Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

“Then, brother… let’s witness this era together, and create this era!” Reina reached out and bumped fists with Whitebeard. On his ring finger, there was now a golden ring.

"You seem unusually excited lately? Did something happen that I don't know about?" Whitebeard asked, looking at Reina who seemed to be on steroids.

"No... I feel the call of the times! Hehehe... Big brother, this sea is about to become turbulent! So... before that, we must work hard to strengthen our own power!" Reina said with a smile, looking at the distant horizon.

This year is 1503 in the Sea Calendar, the year Luffy was born. As a One Piece fan, Reina wouldn't be mistaken.

However, Whitebeard looked at the bewildered Reyna and felt deeply puzzled. The Reyna of the past was never this passionate!

After seeing off all the guests, Reina announced the start of the first Whitebeard Pirates board game tournament. Only after picking up their number plates on the second floor of the main building would the games played in the event hall be recognized.

So everyone went to the activity room, and after receiving their number tags, they started a game of chess in groups of four according to the numbers on their tags.

As expected, Whitebeard was eliminated in the first round, while Reina was lucky enough to advance to the next round, along with Rakuyo and Olga.

After a day and a night of intense competition, the final four were Olga, Laquero, Joz, and Hansen.

Joz's entry into the finals was unexpected. This guy looks simple-minded, but he has good luck, so he made it all the way to the finals. Reina lost because Joz bankrupted him.

Fortunately, as expected, Olga won the final championship, and the little girl gave the prize that Reina gave him to her father, Dr. Assie, which moved the doctor to tears in front of everyone.

Chapter 177 The Mysterious Navy

"Hahaha... We've found a big fat sheep! I didn't expect to have such a good haul this time!" Lakyo kicked open a door and saw more than a dozen large private rooms inside.

"Hmph, this guy actually dared to deceive us! Did he think we wouldn't be able to find such an obvious place?" When Lakyo brought out the treasure chest, Jingudo slapped the bound captain on the head and said viciously.

“Alright, now that we’ve found it, let’s take the treasure! We still have to go to the next island!” Reina said, yawning.

There was nothing they could do; they'd just run into a merchant ship so early in the morning. They'd been at a banquet until late last night, and now they had to get up before dawn to rob someone, which left Reina feeling rather listless.

"Father, a naval warship has been spotted behind us!" Just then, a crew member ran over and shouted to the white-bearded man sitting there.

"Here we go again? The navy's been getting pretty active lately!" Reina said, frowning.

After the first phase of the project on Xuan Yue Island was completed, the remaining projects were no longer in a hurry, so the Whitebeard Pirates resumed their life of sailing on the high seas, only returning to Xuan Yue Island to rest for a period of time after each long voyage.

But recently, Reina discovered that they frequently encountered naval warships, as if they were constantly being chased.

"Gurararara... Men, take the treasure, we're retreating!" Whitebeard waved his hand and returned to the Moby Dick with the treasure and supplies.

After Whitebeard and his crew left, the merchant ship captain secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know if his luck was good or bad, that he had actually run into the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Big brother, it seems like the Navy has been chasing us lately! Did we miss some intelligence?" Reina said to Whitebeard after returning to the Moby Dick.

"Judging from the recent situation with the Navy, they seem to be planning something, but we don't need to pay attention to them for now. We can just focus on our own business!" Whitebeard said softly, looking at the naval warships approaching them from afar.

Upon hearing this, Reina shrugged and didn't bother to care. Although there were many strong members in the Navy, the Whitebeard Pirates were not to be underestimated. It was hard to say who would win if they really fought.

After shaking off the naval warships, the Moby Dick resumed its normal sailing speed, and the crew relaxed, with many choosing to go back for a nap.

“Joz…come on, let’s have a go!” Reina found Joz and wanted to spar with him.

Joz hesitated for a moment before nodding and following Reina onto the deck.

Some members who were resting on the deck perked up when they saw Reina and Joz preparing to spar, and they all got ready to watch.

"Alright... let's begin!"

"boom!"

As Reina finished speaking, his fist was already aimed at Joz, but Joz turned his entire body into diamond, blocking Reina's attack.

"Bang bang bang..."

Instead of retreating after being blocked, Reina quickly launched an attack on Jozu.

Don't let Jozu's tall stature fool you into thinking he's slow. In fact, he has developed his own system for combat, especially defense. So, when faced with Reina's frenzied attacks, Jozu remained calm and composed. His seemingly slow movements completely neutralized Reina's offensive.

"Now we need to get serious!" Reina said to Joz with a smile during a lull in the attack.

Joz nodded and became serious as well.

"Oh!"

"Ok?"

When Reina punched Joz in the back, Joz turned around, somewhat dazed, and looked at Reina.

"Can you feel it?" Reina stopped attacking and asked with a smile.

"Hmm, although I was attacked, it didn't feel like I was hit... it was like... it was like I wasn't hit at all!" Jozu thought for a moment and then described what he had just felt.

"Is that so? It seems it still won't work! Alright! That's all for today. I'll think about it some more. Thanks for your hard work!" Reina said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

He is now considering how to combine the Black King's abilities with his offensive capabilities.

In the past, Black Emperor's abilities were all passive defenses, and he could only absorb energy after being attacked.

However, he now wanted to absorb the impact generated by the attack to replenish his energy, but he found from his previous exchange with Joz that this didn't seem to work.

Because if he absorbs those impacts, it would be equivalent to nullifying his own attack, which would be a loss.

Recently, Reina has been focusing more on developing Black Emperor's abilities, because he has found that Black Emperor's abilities still have a lot of room for improvement, unlike Sharingan and Hyōrinmaru, which are now very difficult for Reina to improve further.

A few days later, after some experimentation, Reina finally achieved some results: instead of absorbing the impact energy during an attack, he absorbed the recoil energy of the attack itself. This way, he could absorb energy during the attack without affecting his offensive capabilities.

Moreover, this method is more effective when fighting against stronger opponents.

"Dad! Navy warship spotted behind us!" Just as Reina was training his skills, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted down.

"No way? Here we go again? Who is it that's been relentlessly chasing us?" Before Reina could even ask, Laco shouted impatiently.

"Brother, should we wait for them to catch up?" Reina asked the white-bearded man, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"No need, that's just how the navy is. He's probably some clueless greenhorn who wants to use us as a badge of honor! We can just sail normally and ignore him!" Whitebeard shook his head and said.

Since the captain had already said so, Reina ignored him and continued to develop his Black Emperor abilities.

A few days later, when they spotted the island, the naval warship was still following them, which even Reina found a bit strange.

Because they did not accelerate, the naval warships did not catch up, but followed them from a distance, seemingly just monitoring them.

“Reina, something’s not right! Are those marines up to something?” Marco said to Reina.

"Why don't you go over there and sink them to the bottom of the sea?" Reina said with a smile.

"Forget it, let's just wait for them to come!" Marco yawned, turned around and left.

For no other reason than that it was just a single warship, which couldn't really exert much pressure on them, so neither Whitebeard, Reina, nor the officers were in any particular hurry.

After the Moby Dick docked, the naval warships remained far out at sea and did not approach. However, to prevent any accidents, Reina stayed on the ship and earned his overtime pay for the day.

The next day, after purchasing all the supplies, the Moby Dick was preparing to set sail again when it discovered that the naval warship that had been docked there was gone.

"What are these guys doing?" After receiving the lookout's report, Reina looked towards the spot where the naval warships had been yesterday, and sure enough, he couldn't see the warships anymore.

However, these were all minor issues. Since the other party had disappeared, Reina couldn't be bothered with them.

The Whitebeard Pirates continued their voyage, and the Navy's warships occasionally appeared, watching them from a distance without getting close, giving off an unusual atmosphere.

"Brother, do you think those guys in the navy are up to something big? Is that why they sent people to keep an eye on us to prevent us from disturbing them?" Reina asked thoughtfully as he watched the naval warships reappear in the distance.

After thinking for a moment, Whitebeard nodded and said, "That is indeed possible!"

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to think about it. I'll just go and see!" Reina waved his hand, summoned Liu Liu from the stern, and then rode Liu Liu straight to the distant naval warship.

Once they were close to the naval vessel, Reina took a deep breath and had Liu Liu approach from the water so that the navy wouldn't spot them.

After reaching the bottom of the warship, Reina had Liu Liu wait around while he slowly climbed onto the warship.

"Sir, there's nothing unusual about the Whitebeard Pirates!"

"Good. Leave after keeping watch for a while, and don't attract their attention!"

As soon as Reina climbed onto the warship, he overheard the navy's conversation, which made him want to complain: "How can you not attract our attention when you're doing this? You keep disappearing and reappearing like this, you might as well just follow us!"

The general quietly scanned the area. The highest-ranking officer here should be a colonel from the headquarters. His strength is unknown for the time being, but based on past experience, the navy probably doesn't want to start a war with them. Otherwise, a mere colonel from the headquarters would just be a sitting duck.

A little while later, the naval warship did indeed begin to change course, seemingly preparing to leave. After thinking for a moment, Reina returned to the sea and had Liu Liu carry him back to the Moby Dick.

"How is it?" Whitebeard asked Reina when he returned.

“I don’t know!” Reina shook his head and said, “It’s a colonel from the Navy Headquarters. He seems to be just carrying out a surveillance mission and doesn’t seem to have any intention of clashing with us.”

"That's a bit strange. Is the Navy planning to target someone? We haven't received any news about that recently!" Laco said with a puzzled look.

Reina has now handed over the intelligence gathering and organization work for the Whitebeard Pirates to Lacko, which is why he said that.

Reina thought about it carefully, and to his recollection, nothing major seemed to have happened in the Navy.

"Do you think... the Navy might be planning to attack Xuan Yue Island while we're away?" Bistan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

When they set sail, although some people remained on Xuan Yue Island, most of them were non-combatants. The only real combatants left behind were Hansen and his Sky Island Guard Team.

Upon hearing Marco's words, Reina was startled. In the original story, the Whitebeard Pirates did not have a base like Crescent Moon Island, so it was very likely that the Navy really intended to attack Crescent Moon Island.

However, Whitebeard rejected this speculation, because the Navy would not be so reckless as to attack Crescent Moon Island before being prepared for a full-scale war with them.

If Crescent Moon Island is destroyed, it won't have a significant impact on the Whitebeard Pirates' strength, since all the main forces are on the Moby Dick.

Doing that would only provoke the Whitebeard Pirates and serve no purpose whatsoever.

Chapter 178 The Destruction of Alcatraz

After listening to Whitebeard's analysis, everyone felt it made sense. Whatever the Navy was planning to do, it shouldn't be targeting Xuan Yue Island.

However, Reina suddenly felt that this might be another opportunity for him.

"You want to go to Impel Down?" Whitebeard asked, frowning as he looked at Reiner.

“That’s right. Whatever the Navy’s operation is this time, it must be something big. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so wary of us, afraid that we would disturb them. So they shouldn’t be able to spare any attention for Impel Down right now! As long as I sneak in quietly, I can kill Magellan!” Reina said, his eyes gleaming with the flames of revenge.

“Imperial City isn’t so easy to attack! Back then, you took advantage of Shiki’s escape from prison and the fact that they chased you out of Impel Down to kill Magellan. This time, the chances of you breaking through Impel Down are too slim!” Whitebeard shook his head and said.

“But this is a rare opportunity. If things continue like this, I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to kill him! Don’t worry, brother, I won’t force you if you can’t do it!” Reina said firmly.

“Then you should take Marco with you!” Whitebeard said after a moment of thought.

"This...isn't necessary?!" Reina didn't want Marco to take the risk with him. To be honest, breaking through Impel Down was too difficult, even with Marco's help, so he didn't want to take Marco with him.

"Then you shouldn't go either!" Whitebeard said in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

"Okay! I understand, I'll take Marco with me!" Reina had no choice but to agree.