Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

King Cobra began, “If I have the chance, I will certainly build a huge statue in the likeness of the hero Yasuo, so that his spirit may live on forever.”

? !

Ya'en.

Isn't there any other way to express gratitude?

"cough……"

Immediately, Yann, who could no longer hold back, spoke up.

"Comrade Yaso doesn't care about such meaningless things. What he hopes for is whether the organization's ideals can be realized and whether the light of awakened thought can shine across this sea."

"May I ask, what is your organization's ideology?" King Cobra asked.

"This brings us to a concept called 'class,' and in reality, all the injustices on this vast ocean today stem from class oppression, so..."

As Yann spoke in his baby-5-like clear voice, King Cobra's eyes widened, his expression revealing an almost undisguised shock.

Among them, a look of enlightenment and ecstatic joy was revealed.

"That's right, that's right, I see..."

King Cobra spoke incoherently with excitement.

"I never understood why, why, wealth, equality, and understanding were so difficult to achieve. Is that why?"

[Chapter 366: The Ship Spirit - Bruton]

The more people understand the chaotic and disorderly state of this ocean, and the more they have thought about it and wanted to make changes and take action, the more strongly they are shocked by Yann's words.

The feeling was like searching for many years in a dark sea, but without any results, when a ray of dawn pierced through the darkness and shone upon you.

Perhaps King Cobra couldn't even comprehend that ray of dawn, but he vaguely sensed that it was the most correct and warmest light in the dark sea.

"What a shocking thought, what an admirable realm, and what a lofty ideal and future this is!"

King Cobra murmured, his gaze falling on baby-5, and he couldn't help but swallow hard.

"And can even such young children in the Revolutionary Army grasp this kind of thinking? Indeed, correct and just ideas are deeply engraved in everyone's heart."

Upon hearing this, Dragon opened his mouth as if to explain that the person beside him was the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army, and one of the sources of the Revolutionary Army's ideology.

However, seeing the incredibly shocked expression on King Kobra's face, Dorrag had an idea and simply spoke up.

"The existence of ideas can only continue through mutual transmission. The brilliance of ideas will become more and more dazzling in the process of being passed on. That is why Comrade Yasuo has been wandering the seas as a wandering swordsman, searching for comrades who can recognize this idea..."

After a pause, Dorrag slowly extended his hand to King Kobra, extending an invitation.

"I wonder if King Cobra would approve of this idea? And whether he would strive tirelessly for the bright future it envisions?"

King Cobra fell silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the outstretched hand of Dorrag.

Ultimately, King Cobra chose to believe, either because of Yaso's "sacrifice" or because of those great ideas that were no less significant to the sea than the dawn.

Then, King Cobra spoke slowly in a firm tone.

"Ah, I have deeply felt the brilliance of Yasuo's heroic spirit, and I will continue to pass on that brilliance from now on!"

"From now on, we are comrades."

Dorag and King Kobra clasped hands firmly together, their eyes meeting with unwavering determination and fervor.

This scene was not unfamiliar to Yann.

That's the kind of man Dorrag is. He's occasionally extremely unreliable, but he possesses a strange kind of personal charm.

Especially for men, it is exceptionally easy to win their respect and trust.

Unlike Yorn, who seems to have a special talent for gaining women's trust, Drag seems to have the opposite talent.

However, the fact that King Cobra was able to readily accept the revolutionary army's ideology and choose to join on the spot was undoubtedly excellent news.

Even now, King Cobra still believes that the Revolutionary Army is merely a small organization struggling to survive in the cracks between the World Government, the Navy, and pirates, so he immediately offered to find a way to draw resources from the Kingdom of Alabasta to aid the Revolutionary Army.

“In that case, we’ll have to trouble King Cobra. The Revolutionary Army is indeed lacking in supplies right now. Uh… by the way, would it be alright to trade directly in gold?” Dragon asked.

"Huh?" King Cobra was stunned.

After confirming that King Cobra had officially joined the Revolutionary Army, Dragon did not hide anything but began to give King Cobra a general overview of the current situation of the Revolutionary Army.

"So...so how...how is that possible? The organization has developed to this point, how could I have never even heard of the Revolutionary Army?" King Cobra stammered.

"Compared to the sheer size of the World Government, it's still far behind, so naturally we need to keep a low profile," Yann said truthfully.

"Actually, I think being a little high-profile isn't a big problem," King Cobra said softly, inwardly making a rare complaint.

'What kind of damn organization did I join? Their influence spans the entire world, and according to Leader Dragon, they currently have about four or five top-tier fighters comparable to the Seven Warlords of the Sea, or even the 'Three Disasters'...'

'Those pirate rulers who dominated the latter half of the Grand Line aren't all that great, are they? Even if they're still not quite on par with the Marines, they're vaguely on the same level.'

'This is called... a small organization?'

In response, Yann spoke in a serious tone.

"This involves the common ideals of millions of comrades. We cannot be careless in this regard. Before the time comes for us to expose ourselves, it is the safest approach to quietly accumulate strength."

Immediately, Yann subtly gestured to Dragon with his eyes, and Dragon immediately took over the conversation, pointing to the large lump of "jelly" and asking.

"Speaking of which, what was that thing taken from Hades' body?"

King Cobra hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking.

"That is the real Hades, Pluto. In today's terms of the sea, that is the place where the ship spirit of Hades' giant ship resides."

Dragon and Yern exchanged a glance, completely unprepared for this answer. "A ship spirit?"

"That's right..."

King Cobra then explained.

"The Ancient Weapon Hades is the strongest warship built eight hundred years ago in Water Seven, the shipbuilding mecca, using the most advanced technology and countless resources available at the time. It played an extremely important role in the world-changing event eight hundred years ago and is known as the 'most ferocious warship in the world'."

"And I believe you have also seen the enormous size of the Hades ship. Initially, it required hundreds of thousands of specially trained crew members to operate the Hades ship; otherwise, it would have been impossible to control it."

"According to the fragments left by our ancestors, eight hundred years ago, with the establishment of the World Government, the Pluto behemoth, a terrifying weapon that could influence the world, became a target for destruction."

Upon hearing this, Dragon was extremely surprised and asked, "The Pluton was actually a weapon of the World Government in the past?"

"That's right!"

King Cobra nodded and then spoke.

"However, since our ancestor was also one of the twenty Celestial Dragons, the World Government had no excuse to directly attack him. So the World Government used various reasons to transfer hundreds of thousands of Pluton crew members away, and then... carried out a secret massacre, attempting to paralyze the Pluton behemoth's combat capabilities from another angle."

"What the World Government didn't know was that during the series of battles fought by the Pluton, the ship spirit of the Pluton, Bruton, gradually took shape,"

"This also means that the Hades behemoth has begun to possess its own consciousness, and can perfectly exert its combat power even without any crew."

[Chapter 367 Become My Partner!]

A ship spirit?!

For beings like Dragon and Yann, who were at a level similar to legends, it was natural to know that ship spirits truly existed in this sea.

In theory, it is a collection of consciousness generated by the ship itself after a long voyage and adventure.

Furthermore, the existence of ship spirits allows them to perfectly drive all the functions of a ship, far exceeding the limits of human maneuverability, truly enabling ships to achieve a level of agility similar to that of humans.

What does this level of flexibility mean?

It allows a single-masted boat to pass unscathed through a barrage of Buster Call shells, to easily traverse a whirlpool that can be described as a "death trap," and to ride a fountain-like, towering ocean current straight into the sky...

It can be said that a ship with a "ship spirit" can perform operations that exceed the theoretical limits of human capabilities, bringing the ship's theoretical performance to its absolute limit.

However, how "ship spirits" are formed remains a mystery to this ocean, and no one knows exactly how to cultivate them.

Furthermore, the existence of "ship spirits" is extremely rare, hundreds of times rarer than Devil Fruits, which are known as "treasures of the sea," making them something truly immeasurable.

“No wonder. I was wondering why Crocodile could control the Hades ship, which is the size of an island, all by himself. It turns out it’s all because of the ship spirits!” Dragon said with sudden realization.

King Cobra nodded and said.

"That's right. Back then, my ancestor was the captain of the Pluto behemoth. Due to persecution by the World Government, and the discovery that the World Government was hiding an extremely terrible secret, it was not the 'empty throne' that the World Government claimed to be, where world affairs were discussed and decided by representatives of the member states."

"The world has never escaped the shadow of darkness, and has always been shrouded in an even greater shadow."

"So, on the surface, our ancestor destroyed the Pluton Ship, and in his grief, he gave up his identity as a Celestial Dragon. In secret, with the help of his companions, he took the Pluton Ship back to the Alabasta Kingdom and buried it beneath the Alabasta Royal Palace."

"From then on, the Hades ship fell into a deep sleep, and the ship spirit Bruton also remained asleep."

"Following the agreement between our ancestors and the ship spirit Bruton, the Nefertari family bloodline, which has been passed down from our ancestors, can still gain the recognition of the ship spirit Bruton and obtain the right to control the Hades ship, and drive the Hades ship through the ship spirit Bruton."

"However, Bruton only truly recognizes his ancestors as captains. He treats all other Nefertari family members equally, which is why neither Crocodile nor I can fully control the Pluton."

"Because for the ship spirit Bruton, I am essentially no different from Crocodile, except for the identity of 'descendant of the ancestor'."

At this point, Arn had a complete understanding of the Ancient Weapon Hades, and many of his doubts were completely resolved.

Furthermore, Yann was extremely grateful that he hadn't secretly tried to steal the Ancient Weapon Hades before, otherwise that would have been a real problem.

After all, it's hard to imagine what would happen if a terrifying weapon with consciousness slowly awakened and discovered a group of strangers studying it.

That... is definitely a more troublesome and terrifying existence than Crocodile's manipulation, and the entire Revolutionary Army may suffer countless casualties as a result.

However, unlike Yann's rationality, Drag's fierce face was filled with emotion as he gazed at the "jelly" that the ship spirit Bruton had entrusted to him, and said with a sigh.

"Having slept for eight hundred years, perhaps Bruton must have been lonely?"

"This..." King Cobra was speechless for a moment.

King Cobra had never considered this question before.

The Ancient Weapon Pluton is seen by King Cobra as a responsibility he must protect, and a weapon with the power to destroy the world.

As for whether the Ancient Weapon Hades was lonely, King Cobra had no such thought at all.

Or perhaps, subconsciously, King Cobra did not consider the ship spirit Bruton to be human. Instead, it was Dorrag's unique concept of equality that instinctively led him to regard the ship spirit Bruton, who had developed consciousness, as human.

The next moment, a hazy mist emanated from the "jelly," and a human-shaped silhouette appeared in the mist to the astonishment of Dragon, Yann, and King Cobra.

"I didn't feel lonely."

An invisible voice resounded directly in the minds of Dragon, Yann, and King Cobra.

"Since you chose to destroy me, why did you bring me here?"

That invisible voice is still ringing out.