Rumble... Rumble...
A shrill scraping sound came from all around, clouds of dust blew toward the crowd with the wind. This wouldn't normally be a big deal—the commotion Jack was causing in the central area was just as loud.
But the source of these sounds was the surrounding houses. A Hundred Beasts pirate rubbed his eyes and looked several times before finally confirming he wasn't seeing things.
"Hey, why are those houses moving? Is it some Fruit Ability user?"
"Don't bother with that. Whatever Hive Island turns into isn't our concern. We just need to drag that employer out."
"True enough. I'll leave this to you, then. Brothers! With me, we're dragging that employer out!"
The other pirates didn't bother to dig into it, instead charging toward where the hostages were imprisoned. During their charge, Drake also opened his jaws wide and bit down on the clay giant in front of him.
The body made of clay shattered under the bite force of the Allosaurus, and then the other clay giants all closed in on Drake.
Over a dozen clay fists slammed down toward Drake without the slightest intention of holding back, and some clay-formed Soldiers even began attacking the Hundred Beasts pirates—but they were all smoothly taken care of by the rear guard.
"Red Flag! Watch yourself! We'll come back once the job's done!"
The rank-and-file pirates didn't think that much. Things like undercover traitors were for the people upstairs to worry about. They just had to carry out orders and then cash in their own rewards based on their merits.
The fact Drake had been a prisoner of war didn't matter much. The Hundred Beasts pirates had a few such people among them. In their eyes, Drake was just someone they drank and fought alongside, they even thought he was a pretty decent guy.
Now that the strongest among them had volunteered to stay behind as rear guard, they had no intention of abandoning him.
Drake said nothing to that. He just hurled one clay giant away with force, using it to help those pirates take out a few potential enemies.
As the Hundred Beasts pirates gradually broke out of the encirclement, the difficulty of Drake's fight dropped. When the houses around them completely closed together into a wall, the clay giants also ceased their movements.
"You sure about this, Prince?"
"Relax, Captain Drake. We've already swept the perimeter. The Hundred Beasts pirates have moved on—their target is the hostage zone. As for the Hive Island pirates, they've already been wiped out."
A man wearing a fur-collared coat and an extended-brim version of a Navy cap with a duckbill walked out from behind several clay men, still toying with a little clay figure at his fingertip. Those clay Soldiers from earlier were all his handiwork, and he was an old acquaintance of Drake's.
Junior Admiral of Navy Headquarters and Sword Squad member, Prince Grus. It's said he was once a prince of some country, but joined the Navy after his nation met with disaster.
He's the Paramecia-type: Glorp-Glorp Fruit user, able to freely manipulate clay and use it to create giants, Golems, Soldiers and all manner of clay constructs.
"Peacock's already sealed this place off. There won't be any other pirates in the vicinity. Isn't that right, Peacock?"
"That's right. Those houses have very obediently completed their mission."
A tall woman also stepped out from behind Drake. She wore a round shell hat decorated with a seagull and held a long whip in her hand.
Peacock, likewise a Junior Admiral of Navy Headquarters, and the granddaughter of Navy Headquarters Grand Strategist Tsuru, is the disciplinarian who ate the Paramecia-type: Whip-Whip Fruit.
Her Fruit Ability lets her control anything she's whipped, buildings included. Those moving houses were Peacock's handiwork.
"Captain, Grandma did say you were on a special assignment, but an entire year with no word at all is way too scary, you know."
Drake's mission was known only to the upper echelons of the Navy and a very small number of people—and that tiny group meant the Sword members.
Though they're Sword members and technically Navy, they're no longer part of the Navy's normal chain of command.
In a sense, Sword members are Navy who have either already 'defected' or resigned. Their own Navy service numbers have already been handed back.
Because of that, they don't have to follow any orders. They're a "guerrilla unit" free to act as they wish, able to go to war with a Sea Emperor even without approval from above.
But in turn, that freedom comes at a price. The Navy and the World Government won't take responsibility for Sword members' actions. Everything they do is considered personal.
If they ever threaten the World Government's rule, the World Government would even directly erase their existence.
For the most part, Sword members still carry out missions assigned by Navy Headquarters and don't go too wild. Anyone who gets into this unit more or less has some connection to the Navy brass—they're not likely to do anything too outrageous.
Even with how special they are, Drake's disappearance was odd. Before this rescue op, neither Peacock nor Grus had expected to run into Drake here.
"It just turned out that way... I've already gotten inside their organization now, but I still need a bit more time. You showing up here is perfect."
Sword operations are covert by nature; Drake had no need to explain the rationale behind his actions to them. And even if you beat him half to death, he'd never admit to his comrades that he'd spent a whole year mining.
While Grus and Peacock were both worrying about Drake, another female Navy soldier wearing headphones arrived, carrying a specially made Sniper Rifle.
"Senior Coby, are you okay? What happened to your chest?!"
"I'm fine, just ran into a bit of… very special trouble."
Navy Headquarters Lieutenant Commander Hibari calls Coby "senior" because Coby joined the Sword Squad earlier than she did. The two get along fairly well; the reason the Hundred Beasts pirates' gun barrels blossomed earlier was thanks to her.
Her weapon is a custom piece made by Vegapunk. The extremely special bullets inside have no lethality—their effect is to turn other gunpowder into flowers. It's one of Vegapunk's strange inventions from his travels, meant to eliminate war.
"That pink‑haired one… is a rookie?"
"Yeah, a disciple of Vice Admiral Garp. He came with another guy named Helmeppo, who's currently on the ship in charge of coordinating mission intel.
Coby, this is our captain. You can say you two know each other now."
"Yes sir, hello, Captain Drake."
Coby saluted Drake, then started recounting what Law had told him and began discussing their next move. Their mission was to rescue a certain well‑connected hostage.
Infiltrating Hive Island was originally an extremely dangerous job. Now that pirates were sharing the incoming fire for them, it actually worked out in their favor.
It's just that all the Sword Squad members made the same mistake: they cleared the ground, but never paid attention to the sky.
This has always been a chronic illness of the Navy. Besides the Golden Lion Flying Sky Pirates back then, no other pirate group would stay in the air for long. Even Kaidou only uses flight as a way to travel—when it comes to fighting, he still prefers his feet on solid ground.
After so many years, this habit is deeply ingrained. The Navy handbook has regulations about guarding against fish‑men from underwater, but no requirements for anti‑air defense.
Right now, inside the Mammoth's cabin, Alcremie isn't wandering around; it's clutching a controller and sitting in front of a Rotom Phone.
The Rotom Phone's screen happens to show Drake's location. As Alcremie presses a button on the controller, a photo is instantly saved.
Jack has indeed had someone keeping tabs on Drake's moves, only that "someone" isn't a person in the strict sense—it's Alcremie.
The controller in its hands is the control stick for a Rotom Drone.
Even without a Rotom inhabiting it, the Rotom Phone can link with the drone via the electromagnetic waves inside, allowing others to control the drone by watching the footage on the screen.
The drone isn't very big, and it's even painted with sky camouflage, constantly observing the situation ahead from mid‑air.
"Ha~"
Alcremie pressed the drone's auto‑return key; the surveillance operation was now over. The Navy would never salute a pirate, unless that pirate's identity was suspicious to begin with.
Drake never imagined that his cover would be blown by a drone piloted by an Alcremie, and that a newcomer would record such a crucial piece of evidence.
But this didn't affect anything on Hive Island. Even if they wanted to nab the mole, that would be dealt with later. And with Drake's combat ability, he's no threat to Jack at all right now.
Besides, Alcremie can't contact Jack, who left his Rotom Phone behind; it's only keeping the evidence safe.
While those Navy folks were busy rescuing hostages, Jack had already broken through to the central area of Hive Island. The massive skull‑shaped structure loomed before him, surrounded on all sides by pirates in full battle formation.
"Jack! We don't recall ever offending you lot, do we? If you leave this island right now, this great man can still let bygones be bygones!"
"What a joke. Do pirates need a reason to fight? If you insist on a reason, then someone paid to have your life."
"So there's nothing to talk about… Move in! A head worth 1,088,000,000—this daddy's taking it!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground beneath Jack's feet suddenly erupted. A chain of violent explosions kept detonating, smoke and dust instantly engulfing Jack. This whole plaza had long been packed with explosives by the pirates, all waiting for Jack to step in.
As they detonated those charges, the windows of the surrounding buildings were flung open. Rocket launchers, cannons, crossbows—every kind of attack all locked onto Jack in the center.
"Things have already kicked off over by Big Bro Jack! You runts, quit stalling and take the enemies' heads! First credit's ours!"
"Full assault! Don't let Sheepshead beat us to it!"
On both flanks, Ginrummy and Sheepshead simultaneously ordered their subordinates to speed up the offensive. Though the two had split their forces, not a single person was worried about Jack's condition. No matter how earth‑shaking the explosions sounded, they couldn't shake their faith in Jack.
And reality proved Sheepshead right. Once the smoke cleared, Jack patted his own shoulder. Though the clothes on his upper body had been blown to shreds, his body remained completely unscathed; only a few bits of bronze had chipped off.
"My turn, isn't it? This time I won't be missing."