Earthfire Island, a Pirate's Logic

Watching Rogge and the others' ship sail away, Hina took a deep breath and turned back to the deck. The military doctors were already treating the wounded. Hina herself was injured, but she refused treatment and told the ship's doctor to tend to the others first.

"Hey!" Hina took out the Den Den Mushi stored inside the mast.

"This is Headquarters. Is that Colonel Hina? What is the matter?" the Den Den Mushi spoke.

"I encountered the Asura Pirates from the West Blue. Their captain is Marshall Rogge, the one who tampered with the Heavenly Tribute," Hina said.

"Marshall Rogge? Are you certain?" The person on the other end of the Den Den Mushi sounded surprised and asked for confirmation.

Hina nodded. "That's right, it was Marshall Rogge. We just fought them. So far, we have identified four crew members, and none of them are simple. I need to submit the intelligence to you. I'll transmit it shortly, so receive it."

"Understood. Please send us their detailed information." The Den Den Mushi replied before hanging up.

Hina took a deep breath. Her injuries were not serious, and she began transmitting information on Rogge and the others to Headquarters. It included not only Rogge's details, but also the information on Ham, Jelly, and Cook gathered from the other soldiers. She organized the files on all four and sent them to Headquarters.

After Headquarters received the intelligence Hina had sent, they reviewed it and forwarded it upward. Once it passed through the staff department, it should reach Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office.

Meanwhile, Rogge and the others successfully landed on Winter Island. This was the second island they had reached since entering the Grand Line. The weather had suddenly turned even colder. Only Rogge remained bare-chested, along with Billy, who spun and leaped about on the ship. The changing weather did not affect either of them much. Everyone else had wrapped themselves in down jackets and followed Rogge ashore.

"Have you been here before?" Rogge asked Simon.

"I have. There's an underground city not far ahead." Simon pointed toward a distant iceberg.

Every island in the Grand Line had its own peculiarities. This Winter Island was unlike Drum Kingdom. It was an island with glaciers, entirely wrapped in ice. Snow drifted down from the sky, icy rivers flowed across the ground, and an enormous iceberg that seemed to cover the whole island stood tall.

"This is Earthfire Island," Simon said.

"Earthfire Island? Isn't this Winter Island? Why give it such a name?" Ares asked curiously.

"You'll understand once you go inside. The secret to why people can live on this island," Simon said mysteriously.

They followed an icy path forward and eventually arrived at the foot of the iceberg. Beneath it was an ice cave, and even from outside, they could feel the hot wind blowing out from within.

At that moment, none of them felt cold. Instead, it was like being bathed in a spring breeze as a warm current enveloped them.

"What is this?" Ham asked in astonishment.

"You'll know once we go in." Simon smiled and led everyone into the ice cave.

They walked onward for who knew how long, constantly descending. After winding around countless turns, they finally heard voices.

What was more, the light had not changed at all throughout the journey. That meant the entire underground was illuminated. Inside the iceberg, they had no need for any lighting tools.

"We're here," Simon said.

Before them lay an underground city, green everywhere. The ground was no longer ice, but actual earth. They could even see abundant vegetation, lush and full of life.

After entering, Jelly and the others had already taken off their coats and carried them in their hands. It was even a little hot.

"What exactly is going on with this island? Why is it so warm? Is this really an ice island?" Ham found it hard to believe what he was seeing. It was beyond common sense.

"Earthfire Island means exactly what it sounds like. This island has abundant geothermal resources, and the ice here is not ordinary ice. They are hollow icebergs. This kind of iceberg has many gaps within the ice, layer upon layer like mirrors. They absorb sunlight and project its rays into the iceberg. The reason it stayed so bright inside was because of that," Simon explained.

"In other words, it's just the Grand Line's bizarre weather," Rogge said with a shrug. Even if there were a group of long-legged beauties underground, he would not have been surprised. There were too many strange things in the Grand Line.

"Earthfire, combined with those icebergs. That's why people here can live underground," Jelly said.

"That's right. Volcanic magma flows beneath the ground, but there are no erupting volcanoes. Only the heat carried by the flowing magma warms the underground of this island," Simon said.

"No wonder hot wind was blowing out from inside," Ham said.

It had to be said that the environment inside the iceberg was truly quite nice. The entire underground city was built not from wood, but from earthen houses, since there was not much timber. The underground temperature was high enough to melt ice, and the ice above them was actually very high overhead.

"More people have arrived. Judging by the way you look, you're probably not good people, are you?" A middle-aged man carrying a gun approached them while on patrol.

"Why do you think we aren't good people?" Jelly asked unhappily.

"I've seen this man before. He's a wanted criminal." The middle-aged man raised his gun and pointed it at Rogge.

"Looks like hiding in the mountains hasn't cut you off from the outside world," Rogge said.

"Don't underestimate Earthfire Island. This island is known as the granary. Do you see all that grain? It is sold to many kingdoms, and countless merchants travel through here. Pirates like you will only find death if you dare cause trouble here." The middle-aged man looked immensely proud.

"Are you really not afraid we'll cause trouble on this island? We're vicious pirates, after all." Rogge grinned. Seeing that grin, Ham and the others knew Rogge was not joking. He was genuinely interested, because they needed money.

"Afraid? You're just talking big, aren't you? I doubt you'd dare touch this island even if you had the nerve. This island is protected by the World Government, and its grain is managed by the World Government. There's a Marine base nearby, and troops guard the island as well." The middle-aged man sneered.

"How long would it take us to resupply for the next island?" Rogge asked.

"It's close. Only six hours," Simon said.

"I feel like cutting loose. World Government territory, hehe, that should be fun. No wonder this island has no country. It's directly managed by the World Government." Rogge laughed.

"They won't bury us here, will they?" Ham asked worriedly.

"Who knows?" Without another word, Rogge threw a punch and sent the middle-aged man flying.

He did not kill the man outright. He needed him to tell more people that Rogge had arrived.

There was no reason for it. He was simply that direct. After all, they were pirates.