"Are there signs of the big pirate again?" Atlas pinched his eyebrows in frustration.
"Those guys from the Red Hair Pirates..."
If nothing else, it's probably another escapee from Impel Down. How could someone labeled a great pirate in the New World keep appearing one after another? This isn't like finding cabbages in a market.
It had only been a few months since he last killed Patrick Redfield, and he still hadn't had a moment to rest. Since the Impel Down incident was deliberately concealed by the World Government, the news of his defeat of Redfield only spread to a small circle.
On the other hand, Bullet caused quite a stir, making the seas tremble. After all, Buster Call's dispatch cannot be concealed.
"Which one escaped from Impel Down this time?" Atlas asked.
"[Evil Chain] Victor!" Smoker took out a small notebook he inherited from Maynard and turned to a page with creased text. "The Paramecia Chain-Chain Fruit user was a gangster in West Blue. He got this fruit during a war. Instead of staying an underground gangster, he raised the pirate flag and went to sea to become a pirate..."
"Wait a minute, is the Chain-Chain Fruit you're talking about like a zipper?" Atlas interrupted Smoker's statement.
Zipper? What is this stuff? Can this fruit also create a great pirate? Being placed in the information shows that this guy's fruit ability is still very noteworthy.
"Yes, it's just as you think. Some of us Marines have obtained this fruit before, but it is recognized as a garbage fruit."
"I didn't expect this guy to develop it so powerfully," Smoker said with a bitter smile.
Are Devil Fruits really strong or weak? Why does it seem that even 'garbage' fruits become formidable in the right hands?
"Okay, how strong is his pirate group?" Atlas asked.
"A large fleet, about twenty ships, each well equipped."
"Twenty ships?!" Atlas exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? Didn't this guy just escape Impel Down a few years ago? How could he pull together such a large fleet in such a short period of time?"
"I forgot to mention that although he did not remain a gangster, he established a chamber of commerce. His conspiracy to manipulate West Blue's multinational politics was discovered, forcing him to go to sea and become a pirate," Smoker explained, looking at Victor's impressive resume with a sense of exasperation.
"..."
Wouldn't it be a waste for such talent to become a pirate?
"Forget it, this is rubbish. The smarter someone is when doing bad things, the wider the impact will be," Atlas waved his hand dismissively.
This guy is another version of Doflamingo, but without Doflamingo's original Celestial Dragons status, he started from scratch. The strength is not bad at all, maybe even stronger. However, he was unlucky to meet Atlas.
————
New World.
More than 20 ships sailed side by side, giving the impression of an iron cable crossing the river. The ship in the middle was a huge three-masted sailboat. The high-flying pirate flag was a skull made up of zipper patterns, looking out of place among other pirate flags. Very few people would design a pirate flag like this.
"Captain, what are we doing here? It is said that the Marines here are more vicious than pirates," a man in a suit with slicked-back hair ran forward with a puzzled look on his face.
"I'm just passing by here. There are only two Emperors of the Sea left in the New World now..." Victor, a middle-aged man with a shiny bald head and black hair combed into a slicked-back style, wore a black feather coat draped behind him and a pure black suit in the front. He didn't look like a pirate at all. His name was Victor, the captain of the Victor Pirates.
A hint of unruliness appeared on Victor's usually cold face as he said, "Now is the best time to become an Emperor of the Sea. There are a lot of territories waiting for me, Victor, to conquer."
Even if Big Mom swallows up most of Whitebeard's territory, the Charlotte family's base is so large now that it is impossible to spread it further.
He stretched out his hand and shook it hard in the air, "The only threat to us now is the Red Hair Pirates, who became famous because of their participation in the Summit War. As long as we defeat them, we can legitimately become the third Emperor of the Sea in the New World!!"
As he spoke, Victor pinched the air next to him, and a zipper appeared out of thin air. Whoosh! Slowly pulling it open, a dark hole appeared in front of him. He reached out and took out a fruit with strange lines and handed it to the man in a suit next to him.
"Rudolph, eat it! This is the fruit you have always wanted."
————
"Ah choo—!!" Shanks rubbed his nose and muttered, "Which bastard is talking about me?"
"Captain, is it Makino who is thinking of you? Hahahaha!!" Yasopp, who had just finished maintaining his beloved gun, teased with a grin.
"Don't joke around! Who needs women when you have the thrill of adventure?" Shanks waved his hands dismissively and looked at Ben Beckman. "After leaving Elbaf, where's our next stop?"
They had just come out of Elbaf, the Kingdom of Giants. The Red Force, their ship, was almost an enlarged version of their original vessel, its size nearly comparable to that of the Moby Dick. It was built by giant craftsmen using the treasure tree Adam as the ship's frame. In terms of quality, it was a world-class ship.
"What's the next stop..." Beckman narrowed his eyes. "In Summit War, Captain, you must have seen our flaws, right? We don't have a large and reliable fleet under our command, and we simply don't have the power to protect our partners."
Hearing this, everyone present fell silent. Several of their comrades had died in that war, which almost woke them up from their dream of adventure. Without enough power to protect your companions, what adventure is there?
"Although our fleet has reached a certain scale now, it's still not enough." The topic was heavy, but Beckman had no intention of stopping.
"That's enough, Beckman. When you go out on an adventure, isn't the most important thing having fun?"
Shanks lowered the straw hat on his head, the shadows covering most of his expression, and interrupted Beckman's words. After a while, he slowly raised his head, his grinning mouth revealing neat teeth.
"Let's have a party!"
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