Shocking! My Captain Was Rocks's Partner?

Lin Nuo folded his wings and landed lightly back on the deck of the Quest for Knowledge.

The moment his feet touched down, Dr. Stockton came over to greet him.

"Mr. Lin Nuo! Just now... were you communicating with that Island Whale?"

"And those blue flames..."

"Oh, that." Lin Nuo gave a simple explanation. "Its name is Laboon. It's waiting for a group of family members who entered the Grand Line more than a decade ago."

"I used my Devil Fruit power to treat its wounds and, while I was at it, gave it hope to keep waiting."

Stockton nodded thoughtfully. He was about to ask for more details when Ginny popped out from the side, her expression serious as she tugged on Lin Nuo's sleeve.

"Brother Lin Nuo, although I really want to know more about the whale too," she said in a lowered voice.

"Could we talk about it later?"

"Because over the past few days, while monitoring Marine communications, I found some suspicious inconsistencies."

Lin Nuo's gaze sharpened, and he nodded to Stockton.

He then motioned for Alice, Kuma, and Moria to follow.

The group hurried after Ginny toward the cabin.

Only Stockton and Raymond, who looked as though he wanted to say something, remained on deck.

Watching Lin Nuo and the others disappear behind the cabin door, Raymond leaned toward his employer and muttered quietly.

"Didn't you get along pretty well with Lin Nuo? Why didn't you go listen in with them?"

A smile appeared on Stockton's face.

"Raymond, after spending these past few days together, I have more or less figured out Mr. Lin Nuo's personality."

He spoke slowly.

"He's like a wolf accustomed to walking alone, but he will draw companions he recognizes into his territory."

"He's highly vigilant and dislikes being investigated too deeply. But toward those who show goodwill without crossing his boundaries, he offers corresponding trust and goodwill in return."

Stockton looked toward the cabin door, his tone certain.

"Since he did not actively invite me to join their private meeting, I should maintain an appropriate distance. That is respect."

"Besides, given his personality, once there is a result, if I ask him frankly, he will probably tell me whatever he can."

"That is enough."

Raymond blinked, suddenly enlightened.

"Oh... so you've already developed that kind of mutual understanding? Are you really that close?"

"It is mutual respect," Stockton corrected, then remembered something and added.

"Of course, his regard and pursuit of knowledge are also key to why we get along so well."

"Fine, fine. Respect. Knowledge."

Raymond rolled his eyes, then suddenly reached out, hooked an arm around Stockton's neck, and dragged him toward an empty stretch of railing.

He wore a particularly "kind" smile.

"So, my dear gentleman who respects scientific knowledge—"

"Could you now please explain, in words a mere mortal like me can understand, what Biomimetic Powered Wings are?"

"And what aerodynamic principles are?"

"I saw those wings flapping perfectly clearly just now!"

Stockton's body stiffened, and his eyes began to dart around.

"Well... Raymond, science advances with each passing day. We need to view problems from a developmental perspective..."

"A de-vel-op-men-tal per-spec-tive?" Raymond enunciated each word, his smile growing ever more pleasant.

"Sir, let's go to your room. You can explain slowly, and I'll listen slowly."

"If you can't explain it clearly, don't even think about sleeping tonight."

"Wait! Raymond! I still have observation data to record...!"

"You can make up the records tomorrow! Scientific explanations can't wait!"

Dr. Stockton's protests gradually drowned beneath the first mate's eager dragging.

White Shell.

"Ginny Intelligence Station."

A map of the West Blue seas hung on the wall, marked with symbols using pins of various colors.

Five Transponder Snails sat neatly arranged on the long table.

They had been traded from Stockton and were quietly perched atop specially made signal-amplifying bases.

Ginny sat at the table with headphones on, rapidly recording notes in a notebook.

"Ginny, how is it?" Lin Nuo asked.

Ginny removed one side of her headphones, a hint of pride on her face.

"Brother Lin Nuo, Uncle Stockton's Transponder Snails are really useful!"

"Although they're an old model, their signal reception is extremely stable, and their resistance to interference is even better than the ones the Marines use now."

"I made a few adjustments to the reception frequency, and now I can roughly hear even the unencrypted internal communications of nearby Marine branches."

She beckoned Lin Nuo closer and pointed at several circled entries in her notebook.

"Look, these are fragments of information I intercepted from different channels over the past forty-eight hours."

Ginny's expression turned serious.

"Taken together, they point to a very strange development."

"The Marine fleets that had been carrying out blockade and patrol duties around Twin Cape are withdrawing on a large scale, in an orderly manner."

Moria frowned.

"Withdrawing? Aren't we their target?"

"That's exactly the suspicious part." Ginny pointed at another line.

"The withdrawal order did not come from Marine Headquarters. It was issued directly by the highest-ranking commander on the front lines."

"It says... the encirclement target has been confirmed to have broken through the West Blue blockade and entered Grand Line waters."

"The original blockade line has lost its meaning. All units are to gather at branches such as G-1 and G-5 according to plan and redeploy for the encirclement operation."

Alice looked thoughtful.

"The main encirclement target... does that mean Rocks and the others?"

"Most likely." Lin Nuo nodded, understanding dawning on him.

"It seems Rocks and his crew moved faster than we did."

"Not only did they enter the Grand Line before us, they also caused enough trouble to draw the Marines' main attention over there."

"Our little shrimp of a crew is temporarily safe instead."

He patted Ginny on the shoulder and praised her sincerely.

"Well done. Just as expected of an intelligence master!"

Ginny smiled bashfully.

Lin Nuo, meanwhile, let out a breath of relief.

I had been thinking that if the Marine checkpoint blocked us at the entrance to Reverse Mountain, we might have to force our way through and tear apart every warship in our path.

Now this saves me a lot of trouble.

Alice sighed, sounding somewhat helpless.

"Drawing away the Marines' main forces, then running off to stir up trouble in the Grand Line... that really is the sort of thing Rocks would do."

Lin Nuo looked at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry too much, Alice. Rocks is currently mobile, so it won't be easy for the Marines to surround him."

"Besides..."

"Little sister Imu is still sitting on the throne in the Holy Land."

"If she wants to descend into the mortal world, she either needs the Five Elders, or she needs to find someone with the Abyssal Sea Pact to establish a Pentagram Teleportation Array."

"It won't happen that quickly."

Alice was briefly taken aback, then understood what Lin Nuo meant.

The worry on her face eased, eventually turning into a relieved smile.

"That's true."

The two smiled at each other.

However, the harmonious atmosphere was shattered by a voice filled with confusion and irritation from nearby.

"Hey!!!"

Moria crossed his arms, his face full of enormous question marks.

"You two keep talking about Rocks this and Rocks that, then Imu and teleportation arrays..."

He pointed at Lin Nuo and Alice.

"Who exactly are you talking about?!"

"And I feel like I've heard the name Rocks somewhere before..."

"But I can't remember it right now! Can't you say something normal people can understand?!"

Lin Nuo and Alice turned to look at Moria at the same time.

Then Lin Nuo wore a calm expression.

"Oh, Rocks."

"He's the legendary pirate who once ruled the seas, gathered a crew of monsters,"

"barged into the Holy Land Mary Geoise, killed a Marine Headquarters admiral, and made the World Government issue an astronomical bounty."

"Rocks D. Zebek."

He pointed to himself.

"As for me, I was an apprentice crew member and partner on his ship. We got along fairly well."

Then he pointed toward Alice and Teach in her arms.

"This is Rocks's wife, Ms. Alice."

"And the one she's holding is Rocks's son, Marshall D. Teach."

Alice cooperatively revealed a warm smile.

She gently waved Teach's little hand.

"Come on, say hello to everyone again. Though you already know them."

Teach obligingly waved at everyone.

Inside the cabin, time stood still.

Ivankov's smile froze on his face.

The pen Ginny had been twirling dropped onto the table.

Moria... Moria's eyes and mouth slowly opened wide.

A full five seconds passed.

"Eh-------------------??????"

Ivankov's scream was the first to break the silence, and he sprang up like a coiled spring.

"R-R-R-R-R-Rocks?!?!"

"Lin Nuo, you're Rocks's crew member! Sister Alice, you're his wife?! And this little guy is his son?!"

"Our ship is carrying Rocks's wife and child?!!"

Ginny covered her face with both hands, quietly processing this earth-shattering information.

Faced with the complicated expressions from his companions that clearly said, "You're not messing with us, are you?" Lin Nuo rubbed his chin.

"Well... I felt the timing wasn't right before, so I didn't mention it."

"Besides, none of you asked."

"Who would ask something like that, damn it?!"

Ivankov, Ginny, and Moria roared in unison!