Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"Everyone, please be quiet!" Seeing that everyone had arrived, Reina stood up from his seat, clapped his hands, and said, "First of all, thank you all very much for coming. Today is the official opening day of the headquarters of our Whitebeard Pirates, Crescent Moon Island. Although it is not completely completed yet, it is already taking shape!"

"And since everyone here is one of us, I won't stand on ceremony! First, I have a few things to announce to you all!"

After Reyner finished speaking, he looked at Whitebeard, and seeing Whitebeard nod at him, Reyner continued:

"First of all, since the Second Squad Captain, Kozuki Oden, has perished in Wano Country, I will temporarily assume the position of Second Squad Captain. The members of the Second Combat Squad will temporarily follow my command!"

After Reina finished speaking, Teach, who was sitting in a regular seat, felt a sudden tightness in his heart. As a member of the second combat squad, he would be under Reina's command from now on.

Like Teach, many other members of the second team shared the same concerns.

"Speak up, judging from your expressions, you're definitely unhappy about me taking on the role of captain of the second squad! Big brother, I told you this position isn't suitable for me!" Seeing the expressions on the faces of the second squad members, Reina shrugged and said to Whitebeard in a deliberately funny manner.

"Speak your mind if you have any opinions. Don't be intimidated by this damn conference room! We're all family. We're just here for convenience!" Whitebeard tapped the table and said to the members of the second combat squad.

“Dad, we don’t object to First Mate Reina becoming our captain. Everyone has witnessed his strength and ability! But… everyone knows his attitude towards Teach, so I’m worried that if he becomes captain, he will be detrimental to Teach!” A member of the second combat squad stood up and said, ignoring his companions’ attempts to pull him back.

At this moment, the other guests who were unaware of what was going on, as well as the captains of the pirate crews who had joined later, all looked at Reina, waiting for his answer.

"Then tell me!" Whitebeard glanced at Reina and said with a light laugh.

"Alright, alright~ I originally thought you guys were against me becoming captain, but I didn't expect you to have such a lame reason!" Reina said, feigning helplessness. "First of all, if I do anything to him, whether I become the captain of the second team or not, he can't escape it!"

When Reina pointed at Teach and said this, he made no attempt to hide his disgust and hostility towards Teach.

"It's really true? I didn't expect something like this to happen in the Whitebeard Pirates? Is there discord among the members?"

"That shouldn't be the case! I've met First Mate Reina, and he's a very nice person who gets along well with everyone on board! But that guy named Teach, I haven't had any contact with him, so I don't know what kind of person he is!"

"I've met Teach; he's a very generous and nice guy. Why would he have a conflict with the first mate?"

After Reina spoke frankly, a murmur arose among the crowd, while the members of the second squad remained silent, their concern stemming from Reina's attitude towards Teach.

Teach kept his head down and didn't say anything; no one knew what he was thinking.

"Alright, stop arguing! I was just stating my position, Teach. I said this when you boarded the ship! You can have your own ambitions, and you can use any means necessary! But if you dare to harm any crew member on board... then no matter where you run to... I will personally end your life!"

“But I also promised my brother that I wouldn’t lay a hand on you before you did that kind of thing, I would only keep an eye on you! So you can rest assured, as long as he doesn’t have any intention to harm anyone, then even though I don’t like him, I won’t use any methods against him!” Reina looked at Teach and said in a deep voice.

“First mate… I don’t understand why you’re so sure I’ll betray everyone, but don’t you think your attitude might be the reason for all this? I believe that if you hadn’t acted this way, I would have had no reason to betray you!” Teach slowly raised his head and said to Reina.

His words were clearly accusing Reina, implying that if he were to betray Reina in the future, it would be because Reina had forced him to.

"Hahaha...Very good! You're finally starting to look like one. If you keep backing down and pretending to be weak, it's really not inspiring! A pirate should be able to fight back! Teach, let me tell you something: playing dumb to fool others is indeed very powerful, but if you play dumb for too long, you might actually become a pig!" Reina laughed heartily before looking at Teach and saying this.

When Teach heard Reina's words, he looked resentful, making it seem as if Reina was abusing his power.

"Alright, alright~ you guys... as his companions, didn't you realize that Teach's strength has long surpassed yours? Is there nothing else he's up to by hiding among you?" Reina said with a hint of sarcasm, seeing the members of the second combat team's faces turn grim.

Upon hearing Reina's words, everyone looked at Teach. Although they were dissatisfied with Reina's attitude towards Teach, they still approved of Reina's character.

"What do you mean?" Teach asked, feigning ignorance.

"You want me to expose him? That's no fun. You all should remember when Teach was seriously injured last time, right? Do you know who his opponent was? That's right, it's Shanks, who's been making a big fuss lately, the former apprentice crew member on the Pirate King Roger's ship! Don't ask me how strong he is, you can ask Marco!"

“But our Teach, an ordinary member of the second combat squad, managed to injure Shanks under the combined attack of the entire Red-Haired Pirates, leaving him with an indelible scar. Ask yourselves, could you not have done that?” Reina pointed at the members of the second combat squad and asked in a deep voice.

"What? Such a thing actually happened? He caused the injury on the red-haired man's face?"

"With this kind of ability, he should be good enough to be a captain, right?"

Upon hearing Reina's words, everyone began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Teach, do you really have that kind of strength?" The member of the second combat team sitting next to Teach looked at Teach with a puzzled expression and asked.

Teach clenched his fist but didn't reply.

"How about it? Want to eat this?" Reina, who was prepared, took out a Zoan-type Devil Fruit and handed it to Teach, who was standing there, saying with a hint of sarcasm, "Aren't you the user of the Revive-Revive Fruit? Fossa, how's your investigation going with the matter I asked you to investigate?"

Fossa, with a cigar in his mouth, slowly stood up and said, "According to the information given by the first mate, I went to the Misty Delta in the first half of the Grand Line. There I did find a skeleton that could move. According to him, he was a user of the Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit). Because his body died in battle, his soul returned from the underworld, but he got lost there. So when his soul returned to his body, his body had already turned into a skeleton!"

"What? Such a thing exists? I never imagined that the Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit) truly possessed the ability to bring the dead back to life. It's incredibly powerful!"

"So, Teach did indeed deceive everyone, hiding his strength and going into hiding. It seems he has quite a grand plan!"

After hearing Captain Fossa's words, public opinion shifted, and everyone increasingly believed Reina's judgment, because if he didn't have malicious intentions, he wouldn't have needed to do such a thing.

"Alright! That's the end of this matter. Reina will also serve as the captain of the second team. That's settled! Teach, I said I wouldn't convict you based on things you haven't even done yet. Once we're on board, we're all family!"

"I hope that you can truly treat us all as family in the future. Although Reina is a bit harsh on you, he has never used any underhanded tactics against you, right? Your teammates are all sincere towards you, aren't they? The path you choose to take in the future is up to you!" Whitebeard glanced at Reina indifferently, and then said to Teach.

When Reina and Teach confronted each other, the captains remained silent because they already knew about these things, and they trusted Reina more than Teach.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Reina smiled and remained silent. He had a reason for revealing Teach's affair today, so that if he had to take action against Teach in the future, he could say that he had discovered Teach's intention to harm the Whitebeard Pirates and acted in advance.

If it weren't for what happened today, you could tell from the attitude of those second team members that if he really did target Teach, there would definitely be dissatisfaction among some people, and even if there was evidence, others would subconsciously have doubts.

But after today, even if he has no evidence, no one will doubt it.

Speechless after being reprimanded by Reina, Teach sat there and began to feel uneasy. His teammates from the second team, who usually trusted and supported him the most, were now starting to distrust him.

Once this distrust takes hold, it is very difficult to restore.

After the meeting, it was time for the banquet. Reina specially prepared nearly 500 catties of baijiu (Chinese liquor) so that everyone could have a little bit to drink. As for the other alcoholic beverages, there were countless others. They almost emptied the stock of the surrounding large islands.

"Hahaha... Reina, come here, let me introduce you. These are my juniors from Fishman Island. They are all very good young men. You must take good care of them in the future!" Fishman Tiger didn't know anyone here, so he pulled Jinbe, Arlong and the others aside, wanting to introduce them to Reina.

"Tiger! Have you had too much to drink? I've known Jinbe for a long time! As for this guy... we met him on Fishman Island last time!" Reina said, pointing to Arlong, who looked somewhat unwilling.

"Really? Then you definitely don't know this one. His name is Xiao Ba, and he's a nice kid!" Tiger said to Reina, pulling along another octopus-like fishman.

"Little Hachi? He's quite a good kid indeed!" Reina looked at Little Hachi and gave a strange smile.

"Hey...he's still a child, don't scare him!" Tiger knew as soon as he saw Reina that the other person was thinking of takoyaki, because Tiger knew very well how much Reina loved takoyaki.

Chapter 176 A Premonition of the Times

The banquet lasted until very late. The guests were led to their rooms to rest, and the members of the Whitebeard Pirates, having worked hard all day, all went home to rest, except for those who stayed behind to keep watch.

Reina had originally planned to go home to rest, but he had just arrived home when there was a knock on the door.

"Tiger? What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Reina opened the door and saw the fishman Tiger standing outside. He quickly invited him in.

"Sorry to bother you so late! But there's something I've been thinking about and I'm going to ask you!" Tiger said after a moment's hesitation.

“Sit down. I told you, you can discuss anything with me! I won’t refuse to help if I can!” Reina poured Tiger a cup of tea and said with a smile.

"Didn't you say before that you wanted to go to Mary Geoise?" Tiger hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said.

"What's wrong? I was just kidding! You're not really going to send me there, are you? That's Mary Geoise, even if I went there, I wouldn't come back!" Reina said, shrugging.

"No, I don't mean for you to attack Mary Geoise, but... I can't really say right now, I just have this idea!" Tiger said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Phew~ You scared me to death! I thought you saw the Whitebeard Pirates' power today and wanted us to attack Mary Geoise!" Reina chuckled and said.

"You actually wanted to secretly go to Mary Geoise to rescue those slaves, didn't you?" After laughing, Reina leaned close to Tiger's ear and whispered.

Tiger was taken aback, then looked at Reina with disbelief and asked, "How did you know?"

"Come on... isn't this obvious? But these things aren't that simple! You probably haven't made up your mind yet, have you?" Reina said mysteriously.

“That’s right. Although I don’t mind losing my life, I’m afraid that if we fail, the Celestial Dragons might use my identity to attack Fish-Man Island! When I went back this time, I talked with Queen Otohime for a long time. I think that although her idea is a bit naive, the main idea is correct! Only by living in peace with humans can the Fish-Man race truly liberate itself!” Tiger nodded and replied.

"Queen Otohime? Is that Neptune with the frizzy hair? Hahaha... I didn't expect him to be married already! Time really flies!" Reina thought back to the first time he met the Great Knight Neptune, back when he wasn't the king.

"Hahaha... The King really dislikes that nickname! Don't be fooled by his nonchalant attitude when you call him that; he's said many times in private that his children will never have frizzy hair!" Tiger smiled slightly as he heard Reina mention Neptune's nickname.

“Actually, your concerns are valid. If you fail after you go there and cause great losses to the Celestial Dragons, they will definitely take their anger out on Fish-Man Island! If you really want to take action, I suggest you discuss it with Neptune first, and stage a big show to sever ties with Fish-Man Island... That might leave room for maneuver!” Reina replied after thinking for a moment.

"Sever ties with Fishman Island first?" Tiger's eyes lit up, seemingly thinking Reina's idea was good.

“That’s right, and it’s best to make a big deal out of it. You can contact reporters beforehand as a mysterious figure, and then do this under their watchful eyes. With the reports, the whole world will know! That way, even if you fail, the Celestial Dragons can’t openly do anything to Fish-Man Island!” Reina nodded and said.

Although he remembered that after Tiger's actions, the Celestial Dragons did not cause trouble for Fish-Man Island, they did send Kizaru to hunt down Tiger. In the end, he died due to the Navy's conspiracy and his own pride.

“I understand, thank you!” Tiger nodded, saying with a hint of gratitude.

"Remember to let me know before you take action! I'll go with you!"

"No need, I can go myself on something so dangerous!" Tiger quickly refused upon hearing this.

“This is a very meaningful thing, and didn’t I say we were going to set fire to Mary Geoise? You can save people, and I’ll set the fire. Let’s cooperate!” Reina said with a grin.

Tiger took a deep breath and said seriously, "Okay! I'll definitely let you know before I take action! But you have to promise me one thing! If the operation fails... let me cover your retreat! If you have a chance, go ahead and don't worry about me! Also, if possible, don't leave my body in Mary Geoise, whether you destroy it or not, it's fine!"

"Don't worry, we'll succeed!" Reina patted Tiger on the shoulder, but didn't agree to his request.

The next day, the guests began to return one after another, and Reina went straight to Whitebeard and handed him a bracelet.

"What is this?" the white-bearded man asked curiously as he took the bracelet.

“Pure gold!” Reina said directly.

"Huh? Why are you giving me this? People are born, grow old, get sick, and die, and I'm no exception. I don't need this!" Upon hearing this, the white-bearded man immediately tossed the bracelet to Reina and said.

Reina did not leave after catching the bracelet; he had already made preparations.

"Isn't Big Brother's dream... to establish his own family?" Reina plopped down next to the white-bearded man, picked up his gourd, poured him a cup of wine, and said with a smile.

"Huh?" Whitebeard was taken aback, not understanding why Reina suddenly brought this up.

“Isn’t the Whitebeard Pirates exactly what you dreamed of? Don’t you want to see your successor appear? If you don’t take care of your health, the Whitebeard Pirates will fall apart in an instant without you!” Reina poured himself another glass and raised it.

"My successor? Gurarararara... I won't die so soon!" Whitebeard said with a loud laugh.

“We are pirates! If we were just an ordinary pirate crew, it would be fine; we could just change captains and keep sailing. But we are more like a family. Without you as our patriarch, what do you think the future of the Whitebeard Pirates will be?”

"Isn't there you still?" the white-bearded man said with a half-smile.

Reina pursed his lips, then said in a slightly somber tone, "I am not your successor! Roger... Oden... they all waited for their successors to appear, but they didn't get one, and I don't want you to either!"

Upon hearing Reyner's words, Whitebeard remained silent for a moment before saying, "Isn't it too early to talk about this now?"

“No, long-term drinking, coupled with your advancing age, would have taken a toll on your body long ago if it weren’t for your extraordinary strength!” Reina shook his head, handed over the pure gold again, and said, “So now is the perfect time to use this!”

"But……"

“No buts! Look for yourself, of the heroes who sailed the seas with us back then, who is left now? Roger is dead, Brother Shiki is nowhere to be found, and Barrorick Redfield has been imprisoned in Impel Down! Silver Axe, John, Wang Zhi, and the others, I'm afraid we can't even find their bodies anymore!” Reina shook his head and interrupted Whitebeard, saying.

Upon hearing the name Reina mentioned, Whitebeard was clearly lost in memories as well, realizing that there were fewer and fewer pirates from his generation.

“The last era belonged to Roger! He started the Great Pirate Era, and no one can compare to that! But since then… it belongs to our Whitebeard Pirates! It belongs to Whitebeard! Now it’s our era! Big brother… don’t you want to see what the future holds? When you find your successor, I will take back this bracelet, how about that?” Reina pressed on while the iron was hot.

"You're still as eloquent as ever! My era, huh...? It's too early to talk about that now. When I reach the end of my life like Roger, then I can comment on my own life!" Whitebeard smiled, took the bracelet from Reiner's hand, and put it on himself.

He was eventually persuaded by Reina.