“Captain, where are we heading?”

“Leaving the East Blue.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Radiant Eclipse set sail.

Kuke studied the map, tracing their route.

“There seems to be an island on our way. Let’s take a look and see if she’s ready to play her part,” Kuke muttered as he eyed a spot on the map.

He gave instructions to the helmsman, Boa Sandersonia, to make a stop once they reached the marked area.

Once again, it was a peaceful journey.

Most of the women on board spent their days training to enhance their abilities. They knew very well that once they returned to the Grand Line, it would be nothing like the calm of the East Blue. They would face an enraged Navy and the sea emperors—a dangerous and thrilling journey lay ahead.

Ten days passed.

An island appeared on the horizon.

“Captain, we have arrived. Should we make landfall?” Boa Sandersonia asked.

“Yes.”

Kuke looked at the distant island. He saw a ship anchored near the shore, flying a pirate flag, but he couldn’t tell who it belonged to. It seemed like some nameless East Blue pirate crew.

…

…

Cocoyasi Village.

Originally a peaceful village far from conflicts, the villagers lived contentedly. A few years ago, a Marine branch had been established on a nearby island. The villagers believed that the future would be even more peaceful and secure.

However, reality didn’t develop as they had hoped.

Pirates began to arrive.

Every so often, pirates would come and plunder their wealth. Only after they had left would the Marines arrive, late every time. This cycle had continued for a long time.

Today, the pirates had come again.

The villagers had resigned themselves to their fate, allowing the pirates to loot their homes. Months of hard work—farming, fishing, earning every bit—was taken from them.

No one resisted. They couldn’t resist.

The villagers’ eyes were dull, but there was no fear. They knew these pirates wouldn’t kill, only take their wealth and return in a few months to repeat the process.

In a house with an orange grove in the backyard—

“Why haven’t the Marines come yet?”

“Didn’t they promise us that next time they’d capture the pirates and stop them from harassing the village?”

Two young girls looked at their adoptive mother, Bell-mère, confused and scared. Bell-mère was furious. She had asked her former colleagues to come as quickly as possible, but still, they hadn’t shown up, allowing the pirates to loot as they pleased.

Where was the justice?

“Hahaha, boys, hurry up and loot! Once we’re done, we’ll leave.”

“Hey, don’t kill anyone! If you kill them, who’s going to make money for us later?”

“We’re going to feed off this village forever.”

The pirates’ violent shouts and the helpless cries of the villagers echoed throughout the village.

“Strange, the map says there’s a Marine branch less than a hundred miles from here. How are these pirates still causing trouble here?”

Gion voiced her doubts aloud.

“Indifferent people! Stand up! Are you really going to let the pirates take everything from you? Take up arms and fight!” Belo Betty tried to rally the villagers.

But they just stared blankly. They had tried—they simply couldn’t win.

“You must be from another village. Leave now,” a kind villager warned Kuke and his crew.

“Leave? Who said you could leave? Looks like we’ve got some fat sheep here! Hand over all your treasures!” The pirate leader, a sinister man holding twin pistols, eyed Kuke’s group greedily.

To him, Kuke and his crew were practically walking treasure chests. Though he didn’t recognize them, their clothes and demeanor screamed wealth—they were dressed in top-quality attire.

In the pirate’s eyes, Kuke looked like a nobleman traveling the sea with his maids.

Even if a couple of the pirates felt like they had seen Kuke somewhere before, they paid it no mind.

“Hand it over!”

A group of pirates surrounded Kuke and his crew.

“This is bad,” Bell-mère whispered, her face paling. “They’re in danger. They’re not from the village—the pirates might kill them.”

“What should we do?” The two young girls in her arms, Nojiko and Nami, were terrified.

“Nojiko, Nami, stay in the house and don’t make a sound.” Bell-mère couldn’t stand by and do nothing. She grabbed her long-neglected rifle and rushed out of the house.

“Pirates! Get out of here! As a former Marine, I can’t stand idly by and let you do as you please!”

“A Marine?!” The pirates were startled.

In the East Blue, after numerous Marine crackdowns, pirates were at a distinct disadvantage when facing Marines.

“Wait, that’s not right. Didn’t we agree with Captain Nezumi that the Marines would come after we’re done looting, and we’d split seventy-thirty?”

They took a closer look and realized there wasn’t a real Marine—just a woman.

“Stay out of this, or we’ll kill you!”

Bell-mère fearlessly rushed in front of Kuke and his group, shielding them. “Run! I’ll handle this.”

“Who wants to deal with them?” Kuke asked casually.

These lowlifes weren’t worth his time, and Gion and the others had no interest either.

“I’ll do it!” Kuina eagerly drew her sword.

After days of training on the ship with Kuke, her strength had grown.

“Go ahead.”

Kuina charged at the pirates, sword in hand.

The pirates burst into laughter. A little girl?

But their laughter didn’t last long. Kuina swiftly took down two pirates with her blade.

“This girl isn’t ordinary!”

“Get her!”

“Use guns!”

“Bang!” Stussy slowly retracted her hand. “Who gave you permission to use guns?”

Anyone who pulled out a gun—died.

The pirates couldn’t even tell how it happened. They stared at Stussy in terror.

What kind of monsters were these people?

“Who are you?” Bell-mère turned back. With her experience as a Marine, she knew that true powerhouses roamed these seas—were these people among them?

“Clang, clang, clang!”

In a short time, Kuina had defeated a bunch of the pirates. But when facing the pirate leader with a bounty of five million, she was struggling.

“Damn it! You killed my crew! I’ll never forgive you!” The pirate leader yelled, then turned and ran for his life—terrified.

“Gion, clean up.”

Gion rolled her eyes at Kuke but slowly drew her blade. A fiery aura surrounded the sword as she swung it.

A blazing phoenix shot forth from her sword, engulfing all the pirates on the ground. In the terrified screams of the pirate leader, the fiery phoenix consumed him and then soared into the sky, before landing at the port a kilometer away.

The massive pirate ship—reduced to ashes in mere seconds—burned in a sea of flames.

“Is this…” To ordinary people, it seemed like a miracle.

“Not even those famous monsters of the sea could be this powerful,” Bell-mère muttered, stunned. “Could they be powerful warriors from the Grand Line?”

Inside the house, Nami and Nojiko stared out the window like statues, too shocked to move.

…

*****************

P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 95+ at patreon.com/Emik01.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep