Chapter 230: Encounter with Darren and Hina (Part 1)
It had been five days since they last received information about the Dawn Pirates, and the warship led by Rear Admiral Tsuru had been aimlessly drifting in the vast North Sea for those five days.
"Since five days ago, there hasn't been any news of sighting the Dawn Pirates," Rear Admiral Tsuru sat in his chair, thinking. "Based on their usual movements, they shouldn't have left this sea area, right?"
"Report to Rear Admiral Tsuru , we've spotted a pirate ship, it's... the Hawkins Pirates," a female sailor reported.
"We haven't encountered the main target, but we've run into a number of other pirate crews," Rear Admiral Tsuru sighed, "The ship's prison still has some space left, right?"
"Yes, but not much."
"Looks like we need to head to the North Sea's Navy branch," Rear Admiral Tsuru stood up, "Let's capture this pirate crew too."
"Understood!"
"Hawkins Captain!" A pirate from the Hawkins Pirates reported, "We've spotted a Navy warship! It's the flag of Rear Admiral Tsuru ! Captain, what should we do?"
Hawkins took out a tarot deck and smoothly shuffled the cards, calmly saying, "We don't need to rush, fate has already been decided."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The Navy warship opposite started firing cannons.
"Hawkins Captain! Quick, give the order, should we fight back or escape?"
"Don't panic, I'm not going to die today." Hawkins looked up at his panicked crew, "You're not showing signs of death either."
"Y-yes, are we...?"
The cannonballs tore through the air with a shrill whistle, exploding in the water around the Hawkins pirate ship.
Hawkins calmly drew a tarot card with his left hand, wearing a black glove, and placed it on the tip of a standing straw, "Fight, defeat rate 100%."
"Escape, success rate 46%."
Amidst the whistling and explosions, Hawkins continued his divination without a care:
"Defense, evasion rate 23%."
"Hmm? A noble will come to save us..." Hawkins' usual poker face finally showed a slight change as he drew another card, Speaking differently.
The straw controlled by Hawkins slowly descended, and he drew his sword, giving the order: "Prepare to fight."
"Understood, Captain Hawkins!"
Boom, boom, boom—!
The approaching Navy warship finally sent the cannonballs crashing onto Hawkins' ship.
...
"Is this it? Hina is disappointed." Hina stood next to a pirate bound with iron shackles.
"Don't underestimate us!" Another pirate raised his sword and charged at Hina.
"Too slow." Hina sidestepped the slash and kicked toward the pirate. As her leg made contact, it seemed boneless, tightly pressing against the pirate's body, and her right foot followed the path, piercing through the pirate's body.
The pirate, now attacked, collapsed to the ground with a ring of black iron shackles around his body, "What is this?!"
"Anything my body passes through will be locked down."
"Well done." Rear Admiral Tsuru clapped his hands, looking at the sheets hanging on the clothesline in the wind, "'Magician' Bajiru Hawkins, bounty of 50 million Berries."
The sheets on the line sparkled.
"Rear Admiral Tsuru ," a female sailor aboard the ship reported, "The Hawkins Pirates have all been captured. Not a single one escaped."
"Carrying so many pirates is inconvenient. Where's the nearest North Sea Navy branch? We..."
"Woo woo!" Suddenly, alarms blared.
"Rear Admiral Tsuru , we've spotted the Dawn Pirates!"
"What? At this time?"
"!?" Hina instantly bit down on the cigarette butt in her mouth.
...
"That's Rear Admiral Tsuru 's warship." Eric looked at the compass in his hand, which pointed toward the Navy warship, "Could she have been captured?"
"Embark and fail, die first..."
"Captain, there's a blonde man aboard the Navy ship, but... why is he hanging on the clothesline?" Chiron's farsight clearly saw Hawkins hanging from the clothesline.
"It must be Rear Admiral Tsuru 's washing fruit ability." Eric explained, "It can wash any item. Items and people that are washed lose their original form and turn into something like freshly sun-dried clothes, and living beings washed with it lose their strength and cannot move freely."
"It's said that those who are washed and dried by this ability also have their minds slightly cleansed, and their evil hearts become a bit cleaner."
"Too bad some people, no matter how much they wash, can't wash away the evil inside them." Law added.
"I'm going first," Eric said, vanishing from sight.
"Yo, Rear Admiral Tsuru ." Eric crouched on the side of the warship, greeting her.
"Darren Eric , what are you doing in the North Sea instead of fighting the other Four Emperors in the New World?" As an old-school Navy officer, Tsuru was not intimidated by the title of a Sea Emperor.
"I'm here..." Eric spoke, scanning the female sailors aboard the warship. When he saw a flash of red, he visibly flinched.
' Hina, why is she here too?' Eric , feeling guilty, hesitated to appear before her, while Rear Admiral Tsuru noticed their change in expressions.
'Hina's anger is clearly directed at Eric , and Eric 's reaction when seeing Hina... they're around the same age. Could it be...?' The nearly seventy-year-old woman's sharp mind ignited with curiosity.
A scumbag cheating, and the ex-girlfriend confronting the new girlfriend—who wouldn't want to watch that?
"Even though you have history, Hina, you're in the Navy now, and he's a pirate. You can't go easy on him."
"Eh?" The female soldiers aboard the ship exclaimed in surprise, their eyes now filled with fire.
Hina, who had eyes only for Darren Eric , didn't hear Rear Admiral Tsuru 's words and didn't respond.
"What's going on?!" Eric cried out, "Rear Admiral Tsuru , you can mess with food, but not with words!"
At that moment, Eric looked like a scumbag who had dumped his girlfriend and was denying it in front of everyone.
The female sailors, united in outrage, shouted together: "Scumbag!"
"Ah, I just got here and already hear that word. Eric , what exactly did you do?"
Kurumi lightly landed beside Eric .
Looking at the noble and cold Kurumi, graceful and elegant, the female sailors suddenly understood why Eric had dumped Hina, angrily cursing, "He ditched his childhood sweetheart for a noblewoman..."
Hina, holding back her fury for so long, spread her arms, and two black iron shackles extended from her arms, "I'm going to arrest you, Darren Eric ! Kusari Hime!"
In the eyes of the other female sailors, Hina was simply waiting for her ex-lover, Eric , to come back to his senses. But the moment the other woman appeared by Eric 's side, Hina could no longer contain her anger and attacked the two.
"Well done, Major Hina! No need for a man, women can hold up half the sky by themselves!"
Hina brought her arms forward, and the domineering shackles closed in around Eric .
Eric , of course, couldn't just avoid it himself. He scooped Kurumi up in a princess carry and jumped to a higher position to dodge the attack.
"What? Not only did you ditch your ex-girlfriend, but you also deliberately brought your current girlfriend in front of her to show off your love?!"
Hina finally came back to her senses, "What... are you talking about?"
(END CHAPTER)
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