Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

Yes, Reina himself didn't expect to see Zefa again so soon.

It all started this morning...

With Jozu's addition, Reina's target finally shifted from Marco to Jozu, since Marco would also be injured if his attacks hit him.

But Jozu is different. As expected of the Devil Fruit user who is known as the strongest physical defender in the future, Reina's normal attacks are no different from tickling him. Even after fully absorbing the energy of the attack, Jozu can still defend against some of it.

So during this time, Reina has been training with Jozu, helping Jozu improve his abilities while also training the Black Emperor's abilities himself.

Early in the morning, Marco, who was working part-time as a lookout, discovered that they had encountered a naval warship.

Needless to say, the Whitebeard Pirates had a grudge against the Navy because of Zephyr last time, so Whitebeard Newgate didn't plan to run away when he encountered the Navy this time.

As fate would have it, the warship belonged to Sengoku, one of the Navy's three major forces, and so Whitebeard Newgate and Sengoku started fighting.

As the first mate, Reina left Vista on the ship to guard it, while he took Marco and Jozu directly onto the warship, intending to sneak off and cause trouble while Sengoku and Newgate were fighting.

With Marco's superior mobility and Jozu's powerful defense, Reina felt that even Sengoku's lieutenant could give them a run for their money.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Instead of encountering Sengoku's adjutant, they met Zephyr, who was returning to headquarters aboard Sengoku's warship.

And that's how the scene that happened earlier came about.

“Red-Eyed Reina!” Zephyr smiled at Reina and said, “What a coincidence!”

"No one would want to be associated with you!" Reina said, scoffing.

"You're unwilling to surrender? This time, Newgate won't have time to save you!" Zeffa said to Reina, glancing at Newgate who was still fighting.

"Surrender? That's not my style... Sharingan! Activate!" Reina activated his Sharingan immediately. Even if he couldn't defeat Zephyr, he should at least be able to find a chance to escape. But now he had to buy Marco and Jozu time to retreat.

"Heh... What an energetic young man! But... compared to me, you're still far behind!" Zephyr disappeared from his spot and reappeared in front of Reina. He knew that this move was "Shave" from the Six Powers of the Navy.

"So fast!" Although his eyes could keep up with Zefa's speed, his body couldn't react at all, so Reina could only try to avoid vital points.

"Boom~~~"

With just one punch, he sent Reina flying.

"Cough cough... That really was a powerful punch!" Reina said, wiping his mouth as he climbed out of the pile of wood, looking somewhat troubled.

Zephyr's normal attack had already exceeded the limit of what he could absorb. If he continued to fight, he had no chance of winning at all. The only thing he could do was to run away.

However, he didn't use the Black Emperor's ability to counterattack just now, because he was holding back a trump card to facilitate his escape.

Marco, who had transformed into his phoenix form, had already flown back to the pirate ship with Jozu.

"Marco? Jozu? Why are you back? Where's Reina?" Vista, who was cleaning up the naval soldiers, asked in surprise when he saw the two looking disheveled.

“He left behind to cover our retreat and sent us back first. Now is not the time to talk about this. Let’s prepare to set sail and escape! I’ll go inform Father!” Marco sighed, took off again, and flew towards the center of the battle between Newgate and Sengoku.

Vista was taken aback, not quite understanding the situation. He could only draw his sword repeatedly, cutting down several nearby marines, before asking Jozu, "Who did you encounter?"

“I don’t know him either, but the first mate said his name was something like… Zephyr!” Joz replied in a muffled voice.

Upon hearing Zefa's name, Vista's expression changed. They had encountered Zefa before, and they never expected to run into him again. This meant that leaving Reina to cover the rear would be dangerous!

While they were still worried about Reina, several explosions came from the cabin of the naval warship, and then the entire ship began to sink.

Sengoku, who was fighting Newgate, naturally noticed the unusual activity on the warship. Before he could find out what was going on, Marco flew over and shouted to Newgate, "Dad, Zephyr is on their ship! Reina has already started fighting him!"

Upon hearing Marco's news, Newgate's expression changed, and his gaze towards Sengoku immediately sharpened as he said, "Sengoku the Buddha... I really underestimated you!"

"Heh... I should be the one saying that!" Sengoku pointed to the sinking warship and said, "I didn't expect that even with Zephyr around, you guys still managed to launch a sneak attack! Whitebeard, you won't be so lucky next time we meet!"

He has lost all interest in fighting Whitebeard. If the entire warship sinks to the bottom of the sea, he, as a Devil Fruit user, will be in trouble.

Upon learning that Zephyr was also on the warship, Whitebeard naturally lost interest in continuing the fight. After returning to the pirate ship with Marco, he discovered that Reina had not returned.

"Marco, go check what's going on and tell Sengoku and Zephyr that I can give them a few lifeboats and I'm willing to exchange these naval soldiers for Reina!" Newgate had originally planned to throw those naval soldiers into the sea, but since Reina hadn't returned yet, he was probably captured by the navy.

"Heh... He's been captured twice in a row. Wait till he gets back, and I'll make fun of him!" Marco nodded with a smile, transformed into his phoenix form, and flew towards the naval warship.

Meanwhile, on the naval side, Sengoku was asking Zephyr what had happened.

"It was my carelessness. I didn't expect that pirate to be so cunning, using me to penetrate the warship!" Zephyr said apologetically to Sengoku.

Rewinding to earlier times, after Reina discovered that Marco had left, he began to consider how to escape.

Jumping into the sea to escape would be completely pointless. With Newgate tied up by Sengoku, if Zephyr were to attack the pirate ship, Marco, Jozu, and Vista would all be in danger.

So he had to do something to stall Zephyr so that the Whitebeard Pirates would have time to escape.

The plan was very simple: after luring Zephyr into the cabin, Reina began to fight seriously. However, during the battle, he intentionally or unintentionally damaged the warship. Finally, he used the absorbed energy to unleash his strongest attack, directly piercing the bottom of the warship and successfully falling into the sea to escape.

"I never imagined that guy's target wasn't me at all, but the warship! That's why he succeeded!" Zefa shook his head and said with a wry smile.

"Huh? Isn't he an ability user? What's the difference between doing this and suicide?" Sengoku asked, puzzled.

"This is also something that is still unclear. Akame Reina, who is suspected to be a Devil Fruit user, is not afraid of seawater and can even swim!" Zephyr said, recalling what happened at the port last time.

"Not afraid of seawater and seastone? Did you confirm that yourself?" Sengoku was taken aback. This discovery was quite unusual! If that was the case, he really couldn't let Reina escape so easily.

Zefa recounted his capture of Reina, emphasizing how Reina, carrying Seastone, swam back to shore and ambushed his adjutant.

"This……"

"Hey~ Navy, our boss said he's willing to provide you with some lifeboats and release your navy soldiers in exchange for Akame Reina! What do you think?"

Sengoku had just opened his mouth when he heard Marco's voice from outside.

"Red-Eyes Reina isn't in our hands. He smashed through the hull of the warship and fell into the sea. He should be back on your ship by now!" Sengoku glanced at Marco and said directly.

"Huh? He went back by himself?" Marco was taken aback. He glanced back at the pirate ship, but didn't see Reina. Unable to make up his mind, Marco had no choice but to fly back and report to Newgate.

"Huh? Reina isn't in his hands?" Newgate frowned, asking with some confusion.

"Dad, could it be a trick?" Joz stepped forward and asked.

Newgate shook his head and said, "Although Sengoku is cunning, he has no reason to deceive himself about this. Even if he doesn't agree to his hostage exchange conditions, Sengoku wouldn't lie like this! Marco, take the lifeboats and naval soldiers and send them to the Navy. Also, ask about the details of Reina's disappearance."

Marco nodded and set off again with the lifeboat and naval soldiers. This time, he also felt the seriousness of the matter and had no more joking thoughts.

Marco returned shortly after and told Whitebeard Newgate what Zephyr had said.

“Dad, that’s really strange! If he had just fallen into the sea, Reina should have been back by now!” Marco said, puzzled.

“How about I go down into the sea and take a look?” Vista suggested.

Everyone on the ship except him was a superhuman, so only he could go underwater.

Newgate nodded and said, "That's the only way. Be careful, and if anything happens, come out immediately. I'll be waiting for you on the sea!"

Bista is a reliable person, so Newgate trusts him quite a bit.

But not long after Vista entered the sea, he came out of the water. Tide River Newgate shouted, "Dad, we didn't find Reina down there, but quite a few marines seem to be searching for him on the seabed."

Chapter 35 The World Within the Lanternfish

"What the hell is this!" Reina, enduring the burning pain all over his body, climbed onto the wreckage of a broken ship, looked around, and couldn't help but curse, "Where the hell am I?"

All around were green and yellow seawater, with shipwrecks and buildings of unknown age scattered about. Not far away was a small island-like landmass.

But Reina knew that the greenish-yellow substance wasn't seawater at all, but rather the stomach water of the enormous lanternfish sea king that had sucked him in earlier. It was highly corrosive, and he had only been in it for a short while before his entire body felt like it had been scalded by flames.

Reina was just unlucky in this respect.

Originally engaged in battle with the Navy, he encountered Zephyr and managed to trick Zephyr once with his own abilities, punching through the bottom of the warship. However, he unexpectedly used too much force and hit a super-giant sea king that happened to be passing by.

Although Reina's attack couldn't actually injure this colossal sea king, it was enough to attract its attention. So, without even opening its mouth, the sea king gently inhaled Reina into its body, which is why Vista and the Navy couldn't find Reina.

There was no other way; he was already here. Reina had no choice but to start looking for a way out, or he would be doomed sooner or later if he stayed here.

Looking up, Reina saw a huge, glowing sphere illuminating the area as if it were daytime. He knew it was the glowing lantern on the head of the lanternfish.

"Anyway, let's figure out how to get to that island first..." Seeing the wooden hulls around him constantly corroding, Reina decided to run to the island that looked safer first.

"How big is this lanternfish? It even swallowed such a big island~ Could it have run into an island-eating fish?" Looking at the not-so-small island in front of him, Reina thought of the giant goldfish that specialized in swallowing islands.

"Roar~~" "Roar~~"

Upon arriving on the island, Reina was immediately surrounded by several dinosaurs.

"What...is this? A dinosaur?" Reina was a little confused. Wasn't he inside an anglerfish? Why was there something alive here? And a dinosaur at that?

Although he knew that due to the different magnetic fields between islands, some islands were still in the ancient dinosaur era, Reina still felt a bit absurd when he actually saw dinosaurs, especially in this situation.

"Hey... idiot, run! Otherwise you'll get eaten!" Just as Reina was thinking about whether to kill a few dinosaurs to fill his stomach, a voice suddenly came from not far away.

Startled, Reina quickly turned his head and saw a little girl with blond hair hiding behind a large rock, waving at him.

He never imagined that there were other humans living here besides himself.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Besides unlucky guys like him, there must have been other people who originally lived on the island, but were accidentally eaten up along with the island by this lanternfish.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" After dodging the dinosaur's attack, Reina temporarily lost interest in hunting dinosaurs and ran to the little girl's side, asking in surprise.

"Idiot, is this the time to talk about this? Let's think about how to escape these dinosaurs first! Although I really want to eat some dinosaur meat!" The little girl looked greedy as she pulled Reina along, running and looking for a hiding place.

"You saved me, so let me treat you to dinosaur meat!" Reina stopped, turned around to look at the three dinosaurs that had caught up with him, and said with a smile.

"Idiot, that's a dinosaur! It could eat you in one bite!" the little girl cried out in slight fear.

Reina smiled slightly but did not explain anything.

A minute later, the little girl stared at the three dinosaurs lying on the ground with her mouth agape, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"Finally... finally I can eat meat!" The little girl couldn't wait to pounce on the dinosaur meat and eat it right away.

A little while later, Reina and the little girl were eating dinosaur meat and chatting.

"What? You've lived here for over 150 years?" Upon learning that the other person had lived here alone for over 150 years, Reina was so surprised that the dinosaur meat in his mouth fell to the ground.

“Yes! It should be said that it has been almost 170 years!” Olga nodded, looking at the dinosaur meat that Reina had just dropped on the ground, and said with a pained expression.

"You're lucky you haven't gone crazy!" Reina couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he had to live alone in one place for over 170 years.

"That's how they live! They survive by picking fruit and vegetables from the woods every day!" Olga replied calmly.

"Can we get out of here?" Reina thought for a moment, something seemed off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he asked the question that concerned him most.

Olga glanced at Reina but didn't say anything, just silently ate the dinosaur meat in her hand.

"It seems there is indeed a way out, but she doesn't seem willing to tell me!" Reina thought to himself.

But that's normal. If you've lived here for over 170 years and finally a fellow countryman comes along, you wouldn't want him to leave, would you?