Chapter 35 - 35 – We Robbed It, So What?!

Magnus had thought about it for a long time... and still couldn't figure it out. Why did the Marines attack him? Why did they surrender immediately after? And after surrendering, why did they leave behind an entire ship carrying Heavenly Tribute? Was this... A ploy to frame him for stealing Tenjōkin (Heavenly Tribute) and pin him with the Tenryūbito's (Celestial Dragons') wrath? Magnus had to admit— It was a vicious plan. With the Heavenly Tribute missing, the Marines responsible would definitely face punishment. But with such clearly inadequate forces, if the World Government tried to severely punish the Marines, the higher-ups in the Navy would likely plead on their behalf. And in the end, all the blame would land squarely on Magnus. Previously, the World Government may have ignored Magnus. Even with Admiral-level strength, he might not have caught their eye. But robbing the Heavenly Tribute? That changed everything. To retrieve the Tribute, the World Government would surely order the Marines to hunt him down at full force. Once his whereabouts were exposed, he could be facing an encirclement of multiple Admiral-level forces. But... Was Magnus afraid? He stared at the mountains of goods in the cargo hold— a rough estimate said at least two billion Berries worth. And that was two billion Berries without inflation! Even his own bounty didn't go that high. "I've already robbed them—what's there to be afraid of?!" With that kind of money, even if the Marines wanted him to be the sacrificial scapegoat— He'd accept it! As for how the Marines found his location— Magnus figured it was because they hadn't hidden their presence when landing on that island last time. That's likely what got them tracked. Nothing strange about that. The reason he left Elbaf in the first place was to avoid the Navy mistakenly thinking that the White Wolf Pirates had allied with the giants of Elbaf, which might have prompted the government to blockade the island in advance. But now that the White Wolf Pirates had reappeared in the Navy's intelligence network, they wouldn't dare to attack Elbaf rashly. Still, next time he'd be more cautious. "Ripley, can you shrink all this cargo and move it to our ship?" "No problem!" Ripley's voice was more excited than ever. She had never in her life seen this many luxurious, exotic items, let alone the piles of shining gold and jewels that nearly blinded her. Luckily, Ripley had eaten the Mini Mini no Mi (Mini-Mini Fruit). Not only could she shrink her own body, she could also shrink any object she touched. Even people. But the size she could shrink someone to depended on how well she mastered her Devil Fruit, and there were special cases that couldn't be shrunk. Take Charlotte Linlin, for instance. After learning how to control her ability, Ripley could shrink even Giant King Harald, who was twice the height of an average giant— as long as he didn't resist. But when it came to Charlotte Linlin, her ability failed completely. So Magnus speculated— Linlin's physique might be tied to Haki. For most people, Haki remained dormant, only surfacing after their bodies had been trained to the extreme. But Linlin's Haki had been active since birth. To maintain that kind of state, she had to constantly consume large amounts of energy— which was why she suffered from eating disorders. It was the body's natural survival instinct. In the future, Linlin would sometimes lose her power due to emotional outbursts— proving that her monstrous talent wasn't just physical, but intertwined with her spiritual will. Of course, Magnus would only be able to verify all of this after returning to Elbaf and training her himself. A single cargo ship loaded with goods would normally be too much for any pirate crew to swallow in one go. The best plan would be to take the whole ship with them. But thanks to Ripley's efforts, they managed to move all the Heavenly Tribute onto their ship in under half a day. Not only had they solved their money problem, but also their food shortage. "Even the milk counts as Heavenly Tribute?" Rocks downed a huge gulp of the ship's milk and frowned. To him, it didn't taste any different from the milk he drank back in Elbaf. "Haha, Tenjōkin doesn't just refer to gold and jewels," Magnus chuckled. "Rare plants, animals—even rare races count." "Rare races?" "Exactly. This world deals in a certain 'commodity' known as slavery. And rare races make high-value slaves." There was no hiding the disgust on Magnus' face. After all, some of his past crew members had once been captured and sold as slaves. He knew exactly what kind of suffering that entailed. "So we robbed the right cargo, huh?" "You could say that." If he had robbed a regular merchant ship, maybe Magnus would've felt a little guilt. But robbing the Celestial Dragons' Tribute? He didn't feel the slightest remorse. "That said, this Tribute is hot merchandise. We can't fence it just anywhere. Let me see if there's a pirate island nearby where we can offload it." Magnus dragged a huge chest out of the captain's quarters. Inside was a collection of labeled compasses that left Ripley stunned. "Are these all Eternal Poses?!" "Yep. This is my most precious treasure, accumulated over decades!" Magnus grinned proudly. Before founding the White Wolf Pirates, he'd spent most of his life sailing solo—a true wanderer of the seas. And any wanderer worth their salt needed to know how to navigate. That's why, in the White Wolf Pirates, Magnus wasn't just the captain, but also the navigator. This was why he dared to sail the seas even with only a few crew members. "Got it." A certain unmapped island surfaced in his mind. He found its Eternal Pose among the collection and smiled. "Our next destination is—" Sphinx! One day later. When Vice Admiral Robby from Marine Grand Line Branch 9 finally arrived— All he found was a completely emptied cargo ship, not even a rat left behind. "So they really came prepared..." When he'd first received the emergency request from Vice Admiral Ackman, Robby had doubted whether it was real. After all, pirates robbing the Heavenly Tribute? That kind of thing might happen once in a hundred years. Didn't they know that stealing from the Celestial Dragons would incur the wrath of the World Government and the Marines? But after seeing the completely bare ship, Robby had no more doubts. "So now that they have the strength to confront an Admiral, the White Wolf Pirates are gathering funds to expand their influence?" That thought made Robby's expression turn grim. This wasn't something he could handle. He had only come to see if there were any clues left behind. As for fighting them? Don't be ridiculous! "Contact HQ immediately! Tell them the White Wolf Pirates may be planning a dangerous scheme. We need Admiral-level reinforcements!" "Yes, sir!" (End of Chapter) [Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome] [Thank You For Your Support!]