Chapter 109: Little Brother Is a Kind Man

New World, Honeycomb Island.

Ma Ma Ma Erke descended slowly from above the sea; though he smiled and greeted them, his heart remained on constant guard, ready to flee at the slightest sign of trouble.

The sword technique that had just split the ocean open, even exposing the seabed, was simply too shocking.

Even great swordsmen like Mihawk and Master Tenghu could not block that move.

Ma Ma Ma Erke asked himself: if it were him, he would surely dodge; only a fool would block it, and he was no swordsman pursuing the ultimate sword art.

If one can dodge, why endure it head-on?

Still, if that fellow Vista had seen it, he would likely have insisted on testing the limits of his own swordsmanship.

Perhaps only Old Man's Sky-Breaking Strike could match the peerless sword strike Saint Saint Saiwen just delivered.

"Captain Saint Saint Saiwen."

Ma Ma Ma Erke took a visiting card from his pocket.

"Old Man and everyone miss you, so I was specially sent to deliver this card; when it's convenient for you, we will come to pay our respects."

Saint Saint Saiwen took the card and glanced at it.

"Why so polite, Little Ma Ma Ma Erke?"

"I'm available anytime, but everyone had better come in a month and a half; it just happens to be my birthday, and we can all gather for a lively celebration."

Unknowingly, Saint Saint Saiwen was about to come of age again.

The last time he came of age, it seems, was the last time.

In the short term, the Morning Star Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates had no obvious conflicts of interest; instead, they bordered on the territory of Big Mom's pirate crew.

The young Charlotte Lingling was a beauty too; pity that fate played tricks for so many years, and both figure and looks had gone astray.

Hearing this, Ma Ma Ma Erke immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

From the fact that Saint Saint Saiwen was willing to invite the Whitebeard Pirates to his birthday banquet, it seemed that Saint Saint Saiwen, or rather the two pirate crews, were still good friends.

Yet for some reason, Ma Ma Ma Erke still felt an overwhelming pressure emanating from Saint Saint Saiwen.

"I'll go back and tell Old Man; we must prepare a grand gift for him."

"By the way," Saint Saint Saiwen took out a Den Den Mushi.

"Little Ma Ma Ma Erke, let's exchange Den Den Mushi numbers; let's keep in touch for any matters."

The Den Den Mushi was indeed a fine thing; it could take photos, send faxes, and even broadcast live.

After a brief chat, Ma Ma Ma Erke proposed to take his leave.

"Saint Saint Saiwen, I must hurry back to tell Old Man; let's meet in a month."

"See you later, Little Ma Ma Ma Erke."

Ma Ma Ma Erke came and left in haste, transforming into his Phoenix form and spreading his wings to soar into the clouds.

Watching Ma Ma Ma Erke disappear from sight, Saint Saint Saiwen sighed regretfully; if he could coax Little Ma Ma Ma Erke onto his ship, what a wonderful thing that would be.

Ma Ma Ma Erke, who ate the Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan Type, Phoenix Form, possessed not only superhuman regeneration and high mobility.

He had fought countless high-level battles.

However, combat power was merely a trivial advantage of Ma Ma Ma Erke's; his Regeneration Flame could heal injuries and viruses, which was crucial for the team's sustainability.

He was nothing short of a perfect candidate for a ship's doctor.

Paired with Kuma, the scene would be too beautiful to behold.

The Morning Star Pirates lacked nothing in offensive means, and mobility was no problem; the only shortage was some support-type personnel.

The surgeon-fruit user doctor Phoenix would fit the bill quite well, but that fellow had wandered off somewhere to frolic.

And Little Ma Ma Ma Erke was an elder of the Whitebeard Pirates, almost impossible to recruit.

In the original timeline, after Old Man died during the Summit War, Little Ma Ma Ma Erke remained loyal, like an elder brother, protecting his younger brothers and the remnants of the pirate crew.

Kaido's assets, Saint Saint Saiwen could at least plan to seize by kidnapping the young Yamato and making her his captive wife.

In the future, holding several chubby little boys—

Kaido, you old geezer, open the door!

The Whitebeard Pirates were truly beyond reach.

Actually, there was a way.

But Saint Saint Saiwen was unwilling to be someone's son; even Captain Roger, Saint Saint Saiwen regarded only as an elder brother, not a father figure.

Just as Saint Saint Saiwen fell into deep thought.

Mihawk and Master Tenghu became lively and vigorous again, their faces glowing with excitement, hinting at a desire to try once more.

Seeing this, Saint Saint Saiwen muttered in irritation.

"You wretch Hachimi; this captain kindly bore the damage for you, yet you repay kindness with injury."

"And you, Mr. Tenghu."

【The title Master Tenghu is the protagonist's dark humor; during the Ohara Buster Call, when Aokiji asked the protagonist what his pirate crew was called, there was a dialogue that already explained this.】

"Hurry and get to work; don't wait until the Whitebeard Pirates arrive and we haven't finished rebuilding yet."

When the Morning Star Pirates captured Honeycomb Island previously, they did not cause large-scale destruction to the island; the reason for rebuilding was to re-plan facilities such as ports and docks.

On this planet where ninety percent of the area is ocean, excellent ports can bring enormous profits; especially since Honeycomb Island possesses gold mines, and selling gold mines or purchasing supplies all requires ships.

However, with Saint Saint Saiwen using Thunder Metallurgy, the rebuilding work required no blacksmiths to smelt construction materials like steel bars, and even miners were unnecessary.

The previous lord of Honeycomb Island cared only for enjoyment.

Everything built was suitable for enjoyment; it could not be said to be completely useless to the stronghold, but at best, the help was negligible.

In the afternoon.

A group of pirate crew officers saw off the First Division at the half-finished port of Honeycomb Island.

Dorry and Brogy, accompanied by crew members Oimo and Kashi, boarded the Attack on Titan ship with the ten billion Berries of treasure given by Saint Saint Saiwen, returning to Elbaf to visit relatives and purchase supplies.

For instance, Adam Treasure Tree wood, as well as fruit trees like the giant-tribe-specific grapevines.

Since we're going to eat grapes anyway, we might as well eat the giant-tribe-specific large grapes, especially since the Morning Star Pirates have so many big eaters.

"Captain, we'll be back soon..."

Saint Saint Saiwen interrupted: "No need to rush."

"You haven't been back in so many years; stay in your hometown a while longer and keep your family company."

"If anything comes up, contact me anytime."

It's better to set up fewer Flags.

Especially in an anime world; what you set up isn't a Flag, but rather more like a last will and testament.

Dorry boarded the Attack on Titan and waved goodbye toward the shore.

"Goodbye, Captain."

Watching the Attack on Titan raise its sails and eventually disappear from sight, Saint Saint Saiwen rode his Tyrannosaurus pet, How Cute, and leisurely inspected the territory.

Reconstruction work is actually a form of training.

For example, Master Tenghu used the Heavy-Heavy Fruit ability to move the stone blocks Mihawk split from the back mountain to the port to pave the ground streets.

Jin Ni used the opened spatial door to fill the sea with unused construction debris.

Even Saint Saint Saiwen's mount and pet Tyrannosaurus, How Cute, could carry the smelted building materials to various locations across the island.

In short, being useless is the Captain's privilege.

The rest of the crew must all roll up their sleeves and work hard.

New World, All Blue Seas.

Dozens of large merchant ships formed a fleet formation, sailing away from the All Blue Seas toward Hive Island.

Inside the cabin of one merchant ship, Kizaru had specially disguised himself as a merchant wearing sunglasses to escort Corazon all the way here.

With parting imminent, Kizaru gave repeated instructions.

"These dozen or so merchant ships are supplies ordered by Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen through the Sea Transport King; as you can see, every ship flies the Flame Flag, making passage almost unimpeded throughout the New World."

"Even the Big Mom Pirates can only watch from afar; Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's influence is far greater than we imagined."

"Perhaps before, he was considering something, which is why he didn't kill Marines like the Slaughter Pirates did."

Only Kizaru understood why this was, because Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen had once promised him: to avoid killing ordinary Marines on a large scale whenever possible.

Little brother, you are a decent person.

"Remember, always prioritize your own safety."

Since Kizaru had once served as Sengoku's deputy, he advised Corazon never to let hot blood get the better of him and expose his identity.

The reason he thought of this was that many hot-blooded officers within the Navy had followed Akainu to the G5 base.

They were even clamoring to arrest Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen.

Because of this matter, Kizaru's eyelid had been twitching recently, with a vague sense of great unease.

Corazon nodded.

"Uncle, I've noted it."

Kizaru's face drooped, too lazy to argue.

Only thirty-six years old, and already an uncle?

The little fatty Sentomaru by Vegapunk's side also called him Uncle, but little brother Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen was both decent and polite, calling him "Big Brother" again and again.

Pity that little brother isn't in the Navy.

"I'm going back; Old... Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's Observation Haki covers a vast range; proceeding further will expose us."

Corazon nodded.

"Thank you, Uncle."