Chapter 188: I Won't Disgrace Sag (6k)

Chapter 188: I Won't Disgrace Sag (6k)



Two days later.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The azure sea trembled as a black ship bombarded a merchant vessel just slightly smaller than itself with solid cannonballs, shredding its sails with chain shots, forcing it to a halt.

The black ship drew closer, and a horde of pirates, brandishing weapons and sporting malicious grins, leaped onto the merchant ship from their vessel's bow, whooping and hollering.

Standing on the second-floor balcony, her pale hands resting on the railing, Lily watched as the pirates hauled crate after crate of supplies and valuable goods from the merchant ship. She sighed.

Still no news.

In the two days since they'd set sail, they hadn't spotted any news birds carrying fresh messages, nor had they received any calls from Sag.

Of course, there were also no sudden, mysterious storms.

While the weather on the Grand Line was notoriously unpredictable, this level of variability was actually within manageable limits.

Any storms that arose only lasted a short while, and the same went for rain and wind; all of these weather phenomena could be anticipated and avoided by observing cloud patterns and wind shifts.

Most importantly, they had encountered merchant vessels.

Including this one, Lily had come across five merchant ships in just two days of sailing—not a bountiful harvest, perhaps, but certainly not a meager one.

They had no use for the goods themselves, having already plundered plenty from Water 7, but the ships' cargo holds were also filled with money, more than enough to line the pirates' pockets.

It certainly wasn't as lucrative as raiding a town, but the simplicity of it all more than made up for that—all they had to do was fire a few cannons to bring the merchant vessel to a standstill, board it, and help themselves to its contents. There wasn't even any resistance or fighting involved.

The mere sight of the Disaster Pirates' flag was enough to strike fear into the hearts of these merchants.

Aside from Sag's absence, things were actually going more smoothly than before.

Especially...

Creak.

On the deck, a door opened, and Bruno emerged, carrying several bags of flour on his shoulders. Trailing behind him were the members of CP9.

"This is all we could find," Bruno said in a low voice. "Everything else had already been taken by your crew."

"But we still wanted to contribute," Kakku added, setting down the bags of apples he was carrying.

Frowning, Lily said, "There was no need to use your abilities. This was just a simple plundering of a merchant ship. If you didn't want to participate in this kind of raid, you didn't have to. According to the rules of the ship, even those who opt out of these endeavors still receive half a share of the spoils."

Lily had received CP9 just two days prior, and to that end, she had even taken the risk of sailing close to Enies Lobby. A door had opened on the deck, and the man with horn-like hair had emerged, leading this group of people out from within, with an injured man in tow.

There was a doctor on board, and they had ample medical supplies. Treating combat injuries was a necessity for any ship's doctor, so there was no need to worry on that front.

Once they had settled in, these CP9 agents effectively became pirates on the ship.

Lily was wary of these new crew members. Initially, she hadn't wanted to accept them, but considering Sag's temperament, she had ultimately agreed.

Sag never turned away talented individuals, regardless of their background. Just because he wasn't here didn't mean the Disaster Pirates should become timid.

She intended to maintain the consistent style of the Disaster Pirates! Even though she could sense that the injured man they had brought was powerful, how could she refuse the allegiance of others just because of their strength?

CP9 was strong, but that didn't mean the Disaster Pirates were weak!

"We should still contribute something, seeing as we're now part of the Disaster Pirates," one of the CP9 agents said.

Grabra, his shoulders burdened by two barrels with two more tucked under his arms, laughed boisterously.

"Actually, we were thinking that if we ever decide to leave the ship, we'll have repaid this debt," the owl chimed in, hopping around. "Hoot, hoot!"

"Hey!" Grabra set down the barrels and reached out to grab the owl, irritated. "Don't just say whatever comes to mind, you idiot!"

"Yoi, yoi!"

Wyper fell to his knees, drew his sword, and placed it against his abdomen, his expression mournful. "We have received great kindness from the Disaster Pirates, yet we still prepare for the day we must leave this ship. Loyalty, duty, friendship, and gratitude—we cannot choose to uphold them all, and for that, I can only atone by taking my own life!"

"You blockhead!"

Clang!

The tip of Wyper's sword pressed against his abdomen, unable to pierce his skin.

"What a shame. You can't even die," Grabra said with a snort.

"Go die yourself!" Wyper shouted at Grabra.

Unlike Kakku and the others, who were still struggling to fit in, Grabra and his companions were in their element, having spent some time on this ship before. Of course, too much freedom could be a bad thing, as was evident from their current buffoonery.

Lily looked down at them from the second-floor balcony, her tone indifferent. "As I said before you boarded, as long as you don't cause trouble on this ship, what you do is your business."

The key factor was Sag's absence.

Otherwise, leaving the ship wouldn't be so easy.

Regardless of a crew member's background, once they boarded the ship, they couldn't just leave without the captain's permission. The only reason some crew members had been able to disembark without notice in the past was that Sag hadn't bothered to stop them.

But as far as CP9 was concerned, if Sag had been there, they definitely wouldn't have been able to leave the ship so easily.

However, Lily couldn't stop them.

She was confident that she could prevent CP9 from causing trouble on this ship, but if they were determined to leave, there was no way to stop them.

For now, these people were only temporarily cooperating with the Disaster Pirates.

Until Rob Lucci recovered from his injuries...

Just as she had that thought, a red dot suddenly appeared in her eyes, and she looked towards the cabin door on the deck. The door leading to the second floor from the stairs between the decks opened, and a blonde-haired woman emerged.

This woman was dressed in ordinary female pirate attire, but it clearly didn't suit her temperament. After stepping onto the deck, she calmly pushed up her glasses and looked towards Lily on the second floor, saying, "Lucci's awake."

Kalifa, a member of CP9, had been wearing only a coat when she boarded the ship, and that coat had belonged to Grabra.

Apparently, after being defeated, her clothes had been torn to shreds.

It seemed that during the events at Enies Lobby, these people had been tasked with stopping the Straw Hat Pirates from rescuing Nico Robin. Because Sag had left, they had handcuffed her with sea prism stone and confused the five real keys with fake ones, placing them on these CP9 agents.

The key that Kalifa had hidden couldn't be found even after tearing her clothes to shreds; that was how well she had concealed it.

Following Kalifa's appearance, the cabin door on the deck slowly opened, and a man with neatly styled hair, except for the area near the back of his neck, emerged. His expression was cold as he walked out, his eyes sweeping towards the second floor balcony where Lily stood.

"Rob Lucci?"

Lily glanced at him and nodded. "Looks like you've recovered nicely."

"Indeed," Grabra chuckled. "We possess strong bodies and regenerative abilities as animal-type Devil Fruit users. As long as the treatment is timely, recovery isn't an issue."

Speaking up, he called out to Lucci, "Hey, Lucci! This is Captain Sag's pirate crew, and it was him who rescued us!

These words had to be said first, because he knew Lucci's personality. This cold and indifferent man, who only valued orders, might very well start a fight on the ship if they didn't explain the situation first.

That was a scene Grabra didn't want to see.

"The Disaster Pirates are different from regular pirate crews," Grabra continued. "They only go after money, and as long as you don't oppose them, they won't kill you."

Kakku, a rare sight, added, "They're not as despicable as regular pirates. Their targets are also different."

As spies, it was only natural for them to gather information on their own. Merely listening to Grabra's explanation wasn't enough, so they had gathered information on their own, and in the two days they had been on the ship, Kakku had also learned quite a bit.

This pirate crew was indeed different from regular pirates.

First, they only sought money and wouldn't kill as long as they weren't opposed.

Secondly, they didn't rob civilians.

All the pirates said the same thing: 'The captain says that robbing the poor is meaningless,' 'The poor are no different from us pirates,' and so on. Their targets were indeed the wealthy and the nobles.

Combining this with the information they already had, it was clear.

Their targets were likely the wealthy and the nobles.

No wonder the bounty on every member of the crew was so high.

"Regardless of their targets, pirates are still pirates, and evil is still evil."

Lucci looked straight at Lily and said indifferently, "However, that's none of our business now. We've been dismissed from our positions, and you are Bienelda Lily, the pirate with a bounty of 160 million berries, the de facto second-in-command of the Disaster Pirates, and the question is, where is the captain, Sag?"

"Chibab!" The owl squawked. "According to the information we got from the ship, Kapu, Yellow Monkey, and Aokiji captured Sag."

"Three of them," Lucci furrowed his brows. "Then, he's likely dead."

"You're the one who's gonna die! Stinky cat!"

Renitia walked over, glaring at Lucci. "Sag isn't gonna die! If not for us, you'd be dead already! Don't jinx it, or I'll shove that cat head of yours into your ass!"

"'Blast Hammer' Renitia," Lucci looked over, his finger pointing at her. "Do you want to die?"

"Do you want to die?!" Renitia bared her small fangs, her mechanical hammer at the ready.

"Oh dear, a quarrel already?"

Marika walked out from the banquet hall on the first floor, her gentle smile softening a bit. "I made some recuperating dishes, but..."

She moved closer to Renitia, taking a half-step ahead, her posture indicating that she was ready to protect her. At the same time, she kept an eye on Lucci and Kalifa.

Ajin and the Demon Race surrounded CP9, creating a distinct perimeter. In case a conflict occurred, they would restrict the battleground to within their formation, lessening any possible destruction.

Bellamy leaned over the railing of the crow's nest, his tongue sticking out as he eagerly smiled, his body already poised to rush down at Lily's command.

Palu and Myotte stood to Ajin's left and right, forming a triangle with him to surround CP9.

"Strength doesn't matter; what's important is that the members of the Disaster Pirates aren't afraid of any of this!"

Hawkins sat on the steps below the bow of the ship, glancing at the few Tarot cards covered with straw as he said indifferently, "The probability of the ship being damaged is 10%. It looks like we won't be fighting."

Though he said this, his subordinates still rested their hands on their sword hilts.

"What do you plan to do, Rob Lucci?"

A clear and cold voice rang out from the second floor.

Lily looked down at him without any fluctuation in her expression.

Lucci raised his head to glance at her, then lowered his outstretched index finger and said, "If it were Sag, he wouldn't have made such a drastic move. By acting like this, you're only exposing the fact that you don't trust us. But you, you're not bad."

That man, who was so powerful that he left others without any room to resist, was truly a formidable individual.

Aside from strength, not just anyone could boss around CP9 as they pleased.

Furthermore, this 'Sword Princess' hadn't moved her hands at all from beginning to end, which also represented a form of confidence.

Lucci glanced at these people and turned to walk into the kitchen area of the banquet hall, saying, "For now, we've temporarily joined the Disaster Pirates, and at the moment, we'll consider this a form of cooperation. We also need a place to stay to avoid being pursued by the Navy, so that's that."

"You stinky cat! Don't get so full of yourself, or else when Sag returns, he'll teach you a lesson!" Renitia waved her small fists at Lucci.

As Lucci relaxed his stance, the surrounding pirates also loosened their encirclement. Grabra secretly breathed a sigh of relief; he truly didn't know what to do in this situation.

He didn't want to fight the Disaster Pirates, but Lucci was his comrade, and he couldn't just stand idly by either.

Fortunately, things didn't escalate.

"We're all on the same ship, so there's no need to be so tense. We don't have any ill intentions, and you know that about me," Grabra called out to the people around him. "I'm Grabra! I've been on this ship for a while now, so you should trust me!"

"It's because of you!"

Ajin glared at him and said, "Otherwise, we wouldn't have accepted your request to come aboard. Don't cause any trouble, Grabra, or else I'll slaughter you with my own two hands!"

"You damn darkie!"

Grabra angrily retorted, "Your Douri isn't as high as mine! I'm a Devil Fruit ability user, so don't get too full of yourself!"

"Captain Sag said that so-called Douri is just an illusion, and a person's will can't be influenced by such measurements," Ajin stated. "Also, your training results haven't shown yet, so before you say anything like that, show us some improvement first."

"I don't need you reminding me of that!"

Grabra rolled his eyes and called out, "Ras! Ras! Come out here and let me see if you've made any progress!"

The eight-year-old Ras walked out, looking innocent as he raised his hand and said, "Mr. Grabra, it's only been a day since we last saw each other, and then you came back. There's no way I could've made any progress in such a short time."

...

Half a day later.

On the third floor, in the conference room.

In the dimly lit space, Lily sat in the chair on the left side of the room, with Marika, Renitia, and Hawkins also seated to her left.

Behind them stood Ajin, with Palu and Myotte on his left and right, forming a triangle around CP9.

On the right side sat Lucci alone, with the rest of CP9 standing behind him.

"Our plan is very simple. We'll just continue with the plan that Sag established before," Lily said. "Now, whether Sag is dead or alive, whether he was captured or retreated, we have no idea. But that doesn't mean we won't act. The best course of action is to create some noise and get the news reports flowing."

Lucci remained silent, but Bruno behind him thought for a moment before speaking up in a deep voice, "Is it to prevent the members of the pirate crew from causing trouble? According to the usual style of your pirate crew, if you were to lie low, there would definitely be people who wouldn't comply."

Kakku nodded and said, "After all, the captain is Sag. That's not strange at all."

"There is that factor," Lily said.

There was also another factor, which was to prevent Sag from forgetting the Den Den Mushi number and not knowing where they were.

"In any case, before the newspaper comes out, I don't plan on changing Sag's approach," Lily said as she glanced back. "Palu, bring out the sea map."

"Yes, Lily!"

Palu walked to the back of the center of the room, pulled out a blackboard, and pasted a huge sea map of the Grand Line on it. The map only had some incomplete islands with magnetic fields, and there were some small dots and arrows on the sea map.

"The red dot is our previous position, below Enies Lobby," Lily explained. "The arrow is the direction we're heading in, as well as our original looting target—the magnetic island where the sixth and seventh routes merge, with a kingdom called 'Ssomia' on it."

On the Grand Line, after the sixth and seventh routes reached the middle section, they merged into one, all concentrated on that magnetic island.

This was very normal. After all, when sailing on the Grand Line, aside from the Eternal Pose, the Recording Compass would only store the magnetic force of the next island, and it was easily influenced by stronger magnetic forces, like that island.

"I know that place."

Kakku said, "It's a country with a land area that's not inferior to Alabasta, and the soil is fertile."

"Oh? Do you know the specifics?" Lily asked.

"It's not just hearsay; we haven't been there yet," Kakku shook his head. "But with just the two of us, it would take quite some time, and if we go too deep, the Navy will be on our tails."

"So we'll only hit the port cities."

Lily stood up, pulled out a map, and slapped it on the sea chart, presenting it to everyone.

It was a detailed map of the Kingdom of 'Ssomia'.

"Here."

She pointed to the north, "There are three places in the Kingdom of Ssomia that are worth raiding: the royal capital, the port city facing southwest, and the port city facing north. Of course, this is according to the cross-shaped map that you can understand. The actual directions are not like this, but you don't need to worry about that."

Only navigators have the education, most people don't know that the Grand Line and the Red Earth Continent don't actually intersect in the shape of a cross. If you use the sun as the east to determine direction, it should be in the shape of an 'X'.

However, for the sake of convenience, they usually refer to the maps as being cross-shaped, as they are mainly looking at the overall upward direction of the Grand Line.

"The place we're going to rob is this northern port city. With such a large land area, once the robbery is successful, combined with the reputation of the Disaster Pirates, it will definitely make the newspapers."

Lily continued, "Since it's a port city, we don't need to dock for too long. We can just leave after we're done, and we can also largely avoid pursuit by the Navy."

"But there's one thing..."

Lily looked at Lucci and the others, "We don't know the defensive strength of this northern city. Aside from the fact that it's worth raiding, we don't have any other information. Although the bigger the ruckus, the better, we also need to consider our own strength, so we'll need your help with this."

"You're spies, right? Finding out the information about this place shouldn't be difficult for you. We'll land first, and once we figure out the situation, we can plan where to strike to make the biggest impact."

Rob civilians?

After so many robberies, they knew that robbing civilians wouldn't create much of a stir.

Only by robbing the local nobles and wealthy would they make a significant impact, even if it was just a few of them.

"Understood."

Lucci stood up and said, "If this is the mission, then we accept. Let's consider it a form of cooperation."

"Then get ready. We'll arrive in an hour," Lily said calmly.

But there was something unusual in her eyes.

If it were Sag...

He wouldn't have thought this much.

He would have just gone in and started robbing.

What's the point of intelligence? It's completely useless.

Two thousand soldiers, five thousand soldiers, ten thousand soldiers...None of that mattered to him.

Those who couldn't fight would be eliminated, and those who could would remain in the pirate crew. Sag held the reins of power, and he knew when to act and when not to.

That was Sag.

A man whose plans always succeeded.

Even when surrounded by three powerful enemies, their plan to rob Water 7 was still a success.

Lily couldn't do that.

Sag could act with impunity, but she couldn't, and she couldn't control the casualties of her crew. That's why she needed intelligence to formulate a more foolproof plan and make things simpler.

"But...I have my own way! Sag, I'll show you!"

Lily clenched her pale fists, her eyes gradually filling with determination.

She was a high-ranking officer, and in Sag's absence, she was unanimously chosen as the temporary captain. At this moment, she couldn't let Sag down!

...

An hour later, the Harbinger of Death arrived at a lush, harvest-filled island, docking at a distance where they could make out the outline of a city.

Autumn Island, the Kingdom of Ssomia.

"Wait for Grabra's message!"

Grabra took a Den Den Mushi and, turning to the crew, smiled as he disembarked with Lucci and the others.

Of course, the owl didn't go with them.

Although CP9 didn't really care, Lily insisted on keeping the owl on the ship.

This big-mouthed bird was not suitable for undercover work and spying.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end