Lies

Chapter 16: Lies

The bait was taken, just as expected.

Leo couldn't help the smile spreading across his face.

The reason he had spent so many days on Amazon Lily without "spreading the faith" was Gloriosa.

Perhaps because they had lived on the island for so long, the girls of Amazon Lily were a bit naive—too trusting of others.

This was also why Luffy and his crew had received help from so many innocent, simple-minded natives along their journey.

In theory, the female warriors of the Amazon Lily archipelago were no different from those naive natives.

That was precisely why they needed protection, and why men were forbidden from setting foot on the island.

The outside world was full of smooth-talking deceivers. If even one man came ashore, who knew how many women might be tricked away?

The Empress had the strongest mental defenses of them all.

And Gloriosa was clearly the stabilizing pillar of the Amazon Lily archipelago. The Empress and her warriors could go out raiding—because Amazon Lily raids left no survivors. If not for the Celestial Dragon brand on his body, the Empress would never have shown him any mercy.

But now, the Empress had been won over. Since they were about to set sail on a long voyage, with his intelligence and abilities, he could easily lead the Kuja Pirates. However, Nine Snake Island still needed a stabilizing pillar to keep the nation steady.

Especially now that the Empress was departing.

So there was no way Gloriosa would leave with them.

Leo had long since forgotten the details from the manga—how could any normal person remember all that? The reason he knew was simply because he had deduced it from the clues.

With Gloriosa staying behind on Amazon Lily, he would be the one calling the shots on the ship.

In truth, the Empress rarely bothered with management anyway. Once he boarded, he would be the sole decision-maker.

And without Gloriosa's restrictions, he could spread his faith however he pleased on the ship.

Since Gloriosa had said so herself, this matter was basically settled.

The Guardian Warriors would stay behind. The raiding party this time would consist only of the regular warriors of the Kuja Pirates—fewer than fifty in total.

Five were cooks, five were shipwrights. That left only forty actual combatants.

But don't let the number fool you—every single one of them could use Armament Haki.

In a real fight, not one of them would be weaker than a pirate with a bounty under one hundred million.

This lineup was formidable not just in the first half of the Grand Line, but even in the second half.

Traveling the Grand Line in reverse was extremely difficult for them, but fortunately, their long raiding career had left them with a stockpile of Log Poses. Among those were plenty of Eternal Poses—some pointing to Water 7, others to the Alabasta Kingdom.

When the sails were furled and the two sea serpents submerged, the Empress's floating palace reached top speed. Leo stood at the bow, watching the sudden acceleration, feeling an exhilarating rush. Now, he had truly set foot on the Grand Line and officially begun the second phase of his plan.

He had lied to both Gloriosa and the Empress.

His real destination was not the Alabasta Kingdom. True, Alabasta was one of the starting points of the Grand Line, a nation founded by the Celestial Dragons, and the base of the Shichibukai, Crocodile the Sand Crocodile. It would have been a good place to develop his power. But that wasn't his goal.

His true target was the next stop after Alabasta: Sky Island.

There was a super-powered individual there, still immature. Most importantly, if Enel hadn't eaten the Lightning-Lightning Fruit yet, then that fruit would be the perfect fit for him.

Just like Revolutionary Dragon's Wind-Wind Fruit, it would allow him to appear anywhere in the world at any time, help the majority of people, and establish bases the Navy could never find. Both his survivability and combat power would instantly reach a level second only to the very top of this world.

And even if Enel had already eaten the fruit, there was no need to worry too much. The current Enel was someone Luffy could beat to a pulp. Even if he already had Mantra and Observation Haki, he was probably only at the level of a minor boss in the first half of the Grand Line—no match for the Empress, who was in the top tier of the second rank.

After all, the Empress possessed not only Armament and Observation Haki, but also Conqueror's Haki.

Against Enel, who only had Mantra (Observation Haki), the Empress would likely come out on top.

If he had to compare, the current Enel might go fifty-fifty with Crocodile, but the Empress was still above them both.

"Sigh... when will I get stronger?" He lowered his head, gripping the railing. His already short hair whipped wildly in the sea breeze. The waves barely affected this massive ship; he even felt quite steady. The two sea serpents pulled hard underwater, effortlessly dragging the vessel to a speed of thirty knots—roughly fifty-five kilometers per hour, feeling like sixty kilometers per hour on land.

On flat ground, that would be nothing. But at sea, the waves constantly lifted the ship and then dropped it, making it feel like you were surfing—endless ups and downs.

At sixty kilometers per hour on the ocean, with the wind in your face and waves crashing against you, the sensation was incomparable to the dull monotony of land. It was a unique thrill.

To put it bluntly—imagine a building racing across the sea at sixty kilometers per hour...

Then you might understand the feeling.

And some things you just couldn't grasp without seeing them yourself. For example, the Kuja Pirates' floating palace resembled an ancient Chinese multi-deck warship. But such ships were unsuitable for naval combat—too high a center of gravity, easily toppled by sea winds.

But this was the Calm Belt. Building such a tall ship here was no problem at all. With the sea serpents assisting, the vessel was both fast and stable.

Soon, he saw firsthand why this place was completely uninhabited, why no one who entered ever left alive—less than twenty minutes after leaving Nine Snake Island, a Sea King over two hundred meters long, shaped like a flying fish, leaped into the air, soaring like it was flying, kicking up a massive spray. It rose like an ascending dragon, reaching hundreds of meters high in an instant. The seawater it carried rained down like a downpour, pelting Leo painfully.

But the next second, an even larger Sea King surfaced and bit it in two in a single gulp.

Blood and seawater mixed together, drenching Leo from head to toe.

PS: First chapter.

PS1: → Turn to page for second chapter.