"I just suffer because I'm not a Devil Fruit user!"
Kaito Arisawa's teasing immediately drew everyone's attention toward Lafayette. Even though Lafayette possessed excellent mental composure, he still felt compelled to defend himself when faced with the snickering gazes of the others.
To be fair, what he said was not entirely wrong.
In terms of raw strength, Lafayette, as a swordsman, was by no means weak—at the very least he was comparable to Sandy, who also carried a bounty exceeding one hundred million.
However, compared to Neferpitou and Trafalgar Law, who had received their bounties alongside him, Lafayette lacked something important: a Devil Fruit ability.
Both Neferpitou and Law had demonstrated their powers during the battle in the capital of the San Lorenzo Kingdom.
Neferpitou's Nine-Lives Cat Demon Fruit ability and Law's Op-Op Fruit ability were both extremely conspicuous.
As long as the intelligence agents of the World Government were not incompetent, they would undoubtedly have discovered those abilities.
Furthermore, one of those abilities belonged to a Mythical Zoan, while the other was a Devil Fruit that had once been valued at five billion berries.
Both were extremely valuable.
In other words, as long as Neferpitou and Law appeared anywhere, they would inevitably attract special attention from the World Government.
"Don't worry, Lafayette," Law said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Maybe the Treasure Jade Iceberg we're heading to next will have a powerful Devil Fruit waiting for you."
"That's right!" Bepo suddenly exclaimed from behind Law.
"The captain said that the treasures accumulated by the Eight Treasures Navy over hundreds of years are stored in the Treasure Jade Iceberg. Maybe there are Devil Fruits hidden there too!"
Hearing this, the others quickly reacted as well.
"That's actually quite possible," Robin said thoughtfully.
"The value of Devil Fruits makes them highly collectible. And from what I've investigated, there have never been any known Devil Fruit users among the Eight Treasures Navy."
"That means it's unlikely they never obtained any Devil Fruits."
"So it's very possible they simply stored them inside the Treasure Jade Iceberg."
Kaito laughed when he heard Robin's analysis.
"If that's the case, then our trip to the Treasure Jade Iceberg couldn't be better timed."
The Treasure Jade Iceberg was the location where the Eight Treasures Navy had stored its accumulated wealth throughout generations.
Because of the special environment of the iceberg, the treasures gathered by the Eight Treasures Navy over hundreds of years had been sealed beneath the glacier.
Although it had been a coincidence that the War Pirates avoided the Marine crusade fleet led by Kuzan—thanks to their month of hidden training—the Marines had ultimately been forced to withdraw from West Blue after failing to locate them.
Kaito had already been planning to leave West Blue anyway.
But before leaving, he intended to settle one final grievance.
That grievance was with the Eight Treasures Navy.
This was exactly why, as Law and Bepo had mentioned, Kaito had decided that their next destination would be the Treasure Jade Iceberg after completing their resupply.
As for how Kaito knew the location of the Treasure Jade Iceberg—
That knowledge had come from Sai.
Thanks to memories from his previous life, Kaito already knew about the iceberg and the vast treasures hidden within it.
The enormous wealth sealed there was incredibly tempting.
Naturally, Kaito had no intention of letting such a treasure slip through his fingers.
So when Robin had interrogated Sai earlier to obtain the secrets of Haki and the training method for the Eight-Impact Fist, she had also extracted the exact location of the Treasure Jade Iceberg.
In other words, Kaito's current objective was twofold.
First, to draw out Don Chinjao.
Second, to plunder the massive treasure sealed beneath the iceberg.
After discussing the possibility that Devil Fruits might be hidden there, everyone aboard the ship became increasingly excited.
Even Robin, Neferpitou, Law, and Sandy—who already possessed Devil Fruit powers and could not eat another one—still looked forward to the possibility.
After all, obtaining more Devil Fruits would significantly increase the strength of the pirate crew.
As for Mangu and Lafayette, the anticipation was even stronger.
The reason they had declined the four Devil Fruits earlier was simply because those abilities had not satisfied them.
It was not because they rejected becoming Devil Fruit users.
Now they both hoped that this expedition might uncover a fruit with a truly powerful ability.
If they obtained such a fruit, their strength would rise dramatically.
As for Kaito himself—
Like Mangu and Lafayette, he had no objection to becoming a Devil Fruit user.
But the ability had to meet his standards.
Now that I think about it…
There's actually a Devil Fruit ability that would suit me quite well.
Maybe I should try to obtain it after entering the Grand Line.
The thought suddenly surfaced in Kaito's mind while everyone was discussing the iceberg.
It was a very interesting ability.
And the idea lingered in his thoughts.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Flames burst from the cannons as deafening artillery fire roared across the sea.
One shell after another blasted out from the fleet's warships.
The cannonballs soared nearly a thousand meters through the air before crashing violently toward the glacier coastline.
Explosions erupted across the frozen shore.
"AAAAH!!"
Screams rang out amidst the endless blasts.
On the glacier coast stood numerous soldiers wearing uniform military-green coats.
These men were suddenly thrown into chaos.
Some fled in panic.
Others were torn apart by the bombardment.
Blood and shattered ice scattered across the glacier.
"Damn it! Who are the people on those ships?! Why are they attacking us?!"
"Stop shouting and reload the cannons! We can't let those ships approach!"
"Fire signal flares immediately! Call for reinforcements from the other guard units!"
"Damn it… whoever they are, a fleet of this size can't belong to ordinary people…"
"We must prepare for the worst."
"Quick! Contact the Eastern Pillar through the Den-Den Mushi!"
The soldiers stationed along the glacier coast belonged to the Eight Treasures Navy.
More specifically, they were the guards stationed at the Treasure Jade Iceberg.
Their duty was to protect the vast treasure accumulated by their predecessors.
Now, under the relentless artillery bombardment, the guards were both terrified and furious.
Some desperately fired their own cannons in retaliation.
Others launched signal flares into the sky to summon reinforcements.
Still others grabbed Den-Den Mushi snails to urgently send messages.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The thunder of artillery continued.
As the Eight Treasures Navy began to fight back, cannonballs flew across the sea from the glacier coast.
They crashed toward the advancing fleet of the War Pirates.
"Watch out for incoming shells!"
"Helmsmen, prepare to evade!"
"Keep firing! Maintain suppressive fire and don't give them a chance to counterattack!"
Across the rapidly advancing warships, every member of the War Pirates was busy performing their duties.
The battle for the Treasure Jade Iceberg had begun.
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