Kapitel 36: Chapter 36: Dreams
"Why, why is this happening?!"
Amidst the booming cannonfire, Captain Lopez wore an expression of despair.
"They knew I was one of their own, so why are they firing upon us?"
I don't understand~~
"Perhaps the other side wants to claim the credit?"
With an innocent face, Rosinante stood at the ship's railing, watching the pursuing warship behind them, her voice clearly audible across the entire deck.
"Captain Lopez, Colonel Anderson,"
"If we don't take action soon, everyone on this ship will end up fish food at the bottom of the sea."
Rosinante's manipulative tactics might not make sense against a true "Navy," but within the mixed waters of the Kingdom's Navy, they could prove surprisingly effective.
In this world, the "Navy" generally referred to the organization under the World Government that maintained global maritime security in the name of absolute justice—a colossal military force.
However, beyond that, most kingdoms and larger port cities possessed their own warships.
It wasn't feasible to wait for the Navy to handle every petty pirate, especially given the vastness of the seas and the multitude of islands. Often, by the time the Navy arrived, the pirates had already looted and fled!
Moreover, many countries also had their own "Pirate Crews."
These pirate crews, representing their respective nations, roamed the seas. They could attack enemy nations, provide financial support, and handle "dirty work," proving to be quite versatile!
The "Gear Number" ship that Rosinante was on belonged to the town of Spadamarooz's fleet.
Although the "Lever Number" ship firing at them was also from Spadamarooz, there was no camaraderie between the two crews.
Because they weren't fighting for "justice" to begin with; they were fighting for money.
Boom, boom, boom—
"*&%!"
Faced with the approaching barrage from behind, muttering something akin to "son of a seahorse" in a local dialect, Captain Lopez finally drew his cutlass.
Being related to the town's mayor, he had a promising future ahead. How could he die in the vast sea like this?
"Fire the cannons, return fire!!"
"Send those X son-of-a-seahorses to the sea floor as fish food!"
Regardless of whether it was semaphore or flag signals, the enemy relentlessly bombarded the "Gear Number" ship, forcing the life-loving Captain Lopez to "resist."
On one hand, there were the reasons behind Captain Lopez's earlier "self-betrayal"; on the other hand, the enemy might have the idea of claiming the bounty all to themselves.
After all, everyone heard it—Lopez had admitted his own betrayal over the communication snail. So, wouldn't it be natural to get rid of him as well?
"Move, move!!"
On the deck, a group of sailors who had just finished repairs were once again busy.
Only this time, their target was their former colleague—the relentless pursuer, the "Lever Number" ship.
Cannon doors opened, and the long-barreled "Long Heavy Cannon" was pushed out one after another. Following that, the Gear Number ship began to turn, aligning numerous gunports on its port side with the pursuing Lever Number ship behind.
"Don't worry, we'll help too."
As the Gear Number ship turned, the previously obstructed Port Tower Number ship also started to turn to the right.
Just as Rosinante's words fell, under Torreborl's command, the Port Tower Number ship began firing its cannonballs.
Whether they could hit or not was uncertain, but at least the "momentum" was there.
Puffs of smoke, thundering cannonfire—
The 2v1 naval battle officially began!
If it was only the Port Tower Number ship on its own, unless the pursuers, like the Gear Number ship, acted recklessly, providing Rosinante with a chance to escape, it would have been overwhelmed by the combined superiority of the ships' capabilities and cannon range.
However, facing the simultaneous counterattack of the Gear Number and Port Tower Number ships from both sides, even though the pursuing Lever Number ship held a favorable position, it still had to maneuver to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
And the direction the Lever Number ship turned toward was the same area where the Gear Number ship was situated.
Clearly, compared to the dilapidated armed merchant ship "Port Tower Number," the intact "Gear Number" was the formidable adversary.
-----------
Boom, boom, boom!!
"Doflamingo, we'll need to recruit a sniper or, let's say, a gunner in the future."
Standing on the deck of the Gear Number ship, Rosinante and Doflamingo watched as the three warships cut arcs across the sea, exchanging cannonfire.
In the face of such collective technology, individual strength inevitably paled in comparison.
In fact, this was the "normal" mode of naval warfare.
Originally, a "sniper" or "gunner" was a crucial role on a ship, like Usopp from the future Straw Hat Pirates.
Unfortunately, the Straw Hat Pirates were at a much higher level. With their three main members each having bounties exceeding 30 million, they were skilled enough to casually kick cannons, slash explosives, and more.
Then there was Luffy, who could defend against bullets and cannonballs over a wide area with his rubber fruit ability... No, wait, Nika fruit ability.
The three main members intercepted enemy projectiles, rendering the ship's "sniper" useless. If it were a normal ship, someone like Usopp, a masterful sharpshooter who could control cannons with unparalleled precision, would undoubtedly be a naval warfare ace!
"Yeah, a gunner is necessary."
Doflamingo also nodded, though finding an exceptional gunner wasn't an easy task—it was mostly a matter of luck.
Speaking of which, the gunner of the Donquixote family was... Gladius?
Rosinante stroked his chin. He remembered Gladius having the Burst-Burst Fruit ability, with a serious and cold personality, and a strong loyalty to Doflamingo. However...
He didn't know where that guy was now!
Oh well, if it's meant to be, they'll meet again.
"Diamante, do you know any exceptional gunners?"
"Haha, we're the Donquixote family, dominating Spadamarooz with our swords and blades. As for cannons..."
"I understand, you don't know."
It made sense. At this point in time, the Torreborl Quartet were just a bunch of thugs struggling in Spadamarooz Town, not even venturing out to sea. How could they possibly know any strong individuals?
Theoretically, Torreborl's Sticky-Sticky Fruit ability could defend against bullets.
Unfortunately, his ability was quite "fire-prone," fine for bullets, but encountering explosives would easily turn him into a torch.
Besides using his sticky substance to mimic a "pseudo-natural" evasion tactic and intimidate opponents, Torreborl's strength and fruit ability... were lacking.
He couldn't even match Mr. 3's Wax-Wax Fruit!
"Diamante, have you considered aiming for the title of the world's greatest swordsman?"
"Um, while I do think highly of myself, being the world's greatest..."
Overwhelmed by the forceful aura of being dubbed the "world's greatest" by Rosinante, Diamante's decline this time was genuine and not due to any peculiar personality traits.
"No ambition!"
Rosinante, arms crossed, pouted.
In the world of One Piece, what's the difference between having "dreams" and being a layabout?
"Well then... Rosinandi, tell me—"
Life's four ironclad principles: carrying a gun together, sharing a jail cell, squatting in a cell...
Cough cough, having just experienced fighting side by side, Diamante could sense that Rosinante's "rejection" of them had lessened quite a bit, otherwise, they wouldn't have started discussing "dreams."
"So, what is your goal, or rather, your dream?"
Indeed, because Rosinante knew about the "future," he had an inadvertent aversion towards Torreborl and Diamante.
On one hand, Doflamingo's future personality played a significant role in this, as well as his involvement in their "training."
On the other hand, it was also because Torreborl and Diamante were both "incompetent," causing Rosinante to subconsciously feel that they were unworthy of Doflamingo's "family" status.
However, after going through a battle together, Rosinante's initial perspective was changing:
From rejection to considering how to strengthen the two of them.
Let's not talk about being super strong, but they should at least not be much weaker than Vergo and Pica, right?
Future Vergo, after infiltrating the Marine and becoming the G5 Base Commander, had become an elite Vice-Admiral. With his armed color of armament Haki, he easily overpowered the Paramecia user Smoker, a Logia user, upon his debut. He even shattered Sanji's leg bone with a kick...
Although he fell to the Chopper Island technique from Law's Gamma Knife, his "Surgery Fruit" ability was inherently overpowered, and Vergo still possessed considerable strength.
Pica's Stone-Stone Fruit could merge with a significant portion of Dressrosa, creating a giant rock formation kilometers in size! This size even surpassed Marine Headquarters' Admiral Fujitora. In terms of destructive power alone, it was definitely at the world's top level...
Even though he was defeated by Zoro's "Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Great Three-Thousand Worlds," his performance was definitely on a nation-destroying level.
And Torreborl?
He was broken through by a few words from Rosinante, taken down in an instant by a single finger. An embarrassment to the New World.
Diamante's performance wasn't any better,
Suppressed by Fujitora's single leg on a terrain that favored him, his ultimate move was dropping spiked iron balls from the sky. Despite possessing swordsmanship that could release sword energy spanning hundreds of meters, he seemed to prefer using his ability for various cheap tricks...
It had to be said that Torreborl and Diamante's performances were even worse than Laogee and Delinjie, an old man and a youngster.
"My dream,"
Facing Diamante's inquiry, Rosinante spread his arms open to the sea.
"Is to become the ultimate symbol of invincibility in this world!"
"Not the 'strongest man,' nor the 'strongest creature,' what I want is true invincibility!"
And only by defeating the oppressive presence that has dominated the Pirate King's world for eight hundred years, situated at the top of the Celestial Dragons, the enigmatic and unfathomable "Ym," could one truly be considered "invincible."
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(End of this chapter)
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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