Chapter 105: Missions, Meddling, and Trouble at Sabaody

Davis watched as Fields drew closer, eyes fixed on the massive disk he was carrying overhead, lost deep in thought.

“Looks like we’ll need a bigger ship.”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary. I’ve got a solution,”

Vegapunk immediately stepped in to stop them.

Davis turned to Vegapunk, confusion written all over his face. Hauling such a huge object to the New World and through Fishman Island definitely wouldn’t be easy.

“What did you have in mind?”

Vegapunk first gave a heartbroken look at the dangerously teetering clockwork tower on the island, then turned to Davis.

“I didn’t expect you all to be so… brutal. I only wanted a few products and some research notes, not to take the entire thing.”

Davis managed an awkward smile.

“Sorry about that, Dr. Vegapunk.”

“Dr. Vegapunk, could you go up and check what you need to bring?”

Under Davis’s watchful eye, Vegapunk gathered a pile of products, equipment, and a few cryptic blueprints from that floor.

All that stuff filled two massive rooms, each measuring a hundred square meters. The weight even made their ship sit a meter lower in the water.

After Vegapunk finished sorting everything, Davis’s gaze drifted toward the Sabaody Archipelago.

“Let’s move out!”

Almost at once, a number of small boats pulled away from the islands around them, trailing far behind their ship.

Davis and the others were in too much of a hurry to notice the pursuers on their tail.

“Hurry up. Is that the right ship?”

Soon over twenty sailboats had gathered at their rear.

“Lord Des, it’s that ship for sure.”

“We’ve been tailing them the whole way.”

While they were reporting to Des, Davis suddenly spotted the convoy behind them.

Davis didn’t know who these people were, but after tailing them for so long, they most likely meant trouble.

“Halil!”

Halil had seen the flotilla too. At Davis’s call, he dove straight into the sea and swam towards them.

If they weren’t in a hurry to return to the New World, none of these people would have made it out alive.

“Lucky break for them.”

Halil reached the underside of their ships in no time, then launched his attack from below.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

“Ah! What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong, Lord Des! Someone’s wrecked the bottoms of our ships!”

Just then, he spotted Halil at the surface.

“Damn fishman!”

Halil had planned to leave quietly but didn’t expect the man before him to curse at him.

“Puh!!!”

“Bang!”

He leaped up onto the deck, locking eyes with Des.

“Say that again.”

Des stared at Halil in disbelief.

“I said you’re a damn fishman.”

Halil’s expression didn’t change, but fury was boiling inside him.

“Smack!”

“Lord Des!”

The other thugs watched in horror as Halil’s single slap crushed Des’s head like a melon.

“Clatter!”

Des’s corpse collapsed onto the deck.

“I really didn’t want to waste my time here.”

Halil glanced at the blood on his hand.

“Fish-Man Karate—Over-the-Shoulder River Throw.”

Floating on the water, Halil watched as the twenty-some ships slowly sank, nodded in satisfaction, and headed back.

“Click!”

“I bet those guys picked a fight with Halil!”

Fields lounged on the deck, munching an apple.

With the mess cleaned up, Davis turned to stare toward the bow.

“Who knows. Our job is to get back to the New World as fast as we can.”

“I’d rather not have anything unexpected happen on the way.”

Fields, of course, wanted nothing to go wrong either.

“Relax. In the New World we’ll have a lot to watch out for, but here in these waters? Besides the Navy, there’s not much to worry about.”

“As long as we’re careful, smooth sailing ahead. Keep an eye on Vegapunk and those three with him.”

Seeing Davis change the subject, Fields immediately brought up Vegapunk.

“You gotta wonder if he’s really that bold—doing experiments here on the ship, doesn’t even look like someone who’s been kidnapped.”

“Clang!”

Halil suddenly vaulted onto the deck from the sea, cutting their talk short.

“Halil, you’re back.”

“Sorry, that took a little longer than I thought.”

“No worries. Let’s get moving again—hopefully, we reach the New World without any more surprises.”

……

Mariejois, World Government headquarters!

Inside a Celestial Dragon’s lavish room!

“I’m going to the Sabaody Archipelago.”

“Lord Marlos, now’s really not the time to go!”

The attendant eyed Lord Marlos, who clearly had made up his mind, and tried desperately to dissuade him.

After what happened with Rocks, Sabaody Archipelago was now crawling with upstart pirates.

But Marlos hardly cared. In his mind, as one of the descendants of the world’s creators, no one would dare show him disrespect.

“I don’t care. Your job is to protect me. I’m going no matter what.”

He drew a golden pistol from his waist and pointed it right at his attendant.

“If you won’t take me, I’ll just shoot you where you stand.”

The others exchanged nervous glances and had no choice but to escort him to Sabaody Archipelago.

“But…”

Just as Marlos was setting out from Mariejois, Davis and his crew arrived at Sabaody Archipelago.

The moment Davis and company docked at the port, they sought out the local shipwrights to coat their ship.

“How long will it take to get this ship coated?”

At the sight of the wad of Berries in Davis’s hand, the shipwright swallowed hard.

“Sir, it’s going to take about five hours.”

Davis tossed the stack of Berries at him.

“Speed it up.”

The shipwright took the money, gave it a quick count, stuffed it into his pocket, and immediately led his team to start coating the ship.

“Don’t worry, sir. Leave it to us.”

The ship’s quartermaster had already headed out for supplies, and seeing two others itching to go ashore,

“You two want to head out too?”

“Yes!”

Fields and Halil nodded eagerly.

Davis glanced at his watch and turned to the pair. “You’ve got three hours.”

“Be back within three hours.”

“No problem!”

Fields and Halil leaped off the ship and dashed toward the Sabaody Archipelago. They only had three hours.

Because Morgans had just eaten the Albatross Fruit, he couldn’t control his beast form yet.

Thanks to some quick pointers from Davis, he soon managed to switch between human and beast form at will.

Morgans roamed all over the ship’s cabins till he spotted a room with the door ajar. He peeked in and saw a strange man with a big head.

“What’s this?”

“Oh, that? It’s a Lineage Factor specimen.”

Vegapunk saw it was just a curious kid at the door and pointed to the container.

“What’s a Lineage Factor?”

“It’s a mysterious thing. Studying it lets us unlock the secrets of life itself.”

Morgans was just a kid, so he lost interest quickly and wandered over to Vegapunk’s side.

“What are you doing right now?”

Vegapunk was fiddling with all sorts of reagents on his equipment.

“Running an experiment.”

“Can I help?”

He looked over at the inquisitive child.

“You’re still too young. It’s not safe for you yet.”

“Then if I grow up, I can do it?”

“Haha. When you’re all grown up, I’ll teach you myself.”

Vegapunk looked at the little one before him, remembering his own childhood just as full of curiosity.

…