Chapter 126: The Five Elders' Emergency Meeting

Siano pondered for a moment.

In the end, he still added it to his shopping cart.

The reason for his brief hesitation was simply that he wasn't sure whether this item could actually treat a "ship" as a "base."

If it could be installed on a ship, then it would be more than worth the price.

But if it couldn't, it didn't really matter; he could just let it gather dust for a while, as there would surely come a day when it proved useful.

He could certainly afford the trial-and-error cost of a mere fifteen hundred points.

……

The next few items were all types that failed to spark any interest at first glance.

Siano quickly skipped past them.

After swiping through several more, until the very last item appeared, his gaze was finally firmly captured once again.

【Sea Breathing Method】

【Type: Cultivation Manual】

【Price: 5500 Points】

【Description: A special muscle control technique; entry requires high physical strength. Upon successful cultivation, the pores on the body's surface can briefly simulate the function of fish gills, allowing your muscles to deliver oxygen to you, enabling underwater breathing. The maximum duration will be closely related to your cultivation progress and physical strength.】

【Seller's Note: "Damn it, I transmigrated into that damned female octopus!!"】

Siano: "?"

Which world's "deep sea" does this Sea Breathing Method belong to?

Ah well, no matter how miserable fellow transmigrators from other worlds might be, it had nothing to do with him.

Siano quickly refocused his attention on the description, narrowing his eyes slightly.

The ability to breathe underwater like the Fish-Men was indeed expensive; placed in any other world, it might hold little appeal.

But this was One Piece!

A world with no continents, where the ocean covers more than ninety-five percent of the surface!

Let alone five thousand-plus points; even if it cost ten thousand points, it absolutely could not be missed.

As for the prerequisite for cultivating this manual—requiring high physical strength.

Siano believed that he certainly possessed the qualifications to meet this threshold.

Speaking solely of physique, he was confident he stood at the very forefront of this world's second tier, inferior only to those top-tier powerhouses standing at the world's peak.

Thus, he decisively added it to his shopping cart.

……

Having browsed through all the items in the new batch.

He proceeded to the checkout phase.

This time, he had purchased six items in total, spending 29,000 points, leaving him with a remaining balance of 23,200 points.

It was the largest expenditure in years, but the richness of the harvest was undeniable, fully justifying the price.

Eagerly, Siano closed the system panel, picked up his coffee cup, entered the cabin, and began testing these new abilities one by one.

He decided to try the Knock Spell first.

Just as the description stated, as long as the Knock Spell wand remained in his backpack, the method of using this spell was naturally imprinted in his mind.

He walked down the corridor to the kitchen at the far end.

Right around the corner stood the door to the food pantry.

Since that fellow Ah Yin had irregular sleeping habits and often moved about in the middle of the night, Zeff had specifically fitted the door with a large iron lock to prevent him from stealing and drinking excessive amounts of strawberry milk.

Siano silently recited the incantation for the Knock Spell in his heart, and the instant his fingertips touched it...

Click.

The iron lock opened directly.

Hey, that's fun.

The whole process took less than half a second; it truly was instant lock-picking.

With this kind of craft, one could never worry about food or drink anywhere one went.

Like a child who had received a new toy, Siano rushed around excitedly, testing almost every locked thing throughout the entire cabin.

After quite a while, he finally emerged from the cabin, reluctant to stop, and made his way to the empty stern deck, looking at the other items in his backpack slot.

He took out Yasuo's Swordsmanship Manual and flipped through it first.

Hmm, as expected, he couldn't understand a single word of it.

It seemed he was destined to have no connection with true swordsmanship in this life; he would just hand it over to Sister Sister Guyina later.

Don't ask; if asked, just say it dropped from Boss Hua Zha.

After all, as a brother of Teacher Kaido, who dominated Wano Country, it was perfectly reasonable for him to carry a swordsmanship manual with some bushido style.

Immediately following this, Siano attempted to deploy the Prism Tower.

The result was unexpectedly smooth; the Prism Tower automatically completed its deployment and fused into one with the main mast.

No wonder it was said to be invisible; even using Observation Haki, he couldn't sense anything special about it at all.

This saved trouble; in the future, if the crew happened to see the effect of the mast firing a prism beam, they would probably assume it was some black technology inherent to this mast.

Don't ask; if asked, just say it's the factory setting from the Giant Whale Shipyard.

Siano then looked at the remaining three items in his backpack slot.

"Wish" wasn't necessary to use for now, and the "Sea Breathing Method" would only show effects after successful cultivation.

Therefore, right now, the only thing left to test was Pickpocket.

When this deck of cards was purchased, it came with one free trial use; upon opening the backpack slot, the pop-up text box had specifically reminded him that items obtained during the trial would be returned to their original source.

In other words, this trial run was purely to let him familiarize himself with the skill's effects, so that he wouldn't mishandle it during formal use later and waste an opportunity for nothing.

Coincidentally, at this very moment, a News Coo swept past in the sky at the farthest end of the horizon.

It was at least twenty kilometers away from the Curtain Call, appearing as nothing more than a blurry little white dot at the extreme limit of his vision.

It could not have been a better subject for an experiment.

Siano took out his card set from his inventory slot; six pale gold cards instantly appeared in his hand, five of them solid objects, while the one meant for the trial existed only as a phantom image.

After aiming at that News Coo, Siano moved his mind, and the phantom card instantly turned into a streak of light and vanished.

Then Siano waited patiently for something to appear in his hand; although the skill was said to seize random items, a News Coo didn't really carry anything on its person.

It seemed it would be either the hat or one of the newspapers inside the mailbag...

Slap!

The next second.

A sticky, warm lump landed precisely in the palm of his hand.

Siano looked down—

Bird droppings.

And fresh ones at that.

Although the droppings vanished the very next moment, returning to their original location, the wet sensation on his hand and the fishy stench still lingered...

"..."

Siano fell silent for two seconds, a blue vein bulging at his temple.

Is this what you call a straight-gut animal? Of all times, it had to defecate from high altitude right when I made my move; isn't that just shameless!

So this is the trial version, is it! A free experience, huh!

As expected, things that are free are never trustworthy!

His anger surged, and he looked up at that News Coo.

The News Coo also seemed to notice the ship speeding along the river channel; it happily changed direction and flew closer toward them.

A moment later.

The News Coo, now bruised and swollen, flew away looking utterly aggrieved.

Hmm, that feels better.

Siano rubbed his hands together with satisfaction; birds with no public morality like this one simply needed to be beaten up as a lesson to vent some anger.

However, as compensation, he also bought out every single newspaper in the mailbag, allowing the working bird to finish its quota and clock off early.

Picking up the swordsmanship secret manual and the newspapers, Siano walked toward the bow.

He prepared to hand them over to Sister Sister Guyina, and to Nami, who had been waiting for the newspapers until her eyes were nearly worn out.

On the way.

He conveniently opened a newspaper and took a few glances.

As expected, the news of the Hua Zha Pirate Crew's destruction had not yet reached the headquarters of the World Economic News Company.

But it should be soon; at the latest, it would be a matter of tomorrow.

However, this did not mean that this issue of the newspaper had nothing to do with them.

In fact, quite the opposite.

The headline news of this issue could almost be said to have been created single-handedly by Siano!

—"Enies Lobby Falls! Blue Ogre and Red Ogre, Two Legendary Giants from a Century Ago Reappear on the Seas!"

Beneath the specially bolded and blackened headline, there was also a huge photograph occupying fully half of the page.

In the photo, the entire Enies Lobby was in chaos, filled everywhere with ruins and fallen guards.

Even that towering Tower of Justice, along with the World Government flag that should have been fluttering in the wind, had collapsed with a thunderous crash!

Amidst the broken walls and ruins, four gigantic figures embraced each other in tears under the setting sun, covered in blood, clearly having just undergone a fierce battle.

The text report below also fully displayed Morgans' usual style, adding oil and vinegar to make the story sound horrifying.

"Shocking! One of the World Government's three major institutions—Enies Lobby—suffered a devastating blow recently!"

"According to eyewitnesses, two legendary Giant Warrior tribesmen—'Blue Ogre' Dorry and 'Red Ogre' Brogy, leading two equally massive Giant Warrior companions, swept through everything, crushing all defenders on the island!"

"The Marine fleet that urgently reinforced from the whirlpool behind the Gate of Justice was also destroyed! Two Headquarters Vice Admirals were severely injured!"

"The Tower of Justice has collapsed! The Gate of Justice has been destroyed!"

"The flag symbolizing the World Government's authority was even personally torn apart and trampled underfoot by the legendary warriors from Elbaf!"

"Where exactly did they return from, and who exactly released these two ferocious beasts that were already famous a hundred years ago!!!"

"This is going to get lively."

Siano chuckled lightly and closed the newspaper.

It seems that unintentionally, I have created another huge trouble for the Marine Headquarters.

One can only say, as expected of the Giant Warrior tribe, whose nature is so straightforward and fiery.

Judging by the timing, after reading the note I left behind, the two uncles indeed could no longer sit idly by; they ended that duel which had lasted a hundred years and set sail once again.

Their first stop was straight for Enies Lobby.

They stirred up a tremendous storm on the seas.

For him, this was naturally good news.

From now on, there were two more extremely powerful allies on these seas; if he were to go to Elbaf in the future, he would also have people in between to act as bridges and connections.

Moreover.

The bigger the Enies Lobby incident became, the more the attention of the World Government and the Marine Headquarters would be diverted; in the short term, they should have no time to come looking for trouble with him again.

————

The Curtain Call continued sailing along the Saint Dora River.

As night fell, the group successfully arrived at Alubarna, the royal capital of the Arabasta Kingdom.

Inside the royal palace, lights blazed brightly.

The banquet had long been fully prepared.

As a nation situated in the desert, with most of its territory extremely barren, Arabasta was not particularly wealthy.

Even so, to express gratitude for the Curtain Call Adventurer Group's aid, the scale of this feast was still set exceptionally high.

Within the main hall, silver candlesticks swayed with warm light, reflecting off the long table laden with an dazzling array of delicacies.

Large bone-in ribs roasted to a golden brown, fragrant date-stewed lamb, and precious fruits of various kinds piled into mountains...

Fine wines treasured by the royal family for many years were also brought out without stint, left for Siano and the others to enjoy at will.

Even King Cobra, who had originally been bedridden with illness, forced himself to attend and personally hosted this banquet despite his sickly condition.

With ample face and pomp provided, cups clinked for a time, and both hosts and guests enjoyed themselves to the fullest.

Under such circumstances.

Let alone Siano and his group; even truly vicious pirates would probably have felt too ashamed to harbor any ulterior motives.

By the time the banquet ended, the night was already deep.

The crew members, drunk out of their minds, were supported by maids and led away to their rooms to rest, while Nami, a minor not qualified to drink, was pulled away by Vivi to her room to play.

As for Siano and Robin, both tacitly drank very little.

After leaving the table, they came to the side hall of the royal palace to meet with Cobra there, preparing to discuss Crocodile and the Poneglyphs.

Meanwhile.

Ten thousand li away, on the Red Line, at the Holy Land Mary Geoise.

Another meeting was likewise taking place.

Though in terms of level, it was slightly... higher.

————

Pangaea Castle.

The Five Elders gathered in the top-floor conference room, the atmosphere so Solemn it seemed one could wring water from it.

Scattered across the long table before the sofa were several newspapers and intelligence reports; at the very top lay unmistakably today's headline from the World Economic News Agency.

"Enies Lobby destroyed, the Gates of Justice collapsed..."

The blond Five Elder dressed in a deep red suit slapped the newspaper onto the table, his tone icy:

"In just one short month, first Warlord Crocodile was killed, then the encirclement and suppression at Toroa Island failed, and now adding this sudden major incident, the dignity of the World Government has been trampled into worthlessness."

His name was Shepherd Ju Peter, currently holding the position of Warrior God of Agriculture.

"Blue Ogre Dorry and Red Ogre Brogy..."

The Five Elder in a kimono embracing a demon sword narrowed his eyes. "Didn't those two giants duel on Little Garden for over a hundred years? How could they suddenly leave and precisely attack Enies Lobby?"

Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, the Warrior God of Finance.

"Someone interfered."

The curly-haired Five Elder wearing a flat cap flipped through intelligence reports sent back by the CP department, stating indifferently:

"According to the descriptions from the heavily injured guards, when the giants were embracing each other, weeping loudly and celebrating, they mentioned a name called Siano; it seems it was precisely thanks to him that Blue Ogre and Red Ogre learned that a giant companion of theirs had been successfully deceived by us into guarding the gates at Enies Lobby."

Jaygarcia Saturn, the Warrior God of Science and Defense.

"Siano?!" The blond Five Elder whipped his head around. "This Siano again?!"

The first two major incidents he had mentioned were also done by this fellow!

"From Loguetown to Toroa Island, having entered the Grand Line for less than two months, how many major incidents has he already caused? Now even the disturbance at Enies Lobby is related to him? This kid is just like a plague; wherever he goes, there will be..."

"Upheaval."

The white-haired, long-bearded Five Elder, who had not spoken until now, interrupted him and spoke apathetically:

"By the way, before I came to attend this meeting, I just received the latest urgent intelligence from CP0: another Warlord, Boss Hua Zha, died yesterday in the Arabasta Kingdom, and the person who dealt this dirty blow was likewise this Siano."

"What?!!!"

(End of Chapter)