Chapter 353: Zou – What is the Musketeer Squad?

Zou Island's true form is that of a colossal elephant that has lived for over a thousand years.

On its back resides a race of beings known as the Mink Tribe.

The Mink Tribe is a species of humanoid animals covered entirely in fur, which makes their bodies intolerant to heat. Consequently, they do not eat any creatures with fur. Their combat style relies on discharging static electricity from their bodies, and during a full moon, they can transform into a powerful form called the Sulong form by gazing at the moon.

In the Sulong form, all of a Mink's abilities receive a tremendous boost. However, it takes rigorous training to control this power properly—without sufficient mastery, they lose control and fight relentlessly until they die from exhaustion.

The Mink Tribe is rumored to despise humans, but in truth, they are very friendly toward them. To the Minks, humans are merely "bare monkeys" with sparse body hair. Their unique way of showing affection to humans is called "Karu Chiu," which involves rubbing affectionately against them.

Takumi, however, was not accustomed to people getting too close to him. He disliked this habit of the Mink Tribe.

Following Takumi's instructions, Enel controlled the ship and smoothly navigated into the dense fog surrounding Zunesha.

The island of Zou, situated on the elephant's back, is protected by thick fog and outward-flowing currents that deter intruders. The closer one gets to Zunesha, even the surrounding winds blow in reverse.

But such obstacles only affect seafaring ships. Takumi's flying ship, however, was completely unaffected.

The ship smoothly entered the foggy area and ascended. After several dozen minutes, they emerged above the elephant's back, where a magnificent ancient gate appeared before the three of them.

Although the gate's massive iron grill was firmly shut, it did not hinder the ship's progress in the slightest.

"This is spectacular," Kaku said in awe, gazing at the ancient gate. "It seems the historical records I've read about the Mink Tribe were true. Their civilization on Zunesha's back has existed for at least a thousand years."

"Huh? What's that? A tree?" Enel pointed to a massive tree that resembled a giant whale and asked in surprise.

Kaku glanced at the tree but remained unfazed. "If that tree has been there since the Mink Tribe first settled on Zunesha's back, it's likely a thousand years old. Given its age, it's not surprising that it grew so huge. Its whale-like shape is peculiar, though—I wonder how it grew like that."

"So, where do we land the ship?" Enel suddenly changed the subject and looked at Takumi.

Takumi pointed at the enormous whale-shaped tree. "Land on top of that tree."

"Got it." Enel smirked and steered the ship toward the tree as instructed.

The ship flew directly over the massive gate.

On a nearby watchtower, a small monkey wearing a hat was napping.

As the ship flew over his head, its shadow passed over his body, jolting him awake.

"Chii?" The monkey looked up at the ship in confusion. After a few seconds, he finally realized what he was seeing. The ship was heading toward the giant whale tree.

Not daring to waste a moment, the monkey rushed to a large bell on the watchtower and rang it without hesitation.

The sharp, piercing sound of the alarm bell instantly spread across the Mink Tribe's town. The peaceful Mink residents immediately stopped what they were doing and instinctively looked toward the direction of the bell.

When they looked up, most of them spotted the flying ship in the sky.

"What is that?"

"A ship? It's flying in the sky?"

"Oh my god, look! The ship is heading toward Whale Forest!"

"Damn it, intruders! How bold of them to head for Whale Forest. Hmph! The Musketeer Squad won't let them off!"

The townsfolk whispered among themselves as they watched the ship.

Onboard the ship, Enel could hear every word they were saying.

"Musketeer Squad? What's that?"

"Musketeer Squad?" Kaku asked curiously.

Enel sneered. "Those guys down there mentioned it. Hah! Daring to threaten this thunder god? They must have a death wish."

Kaku rolled his eyes and smirked. "You really should watch what you say sometimes."

Meanwhile, several fast-moving shadows darted through the forest surrounding the giant tree.

Among them was a tall Mink with the face of a jaguar. His yellow fur was covered in black spots, and he had wavy golden hair that partially obscured his left eye. His inner ear fur was white, and he wore a green jacket with a dark green cape draped over his shoulders. His name was Pedro. With a cigarette in his mouth, Pedro stared at the ship overhead with a grave expression.

Just as Pedro was about to give chase, a tall gorilla-like Mink named Blackback emerged from the nearby dense forest. "Pedro, you just got back and you're still injured. Don't push yourself too hard. Leave these intruders to us."

With that, Blackback quickened his pace and dashed past Pedro in a blur.

Following closely behind Blackback, several other figures quickly joined the pursuit, moving swiftly toward the ship.

Pedro remained silent for a moment, clearly not intending to heed Blackback's advice. He dropped his cigarette to the ground, crushed it underfoot, and then leapt into the air, easily surpassing the others who had started running several seconds ahead of him.

When the ship was less than a hundred meters from the giant tree, Pedro used the surrounding tree branches to launch himself onto the ship's deck with astonishing agility.

As soon as Pedro landed on the deck, he drew his sword and slashed directly at Takumi, who was the closest to him.

Takumi glanced at him indifferently. He didn't even need to make a move—before Pedro could reach him, Kaku had already appeared in front of him. Without using his Devil Fruit powers, Kaku delivered a powerful Rankyaku kick.

A vacuum slash hit Pedro's sword head-on. With a crack, Pedro's sword snapped in half.

Pedro immediately jumped back to avoid the attack. The residual force from the vacuum slash grazed his clothes and struck the reinforced deck railing behind him, leaving a two-millimeter-deep mark.

From the moment Pedro boarded the ship to when Kaku forced him back, only three seconds had passed.

As Pedro landed, a mocking voice came from behind him.

"Did you think just anyone could step onto this ship? How laughable. Attacking our captain? You're done for." Enel smirked coldly as lightning crackled in his palm. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and aimed a powerful electric strike at Pedro's head.

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