Chapter 64: You Old Undying Bastard!
Sag said someone was coming to the port, but when Lily arrived, besides the fainted Marines and pirates on the ground, she didn't see anyone else. On the sea surface, apart from the docked merchant ships and pirate ships, she couldn't see the trace of any other vessel.
Just as Lily was about to ask, her gaze suddenly focused, looking towards the sea surface in astonishment. The empty expanse of sea, which should have had nothing, now had the approaching outlines of several ships...
"Marines?"
Lily took out the telescope hanging from her waist, scanned with it, and gasped in surprise.
Only now could she see clearly with the telescope. When Sag said someone was coming, these warships hadn't appeared yet.
"Is this the power of Haki...?" she murmured.
Haki. It was because Sag had mastered this power that he was filled with confidence about heading to the Grand Line.
But this thing, Sag said he couldn't teach it. It was the power of the heart and will, which could only be mastered through battle with strong opponents. If Sag tried, he wouldn't deliver a killing blow to Lily, and even forcing it would be very slow.
Ultimately, it depended on the individual.
She shook her head, casting aside these thoughts, and focused intently on the warships on the sea surface. "Sag, there are ten warships in total."
These were certainly not the ten large warships of a Buster Call, just ordinary branch warships. They should be the reinforcements called by the Marines during their battle with the pirates.
Ten branch warships, each with a full complement of around two hundred men, meant quite a number of people. If they were ordinary pirates, seeing this support would definitely make them retreat.
But Sag was no ordinary pirate...
Numbers were meaningless to him.
A scarlet glow flashed in his pupils as he glared straight at the sea surface. The falling storm seemed to freeze under his gaze. The undulating sea surface also stagnated at this moment, and seemed to carry a ripple, blowing towards the approaching warships.
*Boom!*
After a brief silence, thunder boomed from the sky, and the sound of wind and rain continued to echo through Loguetown, also sweeping the nearby waves crashing onto the shore.
Sag chuckled. "In the East Blue, no one can stop me, at least not at this critical juncture, there's no one!"
Under the power of Haoshoku Haki, no matter how many people there were, they were just small fry in his eyes!
The Marines inside the warships had already been knocked unconscious by him. But under the sails, the warships were still proceeding towards Loguetown.
"Lily, wait for the warships to crash ashore, then take people to search for weapons and ammunition. Put the excess outside the town and sell it all."
Sag walked towards the Death Omen Star. "I'm going back to the ship for a couple of drinks. This storm is giving me a headache."
"Sag, wait! There's another warship!"
Lily suddenly shouted. Under the telescope, behind those ten warships, another huge Marine warship appeared.
"A large warship, from HQ! What's going on? Why did an HQ warship arrive so quickly? How did they cross Reverse Mountain against the current?!"
"Hmm?"
Sag looked towards the sea surface. Sure enough, far behind the ten downwind warships, the outline of a large warship, far exceeding the scale of a branch warship, appeared. But after just one glance, he lost interest.
"The Marines have special technology to cross the Calm Belt. If they want to go to the Four Seas, they can just pass straight through. But that kind of thing isn't important. I said, at this critical juncture, no one can possibly stop me."
Before planning to rob Loguetown, he had also studied the Marines' deployments. HQ Vice Admirals did indeed patrol the Four Seas, but they always came with a mission.
Marines weren't that free. They accepted missions, unlike pirates who roamed the seas aimlessly, attacking whoever they wanted.
Like Garp, the 'Marine Hero', unless he was on vacation, coming to the East Blue inevitably meant he had a mission.
However, he was the 'Marine Hero', perhaps a bit more arbitrary. After all, Sag hadn't heard from Garp's mouth that he was here on a mission to capture him.
Moreover, Sag had clearly seen in the newspapers that Garp had crossed Reverse Mountain. Regardless of whether the rumor of crossing Reverse Mountain was true or false, it was impossible for him to turn back now.
Even if he really did turn back temporarily, there wasn't enough time.
Similarly, even if the Loguetown Marines discovered him and requested rescue from HQ, they wouldn't arrive in Loguetown at this exact time.
That large warship wasn't coming for him.
It should still be targeting the batch of pirates who had arrived in Loguetown earlier. Perhaps it was an HQ Marine stationed relatively close to Loguetown who received the order and crossed the Calm Belt to get here.
After all, Loguetown's location was also very close to the Calm Belt.
It was just a coincidence that Sag encountered them now.
But for a batch of pirates around the ten million Beli mark, even if a large warship was dispatched, it couldn't possibly be carrying any truly powerful figures.
Under the pressure of his Haoshoku Haki, it would be good if even one could remain standing, at most maybe an HQ Captain.
Even coming downwind couldn't change anything.
In this regard, Sag trusted his plan.
"My plan is perfect..."
"Sag!!"
*Boom!!*
A shooting star suddenly appeared in the sky, like a meteorite, rapidly crashing into Sag, who was still talking. Accompanied by Lily's startled cry, a huge boom echoed from the port, stirring up a massive cloud of dust.
And in the dust cloud, Sag's body, almost turned into an afterimage, was heavily knocked flying, crashing through a building beside the port and getting buried beneath it.
*Clang!*
Lily instantly drew her rapier, holding it with both hands, blocking in front of the ruins, staring intently at the cloud of smoke.
"Oh? Shirai (White Thunder)? This sword is one of the Ryō Wazamono 50 Craft. How did it end up in your hands, little girl?" A hoarse voice sounded from within the smoke.
*Boom!*
Before Lily could speak, the ruins behind her exploded open. Amidst the splashing rubble, Sag's figure slowly stood up from the wreckage.
"Sag, are you okay..." Lily turned her head and was about to speak, then froze.
Because at this moment, Sag's face was terrifyingly gloomy!
"Ah..."
He ripped open the damaged clothes on his chest, tearing off his entire upper garment, leaving only the black cloak with red-tipped fur draped over him. He took steps, walked in front of Lily, and stared deadly at the figure in the smoke.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Sag gritted his teeth so hard they almost broke, roaring at the figure within the smoke, "How could it be you! Haven't you retired from the Marines yet, you old undying bastard!"
The smoke before them slowly dissipated, and the first thing that came into view was a huge mechanical arm!
And the owner of that arm was a sturdy man with purple hair, draped in a Marine cloak!
"Why should this old man retire from the Marines?"
The purple-haired man swung his mechanical arm slightly, staring at Sag. "Was that Haoshoku Haki released by you? What the devil is Garp doing? He was clearly in the East Blue before, how could he not have noticed a dangerous element like you."
Veins popped on Sag's forehead, and he roared, "So, did you come specifically to catch me? Answer me, Zephyr!"
This man, no matter how blurry Sag's memory was, he wouldn't mistake the powerhouses of the sea!
Former Marine Admiral, the Marine known by the title 'Non-Killing'...
Black Arm, Zephyr!!
"Marines arresting pirates, what's wrong with that?"
Zephyr stared at Sag for a long moment, then seemed to remember something and realized, "Oh... This old man has seen your bounty poster. Norton Sag, the great sinner who destroyed kingdoms, an extremely dangerous element!"
"That kind of thing doesn't matter!"
Sag roared, "I'll confirm one more time, did you come specifically for me? This is very important to me. Even if we're enemies, answering a question is fine, right?!"
Zephyr paused, not knowing why this guy was so persistent about this, but still said, "Not really. This old man was just patrolling. I heard that a large batch of pirates appeared in Loguetown, so I came to take a look. The Pirate Pursuit Force can catch pirates anywhere; it's not limited to the Grand Line."
*So he wasn't targeting him.*
*Just as he thought. How could his own plan go wrong?*
His conjecture and plan were still correct. It was just that the one who came wasn't some HQ Captain, but Zephyr.
Which means...
He was just purely unlucky!
"See, Lily!"
Sag turned his head and explained to Lily, "It wasn't my plan that went wrong, it was just bad luck. My plan is perfect; it won't go wrong!"
Lily: "..."
*Nobody asked about that.*
*What's with that expression, so eager to explain?*
*And besides...*
Lily glanced at Zephyr. Although Sag called this man an 'old undying bastard,' the aura he emitted clearly showed he was not someone to be trifled with.
He was a strong person!
●●●
● 24 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
● https://www.patreon.com/c/Devmaya
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)