Mobius Makes His Move; Eyes Watching from the Shadows

Two days later, the merchant ship finally reached an island. This was Mud Island, the first of the three islands on the way to Pet Island.

They had been lucky during the journey. The weather was fine, and the sea had been calm all the way. It seemed all their bad luck had been used up on Devil's Island.

The merchant ship gradually docked at Mud Island's harbor, attracting plenty of attention. But when people saw the guards aboard, all clad in armor and carrying broadswords, many of them turned their eager eyes away.

The merchant ship was certainly a big catch, but whether they could take it was another matter. The fifty guards aboard were no pushovers, and there were also the sailors who were accustomed to traveling the seas. If the ship hadn't suffered such heavy losses on Devil's Island, it would have been even stronger. Even after the old captain took people to rescue those stranded on the outskirts of Devil's Island, he counted the survivors and found there were only a little over eighty. More than forty people had perished on that island.

The merchant ship needed to make a brief stop on the island to rest and resupply. They had about an hour. Teach and Mobius stepped onto the island's soil, which felt so soft beneath their feet that they sank slightly into it.

"Wow! My feet sank in! The ground here is so soft." Mobius was amazed. He stamped his feet back and forth. Each time, his feet sank into the earth, but as soon as he lifted them, the pits filled themselves in and returned to normal.

"Mm, this island is very unusual. It's called Mud Island, and it's covered in very soft yellow mud, so the ground is exceptionally soft." Teach nodded with a smile.

He led Mobius toward the town. Teach's clothes were ragged, and he had nothing clean to change into, so he looked just like a beggar.

So the first thing they did after coming ashore was find a clean, suitable change of clothes. The pirates nearby looked at Teach with mocking expressions and pointed at him.

"Captain Teach, let me teach them a lesson for running their mouths!" Mobius was furious when he heard what the people around them were saying, but Teach stopped him.

"Mobius, don't let anger cloud your judgment. When a strong person lays a hand on the weak, it only shows that that's all they're capable of. They aren't even worthy of dying by my hand." Teach smiled faintly, paying no attention to the stares around him.

Suddenly, a few thugs came over, carrying knives and iron rods. Grinning, they looked at Teach and Mobius. "Hey, you two! Hand over anything valuable you've got. Otherwise, if you end up missing an arm or a leg, it'll be a pain to deal with."

"Hey, boss, that's probably not a good idea. Look at how tattered his clothes are. What could we possibly get out of him?"

One of the men behind him warned him. The boss's expression changed. "Idiot." He slapped the thug beside him on the head. "Who's the boss here, you or me?" He held a small dagger, casually twirling it in his hand. It was a little trick that made him look impressive, but it wasn't much use in a fight.

The other seven thugs stood behind their boss, each wearing what they thought was a menacing expression. But Teach and Mobius didn't care in the least.

They were just a few thugs. They posed no challenge to Teach. "Mobius, it's your turn. Let me see how much you've improved over the past few days."

At Teach's words, Mobius felt a little nervous. There were eight thugs in all, and he would be facing them at once. But soon, he was raring to go. He wanted to see how much he had improved over the past few days. He had never had a clear sense of it.

"Then let me handle them." Mobius loosened up his muscles. His neck was rather long, and he now stood nearly one meter ninety tall.

"Kid, who do you think you're looking down on? You think you can take on all eight of us by yourself?" the thug boss snapped, wanting to teach Mobius a good lesson and make him pay for his arrogance.

Mobius wanted to test his progress, and the eight men before him would make perfect targets.

"Hmph! If you want to get to Captain Teach, you'll have to get through me first." Mobius sneered. The men before him were nothing but small-time thugs, too cowardly to put to sea. They spent their days on the island, bullying the weak and stealing other people's money and food.

In his eyes, they weren't worth taking seriously.

He raised his left hand and grabbed his right shoulder joint. "Crack!" To the thugs' astonishment, he went on, "Crack!" "Crack!" One by one, he pulled apart his shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints. The only sign of pain was the way he gritted his teeth. He had learned how to dislocate his own joints.

After all those days of training, his arms had gradually grown used to having their joints loosened. It wasn't nearly as painful as it had been at first.

After loosening the major joints in his right arm, Mobius loosened those in his left as well. A hint of excitement showed on his face.

The thugs stared at Mobius, dumbfounded by what he was doing. They seemed to be wondering, Doesn't that hurt? It hurts just thinking about it.

"Quit putting on a show." The thug boss gritted his teeth and sneered disdainfully. His hair was dyed blond, and his arms were bare. He had at least some ability if he had managed to become the leader of these thugs.

He held a sturdy iron rod and swung it viciously at Mobius.

"Snake Hand: Bind!" Mobius's hands lashed back and forth, moving as nimbly as snakes. In the thugs' eyes, they suddenly stretched out and wrapped twice around the iron rod swinging toward him. He whipped his hands backward, and the tremendous force flung the rod away. It slipped from the thug boss's grasp before he could hold on.

The force pulled his body forward and threw off his balance. Mobius struck again. "Snake Hand: Flurry!" His coiled Snake Hands lashed out like whips, striking the thug boss again and again. "Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!" Out of sheer mischief, Mobius repeatedly whipped the man's face. Blow after blow left the thug boss dazed and helpless to fight back. His whole face swelled red, beaten so badly even his mother wouldn't recognize him.

Mobius grew more and more excited as he lashed out. For some reason, he was starting to enjoy it. He panted slightly, a delighted grin on his face, while the thug boss collapsed unconscious. Mobius still wasn't quite satisfied.

He turned his attention to the other seven thugs. They were already so frightened that their legs had gone weak. When Mobius looked their way, they nearly wet themselves.

"D-Devil!"

"Long-Armed Freak!"

Mobius was a little pleased by the first insult, but the second made his face darken. He charged straight at them, not giving them a chance to escape.

"Snake Hand: Wild Flurry!"

Teach couldn't help smiling. He didn't stop Mobius. This was a way for him to vent, and it was good for him. Teach could also see the results of his training.

Mobius's Snake Hand was beginning to show promise. But for now, he could only handle a few small-time thugs. He was still far from his goal of snapping a tree in half with a single strike. Still, compared to how he had been before, his improvement was remarkable. He had grown stronger in every way in a very short time.

Mobius was now accustomed to striking with both hands, so his training was no longer limited to stiff, one-handed lashes. He had moved on to striking with both hands, and switched his targets from wood to steel. As Mobius grew stronger, the force and efficiency of his strikes improved too. There was only so much wood he could waste on practice.

Still, he had a long way to go before he could snap a tree in half with one strike. Mobius needed to build up both his strength and the speed of his lashes.

Before long, the whole gang of thugs was sprawled on the ground, beaten so badly they couldn't even get up. Their faces had swollen into round balls, mottled blue and purple. Most of Mobius's blows had landed on their faces. Seeing Mobius panting slightly, excitement still written all over his face, Teach couldn't help wondering if Mobius had unlocked some unusual kink.

Immersed in his excitement, Mobius suddenly shivered. His body jerked, and he came back to his senses. He looked around. Is someone thinking something bad about me?

The thugs were only a minor interruption. After asking for directions, Teach and Mobius quickly found one of the island's better-known clothing stores.

They went inside to take a look. There were all sorts of clothes, though most were for men and had a casual style. This island was a gathering place for pirates, and many of them stopped here. But in Teach's eyes, they were all small-time pirates, unable to compete with the big names elsewhere and forced to come to places like this.

"Hello, sir. What can I help you with?" The shop owner saw Teach come in and greeted him with a smile.

He didn't look down on Teach because of his clothes. As a clothing-store owner, he had seen all kinds of pirates. No matter how he looked at Teach, the man didn't seem like an ordinary pirate. His presence was different, and the owner had also recognized the seemingly ordinary emerald bracelet on his wrist at a glance. It was worth a fortune—at least several hundred thousand beli.

"Zehahaha! Take a look. I need a new coat, a shirt, and a pair of pants. The coat should be mostly black." Teach laughed heartily and left the choice to the owner. The man's attitude was good, and he had a sharp eye, so he could surely pick out a good outfit. The shop was huge, and Teach couldn't take it all in. "Money's no object."

"Of course. Just a moment!" The owner's eyes lit up. He took out a measuring tool and measured Teach's shoulders and waist. As for Teach's height, he could estimate it at a glance.

He worked quickly. After checking the measurements, he went to the back to pick out some clothes. Then he came back carrying an outfit. "Sir, what do you think of this shirt? And these pants?"

The shirt was blue and purple plaid, and the pants were dark blue. Teach changed into the shirt and stood in front of the mirror, fastening the buttons as he turned to look at himself. It wasn't bad. Teach nodded, then held the pants against himself. They were cropped pants on him, a little too short, so he handed them back to the owner. "Give me a longer pair of pants. Something that comes to about here would be good."

"Of course." The owner nodded and quickly brought out another pair in the same style.

Teach changed into the pants and took the captain's coat from the owner. It was mainly black, with gold and silver trim. On the back were two white crossed claws.

The ten sharp claws suited Teach perfectly. He nodded and looked at the owner. "Get him a suitable outfit too." Teach patted Mobius on the shoulder.

A few minutes later, Teach and Mobius left the clothing store. Mobius looked delighted with his new clothes: a short-sleeved shirt underneath, another shirt worn open over it, and blue shorts with white stripes.

With plenty of time left, Teach took Mobius around the town again. They bought some food and cherry pies. Mobius thought the necklace Teach wore looked cool, so he picked out a silver snake-shaped necklace of his own.

Teach still paid for it. He didn't care about such a small amount, and when he saw that Mobius wanted it, he bought it for him.

The two slowly made their way back to the harbor. The merchant ship's crew who had gone shopping returned one after another and boarded the ship. Teach and Mobius followed them aboard. But as they were crossing the gangplank, Teach seemed to sense something and couldn't help smiling.

"What is it, Captain Teach?" Mobius asked, carrying their purchases. His senses were very sharp, and he noticed Teach's expression. He had found that whenever Teach smiled like that, something was about to happen.

"Zehahaha, it's nothing. Just a little bug has its eye on the merchant ship." Teach smiled faintly, paying it no mind. Hearing that, Mobius understood what was coming. Pirates targeting a merchant ship was nothing unusual out at sea.

At the harbor, everything looked as it usually did on the surface, but undercurrents were already swirling. From numerous hidden corners, pairs of eyes watched the merchant ship, gazing at the enormous vessel with greed.

Aboard the merchant ship, Teach noticed that the guards had gone on high alert. The sailors also seemed to be ready for a fight, quickly returning to their posts one by one.

Everyone aboard was preparing to leave. It seemed they had noticed something was wrong too—that someone had their eye on them.

"Captain, the merchant ship is about to leave," a pirate whispered into a Den Den Mushi from a hidden corner.

"Is that so?" On the other end of the call, a burly man had his arm around a naked woman. Upon hearing the report, his eyes flashed. He shoved the woman beside him away. She let out a pained groan but didn't dare complain. She knew who the man beside her was.

"Then tell the boys to assemble." The man laughed loudly, put on his clothes, and walked out the door.

"Haha, I can't believe a merchant ship would have something this valuable aboard. Fortune's smiling on me! Once I get my hands on it, I'll be a Great Pirate!" the man said excitedly to himself.