After Takumi left the cabin, he set up a deck chair on the ship's deck, preparing to take a nap.
Not far away, a pirate ship with a pirate flag depicting a scarecrow head on a cross was sailing towards their floating ship.
On the mast lookout of this pirate ship, a man dressed in a black cloak with a crucifix necklace, responsible for keeping watch, noticed the flying ship that was hovering over the sea. His face went pale, and he immediately shouted towards his companions on deck, "This is bad! Takumi's crew is right ahead! Go and notify the captain!"
"What? Takumi's crew?"
"Are you serious? I thought they were supposed to be in the Grand Line? Why are they here in the North Sea?"
"Are they avoiding the World Government? How unlucky are we to bump into them..."
"Enough talking, hurry up and inform the captain!"
"Got it, I'm on it."
The young man on deck, dressed similarly to the lookout, rushed towards the captain's cabin, pushing the door open and shouting, "Captain Hawkins, it's not good! We've run into Takumi's crew!"
Basil Hawkins, a user of the Straw-Straw Fruit, was the same pirate Takumi and Enel encountered before in the North Sea after descending from Sky Island. He was also one of the future Supernovas with a bounty exceeding a hundred million Berries.
At that moment, Hawkins was fiddling with his tarot cards. Hearing the report from his crew, his grip tightened around the cards.
The incident where Takumi and Enel killed a Celestial Dragon in Sabaody had caused quite a stir at the time. Although most people had gradually forgotten about it as time passed, Hawkins remembered it vividly, given his earlier encounter with Takumi and Enel.
"Captain Hawkins?" the crew member asked cautiously when he saw Hawkins deep in thought. "What should we do now? Should we engage them head-on or try to steer clear?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Hawkins responded slowly, "No need to rush. Fate is inevitable; today is not my day to die."
Ever since his near encounter with Garp and Takumi's crew, Hawkins had made it a habit to consult his tarot cards before going anywhere. Today, the cards had indicated that they would pass through Reverse Mountain without any significant dangers, and today was the day they were heading from the North Sea to the Grand Line. Regardless of encountering Takumi and his crew, he believed everything would turn out fine.
Hawkins was very confident in his predictions.
Still, since they had crossed paths, it wouldn't hurt to acknowledge them briefly.
With this thought, Hawkins stood up from his chair, gathered his cards, and walked calmly towards the deck.
When Hawkins' ship approached the flying ship where Takumi was, they could see Takumi already lying in the deck chair, sunglasses on, apparently asleep, basking in the sun.
Hawkins stared at Takumi in silence.
One of his crew members asked in a whisper, "Captain Hawkins, is that guy sleeping there really Takumi?"
Hawkins nodded slightly, his voice low, "Sail around them quietly. Do not disturb him."
"Aye, sir!" The crew member quickly relayed the order to the others.
As Hawkins' ship sailed past the flying ship, Hawkins pulled out his deck of tarot cards, gave them a quick shuffle, and drew a single card, letting it hover in front of him.
Seeing the card, a flash of surprise crossed Hawkins' eyes, but he quickly returned to his usual calm expression. In a soft voice, he said, "The probability of surviving an encounter against Takumi is zero percent..."
"Huh? Takumi is that strong?" one of the crew members asked in shock.
"The Celestial Dragons may be weak," Hawkins replied, "but anyone daring enough to kill one of them is not weak."
"Exactly," another crew member chimed in. "You weren't with us back then, but we encountered Takumi before. Guess who else we ran into at that time?"
The confused crew member asked, "Who else?"
"The Marine Hero Garp!"
"What?! You mean Iron Fist Garp?"
"That's right! At that time, Takumi's crew was with Garp, and they seemed to be on very good terms."
"But... if Takumi is so close to Garp, why would he kill a Celestial Dragon and go against the World Government?"
"That, I have no idea..."
"Enough," Hawkins cut in, glancing at the flying ship that was getting farther away. "Everything you say can be heard by those on that ship."
At this, the two crew members immediately clamped their hands over their mouths.
On the flying ship.
Takumi indeed heard Hawkins' conversation with his men, but he had no intention of interacting with them. As long as they didn't bother him, he didn't care.
Enel came out of the cabin, preparing to sunbathe before they set sail. He noticed the pirate ship gradually moving away and stared at Hawkins' back in curiosity, saying, "That guy looks familiar. Takumi, Captain, haven't we seen him before?"
"Never met him," Takumi replied nonchalantly.
Kaku glanced at Hawkins, thought for a moment, and added, "I think I've seen his bounty poster before. Ah, right! His name is Hawkins, and he's a pirate who's been making a name for himself in the North Sea for about a year. His current bounty is around eighty million Berries."
Kaku's sudden appearance startled Enel. "Damn it, long nose, can you not use your freaky ability on the ship?"
"Your ability is the one that's freaky," Kaku replied dismissively.
Enel scoffed, "You're just jealous."
Kaku looked at him with disdain, "Jealous of what? Of your stupidity or your punchable face?"
"You bastard!"
"Shh," Kaku shushed him, pointing at Takumi, who was still napping nearby, and said quietly, "Do you want to get yourself in trouble again?"
Enel's mouth twitched as he turned back to look at Hawkins. Feeling annoyed, he muttered, "This guy has the same bounty as me, huh? Does he think he's as strong as I am? I'm going to see what he's got!"
In a flash, Enel transformed into a bolt of lightning and disappeared from the ship.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared on Hawkins' ship, squatting on the deck railing right in front of Hawkins. With a contemptuous gaze, he sneered, "Hey, are you really that strong?"
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