chapter 46

It has been a week since we set left the Ballywood kingdom, and I was currently leaning on the black pearl's railing while singing in a loud voice.

"There once was a ship that put to sea. The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea," I sang as I looked at the horizon and saw nothing but blue while standing at the bow of my ship.

"The winds blew up, and her bow dipped down O blow, my bully boys, blow," I Chanted and paused as I brought my whisky bottle to my mouth to take a swig.

I was about to continue signing, but I paused again as I heard Laffite, Wilson, and Elly chanting the chorus together while doing their tasks,

"Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum," they sang in one voice, causing me to smile as I joined them in chanting the next verse.

"One day, when the tonguin' is done, We'll take our leave and go," we sang together, and even Bob was smiling as he relaxed at his usual spot in the middle of the deck.

"She had not been two weeks from shore When down on her a right whale bore..." I kept singing while thinking about our voyage for the past week.

To say it was a breeze was an understatement. We, of course, came across the occasional storm and wondering sea monster, but thanks to Laffite's excellent handling of the ship, how great the black pearl herself was, and our strong crew, we managed to cut through all obstacles like a hot knife through butter.

During this time, we all had our roles. Wilson was on sails duty as he would tie or unfurl the sails based on Laffite's requests. Laffite himself was steering the ship's wheel. Even though he was a navigator and not a helmsman, he was still better at handling the black pearl than the rest of us.

Elly was our lookout, and she was positioned at the crow's nest most of the time, and It was thanks to Bob's cooking that we can maintain the high morale and good mood that the rest of the crew and myself were in as we performed our duties.

I, of course, used my privilege as a captain to laze around or train and only step in to fill someone's role when they were tired or had something to do.

We still needed a doctor, a shipwright, and a proper helmsman, and I knew where to get a doctor and a helmsman, but I had no idea where to find a decent shipwright, and the helmsman I want is currently in the grand line. It would take some time to gather a complete crew, but I was in no hurry.

"Land ahoy," came Elly's voice from the crow's nest, and I had to stop my thought process as I launched myself into the air with Geppo to see the said land with my own eyes.

I climbed to Elly's height, but I saw nothing, so I raised myself several more meters, activated my zoom feature, and only then did I see an island.

'Elly's senses are as terrifying as ever,' I thought to myself as I glanced at the redhead from the corner of my eye. Even at this height and despite zooming my vision, all I could see was a vague silhouette of an island and nothing else.

"good job, Elly. Your eyesight is as impressive as ever," I said with a smile as I made my way down to the ship's helm and received a nod and a smile back from Elly.

"Tehahaha, I can't believe this is your first voyage, Laffite," I said as I playfully smacked my navigator on his back. "The journey was supposed to take ten days, but we made it here in just seven," I concluded with a smile.

"I spent my whole studying navigation since I come from a long line of navigators and sailors, so this much is only natural," Laffite stated with a confident voice as he nodded at me and smiled in satisfaction at my acknowledgment of his skills.

"Tehahah, how reliable," I said with a laugh as I smacked his shoulder again. "Anyway, keep up the excellent work," I concluded as I turned around and made my way back to the brow of the ship.

It took us thirty minutes to reach Toroa island's dock, and we docked our ship uneventfully. We then disembarked from the black pearl while leaving Bob to guard the ship as he volunteered for the role himself, saying that he had already visited this place and wasn't interested in seeing it again.

Toroa island was a small, tropical island with lots of trees and forestry surrounding a single town, which was the only livable place inside of it.

The island could surprisingly thrive without being affiliated with the world government, because all the people living here had pirate blood coursing through their veins, and they were strong enough to defend themselves.

The world government also didn't bother with it because of the island's lack of any vital resource, and the pirates avoided it because the island's inhabitants were no easy prey.

It was also known as the homeland of musicians because the only town on the island was the birthplace of many famous master musicians.

Or so we were told by the man who approached us when we were about to leave the docks. He also warned us that the island inhabitants might tolerate the presence of bounty hunters, but they will not allow any action against pirates who are staying on the island.

He also seemed to know who we are, as he specifically mentioned actions against the Nitti family. We, of course, assured him we were not here on business as we're only here for sightseeing, and only then did he seem to be assured of our intention and left us to our devices, and so we began exploring the island.

Third-person point of view:

In a dimly lit, large, and luxuriously decorated room, the silhouette of a freakishly tall man can be seen sitting behind an elegant wooden desk while quietly reading some papers that he carried in his large hands in silence.

That silence, however, was interrupted by several knocks on the door of the eerily dark room.

The man sitting behind the desk lowered the papers he was reading, raise his head. "Come in," He then said in a clear voice that was not too loud or too soft.

The door opened once the words left the mouth of the tall man sitting behind the desk, revealing a haunched and even more freakishly large man who made his way to the desk. "Ne ne, some bounty hunter in west blue seems to have taken out one of our five business partners. Should I send someone to take care of him?" Asked the haunched man with an obnoxious voice that would cause one's ears to bleed if they listened to it for too long.

"Someone else will take the place of the partner he took out soon enough. There's no need to cause a racket over this unimportant matter," replied the large man who while shrugging seemingly uninterested. "but then again, this will delay some of our businesses, So don't send anyone after him, but spread his information to our family and allies, and tell them to take him out if they get the chance," the tall man concluded and then waved the haunched man to leave.

"Behehehe, that poor bounty hunter won't even know what hit him. Ne, Doffy?" the haunched man stated, with his voice seemingly becoming more and more obnoxious with every word he spoke.