30 Chapter 30 - Clockwork Island! The Thief Brothers and The Trump Pirates Fleet!
With Black Artemis underway, Noah was with Nami and Nojiko as they looked at the nautical map leading to Clockwork Island.
"It's not too far from here, one or two hours of travel at most to get there." Nami made measurements of the natural wind speed and also the distance of the journey.
"It's more than enough time to extract some useful information." Noah nodded and looked at the Hyena Three, as they were known, "Don't force me, you can start talking."
And after that, Denny began to say everything he could about the Trump Pirates, who were the lords of Clockwork Island and the region.
As a pirate group that has accumulated resources and personnel over a long time, they use the island's Trump Castle as a base for their maritime force. Such a force consists of a massive fleet of stolen ships, having around 15 ships and about 500 pirates working for them.
The Trump Pirates have five figureheads, who are the lieutenants: Honey Queen, Boo Jack, Pin Joker, and Skunk One. And last but most importantly and powerfully, Captain Bear King.
Each of them has their peculiarities and powers that Nami and Nojiko were very interested in learning. After all, if they are already going there to get something important from them, a fight will inevitably occur.
"So it's basically a tyrannical pirate group. And they're still building this so-called King Cannon." Nojiko basically understood the situation they were in and couldn't help but mock a little, "They can certainly dominate the East Blue with such a terrifying weapon. But have they ever wondered what will happen if someone breaks the weapon?"
"They are also very powerful!" Donny stammered a bit while remembering the different feats and powers of the pirate group, "Each of them is capable of defeating the pirate fleet they command, and therefore can control the region with their own fists."
"It will make things more interesting, at least." Noah felt that this was enough information for them to definitely beat up these pirates. And after thinking a bit, he looked at the girls, especially Nami, "Are you confident?"
"It's been a long time since we've been training for this. It's more than time to see the results." Nami spoke confidently, even though she was a bit nervous about the idea of fighting so many pirates. But when she thought about all the training she had been through, her confidence returned and covered the instinctive fear she felt.
"As long as it's in my sight." Nojiko also spoke with a smile, eager to test the effects of the relentless training she underwent to become stronger.
"Great." Noah wanted to tell them that they might have to experience their results before they arrived at Clockwork Island, but decided to stay quiet and leave the surprise for them.
Time was passing while Nami steered the ship to follow the trajectory to their goal when they passed through a group of rocks in the sea. They were halfway and about an hour away from reaching their destination.
And it was at that moment that Nojiko, who was casually looking at the sea while polishing her guns, saw a strange movement in the water, among the rocks. And after the ship moved foward a little more, the view cleared and showed what it was.
In the sea, struggling, was a child of about 7 or 8 years old. Seeming desperate for having fallen into the sea, he cried for help.
"Please, help me- bllgh" The boy continued raising his hand and begging for help, "I can't - bllgh - swim!"
And seeing that, Nojiko raised an eyebrow in doubt and looked at Noah, who came to her. And just as she imagined, he also had a strange face, as if he wanted to laugh.
"Throw a rope to the boy. His friends will show up soon." Looking at the "drowning" boy, Noah just shrugged and waited a bit.
Nojiko laughed at what he said and went to get the rope, soon throwing it to the boy. And with a little effort on his part, since the ship was big, the boy finally climbed on board. Sprawling on the ground, he pretended to be tired for a while before getting up.
"Thank you for saving me, good doers!" With a friendly smile, the boy looked at Nojiko for a strange time before his cheeks turned red and he turned away. But soon his attention was called to something else and he smiled, "My name is Akisu, and thank you for helping us!"
"Us?" Nojiko asked, still watching the boy's show.
"Yes. We, the Thief Brothers!" Akisu shouted as he jumped to the edge of the ship, "The best thieves in the world!"
And with that cue, a tall man with brown hair jumped onto the ship from below. He is dressed in an aviator's uniform and carries a large backpack on his back. He just jumped from a small cargo ship below, which was hidden behind the rocks.
"My name is Borodo, nice to meet you. And we came here to rob you-" With a smile on his face, the man introduced himself before looking with great shock at the crew members. Seeing Noah, Nojiko and even the distant Nami looking at him strangely, his gaze went to the Hyena Three before realizing something.
But he didn't had time to do anything before Nami slightly lifted her fingers and he and Akisu were pushed in the direction of Noah.
Bang!
Grabbing Borodo by the neck, Noah took him directly to the ground while Akisu was held by Nojiko by the leg.
"Borodo!" Akisu cried out in horror as soon as he saw his brother being knocked to the ground.
"Akisu!" Borodo was still shocked by what had happened, but soon had a firm look and tried to free himself from Noah's grip with a punch.
Clenching his left fist, he tried to hit straight in the stomach.
Thud!
"Not so fast, dude." Holding his punch, Noah squeezed hard enough to immobilize. Feeling the hard, sharp texture of his hand, he remembered this man has a prosthesis on his left arm. And after seeing that he had calmed down, Noah continued, "It was you who revealed the location of our ship to the Trump Pirates, right?"
Hearing his question, Borodo wore a look of disbelief. And before he could answer, the child shouted again.
"What are you talking about!? We are thieves, not spies!" Akisu shouted angrily, struggling to get out of Nojiko's hands, "Besides, we are trying to rob the Trump Pirates!"
"Is he always so restless?" Noah asked, laughing a little at the boy's anger. But knowing that it was not the time, he decided to reveal the game to him, "Listen here, kid. Just because you have nothing to do with them does not mean that the adult here will not have anything to do with them either. Isn't that right?"
"I-" Borodo looked at Akisu for a moment before his gaze returned to Noah, "We can talk. It doesn't have to be like this."
Looking at him for a moment, Noah smiled a little before letting him go and helping him to get up. He remembered that, in the movie, this guy was responsible for stealing the Going Merry and taking it to the Trump Pirates, forcing the Straw Hat crew to look for it and eventually defeat the tyrants of Clockwork Island. That was his plan from the beginning.
But now, instead of it being just him, the Hyena Three was also involved, meaning he somehow thought it was necessary to make a more direct approach. And Noah also understood the fact that nothing will ever be the same as the story, even if he somehow bumped into them.
Like the case of Eldoraggo, who he faced in a part of the East Blue that was not where the Straw Hats were supposed to have met them and defeated them. By some chance of fate, they eventually went in his direction. The same could be happening now.
While he was lost in thought, he felt a tap on his shoulders. And turning around, he saw that it was Nami, who handed him a pair of binoculars.
Heading in the direction she pointed, he saw a fleet of eight ships and at least 100 pirates were quickly coming towards them.
"We have early company." She had an anxious and nervous expression, but was really looking forward to encountering this fleet. Her need for combat experience was screaming at that moment.
"Alright, get ready. Nami, position the ship in a way that will render any cannon shots useless. Nojiko, you will be responsible for preventing any attempts to throw anchors at the ship." Noah gave his orders while waiting for the enemy's arrival, "Borodo, Akisu, a fleet of Trump Pirates is coming towards us. And we intend to attack them."
"What!? Are you crazy??" Borodo immediately panicked when he heard what he said. Not because of the threat itself, but because Akisu was on the ship and it was dangerous to go into battle while he was there.
"Wasn't that your purpose anyway? If you wanted to take us to them somehow, then it's good that they're coming to us." Noah shrugged at Borodo's silly question.
He couldn't deny that he was eager to beat up this large crowd of people...
Meanwhile, on the large ship, commanded by the lieutenants Boo Jack and Honey Queen.
The last one was taking a bath in a pool located near the prow of the ship, a high place that none of the pirates below could see her, but she had a view of the entire sea ahead.
And obviously she had already seen the pirate ship not far away and immediately commanded the fleet there to capture another one of these ships.
And as soon as she were close, she had a huge surprise.
"Oh My!" Her eyes suddenly sparkled when they fell on the muscular and handsome man on the ship. And even more, she almost flew out of the huge pool in excitement when her gaze landed on the two women by his side, "Them! They are the perfect brides for Bear King! BOO JACK! We found a great treasure this time!"
She didn't even need to calculate the beauty of these two women before she already thought about giving them to her big brother and captain of the crew. After all, he had been looking for a bride for a long time. But now... now there were two extraordinary beauties for him here!
"What happened, Honey Queen?" Boo Jack arrived shortly after, not caring that the woman was naked. He had long been accustomed to her somewhat voyeuristic personality.
"Look down there and you'll know!" Hurrying him, she rose at the edge of the pool and watched with curious eyes the scene.
"Ho ho… The boss is definitely going to like it if we bring these two new toys to him!" With a sadistic and definitely evil expression, Boo Jack looked at all the crew members of the small ship in front of him and immediately gave the alert, "MEN, PREPARE TO ATTACK!"
"YES, LIEUTENANT!"
With their response, all eight ships of the fleet began to approach more and more and prepared their cannons and harpoons to pin the ship in place!
°°°
"Is that bitch naked?" Nami asked with a slightly strange expression as soon as the fleet approached them.
"Yes, that bitch is naked and showing her breasts towards us..." Nojiko, next to her, was carefully looking at Honey Queen and calculating whether her flintlock rifle would be able to shoot at her from here.
But, unfortunately, they both knew that she was a user of a Devil Fruit and would not die from a shot.
While thinking about this, the two suddenly remembered why they were irritated that she was naked and turned their faces at the same time towards Noah, who was accompanied by Borodo at this time.
Even if it was for a fraction of a second, the two women saw them turn their backs at light speed.
"Whistle..." x2
Whistling as if nothing was happening in the world, they looked at the beautiful and peaceful horizon of the distant sea.
"Hey, you clowns!" Nami rolled her eyes at them before yelling a bit angrily, "The battle is this way."
"No no, the scenery here is very good!" Noah spoke with a smile as he waved his hands at them. Meanwhile, Akisu was still a little confused as to why they were like this in the middle of such a precarious situation.
"Noah, it's not like we don't know you. Come here right now." Nojiko almost laughed at the funny way he was handling this, but was relieved that he didn't show lust for others in front of them. And right after she spoke to Borodo, "And big nosed guy, why the hell are you looking the other way? You're the single guy here."
"Well, it's true." Borodo thought for a moment, accepting the pain that apparently the two beautiful women were really Noah's girlfriends and then turned his gaze to Honey Queen. He should take advantage of what the sea brings him best!
And while this interlude was happening, the ships finally approached them.
Boo Jack and Honey Queen, who were now dressed, stood on the prow of the ship looking down with strange smiles on their faces. And with one step forward, Boo Jack was the first to speak.
"Yosh Yosh! You crew members of this pirate ship! Time to answer a riddle!" He raised his finger after speaking, "Who will become the Pirate King?"
"…"
And even though literally the pirate ships, a 1x8, were front to front, the various pirates waiting for the command so they could directly attack and even the five people of Black Artemis... silence reigned in the environment with this stupid question.
And Noah logically broke this silence in the best possible way. He even put his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound of his voice and...
"YOUR GRANDMA!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"PFFT!" x4
Whether it was Nami or Nojiko, or even the Thief Brothers, none of them could resist starting to laugh at the situation. It was simply too unexpected.
And Boo Jack, who had a vein bulging on his forehead, immediately yelled.
"WRONG! The correct answer is our Leader Bear King! NOW ATTACK!"
"YAAAAA!"
With battle cries sounding all around, the pirates aboard the fleet began to fire harpoons and move between ships to defeat the other side. And as clearly their chiefs wanted to take the two women aboard, none were foolish enough to use the cannons and end up killing them.
"Alright, you have no sense of humor." Noah shrugged at all these people and looked in the direction of Nami and Nojiko, "I'll go ahead, you guys can have fun."
"Be careful!" x2
SWOOSH!
And with just one leap, Noah jumped to the bow of the ship where Boo Jack and Honey Queen were!
(A/N: Just a reminder that their ships are actualy on the same level of height, so this jumps are not spectacular or something impossible to achieve with their actual strenght level.)
But not before a wave of pirates filled his vision as he was about to reach them. And with just a smile, he put a little bit of wind force into his legs before he started kicking in all directions!
"Get out of the way!"
Kick! Kick! Kick!
With kick after kick, the pirates who attacked him seemed helpless to do anything but fly off the ship and fall into the sea, unconscious. Noah simply was unbeatable and untouchable, it didn't matter if were swords that attacked him or flintlock shots that seemed to deflect off him.
"Wind Vortex!"
As the large crowd of pirates invaded his sight, Noah again used the move he used in Loguetown. And with just one thought, a large barrier of wind blades sprang up around him before expanding and carrying everyone away from him!
Some pirates carried injuries like cuts or deep bruises, but Noah wasn't worried about that. Seeing that the path for the two was freed, he simply smiled.
"Your turn!"
On the other side, on the Black Artemis.
Nami and Nojiko had just seen Noah jump to the main ship.
And without saying anything else, each of them formed several wind blades and cut all the harpoon ropes that flew towards the ship! This effectively made their approach useless and also did not damage the ship.
"He didn't take his sword..." Nojiko laughed at Noah's excitement. And winking at her sister, she jumped in the direction of another ship, "See you later!"
"See you!" Nami also didn't let up and, despite being nervous, held her staff firmly and also went in the direction of another ship.
And it was only when they stepped on their respective ships that a great wave of sweaty and ugly men, with hearts in their eyes, began trying to capture them, or at least put a finger on them. But, thanks to each one's Guardian Angel, they couldn't accomplish this deadly feat.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Shot! Shot! Shot!
Just like Noah, they were attacking while holding back their forces so as not to kill anyone. This caused more and more pirates to fall unconscious on the edges of the ships or in the sea and be left to their own luck to survive.
The best part of this is that they were able to see the effects of the hellish training they underwent to become stronger!
Nami, swinging her staff with grace and agility, combined martial arts movements and the power of the wind to defeat every pirate that appeared in front of her. She blocked axes and swords with her own strength and skill, while her refined movements sent flying anyone who appeared in front of her!
"Cyclone Spin!"
And with a quick movement of the staff, Nami cleared the area around her before starting to spin the staff at high speed and imbue Wind Manipulation into it. And in a moment, a wind cyclone formed and attacked the next wave of pirates that came! No matter how much they tried to get closer, all that happened was that they flew the moment their feet left the ground!
On the other hand, Nojiko seemed like a true speedster on the battlefield! With her rapid-fire white flintlock pistols, she moved across the battlefield while shooting at anyone who came into her sight. She also didn't hesitate to use martial arts moves to get out of a situation when the bullets ran out. She even stole some other flintlock pistols in a moment of need and knocked down more pirates!
"Typhoon Shot!"
And she didn't lose out to her sister with wind powers. With a new technique she developed, Nojiko reloaded her pistols when she used Wind Manipulation and concentrated it on the mouth of the gun. And with a new sequence of shots, the bullets carried a terrifying wind power, their accelerated rotation causing even more damage! Even swords and axes were being pierced by the bullets!
°°°
And meanwhile, Borodo and Akisu were watching with shocked eyes at all the commotion the three were making.
"They... they really are very strong!" Borodo had a shocked expression as he watched their impossible movements.
"They're amazing!" Akisu too, like a child, seemed enchanted by any move they made, his hands and feet moving to imitate them.
And looking at him like that, Borodo had a serene smile.
'So maybe... maybe they can defeat Bear King and free Clockwork Island!'
¨¨¨¨
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