Chapter 435: Zunesha
Marineford · Roy's Residence
After dinner, plates and cups were scattered across the table. The steam had yet to dissipate, and the sound of laughter continued to rise and fall.
Irene gently set down her bowl and chopsticks. She suddenly turned her head, looking at Roy with a serious expression.
"Roy, dear," her tone was gentle but carried a mother's unique sharpness, "About what we talked about before... is there someone you like?"
The moment those words fell, the entire table went silent for a split second.
"Pfft—!!"
Luffy was the first to completely lose it, nearly choking as he snorted tea out of his nose.
Ace clutched his stomach and burst into laughter: "Hahaha! Bro, I can't believe even you're getting asked this kind of stuff!"
Nami bit her lip, holding back a giggle, while Nojiko faked a cough to hide her amusement.
Usopp's eyes sparkled: "Big Brother Roy, don't tell me you've already secretly gotten a girlfriend?"
Sanji clamped down on his cigarette, his face turning blue and pale in turns: "Damn it, even Big Brother Roy has someone worrying about his love life..."
Even the usually composed Law uncharacteristically curled the corners of his lips: "Big Brother Roy, you have to answer a question like this directly."
Roy froze for a moment. The tips of his ears quietly flushed red. He coughed lightly, trying to change the subject:
"Ahem... Are you guys full? Should I order a few more dishes?"
Irene narrowed her eyes, looking as if she had seen through everything: "Hmph, trying to play dumb again."
Roc, on the other hand, threw his head back and laughed aloud, raising his glass and downing his drink in one gulp: "Hahaha! Let it go, let it go. Today is a great day for a family reunion."
"Just seeing you young people being so lively around this table is enough to put our minds at ease!"
Laughter rang out once again, the entire house brimming with a warm and relaxed atmosphere.
—In this moment, it felt as if the flames of war and dark conspiracies were far beyond the horizon, as if the world had truly found peace.
...
However, just as Roy's family was enjoying their joyous reunion, far away in Zou, the Mokomo Dukedom was welcoming a group of uninvited guests under the cover of night.
Thick sea fog churned as a massive, pitch-black warship silently approached the gargantuan elephant's body.
The ship's bow was as dark as a beast's maw, casting an oppressive aura beneath the night sky.
On the deck stood a burly man with a face full of stubble. His sinister laughter seemed capable of tearing through the darkness.
"Zehahaha... Just as I thought, there's something here drawing me in..."
—Marshall D. Teach.
On the current seas, the prestige of the Marines had reached its absolute zenith.
With the annihilation of the Four Emperors, pirate forces had completely crumbled, leaving very few who dared to set sail as pirates.
Coupled with the Marines' large-scale sweeps, the seas had gradually stabilized.
Thanks to the vigorous promotion by Water 7, sea trains had opened up routes, making commerce flow smoothly, and bringing unprecedented development to trade and civilian livelihoods.
The basic living standards of the common people had vastly improved. Those who had once resorted to taking extreme risks because they "couldn't afford to eat" no longer needed to rely on piracy to survive.
Nowadays, the only ones raising a Jolly Roger were mostly desperate criminals with nowhere else to go.
And the moment they hoisted a pirate flag, they would almost immediately be discovered and swiftly wiped out by the Marines.
Teach, however, chose a different path.
He didn't fly a skull-and-crossbones flag. Instead, he set sail under the guise of an "Adventurer Group."
In the name of plundering pirates and wiping out underworld syndicates, the "Blackbeard Adventurers" secretly amassed resources and widely recruited outlaws.
His laughter was cunning, but his heart was colder than anyone else's.
What was even more bizarre was that ever since he swallowed that Gum-Gum Fruit, some indescribable power seemed to have awakened within him.
It was like a vague whisper, guiding him day and night right by his ear.
—And this power had brought him straight to the Mokomo Dukedom.
The pitch-black giant warship slowly approached the colossal elephant that was steadily walking through the ocean. The sea fog rolled, and the atmosphere under the night sky felt oppressive and eerie.
At the bow of the ship, the core officers of the Blackbeard Adventurers gathered, their eyes glued to the behemoth before them.
Lafitte twirled his cane lightly. A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes as a bizarre smile curved his lips: "Hehehe... Is this the legendary 'Zunesha'? Truly unbelievable."
Van Augur raised his sniper scope and peered through it: "Massive... larger than any target I have ever seen."
Burgess's Adam's apple bobbed. His muscles bulged as he growled in disbelief: "To think a monster like this actually exists in this world?! This is insane!"
Doc Q coughed weakly twice. His frail figure swayed in the night wind, but he couldn't help chuckling:
"Hehehe... It's as if it's a mythical beast straight out of a legend... cough, cough..."
Standing at the very front, Teach's black cape snapped wildly in the wind.
He looked up at the super-giant elephant that blotted out the sky and the sun, a strange sense of familiarity flashing through the depths of his eyes.
"Zehahaha... For some reason, I actually feel a... inexplicable sense of familiarity with it? What exactly is going on here?"
However, high above in a place unnoticed by the crew, Zunesha's ancient eyes slowly opened.
Its gaze pierced through the thick fog, landing squarely on Teach.
—A rare tremor surged from the bottom of Zunesha's heart.
"This aura... it's clearly extremely similar to 'His'... but the compatibility is so incredibly poor?!"
"This guy... what exactly is his existence?"
Zunesha stared at Teach, a deep sense of unease revealing itself in its eyes.
The people on the ship, however, were completely oblivious to this.
Burgess couldn't help but scratch his head and yell: "Captain! Didn't you say the thing you're looking for is up there? But it's so high! How are we supposed to get up there? This elephant's leg is taller than the sky itself!"
Teach froze slightly upon hearing this. He looked up at the seemingly endlessly stretching elephant's back and muttered softly: "You're right... I just felt that I absolutely had to come here..."
He slowly walked forward, wanting to get a clearer look.
Right at this moment—
BOOM!!!
The surface of the sea abruptly exploded! Raging waves roared like thunder, deafeningly loud!
A massive Knock Up Stream, powerful enough to tear apart the sea and sky, unexpectedly erupted directly from underneath the giant ship!
The entire ship was instantly vaulted upward, shooting straight into the firmament like a fired arrow!
"WH—WHAT?!!"
"ARE WE GOING TO CRASH AND DIE?!!"
The crew members lost their minds in terror, the deck descending into utter chaos.
Lafitte hurriedly spread his wings to stabilize his posture. Burgess hugged the railing tightly with a face full of horror, and Doc Q was thrown so hard he nearly tumbled right off the deck.
High above, Zunesha, who had been watching, was even more shocked: "This is impossible... A Knock Up Stream shouldn't appear in this sea zone?!"
The giant ship was thrown tens of thousands of meters into the sky by the roaring current. Then, it abruptly lost its support and began plummeting rapidly!
Teach, however, stood at the bow of the ship. He spread his arms wide, as if embracing his destiny, and laughed maniacally at the top of his lungs:
"ZE—HA—HA—HA!!! I KNEW IT!!! I CAN GET UP HERE!!"
In a split second, the power of his Swamp-Swamp Fruit violently erupted!
A black mud swamp rapidly expanded from the bottom of the ship, acting like a giant hand cradling the entire vessel.
"RUMBLE—!!!"
The giant ship smashed heavily onto the elephant's back, but at the very last second, it was cushioned by the dark swamp, landing perfectly intact.
On the deck, everyone collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily for air.
Immediately after, they all looked toward their captain, their eyes filled with absolute fanaticism and awe.
"Even fate is opening a path for the Captain!"
"This is our Captain!!!"
"TEACH!! TEACH!!!"
Teach threw his head back and laughed loudly, his voice shaking the night sky. Zunesha, however, was still deep in thought, its gaze growing increasingly heavy:
"This aura... is it a calamity, or... a new future?"
—The Blackbeard Adventurers had officially set foot upon Zunesha's back.
♧♧♧
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you