Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

He didn't think Luffy would go back, and besides fighting Shiki, he would also have to fight the Navy. Luffy and Robin alone probably wouldn't be able to handle it!

Especially Robin, if something happens to her in the East Blue, things will get really serious, and that kid Reina will definitely go crazy.

Chapter 496 The Straw Hat Crew Gathers

East China Sea.

"Klack... Captain, what's next? Proceed according to plan?" Indigo asked Shiki the Golden Lion with a strange laugh.

"Hehehehe... What's the situation with the Navy?" Shiki asked, laughing loudly.

“Everything is going according to plan! But it seems only one general has arrived, and there’s no news of Garp!” Indigo shook his head and said.

"Oh? They only sent one general?" Shiki, cigar in hand, seemed somewhat dissatisfied, frowning as he said, "Then take him out first! Then massacre Loguetown!"

“Yes, Captain!” Indigo nodded and replied.

Little did he know that Garp was in the East Blue at that moment, and had already been chasing after him in that direction.

After the Golden Lion attacked the East China Sea, the Navy naturally learned of the news immediately and held an emergency meeting.

According to Sengoku, the Golden Lion has been hiding for so long and is now causing trouble again. This is definitely not the first time; there will surely be follow-up measures. Therefore, they must be extremely vigilant, otherwise, what follows may be difficult to deal with.

However, regardless of what Shiki plans to do next, now that he has taken action, the Navy cannot pretend they didn't see anything. So, after discussion, it was decided that Admiral Akainu would be dispatched, and Garp, who was on vacation, would be sent along.

Akainu's actions were naturally discovered by Shiki's men, but they were unaware that Garp was on vacation in the East Blue. Feeling underestimated, Shiki planned to confront Akainu in the East Blue and teach the Marines a deeper lesson, showing them the price of underestimating them.

The once peaceful East China Sea has now become turbulent, and a major war seems imminent.

"So my opinion is that I don't recommend you go there now! This kind of thing can be left to the Navy to handle, and they won't allow Shiki to act recklessly!" After analyzing the situation for Luffy and Robin, Rayleigh pushed up his glasses and said with a smile.

"But……"

"Luffy, let's listen to Rayleigh! We can also see what Shiki does next. If the Navy doesn't stop him, then we can go. With Little Fatty here, the two of us can get there quickly!" Robin spoke before Luffy could even begin.

"Alright!" Luffy always takes his crewmates' words very seriously, so since Robin had spoken up, and Rayleigh, who was like his master, was also there, Luffy didn't say anything more.

Among the Straw Hat crew heading towards the Sabaody Archipelago, Sanji was the most anxious. He was most worried about the Baratie, the sea restaurant, because it was the softest spot in his heart, and he absolutely could not allow anything to happen to it.

Nami, who was also worried, was a little better off because she knew that her sister Nojiko, Bellemere, and Genji were all on Crescent Island. So, although she was worried about the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, she wasn't as anxious as Sanji.

Therefore, Sanji was the first to arrive at the Sabaody Archipelago.

"Yo~ It's Sanji! You're the first one here!" As soon as Sanji opened the door to Shakky's shop, he heard Shakky's slightly teasing voice.

"Aunt Xia, isn't Luffy here?" Compared to two years ago, Sanji has matured a bit.

"It's not time yet, is it? He's still training with my old man! But Little Robin has already gone to find him!" Shakky said with a smile.

"Oh? Miss Robin has already arrived?" Sanji immediately perked up and asked excitedly.

Shakky smiled, gave him a coordinate, and Sanji left without even putting down his luggage.

The Straw Hat crew members arrived one by one, and Shakky gave them their coordinates and then left them to their own devices.

After Brook, as the Soul King, also took the coordinates, the Straw Hat crew finally reunited after many years.

Upon seeing everyone, Luffy's initial worries about his hometown eased considerably. After nearly two years apart, they naturally had a lot to say to each other.

"Luffy, you know about what happened with Shiki lately, right?" After catching up, Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and asked in a deep voice.

Luffy nodded and replied, "Ah~ I've already heard about it!"

What are you planning to do?

"Rayleigh and Robin both advised against me going!" Luffy said somewhat helplessly.

“That’s true. From where we are now, if we rush back… it’ll probably be over by then!” Sanji sighed and said.

“Robin has a little fatso!” Luffy shook his head and said.

"Little Fatty?" Everyone looked at Robin with some surprise, as they didn't know who Little Fatty was either.

They might have seen Little Fatty before, but they didn't know his name, so when Luffy mentioned Little Fatty, they were completely confused.

"Yes, Little Fatty is a contracted summoning beast left to me by my father. It's a turtle-like sea beast, but it's not as good as my father's. It can only carry about three people at most," Robin explained with a nod.

"Mmm! Robin is amazing! She can summon a giant turtle with a bang, and she can even cross the Calm Belt!" Luffy exclaimed vividly from the side.

Usopp and Chopper were immediately drawn to the scene, and the three of them kept urging Robin to summon the little fat man. Helpless, Robin had no choice but to summon the little fat man for them to see.

"Huh~ this turtle..." Nami and the others were a little surprised when they saw Little Fatty, because they had seen him before.

During the time they left Alabasta, this turtle often appeared around their ship. At that time, Robin had just acquired Little Fatty, so she often summoned it to build a bond. After they went to Skypiea, she stopped summoning it.

"Actually, if you want to go, you can ask Hancock for help. Their Kuja pirate ships can also sail in the Calm Belt, but it's not as safe as the Navy's!" Seeing the Straw Hat crew discussing whether to return to the East Blue, Rayleigh couldn't help but chime in.

"Huh? Hancock? Who is that?" Usopp and the others asked in surprise.

“Boa Hancock, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, is known as the Empress!” Robin explained with a smile, “She and Luffy have a good relationship!”

"What? The Empress? The Empress who is known as the most beautiful pirate? You bastard Luffy... what did you do to such a beauty?" Sanji was the one who reacted the most when he heard the name of the Empress.

"Huh? That's right! Hancock and the others live in the Calm Belt, so they must have a way to get through it!" Luffy said happily.

As for Sanji... he was completely ignored.

“But… if we go to the East Blue now, besides Shiki, we will inevitably encounter the Navy. This time, the Navy has dispatched Admiral Akainu!” Robin looked at her companions and said softly.

Chapter 497 The Golden Lion's Handiwork

Just as the Straw Hat crew was discussing whether or not to return to the East Blue, Admiral Akainu, who had already departed from Marine Headquarters, was about to arrive in the waters of the East Blue.

"Sir, the surveillance ship is currently monitoring the floating island where Shiki the Golden Lion is located!" On the deck, a Marine soldier was reporting to Akainu.

"How much longer until we arrive!?" Akainu asked expressionlessly.

"At most three hours!" the soldier said after making a estimate.

"Okay! Full speed ahead!" Akainu nodded and gave the order.

"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted and turned to leave.

But they didn't know that a higher, floating island was approaching them from the sky not far away.

"Kala-kala... Captain, target spotted!" Indigo, using the telescope on the sky island, spotted the naval warship not far away and said to Shiki with a sly laugh.

"Hmm!" Shiki the Golden Lion, sitting in the main seat, nodded and then waved his arm.

Not far from the sky island where they were, there were several huge rocks that, as Shiki waved his hand, suddenly seemed to lose weight and fell rapidly downwards. Below him was a naval warship.

Soon, the navy also spotted the rocks falling towards them.

"M-Master!" A Marine soldier scrambled to Akainu's side, shouting, "There's...there's a meteorite!"

Akainu raised his head, squinted at the falling rocks, and said in a deep voice, "Shiki the Golden Lion..."

"Boom boom boom..."

Despite Akainu's constant attempts to stop them, he alone was unable to block all the rocks, and eventually the rocks fell and struck the Navy's warship.

"Ah~~"

"Boom!"

"Ah~~"

After the explosions and screams subsided, only the wreckage of the naval warships and the bodies of some naval soldiers remained on the sea.

In the air, Shiki the Golden Lion looked somewhat bored at the wreckage floating on the sea, yawned, and said, "That Indigo... he shouldn't be able to stop us now! Let's head straight to Loguetown! I'll show the world... what fear is!"

“As you wish… Captain! Klklkl…” Indigo, standing next to Shiki, replied with a sly laugh.

After they left, several figures landed on the wreckage in the sea.

"My lord!" Bros, Akainu's lieutenant, looked at Akainu with a grim expression.

"Notify the nearest branch and have them send a rescue team over!" Akainu replied, his face also turning ashen.

Although he and several of his subordinates were largely unharmed, their warships were reduced to wreckage, which was a slap in the face for him.

Soon, news of Akainu's warship being destroyed and rendered combat ineffective spread. Garp, who had been dragging his feet in Windmill Village, had no choice but to take the matter seriously and ordered his subordinates to set sail immediately for Loguetown.

Their reason for going to Loguetown was simple: Shiki the Golden Lion had announced to the whole world that Loguetown was their next target.

This was an incredibly reckless operation; it revealed their objective to the Navy, but the Navy was powerless to stop it.

However, because of this, Luffy's Straw Hat crew has decided to head to the East Blue and has received help from Hancock, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Even earlier than them were Reina of the Whitebeard Pirates and Ace, the second division commander.

When Akainu was defeated and Shiki intended to attack Loguetown, Ace couldn't sit still any longer, because the town also held great significance for him.

Although he wasn't born in the East China Sea, he grew up there!

Loguetown is also the place where his father, the Pirate King Roger, was born and died, so it is very important to him.

With Reina's strength greatly increased this time, he naturally wanted to go out and cause some trouble, so he accompanied Ace on his journey.

With the help of the hard shell, their journey to the East China Sea will not be slow, and let's not forget that Marco is also in the East China Sea at this time.

As for Whitebeard, after Ace and Reina set off, the Moby Dick also set sail again. No one knew what he was planning to do. However, as they left, Zephyr sighed deeply.

The Navy... is in trouble!

“Teacher! Dad has been very kind to us. He has never asked us to do anything!” Binz, seeing Zefa’s expression, couldn’t help but speak up.

“I understand. Newgate is a strong man. He can take care of the weak and sympathize with them, but he would never force a weak person, even if that person is a former opponent. But that little bastard Reina is not so kind. Do you think he let us eat and drink here for free without any purpose?” Zephyr said, pursing his lips.

"Huh? Really? I thought the first mate was a nice guy!" Binz said, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Idiot, do you know what it means to spend a fortune to buy a horse's bones? With us here... sigh... never mind, let's go! We're no longer in the Navy, these things are no longer our concern!" Zephyr said halfway through his sentence, then shook his head and walked back. Binz and Ein, who were standing nearby, didn't understand, but they still quickly stepped forward to help Zephyr leave.

Having completely broken away from the Navy, Zephyr had aged terribly. Even when training the captains, he would just stand there and talk instead of teaching them by example as he used to.

On the other hand, even with the help of the Kuja Pirates, crossing the Calm Belt was still a very dangerous task. Luffy and his crew encountered attacks from Sea Kings more than once along the way. Fortunately, they were strong enough to kill the attacking Sea Kings time and time again and escape in a hurry.

However, due to the Sea Kings, they seem to have lost their course and can only head towards the East Blue under Nami's command.

Moreover, they were unaware that among the many deceptive floating islands in the East Blue, on one not far from them sat the mastermind behind this East Blue attack, the great pirate Shiki the Golden Lion.

Marineford.

Upon receiving news that Akainu's warship had been destroyed, Sengoku was so angry that he almost went to cause trouble for Shiki himself, but he was persuaded to stop by Vice Admiral Tsuru.