“Even after they form an alliance, they probably won’t station themselves directly in each other’s territories. In essence, you’d still only be facing one pirate crew. But you should already understand how terrifying they are.
“And even if you somehow escaped by sheer luck, what awaits you afterward would be endless pursuit by pirates throughout the New World.”
“But I don’t think Shanks would do something like that! This is so annoying! Hercules, help me think of something! What am I supposed to do in a situation like this?!”
After all, Garp was still his grandfather, and Luffy wanted to rescue him.
If it were just some stranger, Luffy might have charged in recklessly. But reality was telling him that any enemy capable of capturing his grandfather had to be unimaginably powerful, leaving him deeply conflicted.
“Why are you just standing there holding a pickaxe without saying anything? Hercules, give me some advice!”
“Heraaacross.”
Hercules spread its hands helplessly, indicating that it had absolutely no solution. If Garp had fallen into Arceus’s hands, then the only advice Hercules could give was to mine more ore. Maybe one day he’d be released.
The reason it had painstakingly prepared so many pickaxes in the first place was precisely to prepare for such a scenario.
“You’re saying we should observe from the outside? Grandpa might not have been captured after all? That… actually makes some sense…”
Most people on the ship didn’t understand the detailed situation regarding the Four Emperors. Their current understanding was simply that the other side was extremely strong, and the only brains aboard the ship currently were Law and Hercules.
Since neither Law nor Hercules could come up with a suggestion, Luffy had no other brains left to rely on.
“Wait, I have a suggestion.”
At that moment, Kanjuro and Kin’emon stepped forward.
“Do you remember our original plan? What happened now actually doesn’t conflict with it at all.”
During this period of sailing together, Law and Luffy’s group had discussed many things. With the full support of a certain beetle, their final plan had become: secretly infiltrate Wano Country, steal the information about the Poneglyphs, and then run away immediately.
Law’s goal was to prove that he himself also had value, then slowly make plans afterward. Neither of those goals included directly becoming enemies with the Beasts Pirates.
As for Kin’emon and the others, Luffy hadn’t agreed to help them rescue their lord just because of a few words. Their decision had been to first go to Wano Country and see the situation for themselves.
Kin’emon and Kanjuro had been trying to fool Luffy’s group this whole time, and now they had finally found an opportunity.
“Your grandfather is an important figure. If he was captured, he’ll definitely be imprisoned in Udon Prison. Our lord is currently imprisoned there as well.
“We just so happen to know a secret passage leading there. As long as you’re willing to cooperate, we can use that passage to rescue your grandfather. We could even contact our former subordinates in Wano Country and directly overthrow Kaido.
“That way, everything you want—Road Poneglyphs, rescuing people, or even revenge—can all be accomplished.”
Kanjuro vividly described his plan. This kind of thing was something only he could do. Kin’emon’s intelligence made it somewhat difficult for him to handle this sort of task.
After Orochi’s death, Kanjuro had already entered a state where he had completely forgotten himself. He truly believed he was a retainer of the Kozuki Clan, immersing himself so deeply in the role that he could no longer pull himself out, devoting everything to the Kozuki cause.
As an undercover agent, his intelligence ranked among the top three beings on the ship. Kin’emon, who came from a thug background, could at most assist Kanjuro with minor tasks. If nothing else, at least his skin was thick enough.
“If your former subordinates really had that kind of ability, then why were you driven out in the first place? And why are you seeking outside assistance now?”
Law didn’t believe their words at all and had instead become suspicious. After all, such empty words simply weren’t convincing.
The part about having a secret passage was barely believable, but the more Law listened, the more wrong it sounded.
“That’s because Kaido used despicable methods to deceive Lord Oden back then! Everyone else also misunderstood Lord Oden, otherwise we wouldn’t have ended up like this!”
“Heraaacross! Heraaacross, Heraaacross!”
“What? Hercules, you’re saying those two are lying? Wano Country isn’t like that at all?”
“Heraaacross.”
“But how can you be so sure?”
“…”
Faced with that question, Hercules remained silent. Up to now, Arceus still hadn’t explicitly revealed to the world that all Pokémon had been created by him, and Hercules also didn’t know about what had happened during the previous Divine Blessing Ritual.
So Hercules didn’t reveal its origins, but still firmly insisted that everything Kanjuro and the others said was a lie.
Compared to the companion he had grown up with since childhood and two people he had only recently met halfway through the journey, Luffy naturally trusted Hercules more. However, he was facing a problem.
The Beasts Pirates possessed a Road Poneglyph, and Luffy wanted to become Pirate King. Regarding that dream, Luffy had never once changed his mind.
That was why his desire to go to Wano Country had never changed. What Luffy was conflicted about was Garp possibly being captured.
“Alright, it’s decided! Let’s still head there first and make our decision after confirming the situation!”
In the end, Luffy made up his mind. Although they hadn’t completely tricked Luffy into agreeing to help rescue Momonosuke, this outcome was still acceptable. Once they arrived in Wano Country, they could naturally think of other plans.
Luffy had already made his decision, and his crewmates didn’t object. Even though they complained verbally that he must be crazy, the Sunny still continued sailing in that direction.
In a place nobody noticed, Hercules snapped two pickaxes in half. When making the pickaxes earlier, it hadn’t paid much attention and had made them according to the number of people on the ship. Only now did it suddenly realize that those two weren’t companions at all.
“Heraaacross. (This is definitely Luffy’s fault. I actually failed to notice something this important.)”
Meanwhile, on Sphinx Island, at the Whitebeard remnants’ base—
“Who would’ve thought… those three actually formed an alliance. For people as prideful as them to sit together, what exactly happened behind the scenes?”
Marco frowned as he looked at the contents of the newspaper. The photo of the three drinking together left him in disbelief. Back when the Four Emperors system had first formed, none of them had accepted the others.
In the photo, Kaido was even seated in the main position. Marco simply couldn’t imagine what had happened behind the scenes.
“Hero Garp has fallen… Ace, are you thinking about doing something?”
At that moment, Ace walked over from behind him and sat down on the grass beside him.
“The old man disappeared in Beasts Pirates territory, and his fate’s unknown. If he was captured, then he should be somewhere in Beasts Pirates territory, right?”
“If nothing unexpected happened, then yes.”
Whoosh—
A flame ignited at Ace’s fingertips as he lay down on the grass and looked toward the sky.
“You could say… he raised me too.”
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!