Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

Chapter 972 Reputation

Unlike the Navy, which was very cautious about Luffy and his crew's appearance, neither Luffy and his crew nor Reina took a small Navy branch seriously.

All they need to do now is procure supplies and relax. After all, they've been sailing at sea for several days, and they need to unwind on the island before continuing their journey.

However, when the meeting time was approaching, Reina discovered that apart from him and Robin, none of the Straw Hat crew members had come!

"Does your partner often arrive this late?" Reina asked Robin.

Robin shrugged and replied with a smile, "Not often! Occasionally something comes up and we're delayed, but when something really happens, they're very reliable! As for other times... let's not be too demanding!"

"Robin! Uncle Reina!" Just then, Nami, Sanji, Franky and the others walked over.

Franky and Sanji were covered in the supplies they had purchased.

"Huh~ Luffy and the others haven't come back yet?" Nami, who had reunited with Reina and Robin, looked around and asked.

“Obviously!” Reina shrugged and said, “Maybe they just got carried away playing and lost track of time. No need to worry too much!”

Although Reina said that, Nami was still a little worried and planned to have Sanji put the things back on the ship before going out to find Luffy and the others.

"Hahaha... Okay! But we..."

"Boom~~~"

Reina had intended to suggest going together, but before he could finish speaking, a loud explosion rang out from the town on the island.

"Could it be that Luffy... messed with someone again?" Sanji, who had just put down his things, looked up at the direction of the explosion and said with a helpless expression.

"If he causes trouble again this time, I'll beat him to a pulp!" Nami said angrily.

He was clearly instructed before setting off, yet he still caused such a commotion. Now, even if the Navy wanted to pretend they didn't see it, it would be impossible. Moreover, Luffy has very likely provoked the Navy.

Although this is the New World, the situation here is clearly different from before, and it would be unwise to provoke the Navy at this time.

“Let’s go take a look. Now is not the time to jump to conclusions. Maybe it’s not Luffy after all!” Reina said with a smile.

"No, I'm sure that wherever Luffy is, it's definitely him!" Sanji shook his head and replied.

Franky and Nami were left to guard the Sunny and prepare for departure, while Reina, Robin, and Sanji headed towards the explosion. Before they even reached the location of the explosion, they saw Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Jinbe, and the others fighting the Marines while retreating.

"Luffy, it really is you! How did you mess with the Marines again?" Sanji shouted as soon as he saw him.

"It's none of my business!" Luffy said, feeling wronged. "Those Marines attacked us without warning!"

It turns out that Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were searching for some strange food and novelties they had never seen before in the town when they stumbled upon a group of pirates selling treasure maps.

They originally intended to buy the treasure map, which is normal for pirates. However, the treasure map the seller was offering seemed to be fake, just a way to fool Luffy and his crew. Jinbe happened to be passing by and discovered this, so he decided to take Luffy and his crew away.

But those pirates weren't going to let Luffy, this big white sheep, go for nothing.

However, before they could make a move, they were stopped by the Marines who had been following Luffy and his crew.

The town's marines had already spotted Luffy when he landed, and to prevent the new Yonko from causing trouble, they specially arranged for a squad of marines to follow them. If Luffy had any plans to attack the island, they would report it immediately so that the captain of the marine branch could be prepared.

So when the Marines saw that the pirates wanted to attack Luffy, they immediately objected. If they angered the new Yonko and he decided to attack the island, that would be terrible.

Unfortunately, Luffy was unaware that when the Marines suddenly appeared and captured the group of pirates selling treasure maps, Luffy thought he had been discovered as well, and he and Usopp and the others planned to escape.

As a result of various unexpected events and coincidences, Luffy and his crew not only caused a huge commotion, but also accidentally detonated the Navy's gunpowder depot, causing a violent explosion.

Although things have come to this point, the Navy hasn't actually attacked Luffy. They were just testing Luffy's reaction. When they saw that Luffy and his crew seemed to be planning to leave, they thought the sun had come out and they were back to normal.

Led by the Navy Captain, they launched a direct pursuit of Luffy and his crew.

"A mere colonel dares to attack you?" Reina, who had reunited with Luffy, looked at the pursuing Marine branch colonel and asked in surprise, "Aren't they too cocky?"

"Huh? Isn't it normal for the Navy to capture pirates? Do they have to differentiate based on rank?" Luffy asked, puzzled.

"Heh... That's true for ordinary pirates! But when have you ever seen an ordinary navy launch a nationwide manhunt for our Whitebeard Pirates? Unless they're elite vice admirals, they'll avoid us when they see our pirate flag!" Reina said softly. "So, any captain who dares to attack you is either a madman or someone whose sense of justice has clouded their judgment! You need to tell them that there are many people on this sea whom a mere captain like him cannot afford to mess with!"

Luffy didn't understand Reina's words, but Jinbe, who was standing next to him, felt a lot. Whether he was with the Fishman Pirates or the Whitebeard Pirates, at least one colonel would never dare to pursue him.

Only Luffy doesn't care about these things, which is why he retreated after encountering the Navy.

"Alright, Father, let's leave now!" Despite knowing Reiner's plan, Robin still felt that Luffy's choice was not wrong.

Luffy isn't the kind of guy who enjoys fighting, especially meaningless battles; he won't just throw a punch.

“Alright then, whatever you say!” Reina shrugged and replied.

However, his inaction does not mean that the navy can launch an attack against him.

The naval captain, who had become somewhat arrogant, felt that he was invincible!

After all, even within the Marine Headquarters, not many people can do something like chasing after the Four Emperors.

But just as he was about to give the order to attack and continue the pursuit of Luffy and the others who had stopped, Reina, who had activated his Sharingan, only glanced at him, and made him tremble all over and speechless.

"You...you are..." The Marine Captain looked at Reina's bloodshot eyes, and a name suddenly flashed through his mind. "The vice-captain of the Whitebeard Pirates...the great pirate Akame Reina!"

"Since you know me... then get lost!" Reina said softly.

Chapter 973 Giant Mechanical Creature

“According to the log pointer, we’re on the right track!” Nami stood on the second deck of the Sunny, looking at the log pointer in her hand, nodded, and said.

Several days have passed since they left the Calm Belt. After the little incident on the island, Nami dared not stay on any other island, fearing that Luffy would cause trouble again and delay their journey.

After all, they didn't know what they would experience on their journey to Future Island. Not only was Reina worried about the situation in the North Blue, but the Straw Hat crew was also quite concerned about the situation there.

Those currently in the North Blue are all friends whom Luffy acknowledges. If something were to happen to them, Luffy would likely be extremely upset.

So they didn't waste any time along the way, following the guidance of the log pointer and heading towards Future Island.

"Ugh, so boring!" Luffy exclaimed again, as usual.

But no one, including Reina, paid any attention to him. Since they started their journey, Luffy had to shout this a few times every day.

Sometimes Reina admires Luffy; the guy's thought process is really strange.

If he hadn't encountered the Rocks Pirates when he first transmigrated, but instead met Luffy according to the progression of the One Piece world, he probably would have found it very difficult to refuse Luffy's invitation to become his crewmate.

"Look, what's that?!" Just then, Usopp, who was standing on the mast looking out, suddenly pointed ahead and shouted.

Everyone looked in the direction Usopp was pointing, and saw a huge waterspout appear directly in front of them. If they didn't dodge, they would probably crash into it.

"Quick...get out of the way, Jinbe!" Nami, the navigator, shouted in a panic.

As a navigator, she had no idea that the waterspout had appeared; it was as if it had suddenly appeared, which was very unusual.

But now is not the time to talk about that; the most important thing is to avoid the waterspout ahead.

She wondered if she had stayed in Beihai for too long and forgotten the cruelty of the new world.

Jinbe, the helmsman, was not idle either. After hearing Usopp and Nami's reminder, he immediately began to turn the rudder, trying to get the Sunny to avoid the waterspout directly in front of it.

"What...what is that?" Usopp shouted in terror again from the mast. "There's...there's a huge figure approaching us from the seabed!"

Upon hearing this, everyone rushed towards the ship's side and indeed saw a huge shadow on the seabed, which was about to reach the bottom of the Sunny.

“Strange… I don’t sense any life force!” Reina said, frowning.

Although he had already seen the enormous figure, his Observation Haki did not detect any other life forms besides them.

Judging from the shadow of the mysterious sea creature, its size is probably no smaller than that of a large sea king. Such a being should exude a strong vitality.

However, his Observation Haki showed no signs of life, which surprised Reina.

"It's...it's a shark! Get out of the way!" Brook, who had leaned out from the ship's side, saw the monster with its mouth wide open, ready to swallow them whole, ship and all. It was an enormous shark. He immediately shouted to Jinbe, who was steering the ship.

Upon hearing this, Jinbe immediately turned the rudder, narrowly avoiding an attack from a deep-sea shark.

"What...what is this?" But when everyone saw the shark leaping out of the sea, they were all stunned, and Franky stared at the shark with shining eyes.

It turned out that the shark that attacked them from the seabed was actually a mechanical shark covered in steel.

"Oh my god~ That's so cool, it's a mechanical shark!" Luffy, standing at the bow of the ship, exclaimed with shining eyes as he saw the mechanical shark leaping out of the water.

"It seems we've reached the waters near Future Island!" Reina suddenly realized. Only Vegapunk's Future Island could have such enormous mechanical creatures!

Ignoring Luffy and the others' excitement, Nami and the others were more concerned about Reina's words.

"Uncle Reina, are you saying that this mechanical shark was created by Dr. Vegapunk?" Nami asked with great interest.

“That should be right! Only he could create such a huge mechanical creature!” Reina nodded and replied.

But just as they were discussing the mechanical shark they had just encountered, the mechanical shark, having missed its target, surfaced and opened its mouth wide, from which a cannon barrel emerged and fired directly at the Sunny.

"It's a cannonball!" Everyone was shocked when they saw this.

"Slash!" Before Reina could make a move, Zoro, who had already noticed the mechanical shark, unleashed a slash that cleaved the mechanical shark's cannonball in two, ensuring the safety of the Sunny.

"What's going on? If this mechanical shark belongs to Vegapunk, why is it attacking us?" Robin asked, looking at the mechanical shark that had disappeared again and was still after them.

“Perhaps this is just a means for him to protect Future Island. The mechanical shark’s purpose is to sink all the ships that come here!” Reina said, stroking his chin.

"So we have to defeat this shark before we can see Vegapunk?" Zoro asked, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light, as if he were ready to attack at any moment.

"In short, we definitely can't let this mechanical shark stop us from moving forward!" Reina nodded and replied.

"Splash!"

Just then, the mechanical shark leaped out of the water again, opened its mouth wide, and charged towards the Sunny.

"They're really courting death!" Seeing this, Zoro drew his longsword and unleashed a powerful slash straight at the mechanical shark.

"when!"

"boom!"

But just as Zoro's slash was about to hit the mechanical shark, a laser suddenly appeared from elsewhere, shattering Zoro's slash.

"It seems that getting to Future Island won't be so simple for us!" Reina said with a light laugh as he looked around.

It turned out that many mechanical creatures had appeared around them at some point, each no smaller than a mechanical shark, and the size of a large adult sea king. They had already surrounded them.

"Wow~~Hoho~~That's so cool!" Luffy didn't seem worried at all. Instead, he looked at the mechanical creatures that appeared around him and shouted excitedly.

Franky, a craftsman, also seemed very interested in these large machines. Usopp and Chopper, who had been excitedly watching the mechanical shark like Luffy, were now somewhat frightened.

"Luffy... Luffy, what do we do? We think we're surrounded!" Usopp said, hiding behind Luffy with a frightened look on his face.