Chapter 49: Tina's Humiliation, Fire Mountain's Warning

The rain poured down like a waterfall, and the gale raged.

The collision of air currents triggered a massive explosion, tearing up the plaza ground; the members of the Blood Calamity Pirates and other pirates followed Luo Di's orders and charged toward the harbor one after another.

Ka Li Na glanced at Luo Di, who was hovering in the air above the plaza, as a marine raised a gun at him.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out, and the marine fell to the ground in response; Xiao En and a group of pirates shielded Ka Li Na, and Xiao En said, "Lady Ka Li Na, listen to Lord Luo Di, let's go to the ship first; that is not a battle we can participate in."

"Mm." Ka Li Na nodded and followed the crew members toward the harbor.

"Roar! Lord Luo Di is the strongest, I, A Nuo, will definitely go to the Grand Line with him!" A Nuo shouted as he chopped down a marine with his axe.

Just then, three pirates suddenly appeared in front of him, two men and one woman; the woman had fiery red hair spiked up like thorns, and a rose tucked into the waist of her long red dress; the men were one tall and one short, the tall one was obese, and the short one had a head the same size as his body.

Normally this would be unremarkable, but the pots and pans the two men carried on their backs caught his attention; at this moment, they were already surrounded by several marines and had several wounds on their bodies.

"Roar!" A Nuo rushed up, chopped down two marines, and shouted, "Hey, are you guys chefs like me, A Nuo?"

"Of course, my big sister is the strongest in the East Blue..." The big-headed man said this, then seemed to remember something and shut his mouth.

"In any case, Big Sister will become the strongest chef!" the tall, fat man said.

Swish!

A Nuo chopped down two more marines and shouted, "For the sake of your passion for kitchenware, come aboard with me; our pirate crew is recruiting, and our captain is easy to talk to—as long as you don't break the rules, he will accept you."

"I just heard your captain say you are going to the Grand Line?" the red-haired woman said.

"Of course, I, A Nuo, am going to make a name for myself following Lord Luo Di; I'm going to be the world's number one chef king!" A Nuo said proudly.

The red-haired woman lowered her head in thought.

She had always aimed to be the number one chef in the East Blue; a while ago, she had competed in cooking against Sanji, whom she had been searching for, and ultimately lost to him. After Sanji went to the Grand Line, she had originally planned to settle in Luo Ge Zhen temporarily before taking her two younger brothers to find a remote village to study culinary arts. Just today, as she was preparing to set sail, she suddenly encountered swarms of marines landing.

Originally, the three of them hadn't committed any crimes, but her two younger brothers were carrying thick bundles that, besides kitchenware, contained many expensive ingredients.

Pirates saw them and were envious, some even wanting to rob them; marines saw them and charged straight in to arrest them, leading to the current situation.

She shook her head and said, "Forget it..."

Before she could finish her sentence, A Nuo grabbed her hand and ran desperately toward the harbor; seeing this, her two younger brothers immediately sprinted to catch up.

"Captain Luo Di said that if you are interested in something, you must take the initiative; I, A Nuo, am very interested in your culinary skills, hahahaha." A Nuo dragged the red-haired woman as he sprinted, and she was pulled along with her feet off the ground, having absolutely no chance to speak.

"Ora ora ora ora!"

Under the onslaught of Star Platinum, Tina retreated repeatedly, nearly touching the wall again; the cigarette in her mouth had fallen out, and her wine-red suit was full of holes and had already been discarded to the side, leaving her wearing only a black lace-trimmed bra on her upper body.

Boom!

Luo Di flashed by, clutching golden lightning, while Hina's colleague, Fire Mountain, swung his blade to meet him; the two had already exchanged several moves in a short time.

During the battle, Fire Mountain felt the blood in his body surging, as if he had encountered the suppression of a superior, which caused fear and affected his techniques.

Luo Di glanced at the coast to the side; excluding his original crew, many pirates had already reached that point. Although the marines were still in pursuit, their numbers had dropped sharply during the fighting and could no longer threaten the pirates there.

Luo Di laughed, "If you want to catch me, come to the Grand Line and see how many lives you have."

After saying this, he flapped his bat wings, and his entire body turned into a blood shadow, flying rapidly toward the coast.

At the same time, Star Platinum, who was pummeling Tina, suddenly vanished.

Tina frowned and prepared to use Moonwalk to pursue, but Fire Mountain flashed in front of her and waved his hand to stop her.

"Vice Admiral Fire Mountain, we should pursue now; if he gets to the Grand Line, it will be even more troublesome to capture him then," Tina said coldly.

"Pfft." Fire Mountain suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Hm?" Looking at the blood-spitting Fire Mountain, Tina said in surprise, "Even you, a Vice Admiral, are injured?"

Fire Mountain wiped the corner of his mouth and said with a grave expression, "His Conqueror's Haki and his ability to control blood both exceeded our intelligence parameters; I have to admit we cannot keep him. Give up; this operation... has failed."

"Hmph!" Tina stomped hard on the ground; the burning sensation in her chest had not yet dissipated, and she hadn't suffered such an injury in years. Looking at her damaged suit on the ground, she said coldly, "I must crush him completely in the Grand Line; Tina is... very humiliated today!"

At this moment, Tina seemed to remember something and looked at Fire Mountain: "Vice Admiral, what did he mean by the Celestial Dragons' triennial hunting game he mentioned earlier?"

Fire Mountain frowned upon hearing this: "Tina, there are some things we are not meant to know; just do your job."

After saying this, Fire Mountain sheathed his blade and walked slowly toward the harbor where the warships were docked.

Tina watched Fire Mountain's back, vaguely feeling that there was an important matter being kept from them by those above.

When the pirates reached the coast, Lin De Bo Ge had already lowered the ship's ladder; they didn't have time to marvel at the luxury of the God-Slaying Dragon Court, and under Xiao En's command, they scrambled onto the deck.

Lu Xi Ya saw that Ka Li Na was uninjured and rushed over to grab her hand: "I'm glad you're okay; where is Luo Di?"

"He..."

Swish!

A blood shadow flashed by.

"I'm right here," Luo Di said with a smile.

"Captain Luo Di!" the pirates shouted immediately.

"Set sail first; we'll talk about other things later," Luo Di ordered.

He did not intend to fight to the death with Fire Mountain and Tina here; after all, his own mastery of Haki was not yet proficient, and having just eaten the Devil Fruit, he only had a preliminary understanding and usage of its abilities.

A woman like Tina was not to be feared, but Fire Mountain was a battle-hardened Vice Admiral after all; even if he could defeat the two of them, if the battle dragged on and the marines sent reinforcements, he and his crew could fall into danger. It was better to go to the Grand Line to develop slowly; once he was proficient in Haki and his fruit abilities, he could sail right up to those monsters.

Soon, the God-Slaying Dragon Court set sail, and under Ka Li Na's command, it headed toward Dian Dao Shan. The warships were at the harbor on the other side, and Lin De Bo Ge pushed the ship to maximum power; the speed of those warships could not keep up with them at all.

The heavy rain gradually lessened and then disappeared; the pitch-black sea surged with layers of waves, and the light from the dragon head's eyes pierced the dark night, illuminating the path ahead and guiding them toward the land of their dreams.