Pirates: Your emperor has returned!

Page 56

But Dalton was a little nervous inside.

He was born without the temperament of a king; overly grand occasions only made him uncomfortable.

But for the sake of everyone on Drum Island, Dalton was able to endure it.

However, Dalton was very happy at that moment.

Outside the Fishman Village.

The people from Yaruja, Fishman Village, and Drum Island formed a large circle, with Dalton and the fishman Hoka in the center.

Both of them were shirtless, with excited smiles on their faces.

They met at a tavern in Yaruja, had a great chat, and decided to do something to aid digestion after their meal.

Alazama – a traditional activity of the fish-men.

The two men each let out a low growl.

"Come!"

"Oh! It's about to start!"

Immediately, they stomped their feet on the ground and charged towards each other.

Given the significant height difference between the two, and the distinction between fish and humans, the outcome should have been decided quickly.

However, as a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user, Dalton's physical abilities still far surpass those of ordinary humans, even without using his half-beast form.

Combined with his strong physique honed over many years of training, he managed to fight Hoka to a standstill for a time!

The two hugged each other tightly, neither able to throw the other, and remained locked in a stalemate.

Suddenly, the two twisted their waists and abdomens at the same time, exerting their core strength, and slammed their bodies heavily to the ground.

boom!

The two bodies landed at the same time, and although there might have been a slight difference in timing, no one noticed.

Dalton and Hokka stood up, dusted themselves off, clasped their large, muscular hands together, and burst into laughter.

The onlookers cheered.

"The guests on Drum Island are all very nice!" Hoka exclaimed.

Dalton nodded. "I didn't expect there to be a murloc village in Alabasta. To be honest, the murlocs are really strong!"

"You're not bad either, bro!"

The two sat down together on the steps not far away, chatting and laughing.

They are waiting.

Who are we waiting for?

Roman Tam.

A few days ago, Rowan invited Dalton to Alabasta via Den Den Mushi, saying he had important matters to discuss and they might go away together for a while so Dalton could take care of things back home.

Meanwhile, Rowan asked Hokka to greet Dalton, saying he wanted to introduce him to a new friend.

Sure enough, because they got along very well, the two of them were very compatible.

Hokka has been waiting here with Dalton all day.

He nudged Dalton with his elbow and asked, "Brother, what do you think Mr. Rowan called us here for?"

Dalton thought for a moment, then turned his gaze to the dock. "I think we might be going out to sea together to take care of something?"

At the dock, a well-equipped ship was moored, flying the flag of the Four Seas Alliance, and it looked like it had been moored there for quite some time.

Hoka nodded as well.

Just then, a commotion arose in the distance. The two got up and looked over, and saw several familiar figures.

It consisted of Rowan, Crocodile, and Bel Hayabusa, the vice-captain of the Alabasta King's Guard, along with dozens of elite Alabasta King's Army soldiers.

This is a fairly large team.

Dalton and Hokka waited for a while longer until Rowan led the group to the fishman village.

"Awaited."

Rowan nodded to the two men, then smiled and said, "If there's a problem, we can talk about it on the way."

The two were somewhat surprised, but they nodded nonetheless.

Crocodile, who was standing nearby, already knew about Rowan's plan, so he couldn't help but be very curious.

He grabbed Rowan's shoulder and asked in a low voice, "Without top-notch navigators, how are you going to get to the Sky Island with just ordinary sailors?"

Rowan pointed to the ships docked at the distant pier and replied with a smile:

"Let's go by boat."

Crocodile: "..."

nonsense!

But then Crocodile noticed something was wrong.

He stared at the ship, squinted, and finally realized something was wrong.

There was clearly no one on that ship, but its draft was enormous!

What's up there...?

[Chapter 50: The Expeditionary Force]

What exactly was on that ship?

Crocodile didn't want to ask Rowan directly, because that would make him very unhappy.

So even when everyone arrived at the dock, he was still observing the ship, but still couldn't see anything amiss.

Rowan glanced at Crocodile and suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, the World Government has been quite well-behaved this past month."

Crocodile nodded, clearly somewhat absent-minded, and casually replied:

"Of course, after all, you gave them an irresistible 'reason' on Drum Island."

Shortly after leaving Drum Island, Crocodile also learned what Rowan had done.

Destroying an island—that might take some effort for Crocodile, but it wouldn't be difficult.

However, to simply divide an island into two halves without any movement, with the two halves separated by less than a millimeter, is quite an exaggeration.

Crocodile spoke while keeping his eyes fixed on the ship.

He really wanted to know how Rowan would get the ship airborne.

Rowan stroked his chin, feeling that Crocodile's behavior was really off, so he simply said, "Why don't you ask him, and I'll answer?"

Crocodile glanced at Rowan and lit a cigar for himself.

"I do not!"

Then, it transformed into a sandstorm and flew onto the ship.

The moment Crocodile stepped onto the deck, he suddenly froze, feeling even more uneasy.

This ship... is too stable. It doesn't feel like a warship on a long voyage; it's more like a passenger ship.

High-end passenger ships deliberately increase the ship's ballast to accommodate the passengers and maintain the ship's stability at sea.

However, this would also reduce the ship's speed, making it unsuitable for warships on long voyages.

But this ship now not only has a huge draft, but it is also quite stable at sea.

Crocodile stomped his foot on the deck.

If this is for resupply, it's a bit too much.

Could this ship be carrying a large amount of other cargo?

Amidst their confusion, the group placed the planks on the deck, and Rowan led them onto the ship.

Among these people were the Alabasta King's army led by Bell, the merfolk warriors led by the merfolk Hoka, and the elite guards of the Drum Kingdom led by Dalton.

In addition, a medical corps composed of doctors from Alabasta and the Drum Kingdom followed closely behind. They were all volunteers and possessed a certain level of combat capability.

The three forces, plus a medical unit, numbered nearly two hundred people.

For an army, the number of these people is clearly insufficient, but the quality of this team is extremely high.

Two Zoan-type Devil Fruit users, more than ten Fish-Man warriors, plus elite troops and medical units from two countries.

Even disregarding Rowan and Crocodile, both Logia-type Devil Fruit users, this lineup alone would be enough to sweep through a small country similar to Drum Kingdom, not to mention ordinary pirate crews.

Moreover, Rowan's purpose in going to Sky Island was to establish diplomatic relations, not to fight a war. As an "expeditionary force" heading to Sky Island, this team was already strong enough.

So Crocodile thought about it for a while, and the problem came back to him.

Are we supposed to rely on that animal-type birdman to carry these people up into the sky one by one?

He was smoking a cigar, his brow furrowed, clearly in a bad mood.

……

After three days and two nights of sailing, the previously calm record pointer finally changed.

It began to become unstable, sometimes pointing forward, sometimes pointing into the air.

The Alabasta navigator informed Rowan of this situation.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Rowan nodded slightly, thanked the navigator, and then suddenly asked, "Do you have any paper? Just one sheet, like in a notebook."

The navigator quickly tore out the last page of his notebook and handed it to Rowan.

Rowan took the page and stepped out of the cabin onto the deck.

The merman Hoka and two other merman warriors had been waiting for a long time.