her chopsticks and pounced on Yotsuba.
"Ah~" Yotsuba agilely jumped away, dodging Perona's surprise attack.
Meanwhile, Akame carefully used a toothpick to pick out a piece of sweet crab meat from a severed crab claw and handed it to Akame's mouth.
"Ah." Akame swallowed it in one bite and then extended her hands to offer some of the crab meat she had picked out to Akame.
The bond between biological sisters was so deep.
"Ugh..." Akame tapped her head, "Sis, you're feeding the wrong person!"
"No?" Akame tilted her head, "You feed me, I feed you, haven't we always done this since we were young?"
"But now you have a boyfriend!" Akame had a "can't believe it" expression, "Look, your boyfriend is already drunk with those stinky men!"
Due to the large number of female members of the Dawn Pirates, the male crew members became the focus of the local residents' toasts, and Captain Eric drank the most.
As Eric drank more, he became slightly tipsy, raising his glass and clinking with newcomers, then gulping it down, "Glug, glug, glug."
"Alright!" Many people cheered, clearly unaware of Eric's true drinking capacity.
"Uh… actually, if we get him drunk, it'll make it easier for you to act, sis…?" Akame suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.
"Sorry," Esdeath and Kurumi smiled as they blocked the enthusiastic Skypiea people, "Eric's already drunk."
The two exchanged a glance, and invisible lightning clashed in the air. The men around them took a step back.
"Well, I'm a little hungry, let's go eat the roast meat…"
"Me too, suddenly feeling hungry…"
With a glance, the others were forced to retreat. Kurumi mumbled softly, "If you can't drink, then don't drink, honestly…"
"Such a useless man," Esdeath gazed tenderly at Eric's drunken face, "But he looks great when drunk…"
The two exchanged another look.
"Today, Eric belongs to me."
Kurumi gave her a disgusted look, "Who'd want him!"
Not far away, Akame wore a "got beaten to the punch" expression.
The lively night eventually passed, and the bonfires from yesterday left only a pile of embers.
(END CHAPTER)
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