Shocking! My Captain Was Rocks' Partner?

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

The moment his feet touched the deck, Dr. Stockton came up to him.

"Mr. Lin Nuo! Just now... did you communicate with that Island Whale?"

"And those blue flames..."

"Oh, that." Lin Nuo gave a brief explanation. "Its name is Laboon. It was waiting for a group of family members who entered the Grand Line more than ten years ago."

"I used my Devil Fruit abilities 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, even though I really want to hear about the whale too," she said in a lowered voice.

"Could we talk about that later?"

"Because during these past few days of listening in on Marine communications, I found some suspicious clues."

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

Then he motioned for Alice, Kuma, and Moria to follow.

The group hurried toward the cabin with Ginny.

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

Watching Lin Nuo and the others disappear through the cabin door, Raymond leaned close to his mentor and muttered quietly.

"Aren't you and Lin Nuo getting along pretty well? Why didn't you go in with them and listen?"

A smile appeared on Stockton's face.

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

He spoke slowly.

"He's like a wolf accustomed to traveling alone, but he brings companions he acknowledges into his territory."

"He's highly vigilant and doesn't like being probed too deeply. But he gives appropriate trust and returns to those who show goodwill without crossing the line."

Stockton looked toward the cabin door, his tone certain.

"Since he didn't take the initiative to invite me to their internal meeting, I should keep an appropriate distance. That is respect."

"And with 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 formed that kind of understanding? Are you really that close?"

"It is mutual respect," Stockton corrected. Then, remembering something, he added,

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

"Fine, fine. Respect. Knowledge."

Raymond rolled his eyes, then suddenly hooked an arm around Stockton's neck and dragged him toward the unoccupied side of the ship.

He wore a dangerously friendly smile.

"Then, my dear mentor who respects scientific knowledge—"

"Could you please explain, in terms 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 stiffened, his eyes beginning to dart around.

"Well... Raymond, scientific progress changes with each passing day. We need to look at problems from a developmental perspective..."

"A de-vel-op-men-tal perspective?" Raymond enunciated each word, his smile growing even friendlier.

"Mentor, 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 cannot wait!"

Dr. Stockton's protests gradually faded beneath the sound of his first mate dragging him away.

Ginny Intelligence Station.

A map of the West Blue waters hung on the wall, with different-colored pins marking various symbols.

Five Transponder Snails were neatly arranged on the long table.

They had been acquired in a trade with Stockton and were quietly perched on specially made signal-amplifying bases.

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

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

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

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

"Though they're old models, their signal reception is especially stable, and their anti-interference capability is even stronger than the ones the Marines use now."

"I modified the receiving frequency a little. Now I can roughly listen in on even the unencrypted internal communications of nearby Marine Branches."

She beckoned Lin Nuo closer and pointed at several passages she had circled 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 phenomenon."

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

Moria frowned.

"Withdrawing? Aren't we their target?"

"That is exactly the suspicious part." Ginny pointed to another line.

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

"It said... the target of the encirclement had been confirmed to have escaped the West Blue blockade network and entered Grand Line waters."

"The original blockade line has lost its purpose. 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 primary target of the encirclement... is Rocks and his group?"

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

"It looks like Rocks moved faster than we did."

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

"Our little shrimp of a crew is safe for the time being instead."

He patted Ginny on the shoulder and praised her sincerely.

"Well done. As expected of a master intelligence agent!"

Ginny smiled bashfully.

Lin Nuo, however, let out a breath of relief inwardly.

He had originally thought that if they were blocked by a Marine checkpoint at the entrance to Reverse Mountain, they might have to force their way through and tear apart every warship in their path.

Now, though, that saved him a lot of trouble.

Alice sighed, sounding somewhat helpless.

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

Lin Nuo looked at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry too much, Alice. Rocks is on the move right now. It won't be easy for the Marines to surround him."

"Besides..."

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

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

"It won't happen that quickly."

Alice paused slightly, then understood what Lin Nuo meant.

The worry on her face eased before finally becoming a relieved smile.

"You're right."

The two exchanged smiles.

However, the harmonious atmosphere was shattered by a confused and irritated voice from beside them.

"Hey!!!"

Moria crossed his arms, his face filled with 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 you speak in a way 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."

"That legendary pirate who once dominated the seas, gathered a crew full of monsters,"

"broke into the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, killed a Marine Headquarters admiral, and made the World Government put out an astronomical bounty on him."

"Rocks D. Zebek."

He pointed to himself.

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

Then he turned his finger toward Alice and Teach in her arms.

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

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

Alice cooperatively offered a warm smile.

She gently waved Teach's little hand.

"Come on, say hello to everyone again. Though you all already knew each other."

Teach obligingly waved at everyone.

Time froze inside the cabin.

Ivankov's smile stiffened.

The pen Ginny had been twirling in her hand fell onto the table.

Moria... Moria's eyes and mouth slowly fell open.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Faced with the complicated looks from his companions that all seemed to say, You're not messing with us, are you?

Lin Nuo stroked his chin.

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

"Besides, none of you asked."

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

Ivankov, Ginny, and Moria roared in unison!