Chapter 64: The Pride of the East Blue

Loguetown, again Loguetown.

Barzab Seven had reappeared in Loguetown, yet Lu Bianyi felt not the slightest urge to arrest him—not even the courage to approach him.

Two years had completely reversed the balance of power.

Now, Barzab Seven was a pirate with a bounty of three billion, the Emperor who had stormed the Marine’s World Annihilation Squad, and captain of the Morning Star Pirates.

He was no longer the former cook of the Roger Pirates whom Lu Bianyi once thought he had the upper hand over.

Even if you added up every agent of CP9, they still wouldn’t be enough for Mihawk, Barzab’s first mate, to cut down.

But the vengeance of CP9’s squad—the debt of ten members including their captain—could not go unpaid.

Loguetown, Roger’s Bar.

The bar owner, Raoul, had changed into new clothes and shouted toward Lu Bianyi, who was drowning his sorrows at the counter.

“Lu Bian, come on, hurry to the pier—the Donghai Emperor Ship has returned; this is our Donghai’s pride!”

“Stop thinking about revenge.”

“When Roger was seventeen, he wasn’t nearly as fierce as Barzab is now.”

In Raoul’s eyes, Barzab’s future achievements would far surpass Pirate King Roger’s—he’d even begun preparing to rename the bar, if he lived to see Barzab crowned king.

Barzab’s Bar?

Seven’s Bar?

World King’s Bar?

All three sound pretty good.

Lu Bianyi didn’t refuse; he was dragged to Loguetown’s pier like a lifeless corpse.

When they reached the harbor, a massive crowd surrounded the Donghai Emperor Ship with its crimson sails, pointing and murmuring in awe.

“My god, such a huge ship.”

“This is our Donghai’s Donghai Emperor Ship.”

“Whoever says our Donghai is the weakest sea, I’ll spit in their face.”

Normally, civilians feared and despised pirates, instinctively fleeing at the sight of a pirate crew.

But what if a pirate crew, since setting sail, had only targeted the World Government and never harmed civilians, and even named their ship after Donghai?

And what if they’d risen to fame on the seas, becoming the second Emperor to rule the ocean?

Taken together,

Barzab Seven and the Donghai Emperor Ship were clearly Donghai’s pride.

As the forward outpost of Donghai leading into the Grand Line, and the place where Pirate King Roger was executed, Loguetown always drew enormous crowds.

Now, the pier was packed with townsfolk eager to catch a glimpse of their hometown hero.

Among the crowd were even new pirates hoping to join the Morning Star Pirates, and Marine and government agents monitoring the crew’s movements.

On the Donghai Emperor Ship,

Tenghu smiled cheerfully: “Captain, your homeland’s people are waiting to see you.”

“Yeah, Captain,” Jin Ni chimed in, eager to stir the pot: “Didn’t expect you to be this popular in Donghai.”

Seven felt utterly exasperated—it wasn’t popularity, it was just the mob gawking.

“Mihawk, stay aboard. The rest of us will go ashore to buy supplies.”

Seven knew Mihawk disliked trouble, so he’d decided to leave him on the ship; Tenghu was different.

Tenghu loved blending in with the people.

Robin and Jin Ni especially loved shopping.

“Alright,” Mihawk nodded slightly.

To move quickly, Seven summoned thunder above Loguetown—dense purple lightning crackled across the sky, sending the gawking crowd scrambling away.

“Run!”

“Murder!”

“Pirates are here!!!”

Moments later, the once-thick crowd had thinned to a few scattered individuals, shouting at Seven’s party as they disembarked.

“Captain Barzab, take us on!”

Hearing the pleas, Seven seriously studied the ragtag group before him, trying to find even one familiar face.

But he recognized none.

In other words, they were all nobodies.

Seven didn’t even bother using Conqueror’s Haki—just the purple lightning swirling around him was enough to make the new pirates collapse to the ground.

Not everyone deserved the kind of gentleness Seven showed to Big Mom and Jin Ni.

He was a pirate.

A merciless great pirate!

Seeing this, Lu Bianyi lowered his head, afraid of being noticed by Barzab—yet Raoul, the Roger’s Bar owner, summoned the courage to rush forward, holding out a business card.

“Pirate King Roger… drank here at my bar. Everyone who drank here… says it’s great.”

Seven took the card and slipped it into his pocket.

“Thank you.”

Watching Seven’s party vanish from sight, Raoul grinned broadly.

“This guy’s actually polite—no wonder he was a crewman of Roger’s.”

When you view someone through rose-colored glasses, no matter who they truly are, you always project your own emotions onto them.

Raoul was the perfect example.

News of Barzab Seven’s arrival in Loguetown spread by word of mouth and quickly reached Marine Headquarters via the Loguetown branch.

Marine Headquarters, Admiral’s Office.

“Understood. Avoid conflict with the Morning Star Pirates if possible.”

Garp suddenly realized how frustrating it was to be Marine Admiral—having received intelligence on the Morning Star Pirates’ movements, yet being forced to order the branch not to engage them.

It wasn’t that the Marines were surrendering to pirates.

It was that any Marine branch forces sent against them would be nothing but cannon fodder—utterly meaningless.

Even Barzab didn’t need to lift a finger; the blind swordsman Tenghu could summon two meteorites and wipe out a Marine branch with ease.

So annoying—why wasn’t such a powerful great swordsman a Marine?

Mihawk the Marine Hunter was one thing, but someone as powerful as Tenghu, who was said to be righteous, had slipped through the Marines’ fingers.

What a blunder.

Garp looked at another Den Den Mushi on his desk.

“Karp, is Barzab really as strong as you say?”

Karp, clearing pirates in the South Blue, ripped open his shirt to reveal his bandaged torso and snapped a photo with the Den Den Mushi.

“Here, the brat left this.”

Garp stared at the photo—the blood still soaking the bandages—and made his decision.

“You’re right. The Marines are severely lacking in young talent—we haven’t produced a new generation like Sakazuki since years ago.”

“We must ramp up recruitment. Zef’s training camp at Headquarters needs continued investment.”

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Karp seemed to have heard nothing Garp said—he kept lobbing shells onto pirate ships.

Years ago, Karp had witnessed the atrocities of the Celestial Dragons’ hunting games at the Valley of the Gods, and learned that above the Five Elders stood a true King of the World.

Since that day,

Karp had remained in the Marines for only two reasons: to protect the Marines, and to personally arrest Roger.

Now Roger’s grave was over two zhang tall with grass, and Karp had shifted his target to Barzab—but with that kid’s speed, unless he brought Porsalino, he’d never catch him.

But here came the problem:

With the Morning Star Pirates’ current strength, they’d need to bring Kuzan as well to guarantee victory.

Yet the World Government and Garp would never approve deploying so many elite forces just to target a pirate crew with no fixed base.

“This kid is impossible to pin down.”

“Good thing I prepared something in advance—I hope you’ll like my surprise, kid.”