Chapter 190: Dark Clouds
Late at night, on an unknown beach.
The bonfire from the banquet was still burning. One after another, pirates in various attire, their faces flushed and reeking of alcohol, were lying on the soft sand. The warm light of the bonfire dispelled the chill from the pirates sleeping below the giant, whale-headed ship, the Moby Dick.
Moonlight, like spring water, spilled onto the wide deck, illuminating Whitebeard, who was sitting in his giant chair, drinking alone. His gaze was fixed on the distant sea, incredibly deep, as if he were pondering something.
From the depths of the island's jungle, a large bird, its entire body burning with azure flames, descended from a towering ancient tree, flapping its flame-wreathed wings as it flew straight toward the ship.
"Hm?" Whitebeard turned his head toward the large bird, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "Marco."
Soon, the large, azure-flame-wreathed bird landed in front of Whitebeard. With a flick of its body, it retracted the flames and reverted to its human form. Then, he met Whitebeard's puzzled gaze and spoke urgently, "This is bad, Pops! Squard went to interfere with the Archangel Pirates' assassins chasing Gamenio, and got his arm cut off! Now, he's taking his men and heading to Dressrosa to rescue Gamenio!"
CRACK. Marco's words made Whitebeard's face turn incomparably grim, and he directly crushed the wine bottle in his hand.
"Squard and Gamenio?—" Whitebeard's brow furrowed tightly.
Squard was one of the pirate captains under his command. Although he was not a commander of any division, his years of companionship had given him a status on par with them. And Gamenio... he had once been a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, a powerful man and one of the "sons" Whitebeard had been proud of. But later, he had violated the ironclad rule he had set, was caught on the spot, and was expelled from the crew.
After a long while, Whitebeard muttered to himself, "Even after Gamenio did that, you still kept in contact with him, Squard?"
"..."
Just then, more and more of the less drunk pirates heard the commotion and came over from all directions, gathering on the deck and asking Marco what was going on.
"Marco, what happened?"
"Why would Pops crush a wine bottle?"
Marco glanced at the still-thinking Whitebeard, then once again recounted what had happened.
The pirates were first taken aback, then flew into a rage. "Damn it!" they said, burning with anger. "Just because their captain's strength is on par with Big Mom and Kaido, they can be so arrogant as to chase Gamenio out of our territory and capture him? These rookie pirates nowadays have gone too far! This is completely disrespecting the Whitebeard Pirates! It's a provocation!!"
Nearby, the various division commanders heard this and frowned slightly, but in their hearts, they agreed with this sentiment and did not speak up to stop their crewmates. All fourteen division commanders, except for the two who had gone to compete for the Ancient Zoan fruit, gathered and turned their gazes to their pops, awaiting his command.
As the strongest pirate crew in the world, they feared no other pirate force. As long as Pops gave the order, they would not hesitate to launch an attack on any pirate who had been declared their enemy.
After a moment, a noticeable change came over Whitebeard's face. He turned his gaze to Marco and spoke in a deep voice. "Marco, call Vista and Jozu back. I know they went to find the Ancient Zoan fruit after hearing the news from Shiki. I know why you're doing this, but it's useless now."
They were doing this, of course, in the hope that, like Shiki, they could use those Devil Fruits as payment to have that Archangel heal him. Although Whitebeard himself had no intention of putting his life in someone else's hands, in consideration of their feelings, he had turned a blind eye to their actions. And now, that Archangel's people had cut off Squard's hand. The two sides were now complete enemies. Vista and Jozu's actions had become meaningless.
Marco heard this, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his originally serious face. He hadn't expected that he and his brothers' secret actions had been so easily seen through by their pops.
"I understand! I'll call them back right away!" He took a deep breath, took out the Den Den Mushi from his coat pocket, and dialed Jozu.
"I can pretend I didn't see what happened to Gamenio, but—" A dangerous light flashed in Whitebeard's eyes, his tone chilling. "—cutting off one of Squard's hands... this matter absolutely cannot be left like this!"
Gamenio had committed a great crime. Although he had not been killed, he had been expelled from the Whitebeard Pirates and no longer had any connection to him. Whitebeard didn't care much that he had been captured outside his territory. The other party's excessive action was merely chasing Gamenio all the way into his territory to capture him. Although this was also an infringement on his face, it wasn't worth putting his sons in danger.
However, that assassin had gone and cut off Squard's hand. This action had undoubtedly crossed his bottom line.
On the deck of the Moby Dick, the group of pirates heard Whitebeard's words and all revealed bloodthirsty smiles. They drew their sharp blades and raised them high in the air. "Make those rookies who don't know their place pay the price!!"
On the noisy deck, Whitebeard's voice clearly reached the ears of the division commanders. "Contact Squard. Tell him not to be rash. I will avenge him!"
The top priority was to prevent the not-so-bright Squard from ramming his small, broken ship headfirst into the bottomless whirlpool that was Dressrosa. If Squard died, then even avenging him would be meaningless. Therefore, the most important thing at present was to make Squard calm down and wait for Whitebeard to go with him to avenge his severed arm.
As for Gamenio? A person who had attacked his own comrade was not worthy of Whitebeard's sympathy.
Several commanders heard him and nodded, then each took out their own Den Den Mushis to contact the crew on Squard's ship.
A man with a bald head and long pink hair on the sides hung up his Den Den Mushi with a grim face. He then turned to look at the crew behind him, the anger in his eyes almost physically erupting. "Who was it?! Who disobeyed my orders and told Pops about this!!"
In the crowd, several people looked away, not daring to meet their captain's eyes.
Seeing this, Squard was furious. But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to punish his own crew. He had already lost one group of partners. Therefore, he cherished these people he had acknowledged and couldn't bear to hurt them.
After letting out a long sigh, Squard picked up his Den Den Mushi again and, following his memory, dialed his pops's number. He knew that if a war broke out, many people would die. He, who had caused this war, would be the sinner.
Click. The call was answered, and the next moment, a voice that was familiar to Squard sounded. "Have you treated your wound?"
This gentle and simple sentence caused a storm to rage in Squard's heart, and the tears almost broke through his dam.
"POPS!!" Even though he had acted on his own and had not listened to advice, at the first moment of the call, Whitebeard was still gently concerned about his injury.
Then, Squard wiped the tears from the corner of his eye and said with a choke, "Pops! This has nothing to do with the Whitebeard Pirates! It's a matter between me and brother Gamenio! If the Whitebeard Pirates get involved, many of our brothers will die!! So, I beg you, Pops, not to interfere! Just leave this matter for me to handle!"
"..."
As Squard sobbed, Whitebeard on the other end was silent for a moment, and then let out a kind laugh. "Gurararara! It's not like that, Squard! When they cut off your arm, it was no longer a simple matter between the Archangel Pirates and that bastard Gamenio! They hurt my son, and they must pay the price!"
Squard heard this and was stunned, frozen on the deck, his face filled with disbelief.
Dozens of nautical miles from the Moby Dick.
A pirate ship had furled its sails, letting the entire vessel drift with the waves. In the dim cabin, one after another, pirates in various attire sat upright, expressionlessly transcribing the conversation they were monitoring from a Den Den Mushi onto paper with a pen.
It wasn't until the call ended that the group of pirates stopped their movements. They turned and passed the monitored intelligence to the tall man behind them.
The man took the report, glanced at it, then turned and left, heading for the deepest room of the ship. He took out a Den Den Mushi and an anti-eavesdropping one, and quickly dialed a specific number.
Brrring~ Brrring~ Brrring~
Click—
The call was answered, but no sound came from the other end at first.
The man took a deep breath and then spoke in a deep voice, "Reporting, Vice Admiral. We have intercepted a communication. It seems a conflict has arisen between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Archangel Pirates, which may lead to a war!"
"..."
The person on the other end heard this and was shocked by the news. Unable to remain calm, they subconsciously asked, "Is this information accurate?"
The man looked at the intelligence in his hand again and nodded. "The intelligence is accurate. I will submit the contents of the conversation to Marine Headquarters in the form of a photograph!"
A few minutes later, a middle-aged flag officer in a Justice cape and a suit was running down a corridor, pushing aside one Marine after another as he rushed to the door of the Fleet Admiral's office.
BANG! With a loud crash, the officer pushed open the door and burst in.
"Fleet Admiral, urgent intelligence from the New World!"
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