Chapter 154: Mission Details, Sparring and Concerns

Chapter 154: Mission Details, Sparring and Concerns

_________ POV Narration_________

"So what's the plan exactly? Do we rush in and kill everything while looking for the rescue target?" Shiki said as he lazily lay on a beach chair on the floating island.

They were already steadily making their way towards the Holy Land, no log poses or Vivre cards were needed either.

Shiki was already used to navigating through the skies, he could make his way to just about everywhere using a compass and a world map.

"That sounds more like the type of plan our former captain would've come up with..." Francisco sighed a bit as he lay on a beach chair right beside the Golden Lion.

"I guess you've always been the type to plan things a bit more thoroughly... I've been doing my best, but it was never really my thing..." Shiki scowled a bit as he spoke. A barrel rose up by his side, tilting by itself as sake poured into their cups.

The Golden Lion sighed as he took another sip of his favourite drink. Francisco also drank a bit, not quite worried about getting drunk before a big job.

The two of them were awfully relaxed for people that were about to raid what was essentially the most defended place on the planet.

But they had all the right to be relaxed. They were used to doing such missions, they were used to fighting, and their teamwork was almost impeccable.

Even if quite some time had passed, and Shiki was a bit weaker, the two of them were still Pirate Legends that used to be the conquerors of the seas.

"You really were never much on planning things out..." Francisco could also just sigh as he wondered how Shiki had survived that long as a captain of his own crew.

"Bah! Plans are just for fodder! I usually change them abruptly anyway, gives life some spice." Shiki smiled confidently as he spoke, his 'legs' cutting a bit into the chair he was laying on.

"That's incredibly irresponsible and stupid... I'm glad to say that you've not changed a bit." Francisco nodded a bit as he spoke, making his old friend spit out some of his drink.

"Cough*- You know? I'd have killed just about anyone for saying things like that..." Shiki scowled at the legendary swordsman before him, staring at him fearlessly.

"Heh... Funny, I would've killed just about anyone for throwing such an empty threat my way..." Francisco laughed a bit as he spoke, his gaze turning to Shiki, his eyes borrowing as his calm smile seemed to turn a bit colder than usual.

The air between the two of them seemed to stand still as their gazes met, a strand of red lightning seemed to clash with a purple one, and the world around them slowed down visibly.

Shiki's will seemed to be unflinching, steadfast and strong. Francisco's will seemed to be sharp, pointed and deadly, it was a strange effect, where neither will managed to conquer the other for a few seconds.

The birds fell from the sky, and the clouds parted ways, but the clash ended abruptly as well.

"You're lucky you're my friend!" The two of them said at the same time before looking away.

The two of them laughed out loud after that. "Gihahihahihahi!" "Jihahahaha!" They then continued drinking with silly smiles on their faces, like nothing ever happened.

"We'll do things simply, I'll draw their attention and you can handle the rescue. No reason to overcomplicate things. We'll have to park your island close to the Holy Land though..." Francisco ended up coming up with the plan in the end.

"Of course... I think I know just the parking spot!" Shiki smiled as they continued on with their journey. It would still take them a few days to reach the Red Line, then following along it to reach the Holy Land itself would take another few days.

Alas, Shiki had brought enough food to last them a few years, so they weren't exactly stressed out about the journey.

As the two of them were bickering, Kaido was already leaving the Sky Islands. He had done exactly as Enel had instructed.

He departed on a large raft that he and his people constructed in a rush, floating through the clouds in a rather unsafe manner.

It was only being held up thanks to the flame clouds that Kaido controlled, otherwise it would have collapsed as soon as a few waves hit it.

The fearless Emperor was left somewhat disturbed by Enel's strange demeanour and words.

He had thought of looking for Shiki and trying to kill him but decided that it would be a stupid idea in the end. The island was now seemingly filled with people that could prove to be a threat to him.

The Emperor's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw the marines and revolutionaries were also there.

It was an alliance that managed to send some shivers down his long spine...

'As if having Garp and Francisco under him wasn't enough... I guess I can no longer call my 'Beast Pirates' the strongest crew, no matter how many SMILE Fruits I shove into their mouths...'

The Dragon Emperor was left with quite a few things to consider upon leaving the island.

He was a bit annoyed at having lost 2 Tobiroppo, but at the very least the 2 strongest in his crew weren't maimed...

Besides, be it 2 or 200 Tobiroppo, they would never manage to breach the gap between his forces and Enel's by the looks of it.

Shiki's crew was also massive, even if only a shell of its former self. He had a few islands filled to the brim with Grand Line-faring pirates from the old days.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

Kaido knew that a force like that alone was annoying enough, but he could deal with it.

The problem was the massive Revolutionary army, and for some reason, the entirety of the supposedly-deceased former marine cadres.

The more Kaido looked at the numerous Sky Islands resting on the clouds, the warier he grew.

'Things are too unbalanced for a proper war right now... One side will crush all the others, I can either try to join it or try to stand up on my own regardless of the danger...'

They met up at the newly built underground layer of the Revolutionaries. Garp had moved there 'to keep an eye on his stupid son and make sure he behaves'.

He did make sure to create a schedule for the training regiment of the Sky Guards. The former Vice Admiral Momonga became his right hand and made sure that everyone abided by the harsh training regime.

It was Garp's way of saying he wanted to spend some time with his son, but no one really dared to call him out on that.

"So she's gonna heal you two after she sees her nephew? How old is she again?" The old marine asked as he munched on some biscuits.

"I'd rather not ask her about that again..." Enel said as he sighed and took a sip of Sake, tilting the cup with his earlobe while he twirled his walking stick around his wrist.

"Yeah... Old broads tend to get cranky when talking about that stuff... Tsuru is like that too... Well, I guess that's doable, rescuing her nephew I mean. Now, I think it's time we talk about the people that seem to be drawn to you..."

Garp quickly switched the topic, obviously bringing up his distrust of Francisco and Shiki, who he considered a major threat to the island's safety.

When Enel inquired about why Garp didn't like Francisco anymore, the old marine became a bit annoyed and started grumbling a bit.

"I don't believe a word that comes out of that old snake's mouth.

I could manage him when he was old, but now he is back to being the monster he was, so I think not keeping a constant eye on him is risky.

He may be loyal to you now, but he is not a good-natured individual... Please remember that when trusting him."

Garp scowled a bit as he tried to remember more about Francisco's notoriety and the many he had murdered to gain the title of the 'Strongest Swordsman'.

"Well... I may have already trusted him with the rescue of Kuma... Well, he and Shiki, to be exact." Enel's smile trembled for a bit, as Garp instantly started choking on the rice cracker he had been eating.

"What the fuck?! You trusted the two bloodthirsty pirates with a rescue mission?!" Garp's tone was higher pitched than usual, some veins appeared on his neck as he glared at Enel, who just whistled a bit and looked to the side.

"Believe it or not, they might just be the best for the job. They won't hesitate to kill whoever gets in their way, marine or not, and Shiki can easily transport them out of there." Enel still stood by his choice, smiling as he did so.

"... I still don't like this... Besides, aren't you basically announcing to the world government that Francisco is back, and as powerful as he used to be?" Garp scowled a bit as he thought more and more about his captain's choice.

"That's also true... I want to make them wary, to make them realize that they aren't fully in control of the situation, or at least raise that possibility in their minds.

They might've suspected that Francisco is with me already, seeing him back in his prime will make them realise that Bonney is also with me.

Shiki also being there is just the cherry on top." Enel smiled a bit as he spoke, not bothering to hide his plans from Garp of all people.

"... An intimidation tactic, huh? I guess that can work. Playing mind games isn't really my thing though, sounds more like something Sengoku would think up...

But doesn't that mean our assault on them will be much more difficult?" Garp stroked his beard a bit, somewhat accepting Enel's plan for a few moments, or at least thinking about it.

"That's the thing. We make them wary now, make them stay up late at night, expecting an attack at any moment... But we aren't going to attack them anytime soon." Enel smiled a bit, tilting his head as his blue eyes looked coldly at a table near him.

"... So it really is just mind games, huh? But don't we already have enough power to take the government down? After Sengoku's healed, at least.

I doubt they'd use an attack like the one at Baltigo in the middle of their Holy Land." Garp's concern was also rather logical, and Enel nodded when hearing him.

'Garp may act like a simpleton at times, but I guess he is far from one... I guess Luffy does take after him in that regard... Well, I'd wish he took more after him...'

"It's good that you're thinking about that, anticipating my worries. But they WILL use that attack in the Holy Land, especially if all of us are gathered there.

The rest of the celestial dragons don't matter as much to the world government. They would gladly sacrifice themselves to get rid of all of their enemies at once.

So unless we can stop it, we might as well not even think about raiding the Holy Land."

Garp simply sighed in frustration at Enel's explanation. He couldn't quite refute it either.

He wanted to argue that all of them together could likely stop that attack, but he didn't want to risk it either. Enel was the one to have experienced that attack, so Garp decided that he knew best when it came to that.

"Well, this will work to make them a bit more careful. They've already started harming a lot of people. It works especially well since they don't know where we are."

"An unseen threat, huh... Still feels like we could've gone about this a bit better though..." Garp still had his doubts, but he seemed to relent in the end.

It was too late anyway, Shiki and Francisco had already gone off. Enel wasn't going to try and stop them either way.

In the end, the Lightning Emperor managed to somewhat calm Garp down.

"At this point, there are more marines on the island than Pirates, so I doubt you should be that stressed out about Francisco and Shiki.

Although I doubt it will if anything goes wrong I can take care of it." That was how Enel waved away the concerns of the former Marine Hero.

Sure, Garp was still annoyed that the Revolutionaries also had to be there, but at least his son was at the helm of that group, and Sabo also seemed quite reliable.

In the end, the rest of the day was spent with Enel catching up with a few friends. Oven tagging along with him after the Emperor finished his conversation with Garp.

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Hope you liked the chapter! Trying me best to juggle writing, my job, and the exam that I have tomorrow, I ain't gonna lie, I'm tired af :)))

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