OPTC Chapter 338: The Invincible King of the Sea
East Blue, Cocoyasi Village.
The sky was a clear, brilliant blue. The sea lay calm beneath it, the waves glimmering faintly under the sun. Occasionally, a few seabirds skimmed across the surface, hunting for prey—only to be startled by the sounds of laughter and cheers coming from the shore.
"To thank the Amber Travel Group, cheers!"
"To celebrate the defeat of the Arlong Pirates, cheers!"
"To the Sky Priestess Wendy-chan, cheers!"
The cheers rolled through the air in waves. Arlong, with his twenty-million-berry bounty, was a monster-class pirate in the East Blue. For a small, isolated village like Cocoyasi to survive after facing him was nothing short of miraculous.
Even more incredible, the price they paid was only a few collapsed houses and a handful of injuries. That was well worth celebrating.
"Eh? Perona, do you have special powers too? Like Wendy?" Nojiko asked in amazement.
The party had barely begun before Bell-mère had gone off to challenge others to drinking contests. Naturally, Nojiko and Nami had drifted off to play with Wendy and Perona.
"Yup! Watch this," Perona said, releasing a small ghost. The white, translucent spirit had plump lips and round, black eyes, looking oddly cute as it floated around.
"So cute!" Nami reached out to poke it, but the little ghost dodged quickly.
Wendy caught Nami's wrist, smiling gently. "You can't touch it. If you do, you'll become super negative and embarrass yourself."
"What does 'super negative' mean?" Nojiko asked curiously.
Perona frowned. "Hard to explain. Why don't I show you?"
Wendy quickly protested. "You can't just use your powers to prank people! Da Ye will punish you again."
"So, as long as it's not on normal people, it's fine?" Nami's eyes flicked toward the tied-up fishmen, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. She had zero sympathy for them.
"Exactly!" Perona said, grabbing Nami and Nojiko's hands and running toward the fishmen.
Wendy reached out helplessly, muttering, "I'm not sure that's really okay…"
A few minutes later, Nojiko and Nami were staring at Perona with sparkling admiration. "That was amazing!"
Perona crossed her arms proudly. "Piece of cake."
Over where the fishmen were tied, a gloomy pressure filled the air. The ones who tried to curse or shout only got targeted by the negative ghosts again and again, until they finally slumped into despair and gave up entirely. After a few rounds, the fishmen just sat there, mumbling self-pitying nonsense. It wasn't deadly—but it sure was pathetic.
Zhang Da Ye glanced their way but said nothing. He simply continued enjoying the sea cow meat. The creature, Moo Moo, looked cute enough, but considering the damage it caused, getting cooked in eighteen different ways was fair retribution.
It was a cow anyhow. A giant tender piece of meat was too much of a temptation.
Tom and Artoria were feasting nearby as well. Ever since they'd left the Grand Line, it had been a long time since they'd had proper sea beast meat—this was a treat worth savoring.
After a while, Artoria stopped eating and said quietly, "We have company."
Zhang Da Ye looked up. "That serious?"
Artoria nodded. "A familiar face."
Just then, a villager came running over. "Mr. Da Ye! There's an old man on the shore who says he knows you!"
"An old man who knows me?" Zhang Da Ye wiped his mouth and stood. "Could it be Garp?"
Artoria followed silently, while Tom hesitated—torn between the table full of meat and his curiosity. He grabbed a bone still heavy with meat and hurried after them.
When they reached the shore, they saw an old man wringing seawater from his soaked shirt, his bare torso still visibly muscular despite his age.
"Rayleigh?" Zhang Da Ye blurted out in surprise.
Rayleigh adjusted his round glasses with a grin. "Long time no see, little Da Ye."
It really had been a long time—but Zhang Da Ye hadn't exactly been eager to see him again. "What are you doing here?"
"Thanks to you," Rayleigh sighed, giving him a look that carried both amusement and annoyance. "A little girl came asking for help. I couldn't refuse, so I escorted her back to the Kingdom of Kogia. You lot seem to be enjoying quite a relaxed journey."
Zhang Da Ye blinked, then remembered. Right before leaving Sabaody, he might've left Rayleigh with a bit of a problem to deal with—a slave incident. Apparently, it had turned into a real situation.
"Haha… sorry about that. You've worked hard, old man." Zhang Da Ye chuckled awkwardly. "So what happened to your ship?"
Rayleigh shrugged. "I had one. But an accident happened. I had to swim here from Kogia."
The villagers were stunned. "You're kidding! Do you know how far that is?! You swam all the way here?!"
"Of course. I'm very good at breaststroke," Rayleigh said as if it were perfectly normal. "Got attacked by the King of the Sea while I was asleep—it swallowed both me and the boat. Took me three days and nights to get out."
The villagers' jaws dropped. This guy couldn't be serious. Even if he was good at swimming, who survives being swallowed by a Sea King?
Zhang Da Ye had similar doubts. A man like Rayleigh—ambushed in his sleep by a Sea King? Really?
The East Blue's Sea Kings were quite something. First they ate the bandit king, then they bit off Shanks' arm, and now they swallowed Rayleigh? They might be the strongest creatures in the sea. Maybe Rayleigh even saw a familiar arm inside that beast's stomach.
"So you're here to rest?" Zhang Da Ye asked, wondering if this visit had anything to do with Hachi. Rayleigh and the octopus fishman were known to be close.
Rayleigh smiled. "Not exactly. I heard quite a bit about you recently and thought I'd drop by for a drink."
Ever since the Golden Island incident, the Amber crew had been heading toward Reverse Mountain, capturing plenty of pirates along the way. Their exploits weren't exactly secret. With all the rumors and news, it wasn't hard to track their path—even the treasure-hunting fools could do it, let alone Rayleigh.
"But…" Rayleigh glanced at the Arlong Pirates' ship anchored nearby. "Seems I have another friend here. Would it be possible for me to see him?"
"You mean one of the fishmen?" The villagers tensed, looking ready to grab weapons.
"No, only one of them. He's my lifesaver—an octopus fishman named Hachi."
The villagers relaxed a little. That didn't sound unreasonable. Still, they looked to Zhang Da Ye for a decision.
Tom studied Rayleigh. The old man looked familiar, but Tom couldn't place him. He bit off another chunk of meat and frowned thoughtfully. Beside him, Artoria sensed no hostility and, reassured, leaned in to take a tiny bite of Tom's bone as well.
After a moment, Zhang Da Ye nodded. "Fine. Let's go see him."
…
When they reached the fishmen, a bunch of kids were still teasing them—throwing pebbles, tying their hair together, all kinds of mischief. When they saw the adults, they scattered. Only Perona and the others remained.
Zhang Da Ye frowned. These brats really needed better discipline.
Perona scratched her head nervously. "They saw us messing with the fishmen and joined in. I couldn't stop them… and I can't exactly use my powers on kids."
"It's fine," Zhang Da Ye said mildly. He was more worried about the children becoming worse over time—but that wasn't his problem. His own troublemaker was already improving.
Rayleigh's gaze fell on Hachi—beaten, tied up, but alive. "Hachi, are you alright?"
"Rayleigh?" Hachi blinked rapidly. "How are you here? I'm fine, but… but big bro Arlong was killed!"
Rayleigh's brows furrowed as he turned toward Zhang Da Ye. "You killed him?"
Zhang Da Ye raised a brow. "Haven't you killed a fishman before?"
Rayleigh sighed. "I just meant—you're on good terms with Jinbe, aren't you? Won't killing Arlong cause trouble?"
"Jinbe is Jinbe, and Arlong is Arlong," Zhang Da Ye replied calmly. "If Jinbe knew what Arlong had done, he'd want him dead too. I just saved him the trouble."
Rayleigh studied him quietly, then smiled. "Seems you've changed quite a bit, Da Ye."
"Yeah," Zhang Da Ye said. "But sorry to disappoint you—I've only grown to hate pirates even more."
"Oh?" Rayleigh chuckled. "And what about your thoughts on the World Government?"
That question made Zhang Da Ye's heart skip. If Rayleigh could see through things, so could the Navy and the Government. His little tricks might fool lower ranks, but not the people at the top. That could be bad.
Still, they wouldn't act rashly. The Navy saw his group as powerful allies—pirate hunters who targeted criminals. As long as they weren't stupid, they wouldn't push him to the other side.
The Bridge Kingdom incident—freeing a thousand laborers and capturing just as many pirates—had been manageable. As long as the losses weren't catastrophic, the Government would find a way to save face.
Zhang Da Ye exhaled slowly. Next time he did something "good," he'd better make sure the World Government had a graceful way to explain it.
"We're just an ordinary travel group," he said lightly. "What kind of opinion could we possibly have?"
"Fair enough," Rayleigh said with an amused smile. "A very ordinary travel group indeed. Ordinary enough to topple infamous pirates and turn the East Blue upside down. Keep it up."
Zhang Da Ye frowned at the knowing look on Rayleigh's face. He felt mocked—and briefly considered having Ye Yan knock him out cold. But then he saw Ye Yan in gray uniform performing mock combat drills nearby, and thought better of it.
After a few more words with Hachi, Rayleigh turned back to Zhang Da Ye.
Before he could speak, Zhang Da Ye said, "You're going to ask me to let him go, aren't you?"
Rayleigh smiled. "Would you grant this old man a favor? I'll make sure he never becomes a pirate again."
Zhang Da Ye muttered under his breath, "Your hair isn't red, old man…"
Rayleigh really was something. Back when he ran a tavern, Rayleigh tried to convince Zhang Da Ye to become a pirate. Now he was asking him to help one *quit*. What a contradiction.
He called Ah Jian over. "Did that guy hurt anyone?"
Ah Jian stared at Hachi for a moment. Hachi lowered his gaze quickly.
After a pause, Ah Jian said, "Most of the injuries were from the Sea Cow. During the chaos, there might've been some scuffles, but I'm not sure which ones he was responsible for."
"I didn't hurt anyone," Hachi said quickly. "But I did scare some of them. The little boy throwing rocks at me earlier—he's probably not scared anymore, right?"
Zhang Da Ye sighed. That kid again. Fine, call it even.
"Alright," he said. "Three conditions. You meet them, I'll release him."
"Let's hear them."
"First, as you said—he quits being a pirate. Second, he or you will compensate the villagers for the damage and injuries. Third, since letting a pirate go annoys me, one of you has to make it up to me. Save a hundred innocent people—or kill a hundred evildoers. Deal?"
Rayleigh adjusted his glasses. "The first two are fine. But the third… perhaps you've misunderstood where I stand, Da Ye."
Zhang Da Ye narrowed his eyes. "You want to save your friend, and you're talking about principles?"
Rayleigh lowered his head slightly, his eyes hidden in shadow. "There are other ways to save someone. What if I refuse?"
"Then we fight," Zhang Da Ye said flatly. "If you can defeat all ten of us from the Amber Travel Group, you can save whoever you want."
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