Emergency Signal / Rats

"Hahaha! It's me, Garp!"

Garp's carefree voice came through the phone.

"Old man Garp, what can I do for you?"

"I heard from the Sengoku that you, kid, have returned to the East Blue?"

"Hold head high!"

"That's perfect! Go to Foosha Village and look after my grandson! I'm too busy in the New World right now, and I heard Luffy's gotten into trouble again! Give him a good beating!"

"Luffy? Isn't that Ace?"

Atlas asked, feigning confusion.

"Haha, they're both my grandsons, you can go and see them too."

It has to be said that Garp's skin is still as thick as ever. Atlas just asked a question, and the workload immediately doubled.

"Okay! I'll take care of it!"

Atlas readily agreed, as he had long intended to pull Ace back from the path of Pirates and also see if Luffy's brain could be salvaged, probably because it had been damaged by that old man Garp since childhood.

P. S. There should be two more chapters today, let's save them up and read them together this afternoon or evening.

Chapter 128 Emergency Signal

Early the next morning.

A standard naval warship bearing the markings of Loguetown slowly departed from the harbor.

"I used to think that Atlas was definitely going to be Vice Admiral, but I never expected... haha!"

Watching the warship sail away into the distance, Randall shook his head and chuckled.

Although I had high hopes for Atlas at first, I didn't expect him to grow so quickly, and it seems I underestimated his potential.

"I never expected this. When I rescued him from the base gate, I didn't expect he'd bring back a monster. He's truly a formidable young man!"

Major Wright, standing nearby, also looked moved upon hearing this; perhaps this was the reward for Justice.

"By the way, how did we get back last night? I have absolutely no recollection of it."

Wright shook his head, which was still a little dizzy from the hangover, clearly having no memory of the embarrassing incident from the previous night.

"I also drank myself into oblivion, but I don't know why the marines were giving me strange looks when I woke up this morning."

Randall was also somewhat puzzled.

But soon, the two stopped thinking about it and gradually disappeared into the harbor, one after the other.

"Where are we going, Brother Atlas?"

Seeing Atlas lounging comfortably in the wicker chair, Smoker couldn't hold back any longer.

He was dragged onto the warship by Atlas early in the morning, and the alcohol from last night had left him somewhat dazed. He probably wouldn't even know if Atlas sold him out now.

"Vice Admiral Garp asked me to look after his grandson while I'm at it, and I happen to be going to Shimotsuki Village anyway."

Instead of traveling on the giant standard warship provided to him by Marine Headquarters, Atlas borrowed a warship from Colonel Randall that was assigned Colonel Loguetown for this trip.

The accompanying personnel were few, just enough to keep the warship running normally; most of the soldiers were left in Loguetown, including his capable subordinate, Vergo.

This time, Atlas is going to Garp's hometown. Putting aside Luffy's identity, Ace is the bloodline of the Pirate King. How could such a major secret be known to an insider? Regardless of whether he could know or not, it's best to keep an eye on him. This is also one of the reasons why Atlas borrowed the warship.

"Shimotsuki Village? Is that where you used to practice swordsmanship, Brother Atlas?"

Smoker vaguely remembered that it was the year Atlas disappeared; he had heard Randall Colonel it once.

"Hold head high."

Atlas nodded lazily, then closed his eyes to enjoy the rare sunbathing without saying anything more.

Only the Four Seas have such stable weather. On the Grand Line, you might be enjoying a sunbath one second and then be soaked to the bone the next.

Therefore, excellent navigators are a scarce talent pool everywhere.

"Vice Admiral Excellency, something terrible has happened! A nearby navy unit is requesting our assistance!"

On the warship, which was sailing slowly, a navy officer who looked like a communications soldier held a Den Den Mushi (a type of Den Den Mushi) and shouted loudly at Atlas.

Bruburu~

The sound was rapid and very different from the normal sound of Den Den Mushi, and the Den Den Mushi's body was also shaking incessantly.

"Emergency signal?"

This was the first time Atlas had ever seen anything like this. He had heard other naval personnel mention it before when he was undergoing graduation trials at G-8 base.

Some marines seem to really like using this tactic to set traps for Pirates. If Den Den Mushi is accidentally eavesdropped on, the marines will know that the other party has entered the Den Den Mushi's signal range. Generally, Pirates will either try to take advantage of the situation to make a profit or stay away from it.

However, in either case, they would basically be unable to escape the navy's pursuit.

However, this is the East Blue, and the overall quality of the navy here is indeed somewhat different from that of the Grand Line. I doubt they would dare to pull such a risky maneuver.

Or rather, very few people in the Navy play like this, unless they are extremely confident in their abilities; otherwise, catching a Sea Kings while fishing wouldn't be a good thing.

Answer the call.

Atlas gave the order that, regardless of the circumstances, it would be safer to go and check.

Click!

The moment the microphone was picked up, an urgent voice came through, "This is a warship from the 16th Branch! Brothers from which branch, please save us quickly! We can't hold on much longer!"

Atlas and Smoker exchanged a glance and said decisively, "No rush, we'll be there soon!"

"But..."

Snap!

The Nezumi stared blankly at the busy Den Den Mushi, completely bewildered. He hadn't even given them their location yet! Why did they hang up so quickly? Couldn't they be a little more reliable?!

It's over!

The Nezumi suddenly felt a pang of regret. He had joined the navy out of sheer enthusiasm, but he never expected to encounter such a powerful Pirates on his very first voyage. He figured he was doomed this time...

"Found it! The warship is at six o'clock. The enemy is a Pirates ship. The Pirates flag is a skull with a knife and hammer behind it."

After hanging up the phone, Atlas quickly used his Observation Haki to locate the exact position of the navy that had requested assistance.

Smoker quickly flipped through the Wanted Poster Randall had left on the warship, while the other navy personnel quickly mobilized and turned the warship around.

"The opposing team is the Warhammer Pirates, whose entire crew has a bounty exceeding ten million Berries. The captain has a bounty of eight million Beli, and the first mate has a bounty of five million Berries."

"Forget it, I'll just go myself first. Otherwise, by the time the warship arrives, there'll probably only be a pile of corpses left."

After briefly assessing the gap between the two sides, he decided to go ahead alone, as the speed of the warship was still somewhat different from his personal maneuverability.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Atlas leaped off the deck to everyone's astonishment!

The unique, fishy smell of blood permeated the sea area. A gentle sea breeze carried waves of nauseating odors into everyone's nostrils.

Corpses were everywhere; the scene was so horrific that words could not describe it. Fish, drawn by the stench, eagerly devoured the bodies floating in the sea.

However, the deaths and injuries continue to occur.

"Hey! Orphy, how dare you Pirates attack the Navy? Aren't you afraid of a combined attack from the Navy?"

Green was somewhat annoyed, but even more furious at the Pirates' provocation of the Navy.

He was a lieutenant colonel in the 16th Branch. Today, he was leading some new recruits who had recently joined the Navy to familiarize themselves with the patrol area of 16th Branch. The troop deployment on the warship was only for routine patrols. Who knew that they would run into the Warhammer Pirates, who have been quite active recently.

"Hahahaha! Perfect! If I slaughter you bunch of marines, my bounty should increase significantly, right?"

Orphy was arrogant, hurling insults at Green while brandishing his massive Iron Hammer.

Chapter 129 Nezumi

For Pirates, spreading their fame throughout the seas is one of their goals, and bounties are precisely an important manifestation of that fame.

To quickly increase their bounty, pirates must either defeat stronger Pirates with their strength. This is one of the reasons why the Navy set bounties for Pirates. In order to obtain higher bounties, Pirates will constantly challenge Pirates with higher bounties, which inadvertently causes more Pirates to die from internal strife.

Another method is to massacre civilians or openly attack the navy. These two extremely egregious acts are generally classified by the navy as highly dangerous crimes, and the bounty will inevitably be increased.

"Captain! Look! Someone's running on the sea!"

Just as Orphy was feeling smug, the first mate grabbed him, pointing with a look of horror to the sea not far away.

"Are you kidding me? Did you overexert yourself on a woman's belly last night? How could anyone be running on the sea?"

Orphy shook off the first mate's attempt to pull him away, and scoffed, "How could anyone possibly do something like that?"

As a notorious Pirates who had roamed the East Blue for many years, his reputation was so great that it could stop children from crying. He had never actually seen anyone running on the sea.

"It's true, Captain, I really didn't lie to you!"

The first mate was almost in tears because... that guy seemed to be a navy officer!

"I already said..."

Just as Orphy was about to turn around and slap the first mate to bring him to his senses, a figure in a white Suit with Justice cloak on his back came into view.

Without boats or any footholds, the man ran freely across the sea, splashing white water all the way, as if walking on flat ground.

A chill ran through him, his hair stood on end, and his jaw nearly dropped in shock.

"Vice Admiral?"

Lieutenant Colonel Green's face lit up with joy. He hadn't expected to run into a Vice Admiral from the Marine Headquarters here. It was truly a case of heaven never closing off all doors.

I was just scolding that kid Nezumi for giving false intelligence, but I didn't expect the Vice Admiral from Marine Headquarters to locate them so quickly. He'll definitely have to be rewarded properly afterwards.

"Chaotic Cross Flower!"

Without a word, the Sandai Kitetsu at his waist swiftly slashed out, countless cross-shaped slashes instantly engulfing the Pirates. Even some Pirates who were engaged in battle were accurately hit, without harming the Marines in the slightest.

The last battle with Hawkeye wasn't entirely without its benefits; at least his control over his slashes is much stronger than before, otherwise he wouldn't be able to achieve what he has now.

"Are you kidding me? To actually do that!"

Orphy looked around. The manpower he had painstakingly gathered had been so easily dealt with by this navy. The screams all around him made him feel somewhat devastated.

Run away! Yes! I must run away!

Once Orphy came to his senses, only one thought remained in his mind.

Swish!

Before the Pirates ship could even set sail, a massive, blood-red slash slicing the ship and its crew cleanly apart. The two halves of the ship tilted to either side and plunged into the sea!

Smoker and his men arrived late. The two warships were quietly anchored in the sea, surrounded by wreckage and corpses, and the air was thick with stench and flies.

"Lieutenant Vice Admiral, thank you for your support!"

After directing the naval post-war operations, Green jogged along the junction of the two warships to Atlas, his expression a mixture of excitement and relief.

If it weren't for the timely arrival of this Marine Vice Admiral, everyone on their ship would probably have perished at the hands of these Pirates.

"No need to thank me. Eliminating Pirates is my duty as a Marine." Atlas's expression remained serious, then relaxed as he smiled. "But if you want to thank someone, thank your communications officer. He's the one who made the distress call to my ship."

"You mean that kid Nezumi? We really owe him a lot this time, thanks to him calling for help again and again."

"Nezumi?"

"Ah~ yes, you little Nezumi, come here, stop sneaking around peeking!"

Seemingly noticing the Nezumi peeking out from its own boat, Green deliberately called the Nezumi over, perhaps hoping to make a good impression on Atlas Nezumi.

After all, Atlas is Vice Admiral in the Marine Headquarters. Some of the navy personnel who spend their entire lives in the East Blue may never have seen such a high rank in real life.

"Yes!"

The Nezumi heard the noise and quickly ran over.

"Greetings, Vice Admiral General!"