Settsetse! The Pirate Nemesis

And which scholar could resist the temptation to create a new world with their own hands?

233·Shame

“I’m sorry, sir…you know, as a scholar, I can’t resist the temptation to open up a new world.”

The scholar with gray hair gazed at Judge with eyes full of affection—to which Judge remained silent. Seeing that Judge was unwilling to speak, the scholar simply bowed slightly, and then, led by a servant, went to the measurement room to collect his share of the Hextech Crystal shard.

This wasn't the first time... Judge also knew very well what Hextech Crystals represented to these scholars.

There was no surprise, for he knew that the small fragment in his possession represented the code to a new world… Endless energy was indeed precious, but if it was merely endless energy like that of a campfire, its output would be negligible. But this crystal was different; the extremely high-quality endless energy it represented was enough for a scholar to study for a lifetime.

Meanwhile, Sett was simply making arrangements for other things.

“Let’s make contact with the Future Kingdom on the Grand Line… Oh, and bring a few scholars with you,” Sett said. “Many of the Future Kingdom’s people are in Judge’s team. The capable scholars in the Future Kingdom should all know each other. We can also make some purchases from the Future Kingdom’s production department while we’re at it.”

Sett was well aware of the productivity that technology represented—and Hextech, in particular, had immense potential.

"I want to build the world's largest scientific research center! This will include the production of its instruments. With a shard of crystal, discerning scholars will know what this crystal represents."

Upon hearing this, Robin nodded.

Although she didn't know much about Hextech crystals, after seeing the Anti-Magic Stone, Robin realized that Sett possessed many special items. Clearly, the origins of these items weren't as simple as they seemed… Since Sett wouldn't say, it was best not to ask.

Just as the two were chatting casually, Sett's Den Den Mushi started ringing again.

He answered the phone: "Hello, who is it?"

"It's me, Garp! Is this Sett? How have you been lately?!"

"I'm fine." Hearing that it was Garp, Sett grinned and asked with a smile, "What's up? How have you been lately? Let me make this clear, the Mary Geoise incident wasn't my fault. I just wanted to release those slaves, but then Akainu and his gang showed up, forcing me to take action and leaving me to recover from my injuries for quite a while. What a loss!"

Hearing Sett's unreasonable words, Garp was speechless—clearly, Sett was taking advantage and then acting innocent. But it didn't matter; in Garp's eyes, the Celestial Dragons were all bad people! Especially that damned slave system, which should have been utterly crushed. But who would have thought that the Celestial Dragons of the World Government would treat it like a treasure, saying that the descendants of the creator needed servants.

Now look what's happened: the home is gone, the servants are gone, and with it, I'm gone too.

Other World Government officials and Marines were horrified by the Celestial Dragons' gruesome deaths. But Garp was different; upon seeing the Celestial Dragons' deaths, he immediately opened two more bags of senbei (rice crackers) to enjoy with his drinks.

"It doesn't matter, a Celestial Dragon is dead, so be it~" Garp said with a grin, but then his expression turned serious: "Speaking of which, Sett brat, do you still remember the Shichibukai plan?"

"I remember, so what?" Sett said casually. "Wasn't the World Government group disbanded?"

"Perhaps." Hearing Sett's words, Garp fell silent—in a sense, it was indeed revoked. But what was the reality?

"The World Government has decided to launch a new program... called the 'Sin Army' program. The general implementation method is to allow prisoners in Impel Down to serve as an armed organization led by the World Government's intelligence agencies to atone for their crimes."

"..."

Hearing this, he fell silent. After a moment, Sett grinned, somewhat annoyed, and said, "Are those high-ranking officials in the World Government really just a bunch of useless idiots?"

"Well said! I'm thinking of going out for a couple of drinks with you!"

Hearing Sett's words, Garp showed no anger. On the contrary, his voice was full of approval—only Sett dared to say such a thing. Who else would dare to call a high-ranking official of the World Government useless? Or even utterly useless?

But right now, Garp only felt a sense of relief. Some things are like that; if you keep them bottled up, they become increasingly unbearable. But once you say them out loud, you feel a sense of liberation from the inside out… That's why secrets are secrets. Often, spreading someone else's secrets greatly satisfies one's voyeuristic desires. However, upon closer reflection, Sett's dissatisfaction with the World Government hardly seems like a private matter anymore.

After all, when Sett first set sail, he directly expressed his dissatisfaction with some of the navy's systems.

"The intelligence agency leader... does that mean they're not under your navy's jurisdiction?"

Sett isn't stupid. On the contrary, Sett's thinking is incredibly quick. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he's perceptive enough to see the big picture from small details... However, often Sett is too lazy to think. Or rather, rather than thinking, pondering, wrangling, and constantly bargaining, Sett prefers to get straight to the point, fast-forwarding to solving problems in the ultimate and most basic way in this world—solving problems with his fists.

Of course, this also fundamentally prevents Sett from becoming a national leader—but that doesn't matter, since Sett has no interest in founding a nation or anything like that. Managing an island, as he is now, is enough.

Sett was more interested in fists than power.

Or perhaps Sett knew very well that in a world where individual strength transcends the heavens, all rights ultimately become mere embellishments to fistpower.

"Hmm." Garp nodded in response to Sett's question, a hint of displeasure in his voice—to be honest, if the Marines were leading those pirates, even if they were impatient, their resistance wouldn't be as intense as it was now. After all, they were the ones who arrested the criminals, yet now they were colleagues of equal rank. While official documents certainly wouldn't say it that way, did Garp not know how wicked those great pirates were?

By then, even the World Government's agents probably wouldn't be able to completely control them. Given the personalities of those pirates, it's not impossible that they'd directly turn on you and mock you...

"……Wait a moment."

Seemingly realizing something, Sett's voice suddenly fell silent. Accompanied by a somewhat impatient grinding of his teeth, Sett asked Garp, "Is that pirate who killed Zephyr... inside?"

"……exist."

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This chapter is 2k, just bear with it, guys. Total update today is 8k, I'll see if it goes back to 9k tomorrow (if not, then never mind).

234·Before Opening

World Government? A bunch of good-for-nothings!

Upon hearing that Garp had confirmed the existence of the disciple who killed Zeff's student in the Sinister Army plan, Sett immediately hung up the phone, not bothering to say a single unnecessary word.

Garp wasn't surprised. He knew Sett's character well, and he knew exactly what Sett would do next... Should he feel relieved and lucky? Perhaps, after all, Sett always kept his word. But why did Garp feel only humiliation from beginning to end?

Especially when Sett hung up the phone and decided to personally seek justice for Zeff, Garp actually felt a sudden hoarseness in his throat.

Since when has the Navy needed an outsider's help to avenge a former admiral? After a long silence, Garp finally raised his head again under the puzzled gazes of Luffy and the others.

For some reason, Luffy, Ace, and the others could clearly sense that the flame in their grandfather's eyes seemed to have dimmed slightly...

On the other hand, instead of hanging up, the person crushed the phone receiver. This means the Den Den Mushi and the receiver are two separate entities; otherwise, even if it didn't die a violent death, another Den Den Mushi would certainly be prematurely buried in the graveyard.

Although Sett was already aware of the World Government's shameless nature, he never imagined it would stoop to such an extreme... Every single one of those notorious pirates was a villain. Each of their crimes was enough to warrant being executed fifty or sixty times over. And now the World Government was going to release them?

Under normal circumstances, releasing him wouldn't be a big deal. After all, Sett has already parted ways with the World Government, and he wouldn't bother with something that would tarnish his reputation... But since this matter involves Zeff, Sett can no longer ignore it.

The deaths of Zeff's students had nothing to do with Sett himself... but if you had to say, if it weren't for Sett's battle on the Red Line, the training ship's defenses wouldn't have been breached.

But that doesn't matter to Sett... the Sin Army plan and the Seven Warlords don't matter either. What really matters is the guy who killed Zephyr's student.

When Sett first arrived in this world, that old man Zeff helped Sett avoid many detours and wrong turns. Given Zeff's personality, he would never ask Sett for help… he would even tell Sett to ignore it if Sett brought it up. But as the saying goes, those were all Zeff's own thoughts.

Call it wishful thinking or something else entirely. In Sett's opinion, he would be thoroughly dissatisfied if he didn't take down that guy.

"That's true. When have I ever needed a reason to kill someone?"

He spat, Sett's face filled with impatience.

Having just arrived at the casino, Tina glanced at Sett's displeasure. Although she didn't know who had offended Sett, she still raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong? Who upset you this time?"

"The person who messed with me is in Impel Down. It'll take some effort to deal with them." Sett said this without a trace of seriousness on his face. He just seemed bored.

Clearly, for Sett, the so-called "going through a lot of trouble" had nothing to do with the World Government's attitude. It was purely about when to set off and how to crush the enemy.

Tina glanced at Sett and shook her head indifferently—she didn't say anything to tell Sett to be less violent. Tina knew very well that Sett now had the power to act with impunity on this sea.

The ones who really don't want Sett to be so violent are the World Government and the others.

"Speaking of which, do you know anything about Zephyr?"

Sett suddenly remembered that even within the Navy, Zephyr's news seemed to be classified... at least it hadn't appeared in the newspapers. Sett could understand why Sengoku, or even Vice Admiral Tsuru, had handled things this way. At a critical juncture when the Fleet Admiral had lost an arm and the three Admirals were seriously injured, news broke that all of former Admiral Black Arm Zephyr's students had been slaughtered, and the Navy was powerless to retaliate. If this were to spread widely and be confirmed, the Navy's dignity would be utterly destroyed.

At that time, any pirate will be able to use this to mock others.

In contrast, while Sett also severely damaged the Navy and the World Government, no one ridiculed the Navy for it—they were more terrified of Sett's power. Anyone could see that, given Sett's berserk state on Mary Geoise, not even the Emperors of the Sea could withstand his terrifying explosive power. No one could overcome him.

"Zeffe-sensei? What's wrong?"

As Sett had expected, Tina indeed knew nothing about Zephyr. Seeing this, Sett glanced at Tina, shook his head, and said nothing more.

"It's nothing... I might have to go out and take care of some things in a while."

"Going out again?!"

Hearing Sett's words, Tina pouted unhappily, then poked Sett's cheek and said with a questioning look, "Are you about to give up?"

"joke!!"

Sett's voice suddenly rose. Looking at Tina beside him, he said righteously, "Don't you know whether I can handle it or not? I wasn't the one calling you 'Daddy' yesterday!"

"Bullshit! I didn't shout that!!!" Sett's face turned red with anger—was this kind of private matter something you could just casually talk about? ...But speaking of which, Tina was quite curious about what kind of expression Robin would have when she heard that.

They were chatting casually when suddenly the doorbell rang.

Immediately afterward, Robin entered through the door. Looking at Tina and Sett talking in front of the huge French windows, her expression remained unchanged; she simply said casually, "Sett, the World Government and the Navy have sent people to observe the ceremony."

"They're here. Let them in."

Hearing this, Sett wasn't surprised. The so-called "attendance" simply meant inviting someone to the official opening of the Sett Casino. However, Sett was shameless; he not only sent an invitation to the Navy but also to the World Government—he'd just wrecked their base, yet suddenly invited them. But to be honest, neither the World Government nor the Navy dared to pretend they hadn't seen it.

The Navy was alright. Although they had parted ways with Sett, they maintained a sense of camaraderie despite the failed deal. Even now, upon hearing that Sett's actions led to the World Government's abolition of slavery, they couldn't help but secretly applaud. Even Akainu, whose left arm had been dismembered by Sett, though still stern and unsmiling, believed that exchanging his arm for the abolition of a corrupt system was a sure-fire win.

But the World Government is helpless... If Sett takes this as a provocation and launches another attack on Mary Geoise, the World Government will have nowhere to turn.

However, the World Government isn't stupid. Especially Im, although it's just speculation, they're 80% certain that even Sett can't easily enter his berserk state... or perhaps, Sett doesn't dare, or won't, go berserk at will.

After all, Sett in his berserk form is far too chaotic and irrational; he might even turn on his own friends. This is evident in his fight against the three admirals, where he showed absolutely no mercy… This is where the World Government misjudged the situation.

Sett acts entirely on impulse; once he decides to fight, he shows no mercy regardless of whether they are friends or not, or even if they are male or female. However, the World Government's suspicions were correct: Sett truly detests rampages—a battle devoid of reason is like skipping the process of life's grand harmony.

If that explanation isn't quite accurate enough, then let's look at it from another angle—the intense battle is a contest of skill between male and female actors, and the irrational rampage is the behavior of the male actor watching from the sidelines.

They weren't qualified to participate in real combat; they could only stand aside and use hand canes. They only got to show their faces when a large amount of liquid was needed for the final shot, and their final pay was based on the number of shots fired.

A battle devoid of pleasure doesn't even bother to secrete intracranial anesthetic.

In general, both the World Government and the Navy had two purposes for attending the ceremony—one was to prevent Sett from finding a reason to cause trouble, and the other was to observe Sett's condition.

Sett didn't care at all—look all you want, I'm right here.

Just then, the sound of heavy leather boots came from outside.

The sound was unique, because the sound of the leather boots carried a hint of steel—it was a type of military boot with a metal sole that was more common in the army but not so common in the navy.

Upon hearing the voice, Sett and Tina quickly guessed who the navy had sent to attend the ceremony—and sure enough, the smell of cigars followed immediately.

Smoker walked in from outside, waving indifferently at Sett and Tina.

"Long time no see! I'm here for the opening!"

"What brings you here?"

Upon hearing this, Sett raised an eyebrow with a hint of amusement: "Weren't you on duty in the East Blue before? You came all the way from Reverse Mountain? What were Sengoku and the others thinking?"

"What can we do?" Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke, somewhat annoyed, upon hearing Sett's words. Unlike cigarettes, cigars aren't inhaled; they're simply swirled in the mouth and exhaled. Unlike smoking, smoke isn't exhaled through the nostrils.

As a user of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, Smoker has a unique fondness for cigarettes and cigars... or rather, a habit.

"It's all because of you, kid. Now I have to go to the Grand Line to catch pirates."