Settsetse! The Pirate Nemesis

Upon hearing this, and gazing at the nose still covered in dried bloodstains, the major general picked it up with two fingers and examined it closely—the texture was unique, unmistakably the human-like feel somewhere between that of a human and a fish, something that couldn't be replicated. But to try and confirm it with just a piece of the nose…

"I can't be sure either," the Rear Admiral said somewhat helplessly. "It's hard to determine if it's Evil Dragon if it's just a segment of its nose. If possible, I'll collect it and send it to Marine Headquarters. If it's verified, the bounty will be deposited into your account."

There are banks, but the world offers a wide variety of options. There are banks for gangsters, government officials, pirates, and civilians. Sett's account is for gangsters and is directly connected to the Armstrong Casino. Under normal circumstances, he doesn't have to worry about money, but as a bounty hunter, killing so many pirates without getting paid always feels like being taken advantage of by the Navy. So, Sett occasionally saves up some money.

"Alright, since you've all said so."

Sett nodded, then stretched his joints. He jumped directly onto Garp's warship, blocking the view of the rear admiral.

"You help me clean up, I'm going to go chat with that old geezer Garp!"

Upon hearing this, the rear admiral's face was filled with helplessness, but he didn't feel much disgust towards Sett's behavior—on the contrary, he even understood it somewhat.

After all, that's exactly the kind of personality Sett is described in the intelligence reports. And more importantly, although Sett is asking me to help with the cleaning, as a Rear Admiral, he still has command authority.

The rear admiral waved to the sailors nearby and shouted, "There's more over here! A few men, come and clean it up!!!"

Sett enjoys high prestige within the Navy, almost to the point of being viewed through a benevolent lens. Especially just now, Vice Admiral Garp even considered taking him on as a disciple. Coupled with his terrifying talent, becoming a powerful figure in the future is practically a certainty. No one would dislike doing small favors to cultivate a good relationship with such a powerful individual.

Seeing the Marines running over to help Sett clean, Hawkeye remained silent—they had agreed to each clean half, and he had meticulously cleaned and mopped yesterday. But after the battle, it was back to a mess.

And Sett? He actually managed to find someone else to do it for him?!

With a sigh, Hawkeye shook his head helplessly:

"Clean this area too."

Navy: "Os!"

Looking at the naval officers who were helping him tidy up his house, Hawkeye shook his head with a touch of emotion after a brief silence.

Once upon a time, I was a model young person who cleaned and tidied my room independently, never asking others for help. But how long has it been? And now I've become like this…

They're all fucking Risetti!

Thinking this, Hawkeye suddenly felt a sense of relief, letting go of his inner turmoil—as the saying goes, "one is influenced by one's company." Although he was excellent, he couldn't escape the presence of a scoundrel like Sett by his side. Rather, the fact that he had only been affected to this extent proved how strong his will was, and how he hadn't been corrupted by Sett's decadent values.

"Perfect~"

Nodding, Hawkeye poured himself a glass of red wine, admiring his own steadfastness and arrogance.

Beside him, Hawkeye watched as he raised his glass towards the sea, then downed his drink with a touch of melancholy in his eyes. Sett simply shook his head, bewildered. "Crazy."

"Let's have a banquet!!"

Upon arriving on the ship, they were greeted by Garp, who was sitting on the deck with a grin on his face, stuffing a bunch of snacks into his mouth.

"It's been so long since I've had this much fun!"

"Just give me a piece of your mind." Sett spat, his rude gesture drawing annoyance from the navy officer who had just finished wiping the deck.

Unconcerned, Sett sat down opposite Garp and said casually, "You old man, you're having a good time, but my hair's on fire from all the shells!"

As he spoke, Sett ran his hand through his messy hair—his muscles were tense, so he was in a state of Armament Haki hardening. Under these conditions, although the close-range explosion caused Sett's brain to vibrate repeatedly within his skull, the effect was ultimately just a moment of dizziness, thanks to his freakish physical abilities.

Although his body was fine, his hair was in a terrible state. It was a tangled mess, with patches of red and burnt black mixed together, making it look like it had been chewed by a dog. It sent chills down his spine.

"Hehehe! It's alright!" Garp didn't care about Sett's hair at all, and even laughed as he said, "A buzz cut like yours suits you perfectly! Just like me, you can tell at a glance that I'm strong! What's the point of long, soft hair!"

"You look strong because of your physique, it has nothing to do with your hair, okay?"

Sett picked up a beer and chugged it down his throat while pointing at Garp's body with an indifferent expression.

While a person's energy and spirit are indeed closely related to their head shape, someone like Garp, as Sett said, always exudes a strong and powerful aura regardless of his hairstyle.

Although he has changed into a new navy uniform, Garp's clearly defined muscles can still be seen under the clothes.

In his past life, this physique would have been considered god-like in the gym, someone even personal trainers wouldn't dare approach. Those muscles—before any woman even got close, he'd probably be surrounded by burly men touching them and asking, "How did you build those muscles? Amazing!"

"Those pectoralis major muscles, those deltoid muscles, those latissimus dorsi muscles!"

"Holy crap, those thighs! They're going to explode!"

Praise from the same sex is often more frequent than from the opposite sex. After all, the opposite sex might be lusting after your body, while the same sex isn't; they only care about how good you are.

And more importantly, men crave muscles more than women—what's that saying again? Moderate fitness attracts the opposite sex, excessive fitness attracts the same sex.

Upon hearing Sett's praise, which didn't sound like a compliment, Garp let out a loud "Hahaha" laugh.

"Speaking of which, do you really hate joining the Navy that much?"

"I don't dislike it, it's just that I prefer being the eldest brother."

Sett said nonchalantly, "Being the boss is the right path. I don't care how chaotic the seas are. I want to be the freest person. If I become a Marine, wouldn't I have to spend all my time patrolling on warships? If that's the case, I might as well be a pirate. At least I can do whatever I want."

"You can't be a pirate!" Garp said seriously after hearing Sett's words. "Although I have some connection with Roger, if you ask me, Roger was more of a dreamer than a pirate. He never plundered villages or towns, and he rarely even fought against the Marines."

"Then why is he the Pirate King?"

"Because he's going against the world government."

"A lieutenant general!!!"

Upon hearing Garp's thoughtless words, the Marines standing nearby were filled with alarm: "You can't just say things like that!"

Neither Garp nor Sett seemed to care—deep down, they were both freedom-loving people. Sett's situation is self-evident, but Garp's repeated refusal to be promoted to admiral demonstrates this.

"The World Government has a lot of things that are prohibited, and Roger was a guy who didn't care about anything. Of course, he was considered a pirate."

"Ugh." Hearing this, Sett scratched his head in annoyance: "If that's the case, then I'll become a pirate sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Garp stroked his chin, clapped his hands, and said with a hint of surprise, "Eh! It seems that's really true!!!"

"..."

The atmosphere on the warship instantly became awkward. The rear admiral and Hawkeye, who had just boarded, were speechless—if either of them had said less, the situation wouldn't have been so awkward.

But in the end, Garp just chuckled and scratched his head: "Whatever, you're a bounty hunter anyway, becoming a pirate is a future thing! I can catch you then~"

"Ha, you?"

Sett said with a disdainful smile, "Whether you'll even be alive by then is a question, okay?! Of course, I hope you're still alive, otherwise I won't be able to get my revenge today!!"

"Hahahaha!" Upon hearing this, Garp burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face. "Hahaha! You brat, you think you can get back at my Navy Hero? Dream on! I'll make you taste the feeling of having your head smashed by the Iron Fist of Love!"

"Heh." Sett chuckled coldly, not replying, but glancing around before slamming his hand on the table and saying, "After all that talk, where are your meat and vegetables? Even at a banquet, you don't just chat like this!!"

Hehehe! I'll be right there~

----------------

There should be another 4k-word bonus chapter for the Alliance Leader tonight. I'll see how things go tomorrow; if everything goes well, I'll add another chapter.

(Having a cold is really awful...)

146. Banquet Conversation (Bonus Chapter for the Innocent Little Fatty, the Alliance Leader)

Amidst the shouts and cheers, the chefs on the sidelines began to serve up freshly prepared delicious dishes.

As a pure carnivore, Sett can't live without meat at any meal. Since he finally encountered such delicious food, he naturally wanted to enjoy it to the fullest—especially since he was getting to eat the chef's cooking from Garp's ship for free.

It's no exaggeration to say that as Garp's ship's chef, the flavor profile of these dishes far surpasses that of Sanji's at this stage. Although Hawkeye has always played the role of cook on the assault boat, the difference is still noticeable.

As he ate, a gleam of amazement shone in his eagle-eyed gaze. The red wine in his hand shimmered under the lamplight, and his slender fingers gripped the knife, slicing against the grain of the steak to reveal its marbled cross-section. With a gentle squeeze, rich juices gushed forth.

This touched Hawkeye somewhat—you ask why Hawkeye volunteered to be the cook? The reason is simple: Hawkeye didn't really want to, but Sett's cooking skills were just ridiculously bad. Even now, Hawkeye still can't imagine how water could taste burnt. Let's not even talk about difficult dishes; meat chops should be easy to make, right? All you need to do is control the heat and time.

But Sett? What was served on a plate was practically a slab of iron. Hawkeye's fork bent but he couldn't get it in. In the end, he had to use a black knife coated in Armament Haki to cut it, but that was all he managed, because Hawkeye didn't have the courage to put the steel plate in his mouth.

Regarding Sett, Hawkeye couldn't confirm everything else, but one thing was certain: Sett's digestive abilities were absolutely the strongest in the world. That steak, as hard as steel, could bend even a steel fork. For an average person, indigestion and stomach perforation were just around the corner. Even if they did manage to eat it, there was a very high probability it would turn into a golden needle mushroom—see you tomorrow.

But Sett didn't need to care at all. His mouthful of steel teeth was like he had eaten some kind of Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. He just chewed a couple of times and swallowed it directly...

Moving.

Having tasted the delicious food, Hawkeye was filled with emotion.

Hawkeye was undoubtedly alone, because apart from him, almost everyone else around him was wolfing down their food. Sett, in particular, had a huge piece of meat with bone in each hand. His enormous mouth seemed like a bottomless pit, continuously stuffing food into his mouth.

"It's delicious, bro!!"

As the cook emerged from the kitchen carrying a large platter of meat, Sett gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Interested in working on my ship? The pay is negotiable!"

Upon hearing Sett's words, Garp couldn't help but laugh and curse, "You brat! You actually tried to steal my chef!"

"What do you mean by 'robbery'?!" Sett said nonchalantly, "I call this normal business competition! Besides, you have no idea how awful Hawkeye's cooking is!"

"Um?!"

Hawkeye, who had been quietly eating, paused slightly upon hearing Sett's words, then looked at Sett with a hint of surprise and uncertainty in his eyes. His incredulous expression suggested he doubted his hearing—shouldn't everyone know what gratitude is?!

Completely oblivious to Hawkeye's expression, Sett casually remarked while picking up some meat, "The taste is just... edible! Sometimes I wish I could cook for him myself to broaden his horizons!!"

Haha, is it true?

Garp laughed upon hearing this.

In response to this,

The fist hardened.

Hawkeye's expression was unexpectedly calm, and the knife in his hand was unconsciously stained black in an instant.

He realized he had overestimated Sett's integrity—far exceeded it. Such an ungrateful parasite, left in the world, would only drive up rice prices, and its negative impact on teenagers would be immeasurable!

But what can we do about it?

Glancing at Garp and the others, Hawkeye felt for the first time how utterly alone and powerless he was. Shaking his head with a touch of melancholy, Hawkeye decided to ignore Sett's voice and continue contemplating the food before him—Sett may have a lot of nonsense, but one thing was certain: the food was indeed of extremely high quality.

Including the ingredients, Hawkeye could sense that many of them were ingredients that couldn't be found anywhere in the Four Seas. Presumably, they came from the New World… no, considering Garp's personal involvement in capturing the Pirate King, these ingredients might even have come from the paradise Sanji spoke of for all chefs, the so-called "Blue Sea"…

In the past, Hawkeye wouldn't have believed such legendary locations. But now it's different. Through Sanji's father, Hawkeye has confirmed that many legends actually have some basis in reality. Since a sky island floating above the clouds, nearly ten thousand meters above the sea, can exist, then by comparison, the existence of the Blue Sea, capable of gathering all the rare ingredients, doesn't seem so astonishing…

After all, the latter only requires a suitable ocean current environment. But the former, the floating island, is already openly defying Newton... which is just ridiculous.

The difference in ingredients, the difference in cooking skills, and even the difference in knowledge and experience... For the first time, Hawkeye felt the vastness of the world and his own insignificance.

Of course, only Hawkeye would feel this way. Because in the eyes of others, being able to reach the level of Black Blade at such a young age, Hawkeye's talent is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. In comparison, the vastness of the world that Hawkeye perceives is, to others, more like... Versailles.

"When it comes to fighting, winning or losing is a minor matter; it's all about having a good, satisfying fight!"

Holding a large keg of beer, Sett's face was slightly flushed as he said, "You don't know, in a small place like Four Seas, sometimes I have to hold back when I go to fight! Otherwise, one punch and they're all dead! They're like crispy chickens, not filling at all!"

"Hahaha!" Upon hearing this, Garp laughed heartily, then echoed in agreement, "Of course! To be honest, this fight with you was the most enjoyable one I've had in over a year!!"

"real or fake?"