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"Was that ship just now the famous sea restaurant that's been all the rage recently?"
On the navy warship, Colonel Morse looked back at the Endless Dream, which was slowly docking at Fuchsia Town's port.
"The young and handsome captain, the blue-haired and blue-eyed beautiful girl, it must be them."
The aide beside him scrutinized Zyhark and his companions standing on the deck, frowning slightly in confusion, "But the intelligence we have doesn't mention that blonde man."
The East Blue isn't too big, nor too small.
As the navy stationed here, they naturally pay attention to emerging powerhouses like Zyhark.
"Looking at that face, he doesn't seem to be just any ordinary crew member."
Colonel Morse, with a large cigar in his mouth, occasionally exhaled thick, pungent smoke rings.
"Did you record the fight against the Black Cat Pirates just now?" He rubbed his stubbly chin, then asked.
Rather than why the owner of the sea restaurant would land on a town attacked by pirates, he was more concerned about his own gallant figure brandishing a sword against the pirates, actively protecting the civilians' safety.
"Rest assured, every thrilling moment has been captured, especially the shot of you standing in front of the civilians facing several pirates. After a little editing by the news department, it will definitely make a striking illustration!"
The aide took out a Den Den Mushi capable of recording images and showed it to Colonel Morse.
"That's good." Colonel Morse nodded in satisfaction.
The aide glanced around, making sure no marines on the ship were paying attention to their conversation, then leaned in and whispered to Morse:
"If we keep having encounters like this with the Black Cat Pirates, your promotion to headquarters is almost guaranteed, Colonel Sir!"
"Hm? What did you call me?" Colonel Morse's gaze suddenly turned displeased.
"After the reassignment to headquarters, you would be a Colonel, right?" The aide smiled obsequiously.
"I've said it many times before, call me by my current rank when we're working!" Colonel Morse said seriously.
Though he said this, the smug smile that curled up at the corner of his mouth couldn't be hidden.
"Right, right, my mistake," the aide quickly smiled apologetically.
Seeing this, Morse no longer paid him any mind and turned his gaze toward the boundless sea.
After a few seconds of contemplation, his expression gradually turned grim and cold.
"Getting reassigned based solely on driving away pirates isn't quite enough..."
"What do you mean?" The aide, guessing at the implication, changed his expression.
"Let's return via the normal route for now."
Morse waved his hand, keeping the mystery, without explaining too much.
The ship's sail, emblazoned with the word "Justice," was particularly conspicuous as it pushed through the waves under the sea breeze, heading towards the horizon.
Meanwhile, in Fuschia Town.
The raging inferno, like an envoy from a terrifying hell, devoured everything in the prosperous town.
The bright flames illuminated the faces of Zyhark and his companions, and the heatwave carrying the smell of burning enveloped them.
The crackling sound of burning wood from the houses echoed in their ears incessantly.
It's hard to imagine this is what a town protected by the navy should look like.
"Was all this done by that bespectacled bastard pirate?" Aqua stared dumbfoundedly at the town being ravaged by flames.
Even as a goddess who had seen far more horrific scenes, she still found it unbelievable.
The people who just passed them by, weren't they the navy, guardians of justice?
Do they find chasing pirates more important than protecting the town?
"I'm starting to feel like heading back to the ship with all this danger around."
King, arms crossed, stared directly into the inferno, his face showing no emotion, but internally, he was already beating a retreat.
Yes, the kind where you can hear your heartbeat pounding.
"Let's check the situation first; it seems there's more to it than meets the eye," Zyhark said gravely.
As soon as he spoke, he immediately attracted Aqua's retort: "Water? Where's the water coming from, this is clearly all fire, Zyhark, you're not scared silly, are you?"
"If you're really scared, just hurry up and hide in my arms. Lady Aqua will protect you well, regardless of past grievances!"
Zyhark casually glanced at the Goddess of Water's somewhat broad chest, his gaze surprisingly pure, devoid of any mixed feelings.
"...You're actually quite nice."
As they were talking, a girl with short sleeves and blackened by soot suddenly ran over from a burning street corner.
Seeing Zyhark and his companions standing at the port, the exhausted girl immediately showed an undeniable joy on her face.
"Lord Zyhark, Lady Aqua, is it really... you?"
She stumbled to a stop, standing there somewhat helplessly.
Zyhark looked up to see her fair face covered in grey-black dust, her eyes unfocused and dull, breathing rapidly, looking quite pitiful.
Against the backdrop of the fierce flames behind her, a sense of helplessness mixed with despair rushed towards them.
Aqua stared intently at the girl, who seemed somewhat familiar, and after a few seconds of contemplation, tentatively asked, "Are you Melanie? Are you the one praying to me?"
"Aqua, her name is Milani," Zyhark corrected quietly from the side.
As he had suspected, the believer Aqua sensed in Cocoyasi Village was one of the slaves they had rescued from pirates before.
When they went to the Navy Branch 153 to exchange the bounty, they had handed these unfortunate people over to the navy for assistance. Little did they know, after all this detour, they would meet in such a way on Conomi Island.
Fate, sometimes, truly works in mysterious ways.
"Lady Aqua, Lord Zyhark! Please, please save Fuchsia Town!"
Thinking of her hometown being consumed by the fire, Milani knelt on the ground, crying her heart out.
Before long, her back was crowded with the town's residents, all with heads bowed, a deep sense of powerlessness making them clench their fists tightly.
Ordinary residents, having experienced pirate attacks, seemed so insignificant and humble in the face of such a blaze.
"Of course, there's no goddess who could remain indifferent upon seeing her believers' tears!"
Aqua, usually the most likely to shirk her duties, was very proactive now. She held her goddess staff in her palm, a complex and mysterious magic circle lighting up beneath her feet.
Droplets of water levitated, forming a babbling brook around her.
As Aqua began to chant with her eyes slightly closed, an even larger magic circle condensed above Fuchsia Town.
Swish, swish, swish!
Torrents of water descended from the sky, instantly falling into the raging inferno.
The water and flames extinguished each other, emitting sky-covering steam, and the oppressive heat in the air gradually dissipated.
A cool sea breeze blew, clearing the thick fog, revealing a landscape of charred ruins.
Although the flood summoned by Aqua brought a second wave of destruction to the burning town to some extent, compared to letting it burn to nothing, having
this situation was enough to make the weary residents of the town feel grateful.
"Actually being able to summon water from the sky to this extent..."
"It's a miracle! This is truly a miracle!"
"Milani wasn't crazy, what she said before was true, there really are goddesses in this world!"
The residents of Fuchsia Town, who didn't even know what a Devil Fruit was, had never seen such a shocking scene before.
Recalling the words Milani said after she returned safely from being kidnapped by pirates, their gazes towards Aqua instantly became filled with utmost devotion and awe.
"Lady Aqua, thank you very much for your help!"
Led by the mayor of Fuchsia Town, the soot-covered residents all bowed down, expressing their highest respect to Aqua, who had saved their town.
"Ahahaha, it was nothing, just lifting a finger!"
This long-missed feeling of being admired made Aqua swell with pride, standing tall and proud.
"For requests from loyal believers, we always strive to fulfill them, after all, I am the great Goddess of Water, Aqua!"
Watching Aqua's smug and self-satisfied demeanor, Zyhark couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.
My foolish goddess, could you perhaps not drag me and King into your boastful claims?
He had a feeling that trouble was about to knock on their door.
Thinking this, Zyhark suddenly noticed a little boy standing in the corner of the crowd.
Because everyone was kneeling, the standing boy stood out prominently, looking quite conspicuous.
"Mommy, they don't look like bad people, why is everyone kneeling?"
The little boy, his face covered in black soot, stared blankly at Zyhark and his companions, his innocent eyes filled with puzzlement.
In his understanding, one only needed to kneel and beg for mercy when encountering the fierce pirates who came from the sea, pleading for their lives to be spared.
"Lady Aqua is a deity, our town's savior. Be good and kneel down," urged a woman beside him, trying to make her son kneel.
However, the boy remained unmoved, still standing dazedly in place.
"If you don't listen, I'll confiscate your candy!"
Frustrated by her son's non-cooperation, the mother reached for the candy clenched tightly in the boy's hand, half of its wrapper burned by the fire.
Despite being only a few years old, the stubborn boy had his own temper and bottom line.
Hearing his usually loving mother threaten him with candy, his legs bent slightly...
He hesitated not a moment to lower his own bottom line!
"Um, your reverence for me has been sincerely felt, you really don't have to kneel!"
Such commotion naturally didn't escape the keen senses of Aqua.
She did enjoy being worshipped, but she wouldn't force her beloved believers to act against their will.
Hearing this, the little boy's dirt-smudged face immediately lit up with a brilliant smile: "Mom, see, I told you big sister is a good person!"
At the forefront of the crowd, the mayor of Fuchsia Town, feeling Aqua's kindness, hesitated before finally raising his wrinkled face, almost pleadingly saying to Aqua:
"I know it's too much to ask, but Lady Aqua, could you please help us retrieve the Sacred Fruit stolen by the pirates? It symbolizes peace and harvest for our town."
As he spoke, the other residents of the town looked towards Aqua, their weary eyes filled with a glimmer of hope.
That so-called "Sacred Fruit" seemed to be something very important to their town.
Seeing the earnest and passionate gazes of her new believers, the overly proud Aqua was about to agree: "There's no quest..."
"Sorry, we can't."
Her words were cut off by Zyhark, who had been on guard the whole time.
His blunt refusal left the mayor of Fuchsia Town stunned in place.
Glancing at Aqua, who was shooting him a protesting look, Zyhark, expressionless, turned to the kneeling residents and slowly said, "We're just passing by sea restaurant merchants. Retrieving items looted by pirates is something you should ask the navy for help with."
The mayor's face immediately turned bitter, unable to articulate a complete sentence.
"Those people have been here several times before, each time they just drive the pirates away and leave. Mom says they're actually in cahoots with those pirates!"
Finally, it was the young boy who spoke the truth.
"Huh? Isn't it their duty to capture evil pirates?"
Aqua was shocked and indignantly said, "If you all knew this, why didn't you complain, to have that damn guy punished?!"
Hearing this, the mayor, Milani, and the residents of Fuchsia Town all bowed their heads, their eyes dim and lifeless.
"Because doing so is completely futile."
In the end, it was Zyhark who came forward to address Aqua's confusion, "From the outcome, they successfully protected innocent residents from pirate attacks and are undeniably heroes."
"But, but! They clearly allowed the pirates to run amok!"
Aqua shook her head, unable to comprehend this at all.
"Even so, there's no evidence to prove this, right?" King, who had been silent the whole time, rarely spoke up.
"Then let us just send those pirates flying!" Aqua clenched her fists in anger, unable to stand seeing her beloved believers oppressed.
"Aqua, remember, we are merchants, not the navy. We don't have the obligation to subdue pirates." Zyhark said gravely.
Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates was a tough character, not a simple-minded fool like Buggy.
From their brief encounter in the restaurant, with speed and defense far beyond ordinary humans and possessing basic Haki, Zyhark was confident in defeating Kuro in a one-on-one fight.
But the opponent was a complete pirate crew, and with Aqua and King on their side being a complicated matter, taking the offensive involved too many uncertainties.
Having the wishing well as a cheat, there was no reason for him to take such unnecessary risks for some unrelated residents.
Zyhark's words immediately deflated Aqua, who puffed her cheeks and turned her head away.
The residents of Fuchsia Town could see that this indifferent young man was the core of their group, even the mighty Aqua, who could summon floods, deferred to him.
Thinking of the important item taken from them and the bleak life ahead, despair enveloped them.
"However, as merchants, what we value most is profit. If you can offer sufficient compensation, retrieving that Sacred Fruit for you isn't impossible."
Zyhark's following words revived a glimmer of hope in their despondent hearts.
Then, they fell into an even deeper despair.
Let alone a substantial reward, after being plundered by the pirates, they couldn't even scrape together a million Belly!
"I'm sorry, we simply can't afford that right now..." The mayor of Fuchsia Town slumped to the ground, devoid of spirit.
Ignoring the disheartened old man, Zyhark walked forward, passing through the kneeling crowd, directly to the standing boy.
Swoosh!
With a swift motion, Zyhark tore open the burnt wrapper and tossed the candy into his mouth.
After a few sucks, hmm, not bad, it's quite sweet.
"I'm very satisfied with this payment, so I'll accept your commission!"
Admittedly, facing off against the Black Cat Pirates with Captain Kuro at the helm would entail a certain risk with their current lineup.
Zyhark considered himself to be quite conservative (prudent), not one to act impulsively.
However, for some reason, witnessing the town's ruins consumed by fire, seeing the despair in the eyes of the kneeling residents, and looking at the innocent child who would only kneel to villains, something inexplicably ignited within him.
Zyhark pondered for a long time, unable to pinpoint exactly what was stirring in his chest.
It wasn't until Aqua's words, "Let's just send those pirates flying," echoed in his ears that he had an epiphany.
That was...
The flames of passion that had been dormant for years!
So, to hell with the risk!!!
(End of Chapter)