Chapter 212: The Currency Gamble and the Looming Battle

Krell was busy poring over the currency Karl had invented.

Karl knew that if he wanted to stand toe-to-toe with the World Government, he couldn’t count on military strength alone. Politics and economics were just as crucial, so he’d developed his own currency early on.

At first, the currency was only circulated across the 56 islands of the Sweets Sea.

But with trade booming and merchant ships going back and forth, Cake Island’s currency soon spread throughout the New World and even started popping up in the Four Seas.

For now, the amounts in circulation were too small to attract the World Government’s attention, but Krell knew that wouldn’t last much longer.

The new currency was called Huaxia Coin, a name Karl chose to honor a trace of sentiment he still held in his heart.

Denominations included 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 yuan. To counteract the World Government’s rampant inflation, limited runs of 500 and 1000 yuan notes were also released.

Huaxia Coin was pegged to the berry at a rate of 1 to 100.

Krell stared at the Huaxia bills in his hands, puzzled. “Will the Giants really accept this kind of money?”

Orders from Lord Karl or not, he wanted to get it right.

Huaxia Coin had just hit the scene, so Krell doubted the Giant Tribe had even heard of it, much less accepted it.

Krell’s current challenge was to link up all kinds of goods and prices, making sure everything was high quality and affordable.

He’d heard Karl bring up the idea of diplomatic relations with the Giants more than once.

“Better double check everything, just to be safe.”

“Purururu!” Just then, the Den Den Mushi at Krell’s side started ringing.

He picked it up absentmindedly, eyes still locked on that crate overflowing with currency.

“Lord Krell, I’ve got a report. Lady Charlotte Linlin has set out to sea.”

Krell shivered. Did he just hear that right? Oh, no.

He really hoped this wasn’t bad news. “Where is Charlotte Linlin headed?”

He’d just talked to Lord Karl a few days ago, and now things were happening exactly as he’d feared.

The call on the other end sounded certain. “Looks like the destination is the Navy base in the New World.”

Krell slapped his forehead. The thing he least wanted to happen was happening already.

“Alright, I got it.”

He hung up and rushed to call Karl.

But the Den Den Mushi rang and rang—nobody picked up. “Right, I forgot—Lord Karl’s busy right now.”

He’d been so swamped these past few days, he almost forgot Karl had called to warn him about this.

Without missing a beat, he dialed another number.

This time, the connection went through right away.

“Hello? Is that Lord Ledfield?”

Right then, Ledfield was on Skypiea in the first half of the New World, looking like he’d caught the travel bug.

He’d overheard Karl mention the Moon one day and was the first to volunteer for a trip there.

With Karl’s approval, he’d gone straight to Skypiea, found the blueprints, and started building a ship that could actually reach the Moon.

“It’s Krell. What’s up?” Ledfield stood before the unfinished spaceship.

“Lord Ledfield, Lady Charlotte Linlin has taken her crew to attack the Navy base in the New World.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Don’t worry. Leave this to me.” Ledfield ended the call.

He instantly understood why Krell had called.

Ledfield knew that Karl was heading for the Giant Kingdom, and the call reaching him now meant Karl was busy—or possibly out of contact.

“Good thing I haven’t left for the Moon yet,” Ledfield muttered to himself.

He shouted to Gan Fall nearby, “How much longer until the ship’s finished?”

Gan Fall hurried over. “Lord Ledfield, the ship will be done in nine more months.”

Hearing that, Ledfield felt a bit let down. Nine months was still such a long wait.

“Keep at it!”

“I’ve got to go take care of something. I’ll be back in a while.”

Gan Fall snapped a salute. “Don’t worry, Lord Ledfield. I’ll have it finished ahead of schedule.”

He ran straight to the shipyard and urged the workers to speed up.

Ledfield checked his Eternal Pose for the direction, then spread his massive black wings and soared toward the islands of the New World.

What Krell hadn’t realized, in his rush, was that he’d missed an important detail.

Charlotte Linlin and her people had actually set sail two days ago—he was only hearing about it now.

With Charlotte Linlin leading them, the pirate fleet only needed two days to reach the Navy’s New World headquarters.

And actually, the fleet would arrive at the first Navy base—Lucy Island—in just a few hours.

The Navy had set up new bases, but they were still guarding the old ones: Hachinosu and Punk Hazard.

At that very moment, the three Navy Vice Admirals—Jeremy, Luth, and Sander—were stationed on Hachinosu.

“Charlotte Linlin will be here any minute now, right?” Jeremy stood at the harbor, gazing into the distance.

The Navy didn’t keep spies or patrol ships near the Sweets Sea, since it was deep within the New World and they’d only be throwing lives away. But here at the New World’s gateway, naval scout ships were everywhere.

Just moments ago, their front-line scouts had spotted Charlotte Linlin’s group closing in.

“Yeah, another brutal fight is on the way.”

“Did you alert Admiral Sengoku?” Luth asked, leaning against a pillar.

If they were really facing off against Charlotte Linlin, maybe they could hold out until Admiral Sengoku arrived.

“Already done,” Sander replied firmly.

The second the news came in, he’d called Sengoku, who was stationed at Sabaody Archipelago.

Sengoku wasted no time and led a naval force out to sea immediately.

“Good. That’s a relief.”

“Now it all depends on whether we can hold out until Admiral Sengoku gets here.”

Jeremy didn’t seem at all optimistic.

Even if they had warned Sengoku, who could say if Karl was tagging along this time?

If Karl came too, neither they nor the Vice Admirals at Punk Hazard would survive long enough for Sengoku to show up.

On his way to Hachinosu, Sengoku called Garp, who was way off in the New World.

“Garp, are you there?”

“Charlotte Linlin is leading her pirate crews to attack the Navy’s base in the New World. If you have time, you’d better head back.”

“Don’t worry, Sengoku!”

After hanging up, Garp watched as Roger and the others fled into the distance. He swept his right arm through the air, “You get a free pass today.”

“All ships, turn around. We’re heading for Hachinosu, the Navy’s New World base!”

“Is something wrong, Vice Admiral Garp?” Bogart asked, picking up the Den Den Mushi.

It wasn’t easy for anything to change Garp’s mind about chasing after Roger.

After all, not even a personal call from Kong could sway him when it came to this.

“Admiral Sengoku called—Charlotte Linlin is heading for the Navy’s New World base.”

With that, Garp returned to his cabin.