章節 249: Delta Island

The Watchtower on Delta Island.

"Gulp... Gulp... Gulp..."

Buena Festa drank his wine, surrounded by a few scantily clad women.

"Ah… Amazing… The stars of the show are gathering."

"Excuse me! Festa-sama..."

An underling ran up to him and whispered something in his ear.

"Huh?... Heh... Hahaha!"

Festa happily ran up to the table, grabbing his binoculars, and looked out the window at the Thousand Sunny.

"Monkey D. Luffy has arrived, huh? That's great because we're about to usher in a new era."

One of the renowned pirates arrived, as Festa had anticipated, and he grinned widely.

❀❀❀

That day was extraordinary for the residents of Delta Island. Various towns on the island were now serving the pirates gathered there to celebrate the grand event.

Pirate ships kept arriving, and hundreds of ships were anchored at the port, displaying flags of various shapes and forms.

The Thousand Sunny approached Delta Island.

"So, that's the location of the Pirate Festival, Delta Island."

While the Straw Hat Pirates crew only had a rough view from afar, Eiji, with his Six Eyes, could clearly see the numerous pirates gathering.

Delta Island was divided into three nearly equal parts by three large rivers, with a circular lake at its center. The land sloped upward towards the central lake, surrounded by steep cliffs.

Most of the coastal areas and riverbanks had been converted into ports, with various shops and other buildings lined along the sides.

"Let's go."

As Eiji stood up, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji looked at him.

"What is it, Luffy? Is something wrong?"

Usopp, observing their strange behavior, looked towards the orange grove but didn't see anything unusual.

"Strange... I feel like someone is moving."

Scratching the back of his head, Luffy couldn't detect anything with his Kenbunshoku Haki.

"I feel the same. It's like there's someone unknown on the ship."

Zoro gripped his sword, ready to draw it at any moment.

"For once, I agree with the moss head. Actually, I've felt like we've been watched for a while, but after checking, I couldn't find anything."

Blowing out cigarette smoke, Sanji warned his partners.

"Is there an enemy?!"

Hearing what the three of them said, Nami hurriedly hid behind Usopp, pushing him forward.

"Don't push me! Let Zoro or Sanji check it out."

Being as cowardly as Nami, Usopp quickly ran behind the giant Franky.

Then, Luffy and the others decided to search every room on the Thousand Sunny, but they found no clues.

Meanwhile, Eiji had already teleported to Delta Island. To avoid causing a commotion with his arrival, he wore a hooded cloak to hide his conspicuous white hair and Six Eyes.

Though the Pirate Festival was filled with pirates, ranging from the ordinary to the well-known like the Supernovas and Shichibukai, if Yonko-caliber pirates like Big Mom or Kaido appeared, the festival's atmosphere would undoubtedly turn chaotic.

If previously people only speculated that Eiji was on par with a Yonko, after he challenged Big Mom and Kaido in their territories and fought to a draw, people now considered him equal to a Yonko, except he didn't have a pirate fleet.

Thus, Eiji, wanting to enjoy the vibrancy of the Pirate Festival, chose to blend in with a simple disguise.

"This is livelier than festivals in Japan. Of course, it's not a place for civilians."

Walking amidst the crowd, aside from the merchants from various trade chambers, the majority were pirates.

It was easy to distinguish between civilians and pirates by their appearance. No civilians carried swords and pistols everywhere; only pirates did that.

Some pirates were enjoying their time on Delta Island, indulging in activities like shopping, eating, and upgrading their ships to prepare for what was to come.

"I'll buy ten skewers."

Standing in front of a satay stall, Eiji casually spoke.

"Here you go, customer. That'll be 100 belly."

"Here's the money."

"Thank you."

While eating, Eiji walked aimlessly.

If any food looked tasty, he would buy it without a second thought. After all, he wasn't short on money. Besides, the money would be useless once he returned to his original world.

"Oh, there are many interesting people."

Eiji passed by several individuals he recognized, such as Law, Kid, Urouge, and other Supernovas known as the Worst Generation. Additionally, he saw former crew members of the Pirate King, including Buggy, and also spotted members of Cipher Pol like Rob Lucci.

However, he didn't try to interact with them. In his eyes, their strength was still immature and didn't warrant attention.

❀❀❀

An hour later.

Sitting in a chair surrounded by other pirates relaxing, Eiji ate the food he had bought, placed on the table in front of him.

The place was loud, filled with the sound of pirates talking, making it as noisy as a marketplace, with some laughing loudly.

Among the mixed conversations, Eiji accidentally overheard something interesting.

"Smoker, there are so many pirates here, and it's just for a festival."

"I wish we could capture them all, but that's clearly not going to happen."

"As long as we can catch Buena Festa. I thought he was eaten by a Sea King during Roger's era."

"Yeah, but my real concern is someone else."

"Douglas Bullet, the Demon Heir, a fugitive from Impel Down... It doesn't make sense... Douglas Bullet was an official hero... My question is, how did Festa blackmail him?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. Tashigi, stop saying irrelevant things. What if someone hears?"

"Ah, sorry."

Eiji wasn't surprised that Marines had infiltrated the festival.

The scale of the Pirate Festival wasn't small, with hundreds of pirates gathering. There was no way the Marines wouldn't notice such large movements. Instead, Eiji was curious how past Pirate Festivals had been held.

"Maybe because there weren't as many pirates in Roger's era. The number of pirates drastically increased after Roger's final words before his execution."

"It could be said that the current Pirate Festival is the largest in history... Maybe."

Of course, this was just Eiji's assumption without concrete proof, and he had no desire to discover the truth.

He would soon return to his original world, so he didn't care what happened in this one. With the presence of the protagonist, it wasn't his turn to act like a hero and save the world when his own world was still in peril.