Sengoku: Finally Took the Bait

"Tch!" Whitebeard did not say much. He merely turned his head and shot Ochoku a disgusted look.

Ochoku pretended not to notice and kept gnawing on his pizza, a smug grin still hanging on his lips.

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

Ron and the others had long since arrived along the route provided by the Kuja Pirates. The monotonous waves slapped against the hull again and again.

The wait was agonizingly long, especially aboard such a cramped speedboat.

Worse still, they had run out of food a day ago. If the World Government's warship did not appear soon, they would have no choice but to leave.

However, over the past two days, Whitebeard's attitude toward Ron had changed somewhat.

At first, he had thought Ron was no different from those bastards under Golden Lion. But after chatting on and off, Whitebeard found that Ron did not seem so bad.

"Well, well, well, it's your turn now, Ron." Stussy smiled at Ron, her eyes carrying a hint of anticipation.

Since they were so bored, Stussy had organized a game. The rules were simple: everyone took turns talking about their experiences and why they had chosen to become pirates.

Kaido went first, and his story was the same as in the original.

Whitebeard went second.

He did not say much. He only briefly mentioned the poverty of his hometown, the collapse of order, and the home he could never return to.

Whether it was Kaido or Whitebeard, their experiences had been fraught with hardship.

It seemed that such misfortune was the norm on these seas.

"Me?" When Stussy called on him, Ron pondered for a few seconds before slowly speaking. "More or less the same as you all. I never saw my father after I was born, and I was raised at my grandmother's house. When I was fourteen, my mother used drugs and got arrested for mandatory rehab. On visitation day, she asked me to borrow money for her. I turned around and left. That was the last time I saw her. When I was twenty, my grandmother and grandfather passed away, so I became a pirate."

Ron did not know what mattered most. He had merely given a simple summary of his twenty years on Blue Star.

The boat fell silent for a moment.

"Used drugs? Mandatory rehab?" Kaido frowned, finding the terms unfamiliar. He mulled them over for a while, then suddenly cursed, "Ron, you bastard, you're not being honest! You must be making up stories to fool us!"

"Hahahahaha!" Ron burst out laughing. As he laughed, he thought, Yeah. That's why I wasn't sad at all when I transmigrated. Not at all.

"You... really have no sense of fair play." Stussy complained reproachfully, assuming Ron was just making things up to amuse them.

Ron did not argue. He simply smiled and shrugged.

Whitebeard, however, had been watching Ron's every movement. He neither spoke nor laughed.

"Guess it's my turn next." Ochoku spoke with a grin.

"Get lost. Who cares about your past?" Whitebeard said slowly, his tone filled with undisguised disgust.

"Newgate... you really are heartless. We're partners, aren't we?" Ochoku clutched his chest and put on a heartbroken expression.

"Partners? Idiot, who's partners with you?" Whitebeard continued flatly, "We merely worked with Rocks and gathered together as temporary allies."

As soon as the words fell, the cabin fell silent again.

But this time, it was not because of Whitebeard's words. Everyone had simultaneously noticed a massive silhouette appearing at the edge of the horizon.

At first, it was only a blurry black dot, like a speck of dust at the meeting point of sea and sky.

But as the seconds passed, it grew clearer and larger, gradually revealing the imposing form of a gigantic warship.

"Is it finally here?!" Kaido sprang to his feet, fists clenched and excitement blazing in his eyes. He had waited for two days and gone hungry for an entire day. At last, that pent-up frustration had found an outlet.

Whitebeard glanced at the distant warship from the corner of his eye. "Don't get happy too soon. There's no guarantee the Kuja Pirates' intelligence is accurate."

"Got a battle plan, Newgate?" Ochoku asked more seriously.

"Yes," Whitebeard answered. "Every man for himself."

"..."

Kaido froze for a moment, then bared a somewhat ferocious grin. "Fine. Then we'll each rely on our own skills."

At the same time, aboard the World Government warship.

The Marine soldier in charge of reconnaissance raised his telescope, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Once he confirmed it, his expression changed drastically.

"Tap, tap, tap, tap..."

A burst of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor.

"Report, Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Sengoku!"

A booming voice rang out from the entrance to the ship's hall.

"An enemy vessel has been spotted ahead! The enemy includes Edward Newgate, Buckingham Stussy, Ochoku, the apprentice Kaido, and... Ron, the recently renowned 'Cold-Blooded Butcher'!"

Garp had been sprawled across the sofa, sleeping with his limbs spread out. The moment he heard the report, he sprang up.

"Finally got some work?" Garp grinned and clenched his fists. "I was starting to think this trip had been for nothing."

With that, Garp strode out.

"Hey, Garp, wait!" Sengoku hurriedly called after him, his brow tightly furrowed. "You're too impatient! The plan hasn't even been fully deployed yet."

But Garp only paused slightly and waved without looking back. "A plan? Fists are the best plan!"

"You idiot," Sengoku muttered. Still, he did not stop him. All in all, their plan this time was perfect. They had successfully deceived the Rocks Pirates.