Author: (Back to the One Piece arc, but the readers who left earlier haven't returned yet. Feeling sad. (╯﹏╰))
"Then let's not kill them right away. We'll threaten them to tell us the location of the treasure, and once they do, we'll finish them off!"
One of the officers of the One-Eyed Pirate Crew suggested what he thought was a good plan.
The other lackeys nearby immediately showered him with praise, leaving Bebbart with a helpless sigh.
Once they found the treasure and got hold of the warship, the One-Eyed Pirate Crew would undoubtedly grow stronger.
But with idiots like this in the crew, he couldn't help but worry that the overall intelligence of his pirate group might take a nosedive.
"The other party is the Navy, and we're pirates. Do you really think they'll obediently tell us where the treasure is? And now that they've lost men, if they encounter pirates on the island, what do you think they'll do first?"
Seeing his subordinates fall silent, Bebbart didn't expect these fools, whose brains were filled with nothing but thoughts of treasure, women, and alcohol, to come up with any decent ideas. So, he continued speaking.
"In a situation where they're short on manpower and encounter enemies, they'll definitely seek support from the local Navy branch. Although the Navy branch near Bird Island isn't much to speak of, if they send out a Navy Captain, even I would find it quite troublesome."
"So, we need to think of a plan that will make those Navy soldiers help us find the treasure, but we must be ready to strike the moment they find it. We need to kill them all before they have the chance to call for backup!"
As he finished speaking, Bebbart's face twisted into a cruel smile.
"Impressive, Captain! You've thought of so many things in such a short time. So, what should we do now? If we secretly follow them, they might notice. After all, they do have a Navy Major."
Upon hearing his subordinate's question, Bebbart's smug expression froze.
He hadn't come up with a good plan yet, but he didn't want to ruin the strong image he had just built up.
"If I have to come up with everything myself, then what good are you all? You have ten minutes to come up with something. If you don't, then don't expect to get a single berry when we find the treasure."
As the saying goes, "three heads are better than one." Under Bebbart's pressure, the members of the One-Eyed Pirate Crew suggested many bad ideas, but after some brainstorming, someone finally came up with a decent plan.
The Navy was on the island looking for treasure, but since they were new here, they were surely unfamiliar with the terrain. This would be the perfect time for a "friendly local" to offer help, infiltrate their group, and relay information back to the pirates.
Once the Navy found the treasure, the infiltrator could signal the pirates, who could then ambush and kill the Navy soldiers before they had a chance to call for help.
The One-Eyed Pirate Crew had been on the island for half a month, so they were fairly familiar with the terrain.
However, a new problem soon arose. The pirates were either ugly or looked downright villainous, making it hard to pass any of them off as friendly islanders.
The two women who had been serving Bebbart might have worked, but their acting skills were so poor that they'd easily give themselves away.
"Let me go undercover! I can do this job, and the Navy won't suspect a thing!"
A sudden voice drew the pirates' attention. The speaker was none other than Nico Robin, who had been tied up and wasn't killed earlier because of Wood's arrival.
Robin had overheard their entire conversation and understood that this was her only chance to survive.
"Very well, Robin. If you can complete this task, I'll spare your life once again. But if you mess up or try any tricks, I guarantee that your death will be far more painful than before."
Bebbart agreed to Robin's request. After all, no one in the One-Eyed Pirate Crew was better suited for the job than she was.
Not only was she just a young girl, making her appearance more deceptive, but she was also an excellent actress.
Meanwhile, Wood and Russ were exploring the forest. Although the prisoners from Impel Down had given them the locations of hidden treasures, the island was vast, and the pirates who hid the treasures weren't exactly precise in their descriptions.
So, upon arriving on the island, Wood and his team had to painstakingly search the island based on the environmental clues provided by the prisoners.
"Captain Wood, it seems the person who was watching us when we landed hasn't followed us."
The One-Eyed Pirate Crew thought Wood and his team were clueless, but they didn't know that the Navy had already spotted the pirate lookout before they even landed.
It was a joke to think that a pirate lookout could spot them without them noticing. They were, after all, elite Navy soldiers from Headquarters.
Even if the lookout hadn't been noticed, the feeling of being watched after landing would have certainly alerted Wood and Russ.
The lookout was just a lackey from a West Blue pirate crew that hadn't even made it to the Grand Line. Even if we don't mention Wood, Russ was at least a former Navy Warrant Officer at Headquarters.
"We might have overthought it. That person was probably just a local lookout, and when he saw a Navy ship, he assumed we were Navy, so he let his guard down."
On islands with residents, it wasn't unusual to have lookouts.
After all, in an era dominated by pirates, it wasn't uncommon for islands to be attacked by them.
If a lookout could spot approaching pirates early, the islanders would have time to seek shelter or call the Navy for help.
"By the way, have we found the treasure's location yet? This is just the first site, but if the other dozens are this troublesome, when will we ever finish?"
They had been on the island for over half a day, but after diving into the forest, they quickly lost their bearings.
Wood initially thought that with the coordinates of the island and descriptions of the treasure sites, this treasure hunt would be a breeze as long as they didn't run into enemies.
But after spending the day searching, Wood felt more exhausted than from training or fighting, and he even started to wonder if his growing skill in swordsmanship was causing him to become directionally challenged.
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 230+ at patreon.com/Betek.