Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"Do you need me to handle this?" Ace looked up at the distant warship and asked.

“No need, there’s no point in getting entangled with them! The navy has plenty of warships like that!” Reina shook his head and said.

But seeing them escape, the warship seemed even more smug. It not only quickly caught up with them but also shouted at them. However, the distance was too far, and Reina couldn't hear what they were saying.

"What do they seem to be saying?" Reina turned his head to look at Ace and said.

"I guess they just want you to stop so we can catch you, or something like that!" Ace shrugged and replied.

"Oh...should we listen to them?" Reina asked after thinking for a moment.

Ace's face darkened, and he asked, "Does the first mate plan to go to Marineford or the Deepsea Prison?"

"Ah~ I was planning to listen to what they were trying to say! We're bored anyway, so why don't we rob a warship and sell it on the next island?" Reina said after thinking for a moment.

Ace finally understood why there were rumors on the island before they set sail that the vice-captain had gone crazy with poverty and was now even eyeing naval warships.

"Ahem... You have no idea how much money the Doctor can spend. If we don't get some money back, we won't even be able to eat on Xuan Yue Island!" Reina quickly explained, seeing what Ace was thinking from his expression.

Ace nodded blankly. Actually, he really wanted to say, "Didn't you just extort billions from that underground tycoon recently? Why are you broke again now?"

Besides, if they were really out of money, Whitebeard would have already taken them out to rob someone.

Chapter 465 Arrival in Zou

Watching the warships recede into the distance, Reina sighed. Another huge amount of Pele had slipped through his fingers!

Ace, standing to the side, was both amused and exasperated. His Whitebeard Pirates didn't seem to be that poor!

"You! You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household!" Reina said, giving Ace a slightly resentful look.

He knew that his image was now likely to be completely ruined.

If he could bring down the Whitebeard Pirates' flag, he would have loved to take it down and let others come after him, then he could collect exorbitant fees.

Fortunately, the hardened shell was not slow, so it did not take long for them to find Elephant.

"How...how are we going to get up there?" Ace asked in surprise, looking at the enormous elephant leg in front of him.

“Climb up! What else? You want me to carry you up?” Reina said, pursing his lips.

Ace's lips twitched involuntarily. Although he hadn't initially thought that way, being rejected like this still left him speechless.

"Alright, young man, you can climb slowly on your own! I'll go first!" Reina smiled slightly and used Moonwalk to fly up to Zou on Zunesha's body.

"I must practice Moonwalk when I get back!" Ace made up his mind as he watched Reina leave.

As Reina quickly climbed onto the elephant's back, the first thing he saw was their simple defensive fortifications.

"Hmm? There's no one on guard again! They've been living peacefully for too long!" Looking at the fortifications that should have been guarded, Reina shook his head and jumped over them.

Beyond the fortifications lay a forest, and beyond that, the city of the Mink Tribe. Reina had been there before, so it wasn't unfamiliar to him.

However, he hadn't walked far in the forest when he noticed that Mink were approaching him from all sides.

"Ah~ is that Wanda?" Reina looked up at the dog girl running towards him and asked with a smile.

"Is this Lord Reina? What brings you here?" The one Reina called Wanda was a Mink tribe of war beasts, responsible for diplomacy and defense, and subordinate to Duke Inuarashi. Reina had known her since the time he came here.

“I came here to see Inuarashi and Nekomamushi about something. They haven’t left yet, have they?” Reina asked with a smile.

“No, both of you are here, but… it’s daytime now. The Duke is in the city, and Cat Viper is sleeping in the Whale Forest! One of them is in charge of the daytime, and the other is in charge of the nighttime!” Wanda said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Hahaha... These two guys... have they really gotten to this point? Seriously... Go wake up Cat Viper! Our old friend is here, and you still dare to sleep!" Reina said with a loud laugh.

“Okay, I’ll have someone notify Boss Cat Viper right away!” Wanda said with a smile upon hearing this.

If it were anyone else, she would never bother Nekomamushi, but Reina is different. Even if Duke Inuarashi and Nekomamushi saw him, they would have to respectfully call him vice-captain. That's why Wanda agreed so readily.

After a while, led by Wanda, Reina arrived at the Mink Tribe's city. In the center was their city hall, where Inuarashi was waiting for Reina.

"Oh, right, Wanda, I have a companion. He climbed up by himself, and it will probably take him a while. Have someone meet him at the main gate!" After seeing Inuarashi, Reina remembered that Ace hadn't arrived yet, so he said to Wanda beside him.

“That Red Panda guy… has he deserted his post again? I know! Carrot, go to the gate. If any humans come by, ask if they are Lord Reina’s companions. If so, bring them over!” Wanda nodded and then spoke to the rabbit-like mink who had been following him.

"Yes!"

"Wait! Is this how you distinguish humans? What if they're enemies? That's incredibly careless!"

The rabbit-like furry tribe member known as Carrot nodded and was about to leave when Reina stopped her.

“My crewmates have the Whitebeard Pirates’ insignia on their backs and wear cowboy hats with crying and laughing faces on them. You should be able to recognize them easily!” Reina said to Carrot.

"Go, discern carefully, and don't act rashly!" Wanda said, nodding as she saw Carrot looking at her.

“She’s a member of our Musketeers. She’s responsible for relaying messages between His Majesty the Duke and Boss Cat Viper!” Wanda explained with a smile when she saw Reina staring at Carrot.

"You two, have you reached the point where you need a messenger?" Reina asked Inuarashi, who came forward to greet him, while laughing.

"Haha... You know how annoying that stinky cat is, so I don't even want to see him now!" Inuarashi said with a laugh.

"Hmph, you think I wanted to see you? If the first mate hadn't come, I wouldn't have bothered coming!" Just then, a stout figure quickly approached, followed by several Mink.

"Hey~ Cat Viper, didn't Wanda say you were sleeping? You're here so soon?" Reina greeted Cat Viper with a smile.

"Isn't this the first mate?" Facing Reina, Cat Viper immediately put on a smiling face and replied.

“Let’s go, it’s not convenient to talk here. Also… there are some things we should discuss after my companions arrive!” Reina nodded and walked towards the city hall.

Upon hearing this, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi immediately followed, each accompanied by several Mink Tribe members.

"Speaking of which... when did you two start acting like this?" From the moment they walked in from outside the city hall, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi hadn't stopped arguing in the short distance. If it weren't for the Mink Tribe members behind them stopping them, they probably would have already started fighting.

"Hmph!" Upon hearing Reina's words, the two of them simultaneously snorted and turned their heads to the other side.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered with you guys. I came here this time because I have some things I want to talk to you about, and I'd like to see if you two can help!" Reina said, rubbing his forehead with one hand, looking a bit of a headache.

"The first mate can just tell me if there's anything, Inuarashi (Nekoviken) definitely won't be able to handle it!" The two pointed at each other and said in unison.

"What? You're saying someone can't fix it?"*2

Sure enough, because of this, the two started arguing again, and then their respective mink tribes behind them began to try to persuade them to stop.

"I mean... you two aren't doing this on purpose, are you? Trying to get rid of me?" Reina stroked his chin, looked at the two of them, and asked with narrowed eyes.

Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, who were arguing, both shivered and quickly separated as if nothing had happened.

"I wonder what brings the first mate here this time?" Inuarashi glanced at Reina cautiously before asking.

Reina took out a dark, metallic-looking pill and a plain, slightly reddish pill, tossing them to Inuarashi and Nekomamushi respectively, saying, "This is a mutable metal we found during an adventure. The doctor researched it and created these pills! After taking them, you can transform whenever you feel moonlight, and the increase in strength is incredibly powerful!"

"You can transform just by sensing moonlight?" Inuarashi and Nekomamushi both changed color and looked at Reina in surprise.

The other Mink following behind the two also looked surprised. They knew that even their Sulong form required a full moon, yet after taking this, they could transform under ordinary moonlight.

"That's right! But this kind of thing has too many flaws! First of all, it is made from metal. As you should know, ordinary metals are not edible for living organisms, and this mutated metal has even greater side effects! It cannot be exposed to light; it will explode if stimulated by a strong light source!"

"The one Inuarashi has is the first-generation product, which basically retains the ability to mutate completely, but the side effects are the same: if you eat it, you'll die in the light! The one Nekomamushi has is the second-generation product, which has fewer side effects. Although it can still stimulate the human body to transform, its strength has decreased a lot! And if you consume too much... you'll still die in the light!"

Reina nodded and said.

The two looked down at the pills in their hands, then the cat viper looked up and asked, "So, what is the purpose of the first mate's visit...?"

"I didn't bring you here to test the drug, so don't look like you're ready to sacrifice yourself! It's just that the Doctor has encountered some bottlenecks in his research on the third generation, and I thought of you because you can transform into your Sulong form. So I came to you hoping you could arrange for a few Mink Tribe members who are proficient in using the Sulong form to come back to Xuan Yue Island with me to assist the Doctor's research!"

“Of course, if the doctor can develop a product that completely eliminates the side effects, I will provide some to you for free! Because the raw material for making this is mutated metal, our reserves are not much!” Reina explained with a smile.

"Can you guarantee safety?" Inuarashi asked.

"Nonsense, I'm just asking you to assist in the research, not to be my guinea pigs. I can just grab a few pirates to be my guinea pigs, why would I need your people?" Reina rolled his eyes and said.

"Hehehe... No problem, I'll ask around and see who wants to go!" Upon hearing this, the Cat Viper immediately said with a grin, "First mate, can I have this thing?"

"What do you want it for? Although the things you have have been improved a lot, and eating one won't kill you, the increase in strength is limited. For someone like you who can transform into a Sulong, it's completely dispensable!" Reina rolled his eyes and asked.

"First mate... how much will this pill increase my combat power?" Inuarashi asked, holding a bag of pills in his hand.

“I estimate… it won’t be worse than your Sulong forms, and might even be stronger!” Reina said after thinking for a moment. “At least in terms of defense, it’s stronger than your Sulong forms!”

"What?" All the mink were shocked; they hadn't expected Reina to say that.

It's important to understand that their strength after transforming into Sulong is completely different from their normal form.

"First mate, I want to keep this one too!" Inuarashi said immediately after hearing Reina's words.

"What are you all doing? That thing in your hand is practically ore; eating it will kill you! Are you keeping it to commit suicide? Or are you planning to never see the light of day again after using it?" Reina rolled his eyes and said.

Chapter 466 Duke Inuarashi and Boss Nekomamushi

When Ace finally climbed onto Zunesha's back after much difficulty, he found a little girl who looked like a rabbit eating a carrot and looking at him with curiosity.

"Excuse me, is this Zou?" Ace asked politely.

“Yes!” Carrot looked at Ace with curiosity, nodded, and said, “Are you Lord Reina’s companion?”

"Huh? Did the first mate send you to pick me up?" Ace nodded and replied with a smile.

“But… he said you would be wearing a hat with the Whitebeard Pirates’ insignia on you, but I didn’t see any of that!” Gallo nodded and said.

Upon hearing this, Ace smiled, pulled his cowboy hat up from behind, turned around to reveal the Whitebeard Pirates tattoo on his back, and said, "This is it!"

He had climbed so hard that he had put his hat on his back, so Carrot couldn't see it.

"Yes!! Karuchu! I am Carrot of the Mink Tribe, welcome! Lord Reina has already gone to the City Hall!" After confirming, Carrot immediately nodded and smiled as she spoke.

"Ah~ Hello, I am Portgas D. Ace, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates! Thank you for coming to pick me up. Please take good care of me!" Ace bowed in response to the other party's politeness.

"Hehehe... You're really interesting. You're Ace, right? Let's go!" Carrot had never met such an interesting human before. After laughing, she turned and walked towards the city.

The two chatted and laughed along the way, and Carrot heard a lot about the outside world from Ace, which made her very excited.

"Does Carrot also want to leave here and venture out into the world?" Ace naturally saw through the little rabbit's thoughts and asked with a smile.

“Yes! I also want to go out and become a great warrior like Pedro!” Gallo nodded and said.

“Pedro?” Ace was taken aback and asked, “Who is he?”

“Pedro is the leader of the Knights of Fame, he’s incredibly powerful. He once left Zou and ventured out into the world!” Carrot spoke of her idol with utter admiration.

"Oh, I see! But can't you just go out by yourself?" Ace asked, puzzled.

"No! Wanda won't let me go out!" The little rabbit shook its head and said sadly.

"Hahaha... It's okay, maybe it's because Carrot is still young. When you grow up, you will definitely become a powerful fighter!" Ace said with a smile.