Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

Upon hearing this, the white-bearded man burst into laughter.

With Reina joining them, the banquet became even more lively. The joy of being with his familiar family members helped Reina shake off the negative emotions he had developed from the continuous battles. He felt that once he returned, he could launch his battle against the guardian of the fiftieth floor.

Chapter 1003 Filter

After returning from the front lines, Reina did not immediately enter the Tower of Trials. Instead, he rested in his room for a night, ensuring he was in peak condition, before using the Trial Key to enter the Tower of Trials.

Facing the gatekeeper of the fiftieth floor again, Reina felt something was different this time.

Although they only exchanged blows, Reina felt that his strength and speed had increased, and dealing with the gatekeeper seemed a little easier than before.

However, Reina quickly dismissed this idea as soon as it came to mind. Whether his opponent had become weaker or he had become stronger, he had to go all out. The guardians of the Tower of Trials seemed to have become smarter and were no longer just fighting like before, but were now scheming against him.

Therefore, when facing opponents in the Tower of Trials, Reina dares not be careless at all.

Aside from Reina's initial probing attacks, the battle between the two quickly escalated into a fierce contest. Because they were very familiar with each other's abilities and it wasn't their first time facing a gatekeeper, their fight didn't last long.

"Bang bang bang..."

"Boom!"

Rainer, panting heavily, looked at the gatekeeper opposite him, who seemed unchanged, and couldn't help but give a wry smile.

The aftershocks of their battle just now, if it had really happened inside a tower, would have been enough to demolish that tower dozens of times over.

However, the Tower of Trials was made of some unknown material and was completely indestructible. Even though Reina was fighting with all his might, not a speck of dust fell from the surrounding walls.

The gatekeeper opposite him, though dressed in tattered clothes, remained unchanged in both movement and demeanor from the beginning.

In Reina's view, this is also the opponent's greatest strength. The tactic of trading injury for injury is completely useless against the gatekeeper, except to worsen one's own condition.

Aside from fatal wounds that could lead to death, even injuries like amputation would not have any additional impact on the gatekeeper.

However, the injury had a significant impact on Reina, which inevitably made him somewhat hesitant in battle.

Fortunately, his goal this time was only to defeat the gatekeeper, not to continue climbing the tower, so he just needed to take him down before he was fatally wounded.

"Hmph! You still want to use this kind of trick against me?" Sensing that the opponent's Sharingan seemed to want to drag him into an illusion, Reina immediately used his Sharingan to neutralize the opponent's eye power.

Seeing that his moves had no effect, the gatekeeper simply took a step and charged towards Reina.

Instead of retreating, Reina advanced, wielding the Hyōrinmaru in his hand, and a slash carrying the power of ice flew towards his opponent.

"Boom boom boom..."

The two fought again.

While Reina was fighting the gatekeeper in the Tower of Trials, a grand banquet was being held at the Straw Hat crew's base.

Besides the Straw Hat Grand Fleet members, there were also the newly joined Empress Hancock and her Kuja Pirates, as well as Fire Fist Ace and Sabo who came to help.

Originally, this kind of banquet, which is meant to celebrate victory, should have been held much earlier. However, the previous battle was too intense, and everyone, including Luffy, was seriously injured. So the banquet was simply postponed until now, when most of the people's injuries have almost recovered.

"Is it alright for you to stay away for so long?" Although it was a banquet, Ace and Sabo didn't participate much because Luffy was the main character today, and they naturally wouldn't try to steal the attention that originally belonged to Luffy.

“Aren’t you the same? I’m just a captain, while you’re the second-in-command!” Ace replied with a smile, taking a sip of rum.

“We’re different from ordinary forces! We’re all comrades, there’s no hierarchy!” Sabo grinned and said.

Upon hearing this, Ace raised an eyebrow and said, "We, the Whitebeard Pirates, are family!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The two brothers raised their glasses at the same time, clinked them together, and then drank the barley wine in one gulp.

"You once said you wanted to become the Pirate King yourself! Why did you join the Whitebeard Pirates?" Sabo asked after a moment of silence.

He had suffered from amnesia and couldn't remember many things from his childhood. It was only with Reina's help that he was able to meet Ace and regain his memories.

"And what about you? Didn't you want to be a free and unrestrained pirate? In the end, you still ended up as a revolutionary soldier, didn't you?" Ace retorted, pursing his lips.

Sabo shook his head and chuckled, saying, "I did suffer from amnesia, did you? Besides... I hated those high and mighty nobles when I was a child, which is why I wanted to become a free pirate. But later I realized that it's not enough for me to be free; what I should do is make everyone in the world free!"

“This kind of thing…it must be very difficult to do, right?” This time, it was Ace who was silent for a moment.

“Just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean we should give up. If we don’t do it, we definitely won’t succeed! Only by doing it can we have a chance of success, no matter how small the hope is! And even if we fail, so what? In the future, there will definitely be people who will continue what we haven’t finished until the day we succeed!” Sabo smiled slightly and replied.

“That’s true!” Ace nodded and said, “But the timing of these extraterrestrial visitors is just too bad!”

"Not really!" Sabo waved his hand and said with a smile, "Although their appearance has indeed disrupted a lot of our affairs, it's the same for the World Government and the Navy! Besides, didn't the extraterrestrial visitors' surprise attack on Mary Geoise last time cause them a lot of trouble?"

Ace was well aware that his vice-captain had tricked two enemies, and even the Revolutionary Army, as allies, were aware of it. So the two brothers couldn't help but look at each other and laugh again.

Unlike Ace and Sabo, the Straw Hat crew welcomed the Empress's arrival, especially the chef Sanji, who practically became Hancock's sidekick.

However, Hancock didn't care about him. That's just the kind of extraordinary woman she is. She doesn't even care about Reina. The only person in the world she values ​​is Luffy. Moreover, the Luffy she sees is different from the Luffy others see. She has her own filter on him. Just like Luffy's little fanboy Bartolomeo, no matter what Luffy does, he is cool in their eyes. Even his farts smell better than others.

Chapter 1004 Crying and Complaining

After Reina pierced the gatekeeper's heart with the Hyōrinmaru in his hand, the gatekeeper seemed to have exhausted all his strength and collapsed to the ground.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the gatekeeper this time seemed to be stronger than when he first challenged him.

It's not that the opponent's speed or strength has increased, but rather that their movements seem to have become more... smooth!

That's right. All the enemies in the Tower of Trials should be projections of the Tower of Trials. They should be like robots without pain or emotion. However, after fighting in the Tower of Trials recently, he felt that these enemies seemed to have changed. Some enemies even deliberately concealed their strength and tried to use Sharingan genjutsu to trap him in an illusion when he wasn't paying attention.

However, all of this is just Reina's own suspicion; perhaps these were originally the settings of these gatekeepers.

After receiving the reward, Reina left the Tower of Trials. As soon as he returned to his room, his wound began to bleed. Fortunately, the maids who were waiting in the room had already taken good care of it.

Once everything was settled, Reina sat down at the table to eat. As was his usual routine, he would rest after finishing his meal, and the maids would leave at that time. They would then come back to clean up the dining room after Reina had rested.

However, this time, one of the maids did not leave with the others, but stayed behind.

"Is something the matter?" The maid who hadn't left naturally caught Reina's attention, so he looked up and asked.

Some of these maids were once homeless slaves who were rescued by the Whitebeard Pirates and placed on Crescent Moon Island. Others were island residents or their children.

Serving as a maid in the homes of the Whitebeard Pirates' officers is not shameful; it's a very well-paid job. Ordinary island residents would really need a lot of luck to get such a job.

Because Whitebeard treated the island's inhabitants well, Frank usually prioritized former slaves when choosing maids. Only when there weren't enough former slaves would she select from the island's inhabitants.

Therefore, when these maids encounter trouble, they will sometimes talk to the people they serve, since they are all officers of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, the captains would not refuse. Even Reina had encountered this a few times. In his opinion, these were all minor issues, but for ordinary people like them, they were very serious matters.

This is why Reina wasn't too surprised when he saw that someone hadn't left.

"First mate..." Sure enough, upon hearing Reina's question, the maid immediately knelt down, crying, "Please, you must help me!"

"Don't cry, tell me nicely. I'll agree to help if I can!" Reina wiped his mouth, looked at the kneeling maid, and comforted her gently.

"My...my father has disappeared!" the maid cried.

Reina frowned. This was Xuan Yue Island; no one could disappear without a reason.

Moreover, even if she were truly missing, Frank would not stand idly by if she reported it; she had no need to "go over her head" and ask him for help.

So Reina didn't ask any further questions, but waited for the other party to continue explaining the details.

“A few days ago, my father went out to sea with the other fishermen on the island, but they encountered a storm. When they came back yesterday, they told me that my father fell into the sea and died! I don’t believe it. My father is a very good swimmer. He couldn’t have died so easily. He promised me that he would spend my birthday with me this year!” The little girl said, crying very sadly.

Upon hearing this, he was speechless. He believed that no one wanted this kind of thing to happen.

However, since they were just ordinary fishermen, their chances of survival after falling into the sea during a storm, without any fish-men around, were extremely slim.

He also understood why the other party had come to him for help.

Even if she doesn't believe it, there's nothing anyone can do. Frank must have sent people to search the area where the accident happened. Since he's already given the news of her death, it's probably true. It's just that this little girl simply doesn't want to believe it.

Faced with this situation, Reina didn't really have a good solution. If Naga or Shirahoshi were here, he could ask them for help, but Naga and Shirahoshi weren't here at the moment, and Reina was too embarrassed to ask them to come back from the front lines for this kind of thing.

If it had just happened, then it would be understandable to try to save people. But this has been going on for several days. By the time Bai Xing or Naga arrive from the front lines and start searching... they probably won't even be able to find the body.

“So… how do you want me to help you? You should know that if someone falls into the sea in that kind of weather… even if they didn’t die, it would be very difficult for us to find them now! If the crew members on the ship who were with your father didn’t try their best to search after he fell into the sea, I could punish them, but now even I can’t bring your father back!” Reina sighed and said.

The girl actually understood, but since she was in charge of taking care of Reina and Reina had been at home every day recently, she subconsciously asked Reina for help.

As for the crew members who were on the same ship as her father, they had already searched the nearby waters after her father's accident. They even risked their lives during a storm and did not leave the area in order to find their companion. As a result, their ship's catch on this voyage was less than half that of other ships.

Therefore, she knew that Reina would not cause trouble for those people, and she had no reason to ask Reina to punish them.

Seeing the crying girl, Reina had no choice but to call Frank's Den Den Mushi and ask him to handle the matter. Frank was clearly more adept at dealing with this kind of thing.

Sure enough, after the satellite arrived, he quickly calmed the crying girl, found her mother, and took her away.

"What exactly happened?" After everyone had left, Reina looked at Frank and asked.

He knew that the people of Xuan Yue Island went out to sea to fish. In order to prevent them from being harmed by sea monsters and sea kings, Reina even asked Bai Xing and Naga to help drive away the surrounding sea monsters and large sea kings.

However, he really didn't have any good solutions when it came to the weather, since not everyone has Nami's talent.

Chapter 1005 Strange Events

Frank was speechless when faced with Reina's question, since he couldn't control the situation and couldn't blame him.

“But speaking of which, why would they go out fishing in such a stormy weather? And aren’t they in the nearby waters? If they were, you could definitely have rescued them in time!” Reina shook his head, breathed a sigh of relief, and said.

"Ah~ they weren't in the nearby waters because there are no sea kings or sea monsters around, so there are plenty of ordinary fish. If they were in the area, they could actually get more food. But... as you know!" Frank said somewhat awkwardly, "Perhaps they've picked up some pirate aura from us. Those guys don't fish nearby anymore; they go even further away, which is more indicative of their skill!"

Reina was also quite speechless. At this time, there was no shortage of adventurous guys, even if they weren't pirates.

"Is it just one person who went missing this time?" Reina shook his head and asked.

"No, a total of seven people went missing this time, all in the sea area where the storm occurred. Afterwards, I asked my merman companions to help with the search and rescue, but... we didn't even find any bodies!" Frank shook his head and replied.

"Seven?" Reina was taken aback, looking at Frank in surprise, and asked, "How big of a storm is it? Our ship can sail in the New World, in the North Sea... it shouldn't capsize, right?"

Frank felt a little strange after hearing what Reina said; he had completely forgotten that this was the North Sea.

“Yes! This is the North Sea! Even if there's a storm... it shouldn't be this bad!” Frank also sensed something was wrong and stood up, saying, “I'll go ask the previous residents! They've lived in the New World for years; even if they encountered a storm, there shouldn't be such a large number of casualties!”

Reina put down his knife and fork, stood up and said, "Let's go! To the council hall. I feel things might not be so simple. Call Judge; this is the North Sea, he might know more about it. Also, bring the North Sea nautical chart and call a few residents who were in that area when the incident happened!"

“Yes, First Mate!” Frank nodded and replied.

Soon, everyone Reina had gathered arrived at the council hall on Crescent Moon Island. With Whitebeard absent, only Reina was qualified to sit in the main seat, but Reina did not sit in the main seat; instead, he sat in the first seat on the right.

“That’s the gist of the matter, Mr. Judge. You’ve been in the North Sea for many years. Do you think this is normal?” Reina asked Judge after giving a brief account of the situation.