External Power

"Is that the Asura Pirates you were talking about?" Smoker asked Hina as he watched the pirate ship fleeing at full speed.

Hina looked stunned too. Still wrapped in bandages, she said around her cigarette, "Hina is surprised. They must have seen how many warships we have and decided to run."

"The higher-ups ordered us to wipe them out. There's around two billion in wealth aboard their ship, and they said we have to keep that money safe," Smoker said.

"You're not going to disobey orders again, are you? Hina is worried." Hina glanced at Smoker. She knew her old classmate well. He was a Marine captain now, though he had been a rear admiral not long ago. Then he had gone off on his own to arrest an entire nation's army.

"If we let them escape, none of those orders will mean a damn thing. What are we supposed to do, invite them to dinner? All ships, listen up. The moment they're in cannon range, open fire." Smoker picked up a Den Den Mushi.

His voice carried across ten warships: the five he had brought and five more from Hina's base, all sailing out together.

Of course, these ten warships could not compare to the ones used in a Buster Call by Marine Headquarters. Warships came in several classes. Back in East Blue, Luffy and his crew had encountered Iron Fist Fullbody, a Marine lieutenant whose warship was only a little larger than the Going Merry. Other officers' warships were much the same.

The warships stationed at different bases also served different purposes. Their specifications, lengths, and carrying capacities varied. The largest class was undoubtedly the Buster Call warship.

So while ten warships made an intimidating sight, each was only a little bigger than Rogge's ship.

But warships were designed to chase pirates at sea, so speed mattered. Don't let what you saw in anime fool you. How could a warship be slower than an ordinary pirate ship? The Marines could still maintain peace at sea because they were nowhere near as weak as they looked.

Warships carried no treasure, and their crews did not fill them with decorations and belongings the way Rogge's crew had.

A warship carried three things: people, food, and ammunition.

With those pursuit-friendly designs closing in, the Hell faced the same problem as before. They were about to be caught again.

"Start the external paddle wheels," Ham said with a frown as the warships drew steadily closer.

"Are you sure it's all right to leave the route?" Ares asked.

"Relax. We've still got the route recorded. Worst case, we take another route and come back when we can," Ham said.

"Sky Island..." Rogge slumped over the railing with a sigh, his face full of frustration.

Cook flipped open a cover above the helm, revealing a button, and pressed it.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Metal clattered beneath the stern. Before long, thick black smoke billowed from a pipe jutting out behind the ship.

Underwater, a panel below the rudder opened. A propeller extended and began spinning rapidly.

"What is that...?" Hina stared in surprise at the black smoke rising from the pirate ship.

"An engine." Smoker's face darkened. He knew what it was. He had not expected Rogge's ship to have external power, and now the gap between them might widen.

"Oh, hey! We're going faster!" Rogge said happily.

"Good thing the wind's behind us. Otherwise, we might not gain much speed. If it were blowing against us, we'd have to take in the sails," Cook said.

"This ship's pretty great after all!" Rogge ran happily to the bow. Speed made all the difference as they cut through the waves.

The warships fell behind. Every bit of distance they had worked so hard to close was opening up again.

"So this is sailing? It feels like freedom." Holding Billy, Jerry looked up at the sky, then out at the sea. It was his first time seeing the sun, and he could not help staring at it. Billy, the foolish dog, stared along with him. In the end, both of them were rolling around on the deck, clutching their eyes.

"Two idiots," Jelly muttered at the sight.

The warships clearly could not catch the externally powered Hell. Smoker could only grit his teeth and watch the pirates pull away until their ship vanished from sight.

"They got away," Hina said flatly. They were not her responsibility, so she could say what she liked.

"We'll wait for them at the next island. If they haven't changed course, their Log Pose will still lead them there," Smoker said through clenched teeth.

"That'll take a long time. We should inform headquarters," Hina said.

"No need to report to those big shots. All they do is sit in their offices and give useless orders," Smoker said.

Hina ignored him and went to make her report through the Den Den Mushi. The pirates were gone, and catching them at sea was now impossible. Their only option was to do as Smoker said: go to the next island and see whether the pirates stayed on the same route.

But anyone with sense knew that once they had escaped, even a fool would expect an ambush on the next island. Why would they keep following their original route?

Marine Headquarters intended to assign another unit to deal with them and told Smoker to stay put instead of causing more trouble. If not for his strength, his record, and his connection to Admiral Aokiji, he would probably have been thrown out of the Marines long ago.

With the warships unable to catch them, Cook shut down the external power. They did not have much fuel stored, after all. This was no ship powered by cola, and finding somewhere to refuel would not be easy. Few places in the world produced oil, and the vast majority were controlled by the World Government and other major powers.

"Do we really have to change routes?" Rogge asked. At the thought of missing Sky Island, he went limp with disappointment again.

"Right now, we do. If we follow the original route, the Marines will probably be waiting for us," Ham said.

"Then what do we do? If we can't get back onto a route, are we going to drift around at sea? The Grand Line is terrifying!" Jelly said.

"You'll probably all die, and I'll take the treasure here for myself," Cook said.

"You bastard! So that's what you're thinking? I'm going to kill you!" Jelly shouted.

"He's joking. Besides, I've got this." Ham took out another Log Pose.

"You have another one?" Rogge asked in surprise.

Ham nodded. "This one's blank. Once we activate it, it'll pick up the magnetic field of a nearby route. Then we can switch routes and keep going."

"You can do that?" Rogge had never heard of such a thing. But after Ham activated the Log Pose...