Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"It seems we can't reach an agreement, so we'll have to settle this with strength! Phoenix Mark - Hoof Strike!" Seeing this, Marco stopped talking and launched an attack on Ember.

While Marco and King were engaged in a fierce battle, Luffy, the Straw Hat Pirates, also started fighting Katakuri.

"I really didn't expect that we would be able to fight so soon. It's a pity that you are injured right now, and I have to capture you and take you back. Otherwise, it would be very interesting to have a fair fight with you!" Katakuri said with some emotion as he looked at the Straw Hat Boy in front of him.

Katakuri held back on Whole Cake Island because he sensed Luffy's will during their battle, so he didn't mind letting him go.

But the situation is different now. He has a reason to capture the Straw Hat crew and bring them back, so even though the Straw Hat Pirates are not at their peak, he has no intention of holding back.

"Luffy, why don't I take care of this guy?" Sanji, with a cigarette in his mouth, stepped forward and said when he saw Katakuri take out his weapon.

Of the entire pirate crew, only he and Franky had the lightest injuries.

Franky was not seriously injured because he had relied on General Franky in the previous battle.

Sanji's injuries were not serious because of Germa's battle suit and the exoskeleton he awakened during the battle.

"No need, I'll take care of this guy. You go help Nami and the others!" Luffy shook his head firmly and said.

"Then be careful!" Sanji said, glancing at Katakuri before turning to help Nami and the others.

Among the people Katakuri and King brought this time, there weren't many strong individuals, but they still posed a considerable threat to the Straw Hat crew, who had just gone through a major battle. Therefore, Sanji, eager to protect Nami and Robin, naturally went to their side immediately.

After Sanji left, Luffy didn't waste any words and immediately activated Gear Fourth: Snake Man form.

This battle is different from their previous one. They are now at sea, and as ability users, if they fall into the ocean, it's basically the end of the battle.

Therefore, the battle between the two was extremely intense and cautious. Neither side dared to use moves that were too powerful, because if they destroyed the pirate ship, it would be tantamount to mutual destruction.

While Luffy and his crew were fighting, Reina, who was on the front lines, spent his days idly drinking in a tavern.

Firstly, there were no members of the Whitebeard Pirates on the island besides him, so Reina didn't care much about the island's defenses. Secondly, after Whitebeard left, Reina had already promised the pirates on the island that they were in complete control of the place, and he stayed only to deal with those powerful extraterrestrial visitors.

Reina's reputation and strength far surpassed those of these pirates, so they wouldn't bother him often. Occasionally, when Reina was drinking in the tavern, a pirate would come over to say hello or have a drink with him.

When news reached Reina that the Straw Hat Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates had joined forces to defeat the Marines, Reina couldn't help but burst into laughter. Especially when he saw the intelligence report that Luffy had already awakened and activated his Nikka form, Reina felt an inexplicable joy.

"Perhaps... I should challenge that kid to a fight next time we meet!"

Reina knew that Luffy's strength at this point was not much different from that of an Emperor-level powerhouse, so he naturally became curious.

"Good morning, Lord Reina! You're here for drinks again today!" At this moment, a pirate walked into the tavern, saw Reina drinking, and greeted him with a smile.

This pirate was remembered by Reina because of his good drinking capacity. As for the pirate's fighting strength, Reina didn't pay much attention to it, but he figured the pirate couldn't be stronger than him.

"Oh, it's you! How's it going? Did you finish your patrol today?" Reina asked casually.

"Of course, but are those aliens scared of us? We haven't seen a single one for so long! Normally, we would have already started fighting!" The pirate, carrying a wine glass, said with a frustrated expression.

“You’re wrong. The opponent is stronger than you think. Otherwise, the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates wouldn’t have suffered such a crushing defeat! If you’re not careful, you might be caught off guard, and that would be no joke!” Reina shook his head and said.

"Lord Reina is right, that's why we patrol very carefully!" the pirate replied with a smile. "Then I won't disturb Lord Reina's enjoyment any longer. I'll go have a drink with my companions first!"

As he spoke, the pirate walked toward another table in the tavern, where his companions were. As for whether he was bragging to his companions about his relationship with Reina, Reina had no idea.

Not long after Reina had drunk enough, he was about to get up and leave when the tavern door was pushed open.

"Where is Lord Reina?" A pirate captain rushed in with a panicked expression and shouted loudly.

"I am Reina. What happened? Have those extraterrestrials attacked?" Reina asked, a glint in his eyes.

"No...no! It's our patrol teams that have returned. Three of them encountered the enemy, and only a few people escaped. The rest...I'm afraid they've been defeated!" The pirate captain lay on the ground, panting heavily, and shouted back.

"Where is the person who came back? Take me to see him!" Reina asked, his expression changing.

Chapter 823 Doubts

"Lord Reina, these are them!" The pirate captain said, pointing to several wounded pirates as he led Reina into the hall.

"Tell me, what happened to you?" Reina asked, casually finding a seat.

“Lord Reina, I am the lookout of the Extreme Pirates! We were on patrol as usual when our navigator noticed something unusual about the ocean currents and ordered us to stop!” A pirate who was less seriously injured looked at Reina and said, “But just after we stopped, those extraterrestrials suddenly appeared from the sea, catching us completely off guard. Fortunately, they were few in number, so we managed to repel them!”

"But when we were returning, we were attacked by those extraterrestrials again. The captain and the others were seriously injured, so they sent me, the only one who was not injured, back to report!"

The pirate spoke, his eyes filled with hatred, and said, "Our entire pirate crew, except for me, has perished. We beg Lord Reina to do us justice!"

“When you stayed behind, I told you that it was extremely dangerous to stay here and fight the extraterrestrials. You might even be wiped out! With my strength, I could indeed go out to sea to settle accounts with them, but once I leave, the rest of the people on this island will have no protection. What do you think I should do?” Reina asked calmly.

"Waaaaah..." Upon hearing this, the pirate finally couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Lord Reina!" said a pirate captain following behind Reina, "Now that they've made their move, does that mean they might attack us at any moment?"

"What about the others? Did they all encounter extraterrestrial visitors who suddenly appeared from the sea?" Reina asked after thinking for a moment.

If this is the case in all cases, then Reina must inform Whitebeard to be aware that the enemy can launch an attack from the sea.

"That's not the case. The three patrolling pirate crews were not far apart. They were the only ones who stopped on their own initiative, so the ones who escaped were not seriously injured. The other two pirate crews encountered ships from outer space, and as a result, apart from a few deserters, the rest were all wiped out!" The pirate captain shook his head and replied.

"Oh? Where's the map? Tell me their patrol location! Maybe they're planning something, and it was their sudden intrusion that led them to kill them!" Reina's eyes lit up as he asked.

"Lord Reina, you mean...?" The pirate captain was taken aback, looking at Reina with some suspicion, and asked, "You don't mean to go and take a look, do you?"

“That’s right. Instead of staying here waiting for them to attack, we should take the initiative, figure out what they’re up to, and then give them a good beating. Maybe we’ll gain more!” Reina nodded and said with a smile.

"But... what if they launch an attack while the adults are out? What will we do then?" the pirate captain asked worriedly.

“Even if I’m here, I can’t protect all of you. I can only hold off their stronger members! But as we said before, I will follow your orders here. You captains, discuss and see how to proceed!” Reina said after thinking for a moment.

"Well... alright! Please wait a moment, Lord Reina, I'll notify the other captains immediately!" Upon hearing this, the pirate captain had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Soon, the captains made their final decision.

Just as Reina had thought, upon hearing that there was an even greater reward, the pirates all chose to send Reina to check the situation.

"These are pirates!" Reina exclaimed, then summoned his hard shell and headed alone towards the direction where the patrolling pirate crew had encountered the extraterrestrial visitors.

"Give the order: until Lord Reina returns, everyone must remain on high alert and be ready for battle at any time!" After Reina left, the pirate captains immediately issued the highest level of defensive orders.

When Reina was still some distance from the incident site, he had Hard Shell submerge into the water. According to previous intelligence, some of the extraterrestrial visitors were enemies that could move in the ocean, so Reina had Hard Shell dive a certain distance to avoid being discovered by them.

Soon, Reina discovered something unusual in the ocean, as the currents were indeed quite strange.

"What on earth are these guys up to?"

Reina noticed that the surrounding ocean currents seemed to be attracted by something and were flowing rapidly in a certain direction, so he let the hard shell move with the direction of the current and decided to go and see.

But before Reina could get close to the source of the unusual ocean current, he discovered many extraterrestrial visitors wearing strange armor who were able to move freely in the ocean.

"Wait... what is that light...?" Just as Reina was considering whether to rush in, he suddenly discovered that a strange light was emanating from a certain place on the seabed, and that place was the source of the abnormal ocean current.

Most importantly, this light seemed familiar to Reina, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"This is... the light from the teleporter?" Suddenly, Reina remembered that when he saw it before, it was on the shore and during the day, so the light wasn't this obvious.

Now that they were in the deep sea, without sunlight, the light was particularly conspicuous, which is why he couldn't recall it for a moment.

"But why did these guys... send people to the bottom of the sea?" Reina was quite puzzled.

Even if they wanted to reinforce their troops, they could have just used the open teleportation method on the island they controlled! Why choose the deep seabed?

At this moment, a guess formed in Reina's mind: perhaps the enemy that sent this time was a group of people who were good at fighting in the sea, in order to prevent their ability users from using their abilities.

The battle between the two sides has been going on for quite some time, and those extraterrestrial visitors probably already knew that Devil Fruit users were afraid of seawater.

In the world of One Piece, Devil Fruit users occupy a very important position because they can unleash more combat power and cause greater damage to extraterrestrial visitors.

Therefore, setting the battlefield underwater would be an extremely difficult thing for the One Piece world.

After having made a guess, Reina was not in a hurry to find out, because if his guess was true, even he was not 100% sure he could escape if he was surrounded by enemies in the sea.

It's like fighting fish-men in the ocean; neither the Four Emperors nor the Marine Admirals can guarantee victory.

Chapter 824 Reina's Advice

Having formed a suspicion, Reina naturally wanted to confirm it, but the opponent's defense was too tight, making it impossible for him to get close.

After thinking about it, Reina summoned Liuliu again and asked it to try to go and see what was going on as a sea creature. Of course, if there was any danger, it could leave immediately. No matter how unrestrained the other party was in the water, it was definitely not as good as Liuliu and the others who originally lived in the sea.

Finding a secluded corner where the other party couldn't see him, Reina summoned Liu Liu and instructed him to approach the source of the abnormal ocean current, and to return immediately if he detected any danger.

The clever Liuliu was quite cunning. Instead of going directly to approach it, it found a smaller sea beast and herded it closer to the source of the abnormal current, making it look as if it was hunting its prey, and the prey was running away in a panic.

But before Liu Liu could get close, the extraterrestrial visitors who spotted them immediately attacked Liu Liu and the small sea creatures they had chased over. If Liu Liu hadn't been prepared, they probably would have been seriously injured.

"The security is so tight? Is it really the only option to force our way in?" Reina, who had been watching all this from a distance, frowned and muttered to himself.

He was somewhat reluctant to force his way in, because he had no information about the other side. If there were powerful figures present, not only would he fail to gather any information, but he would also alert them.

After some consideration, Reina decided to go back. He planned to contact Whitebeard and discuss the matter before taking any further action.

When Reina returned to the island, the pirates there breathed a long sigh of relief. Although Reina might not be of much help in a real fight, his presence was like a stabilizing force, calming their hearts and minds.

Seeing the pirate crew's warm welcome, even though he knew why they were doing this, Reina couldn't help but feel a little smug and told them the information he hadn't originally planned to share with them.

"So... what are those extraterrestrial visitors summoning at the bottom of the sea?" Upon hearing this, all the pirate captains fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, Reina knew that there must be many spies sent by other forces, which made him slightly regret sharing the information.

But then he thought about it again. Dealing with extraterrestrial visitors definitely requires close cooperation from everyone, and to be honest, he hadn't actually found out any important information, so it didn't really matter.

"I know that many of you are from other factions. I'm sharing this information with you not because I want you to keep it from spreading, but because I don't want you to do it secretly. Just contact the people behind you openly. Don't worry... I'm telling you this because I really don't care if you spread it. After all, extraterrestrials are the common enemy of our entire world, whether it's the Navy or pirates!"

Now that the intelligence has been shared, B Reina still needs to put on a show. In case some idiot contacts the forces behind them, it would be an unexpected bonus.

"As expected of the vice-captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, Lord Akame Reina, you are truly magnanimous! You guys, if you really have spies from other forces, I advise you to confess as soon as possible!" A captain first praised Reina, then said to the surrounding pirates with a dark face.

After all, the Whitebeard Pirates gave them this island. If it were to fall into the hands of other powerful forces, wouldn't they, as free pirates, become a laughing stock?

"Don't worry, as I said, we won't pursue this matter, and you don't need to reveal your identities! But there's one thing I need to make clear beforehand! Although there are no longer any members of our Whitebeard Pirates stationed here, this is a place that our Whitebeard Pirates have given to these free pirates to live in. You can pass on intelligence, and you can stay here permanently, but you can't cause trouble or lead the forces behind you to get involved here!"

"Otherwise, they'll be going against the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Reina's words were resolute, winning cheers from the pirates while making several pirates with ulterior motives feel uneasy.

On the day Reina contacted Whitebeard, many of the captains also began to secretly pass on information.

Although Reina said he wouldn't pursue the matter, he still used his clone technique to remember those who were secretly contacting the outside world, thinking that they might come in handy in the future.

"You mean the extraterrestrial visitors are summoning something from the seabed? It's very likely a force that can fight in the ocean, just like the fish-men?" Whitebeard asked in surprise after receiving Reina's intelligence.

"I'm not sure yet. The defenses there are quite tight. Although I'm not an ability user, fighting in the open sea still has a significant impact on me, so I didn't try to force my way in!" Reina shook his head and replied.

"I see. No wonder those extraterrestrial visitors have been so calm lately. They've been secretly causing trouble underwater!" Whitebeard chuckled. "I'll have Naga take her people to search around the island. If they really have summoned a force capable of fighting underwater, then we'll have no choice but to ask Fishman Island for help!" Whitebeard nodded and said.