Chapter 66 Fire Flower

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Even though the situation was technically resolved, the involvement of Big Mom had left the Navy on edge.

Some officers grew impatient and began urging for details.

"Rear Admiral Notis, what's the current situation? Keep going already!"

"Stop stalling, you balding, beady-eyed man!"

"Did Garp or Sengoku take action?!"

The thought of five notorious pirates forming an alliance had everyone on edge. Without deploying admirals, it seemed impossible to handle such a threat.

Zephyr had been with them during the training sessions, so the Fleet Admiral likely wouldn't personally get involved. That left Sengoku and Garp as the most probable choices.

Notis shook his head.

"Fleet Admiral Kong initially wanted Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp to team up to ensure no pirates escaped.

"However, Admiral Sengoku refused. Instead, a task force of vice admirals was deployed."

"What?! Vice admirals?!"

"No way! That's impossible!"

"A vice admiral handling this? I'll eat my hat while doing a handstand!"

The room erupted with noise.

This caliber of pirates could wipe out a vice admiral in seconds. Using vice admirals would mean relying on overwhelming numbers, leading to heavy casualties.

What if the pirates captured a large number of marines? It could turn into a disaster. Just a few days ago, pirates attacked an allied nation, capturing 500 soldiers. If not for the intervention of the World Government, who knows what could've happened?

Ignoring the commotion, Notis continued his briefing.

"This time, Headquarters sent three teams into action.

"The commanding officers were Vice Admiral Sakazuki, Vice Admiral Borsalino, and Vice Admiral Kuzan."

At the mention of these names, the murmurs shifted to murmurs of approval.

Although young and not yet admirals, these three vice admirals were leagues ahead of their peers in strength.

Smoker narrowed his eyes.

They sent all three of them? That's a big deal.

Still, the battle was on the sea, with enemies scattered and a mission to annihilate them completely. An admiral leading the charge would've been a safer bet.

It seems Sengoku and Garp are paving the way for these three to rise.

Raising his hand, Smoker asked, "Rear Admiral Notis, what was the outcome of the battle? And what's our mission?"

Notis nodded. "Don't rush; I'll explain now."

He pointed at the wanted posters pinned to the board.

"Let's go over the final results:

"Vice Admiral Sakazuki confronted the alliance leader, Wang Zhi, ruler of Beehive Island.

"Wang Zhi's influence spanned dozens of nations surrounding Beehive Island.

"In the battle, Wang Zhi was defeated. While he managed to retreat to Beehive Island, all his external forces were eliminated, and his top officers were killed. He is now entirely trapped on the island.

"Vice Admiral Borsalino engaged the Treasure Pirates. Captain John and Silver Axe were severely injured and fled.

"However, Borsalino captured their vivre cards. During the pursuit, their vivre cards vanished, confirming their deaths.

"As for Vice Admiral Kuzan's team... there was an issue.

"Originally, Kuzan had cornered the Ruin Pirates. However, due to intelligence failures, their key officers managed to escape."

Smoker frowned slightly.

It looked like they sent three vice admirals, but in reality, it was as good as deploying three admirals.

The pirates lost, but they went down with some pride intact.

Still, something felt off. How did Kuzan slip up? His Ice-Ice Fruit powers made him exceptional at control. An Ice Age could freeze the battlefield and make escape nearly impossible.

Could their mission be related to this?

Sure enough, Notis confirmed Smoker's suspicions.

"Vice Admiral Kuzan's setback was due to the Ruin Pirates' captain, Crusher Cruz, acquiring a new Devil Fruit.

"The Paramecia-type Smash-Smash Fruit allows him to shatter any solid object he touches.

"He destroyed Kuzan's ice and escaped the encirclement. Cruz is now in the first half of the Grand Line, dangerously close to us!"

At that moment, Zephyr stood up.

"Alright, everyone, here's the updated intel on Cruz.

"Crusher Cruz, captain of the Ruin Pirates, a Smash-Smash Fruit user. Bounty: 1.671 billion berries.

"Our mission is to capture him. Understood?"

Everyone rose and shouted, "Understood!"

The warship surged forward through the waves.

The crew remained on high alert.

A pirate with a bounty in the billions could destroy an entire nation single-handedly.

Even Zephyr adopted a more serious demeanor, leaving his usual playful attitude behind.

As Smoker approached the towering figure standing at the ship's bow, he called out, "Zephyr-sensei..."

"Smoker... This must be your first time facing a pirate this powerful. How does it feel?"

Smoker lit a cigarette for both of them and replied, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous... but I'm also curious. I want to see what a billion-berry pirate is really like."

Smoker had grown much stronger over the past two years.

But honestly, he still wasn't confident against an opponent of this caliber.

Zephyr chuckled.

"Don't worry too much. Cruz's bounty... it's inflated."

"Huh?"

"That guy used to be an officer in the Golden Lion Pirates. While he lacks Shiki's ambition, he's mastered his cunning and cruelty.

"He often attacked marines and civilians under false identities, even impersonating the Navy to attack allied nations. That's how his bounty got so high."

Smoker nodded in realization. Another pirate who earned their bounty through slaughtering innocents.

"Based on what I know about him, even with the Smash-Smash Fruit, there's no way he escaped Kuzan's ice by himself. It must've been Fire Flower's doing..."

"Fire Flower?!"

"Yes, she was a key member of the Rocks Pirates and the former empress of Amazon Lily."

"When it comes to armament haki, she is almost as strong as an admiral! She's the strongest fighter in the Shattered Pirates!"

[Fire Flower, that old woman?!]

Smoker gasped.

The little old lady from the comics had such a glorious history?!

"So... what happened to Fire Flower in the end? She wasn't mentioned in the intel earlier..."

Zephyr took a drag of his cigarette and spoke in a low voice. "She escaped."

Smoker was shocked. That funny old woman was that strong?!

"Originally, Fire Flower was holding off Kuzan to help the rest of the pirates escape."

"But that bastard, Kruze, abandoned his crew and escaped with his officers, leaving Fire Flower to escape on her own..."

"She's very skilled at survival and gathering intel. Once she hides, even the Navy can't find her..."

"Luckily, she doesn't like causing trouble, and the World Government seems to have other plans for her, so they let her go for now!"

"Right now, our target is just Kruze."

Smoker nodded. "Got it."

"By the way..." Zephyr rubbed his chin. "Leave this to me. I need to stretch my muscles a bit..."

"Uh..."

Four days ago.

In a remote island in the New World.

The calm sea suddenly bubbled.

Soon, a giant sea king rose to the surface, its body covered in blood, eyes glazed over, and dead.

A woman was sprawled on the creature, gasping for breath. After some time, she managed to roll over.

The woman was not young but still had a graceful figure and beautiful face. A blue snake was wrapped around her—this was the young Fire Flower.

After a while, Fire Flower slowly stood, lifting her clothes to reveal large frostbite marks.

"I can't deny my age anymore... A mere Navy Rear Admiral caused me this much injury."

Then she showed a furious expression. "That bastard Kruze... just like Shiki..."

She slowly got to her feet and looked around.

"At this distance, the Navy won't find me. I'll rest on this island."

A few days ago, she fought Kuzan.

To cover her comrades, she had used her haki to block Kuzan's abilities.

Although her haki was powerful, she was still injured.

At the time, a sea king happened to swim by. She quickly dove into its mouth, using it to hide her scent and escape.

The sea king floated on the sea, and Fire Flower endured for several days.

When her strength started to run out, she saw an island nearby, so she killed the sea king and surfaced.

She used her observation haki to check the island and found no enemies. She jumped to the island, limping as she went deeper into the cave to sleep.

How much time passed, she was suddenly woken by loud cries and insults.

"Hahaha, we're so lucky!"

"These three girls are pretty. We can sell them for a good price!!"

"Please, let us go!"

"Let me go, bastards! I'll never be a slave again!"

"Hahaha, what you say doesn't matter!"

[So noisy...]

Fire Flower felt annoyed and propped herself up to go outside.

There were seven or eight strong men outside, looking like pirates or human traffickers.

Nearby, three young girls—one with black hair, one with yellow, and one with green—were crying. They were pretty, which was probably why they were targeted.

However, Fire Flower had no intention of saving them.

She was a pirate herself. Many children had died in front of her, so she had no sympathy.

She just wanted these guys to leave so she could go back to sleep.

"Scram, punks!!"

The men, who hadn't noticed the cave, were startled by Fire Flower's sudden appearance.

But seeing her weak and delicate form, their greed took over.

"Heh, what luck we have!"

"We can catch this woman too! She'll sell for a good price!!"

One of them grinned and placed a knife at Fire Flower's neck.

"You're really brave, but too stupid! Come with us!"

Fire Flower grabbed the blade, crushing it like a piece of paper.

The men screamed in terror.

"Spare us! We'll leave right away!"

"We're sorry, we're sorry!"

While begging, they dragged the girls away by their hair.

The yellow-haired girl cried out in pain, "Please, let go! Help us!"

The green-haired girl cried, "Please, save us!"

Fire Flower just coldly watched.

She was weak herself and dizzy just standing, not wanting to waste her strength helping.

She shook her head and turned to leave.

The two girls looked at her with desperate eyes.

But the black-haired girl, the most stubborn and fierce, kept resisting.

"You bastards! The Kuja Pirates will never let you get away!"

"Kuja?!"

Fire Flower froze, then turned back.

"Wait!"

.....

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