Arceus's Pirate Journey

Chapter 149: Chapter 148: Regretfully Unable to Comply

Watching Shanks and Buggy still fighting, Olga lifted the illusion affecting them.

”You two stop fighting! The Navy’s coming, we need to get back to the ship!”

There wasn’t any deep-seated hatred between them, so she’s been holding back. How far Shanks and Buggy went depended on their own intentions. If their aim was to take her life, they would be more seriously injured in the chaos.

Now, the fight between Buggy and Red Hair wasn’t intense, which showed they had no such intention. Since that was the case, Olga didn’t need to take any excessive actions.

The sounds in the distance calmed both Shanks and Buggy. Undoubtedly, they had been tricked again, but the cannon fire from afar also told them it was time to return to the ship.

...

”Hey, Shanks, let’s not tell Mr. Rayleigh and Captain Roger about this.”

”Why?”

”Do you want to be grounded again? Not only were we fooled, but we were fooled twice by the same person using the same method!”

”Buggy, I think you’re right, but maybe there’s no need to tell them.”

”Huh? Why not?”

”Because I already know now.” came Rayleigh’s voice from Buggy’s other side, appearing beside them just as they were running towards the Golden Jackson. Buggy, however, hadn’t noticed him.

”Seems like I can’t trust the two of you, after all. Going forward, I’ll have to assign someone to follow you both.” Saying this, Rayleigh picked up Shanks and Buggy, hauling them back to the Golden Jackson.

The ship had regained its ability to move after quick repairs, and now they were set to start a new journey, as the one most familiar to the Roger Pirates was chasing them again.

”Roger! Surrender now; you have nowhere to run!”

Garp shouted from the front of the warship, throwing a cannonball at the Golden Jackson. However, it was split in mid-air by Gaban, who wielded dual axes. Despite being thrown by Garp, the cannonball was still an ordinary one.

Seeing Shanks and Buggy return, Roger once again gave the order to set sail, initiating a chase between the Golden Jackson and the Navy’s warships.

But only one warship chased after them, while the other didn’t seem to intend to pursue, and its cannons aimed in the direction of the Origin.

”Admiral Sengoku, shouldn’t we be concerned about Garp?”

”No need to worry about him. That guy gets overly excited every time he sees Roger. He can’t be stopped. Let’s deal with this group of pirates first.”

Due to the intense battle in the Edvaul Sea Region, both Sengoku and Garp had arrived here, imagining they would face both Roger and Golden Lion as opponents.

But when they reached the Edvaul Sea Region, they only found a field of broken shipwrecks. Neither Golden Lion nor Roger could be found, hence their ship approached here.

This is the nearest island to that sea area, and it’s the most suitable place to rest. It’s very likely to encounter a member of either Roger’s or Golden Lion’s crew here.

As it turns out, Sengoku’s guess was correct. Not only did they encounter Roger, but they also encountered the Origin, flying the flag of the Hundred Beasts Pirates. Although the Hundred Beasts weren’t their primary target, they couldn’t ignore them when encountered.

Capturing pirates is only natural for the Navy, so after Garp went after Roger, Sengoku also commanded the crew of the warship to attack in the direction of the Origin.

He didn’t spot Kaidou aboard, and Kaidou has gone missing again during this period. No news of Kaidou’s drunken antics has come from the New World for a long time.

Sengoku deemed this just an ordinary pirate ship under the Hundred Beasts, and capturing them wouldn’t waste much time.

He was under this misconception because the Origin was flying both the Hundred Beasts’ flag and Arceus’s emblem, a design derived from the Thousand Cosmos Bracelet—usually, only pirates affiliated with other great pirates would hoist two different flags.

While he launched the attack, the crew on the Beast ship also saw his face clearly.

”That’s... Admiral of the Navy Headquarters—Sengoku the Buddha!”

As the only current admiral who hasn’t refused promotion nor retired behind the scenes, Sengoku has a prominent reputation and is truly known as the Navy’s role model.

However, the Beast Pirates didn’t panic because Arceus was still on the ship.

”The troublesome guy is here again. Is everyone back? Get ready to leave.”

They have their own territory and long-term plans. Arceus doesn’t wish to waste energy fighting the Navy, mainly because it holds no meaning.

Even if an admiral is killed, apart from exaggerated reports by Morgans, it wouldn’t yield anything besides becoming a thorn in the eyes of the World Government and the Navy.

An admiral is a top-tier force, but with hundreds of allied countries as a foundation, occupying the entire Red Earth Continent, the World Government has ample manpower. Even the admiral position can be filled.

After the Summit War, they didn’t use any admiral candidates and filled the gap via the World Military Draft.

He’s not interested in such hollow glory. If he truly killed an admiral, whether for deterrence later or for the Navy’s face, the Hundred Beasts’ territory would suffer severe attacks, thus wasting all the intelligence network built so far.

Admirals are important pillars of the Navy, but losing one won’t cripple them, unless there’s a larger-scale operation. Otherwise, Arceus doesn’t want to engage in such meaningless acts.

So just as before, when faced with Zephyr, he trapped him in a flaming vortex and left. The same principle applies now.

Moreover, there’s a bunch of kids on board.

”Except for Olga and Elizabeth... oh, they’re back too, so now everyone’s here.”

”Set sail.”

The Origin hoisted its sails intending to leave, but their desire to go didn’t equate to Navy’s consent. Dense cannonfire formed a blockade, blocking the Origin’s path.

Not wanting to fight doesn’t mean taking hits without retaliating. The Origin is naturally equipped with heavy artillery forged by the Hundred Beasts, comparable to the Navy’s cannons in both range and power, leading to a cannon battle on the sea.

Although his electromagnetic floating could take the ship flying, the speed and target would still constitute little more than a target.

”You all go first; I’ll catch up shortly.” Just as he also wanted to see how much power a Navy Headquarters Admiral could unleash.

Under Arceus’s command, the Origin retreated into the distance, except Zeraora, who alone didn’t listen to the order.

”Zeraora, didn’t you hear my command?”

”My apologies, my lord, but I can’t comply. Allowing everyone to approach you directly would be an insult to me.”