Chapter 159: Then Let's Declare All-Out War!!
Above Marineford, on a flying island shaped like a ship.
"This is bad, Admiral! We've just discovered that the mutated beasts on another island have been wiped out..." The Den Den Mushi mimicked the caller, its voice panicked.
"...Alright, I know. Find the culprit and stall them as long as you can. I'll be there soon," Golden Lion said, his face grim.
His tone was ice-cold. The armrests of his chair were crushed to powder. At this moment, his heart was filled with extreme rage.
Clang—Clang—Clang!
His two legs, strapped with Oto and Kogarashi, clanged on the ground.
Golden Lion, filled with anger, walked to the bow of his ship. Around his flying warship, several Marine warships floated.
Looking down at Marineford, Garp and Sengoku stood on the terrace of a tall building, their expressions grave as they met his gaze.
"Twenty years ago, I received quite a bit of 'care' from you two bastards."
Golden Lion grinned, revealing a mouthful of large, snow-white teeth, and laughed sinisterly, "Today is just a small gift in return. Soon, I will announce to the whole world—"
"That I, Golden Lion, am back! Shiki-hahahaha!!"
Whoosh—Whoosh!
With a downward wave of his hands, several massive warships instantly lost control and plummeted straight towards Marineford below.
Golden Lion gritted his teeth and walked back into the ship's cabin, paying no mind to the result below. Having vented his anger, the more important thing now was to hurry back!
He had been on the island for so many years and nothing had happened. Now, just as he was about to start executing his plan...
He was gone for just one day, and his lair was raided!
Who is scheming against me!
"Unforgivable!" Golden Lion bit down hard on the cigar at the corner of his mouth. With a great wave of his hand, the flying warship immediately rushed back at extreme speed.
And at this moment, on the other side, on the island cluster...
The time had already come to evening. The vast evening glow intertwined with the sunset's afterglow, painting a beautiful picture.
Reiner's group, at an extremely fast pace, had forcefully passed through two islands. After hunting some game, they had successfully 'infiltrated' the main island.
A cool breeze blew across the plain under the setting sun, and the grass rippled. The group walked across the fields with the setting sun at their backs.
"Are these islands natural? They are so close to each other, yet the climates of the several islands are completely opposite," Sanji said, looking around in confusion.
In just a few hours, they had passed through islands with autumn chills and summer heat, and this place now had the appearance of being spring all year round.
And in the distance, at the center of this island, there was another small island covered in wind and snow.
"Golden Lion is a Devil Fruit user. He can make anything he touches float and control it. It's possible some islands were moved from other places. Who knows," Reiner replied casually.
He looked around. The plains were deserted on all sides. "We've made such a big commotion along the way, yet no one from their side has come looking for us. They're quite slow."
"Isn't it because those undead of yours were too fast?" Zoro said faintly.
Just then, a clear voice sounded from far ahead.
"Hey! Everyone! My ghosts have found a village!" Perona's shout came floating from the distance, with several Negative Hollows following her.
"Ooh la la~~, as expected of Miss Perona~~"
Sanji's eyes turned into hearts. He cupped his hands, his face full of infatuation and eagerness to please. "Such a cute and charming little princess~~"
"Great, hee hee hee! Let's go quickly, and we can cook this guy on the way," Luffy exclaimed excitedly and charged off first, dragging a giant, unconscious crab behind him.
"This guy is so impatient."
"Well, you get used to it."
"Sigh~~"
Reiner and Zoro shook their heads, sighed, and followed.
Before long, after passing a conspicuous row of green trees, the five of them finally arrived outside a village.
The village was only surrounded by a short wooden fence. About a hundred dilapidated stone houses were scattered about, giving the impression of a poor mountain village at a glance.
The people living here were basically the elderly and children, all thin and frail. The group walked for a while without seeing a single young or middle-aged adult.
Upon their arrival, all the villagers looked at them with apprehension or worry. No one came forward to talk to them; they all avoided them, unwilling to even spare them a second glance.
Strangely, they all had sparse pink feathers growing on their arms, as if their arms were evolving into wings.
"But I say, can a village really exist in a place like this? Aren't they worried about those fierce beasts attacking?" Perona asked, puzzled, her index finger resting on her cheek.
"Hello, granny!" At this moment, Luffy caught a passing old woman, jumped in front of her, and greeted her with a cheerful laugh:
"Hee hee hee, excuse me, where is this? And also, can we be guests at your house?"
Thwack!
A karate chop landed directly on the back of his head. Luffy's head wobbled from side to side like a spring.
Reiner looked speechless. "Are you an idiot? How can a guest ask such a thing themselves?"
"That... it's alright. But... you should all leave here as soon as possible."
The old woman's face showed some panic. After looking around for a moment, she turned back and said in a tiny voice:
"You must be intruders, right? The guards came by to report just now. There are auto-patrolling Visual Den Den Mushis in this village. I'm afraid you've already been discovered."
"Don't worry about that. We avoided them on our way here," Sanji replied softly. He was actually more puzzled that she would warn them.
What she was talking about were a type of giant Den Den Mushi that would crawl along a predetermined route on patrol, transmitting back the video they saw.
Sanji had recognized them at a glance, because his family had plenty of them when he was a child. So he had warned the others. Coupled with Perona's ghosts scouting the way, the group had easily avoided the surveillance.
"I see. Then..."
A hint of hesitation flashed in the old woman's eyes. After what seemed like a long internal struggle, she finally sighed in relief and said, "Come with me. I can tell you whatever you want to know."
Night gradually fell. The bright moonlight gave the sky a faint blue hue, with a few sparse stars.
Inside the simple stone house, a flickering kerosene lamp hung on the wall, its dim yellow light barely illuminating the small room.
Reiner's group and the old woman sat in a circle. In the middle was a worn-out large black pot, stewing a seafood soup with the giant crab as the main ingredient, bubbling away.
From the old woman's explanation, the group roughly learned some of the history of this island.
There was a plant on the island called "IQ," which could promote the evolution of animals, making them more adapted to the environment.
Once, the animals and people here lived together in peace, until twenty years ago, when everything changed with the arrival of Golden Lion.
Shiki monopolized all the IQ, developing the drug [SIQ] to stimulate and accelerate the evolution of the animals.
But at the same time, that drug also made the animals more ferocious.
Under years of continuous drug injections, even some docile herbivores became extremely aggressive.
If not for the ring of [daft green] planted around this village, whose emitted gas was extremely repulsive to the fierce beasts, this place would have ceased to exist long ago.
However, that poisonous gas was both a barrier protecting them and a slow poison that was invisibly reaping their lives.
Even from a distance, everyone inevitably inhaled a little. Over the years, the toxins accumulated in their bodies until the disease struck.
And the only thing that could neutralize its toxicity was the [IQ] plant, which had been completely monopolized by Shiki. Because of his arrival, the entire balance of this island was broken.
Even all the young women and able-bodied men in the village were captured by him to work.
Every household was forced to be separated from their families. For a full twenty years, they had not seen their captured family members again.
"The people here have long hated Shiki to the bone. But, with just a bunch of old, weak, sick, and disabled people, what can we do..."
The old woman lowered her head and covered her face with her hands, hot tears streaming uncontrollably through her fingers and dripping onto the ground.
"Shiki once promised that he would let everyone return once his plan was realized. But..."
"Now twenty years have passed, and I don't even know if my own son is dead or alive!"
"..."
The group fell silent, their expressions varied. The crowded room was now completely quiet, with only the crackling sound from the burning firewood pile.
Luffy didn't speak, but everyone could already see the determination in his eyes.
Honestly, you guys do all the work. What's the navy for?
Reiner shook his head with a helpless smile. From small incidents like Morgan and Arlong in the East Blue to major ones like Alabasta and Golden Lion, they had really cleaned up a lot of the navy's messes along the way.
This sea also runs on favors!
The navy already owed them so many favors. Taking Zoro and Sanji to stir things up at the Summit War, they shouldn't die... right?
Knock—Knock—Knock!
A knock came from the door. The group's gazes shifted, and then they heard a cautious inquiry, its tone slightly sleazy.
"Heavenly king covers earthly tiger?"
"A blind cat meets Usopp. Come in," Reiner chuckled.
Creak~
"Reiner!"
"We finally found you!"
Opening the door and seeing the familiar faces, Chopper and Usopp shouted and ran over excitedly.
Duang! Duang!
"Keep it down, you idiots!" Nami said irritably, veins popping on her forehead.
Stepping over the two who were now on the ground with bumps on their heads, their butts in the air, she walked forward. Franky and the others followed behind her.
"Woohoo~~, an angry Nami-san is also..."
Bang!
"So I guess I wasn't talking about you, pervert."
Reiner kicked Sanji away, then turned to the newcomers. "Did you guys find out anything?"
"Sorry to disturb you, granny."
Nami smiled and greeted the old woman, walked to his side, sat down, took his bowl and chopsticks, picked up a few pieces of crab meat into her bowl, and then slowly began to speak:
"A little, I guess. Those pirates were all invited here. Many of them already relied on Golden Lion's prestige. After learning that he was going to return to the sea, they all came to join him."
"Also, after they re-form the Golden Lion Grand Fleet, their first target seems to be the East Blue. Golden Lion plans to use the thousands of mutated beasts on these islands to destroy the East Blue!"
Robin looked at Reiner, her expression serious. "If it's really as you say, that Golden Lion can freely control so many islands to fly in the air, then if he deploys these beasts all over the East Blue, I'm afraid even the Marines will have difficulty stopping him."
"Probably. Because of the Ace situation, the Marines now have to be wary of Whitebeard making a move, so they probably can't spare too much combat power. So..."
A corner of Reiner's mouth lifted into a cold smile. "To stop him, we have to destroy them here."
"You've probably been plotting against him for a long time, haven't you," Nami said, pulling his cheek and rolling her eyes.
"Alright! It seems everyone has no objections!"
Luffy grinned. "In that case..."
Rumble!!!
Just then, a huge commotion suddenly came from outside, followed by a violent, earthquake-like shaking, as if the entire earth had tilted.
The group couldn't help but think of the scene when the islands were falling before, when the turbulent sea almost capsized the Merry. Combined with the feeling of intense gravity coming from under their feet...
The group immediately rushed outside. The people of the village were also in a bit of a panic due to the sudden commotion.
Looking far into the distance, the familiar coastline had disappeared. Islands that should have been on the sea surface were now all floating and continuously rising into the sky!
Looking towards the distant horizon, a massive warship with a lion's head carved on its bow slowly floated towards them. Reiner grinned and patted the person beside him:
"Looks like the lion has returned home. I'll leave the Merry to my undead. By the way, Luffy, what were you about to say?"
"Ah."
Luffy grinned, his gaze fixed on the flying warship. "In that case, let's declare an all-out war against the Golden Lion Fleet!"
(End of chapter)
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