"Anyone who falls behind! Anyone who screams anything besides 'Ah'! I'll fry you into charcoal!!"
Rehn was genuinely panicking.
They'd wasted three minutes.
A full three minutes.
His Lord divine vacation had a progress bar.
Any lag was his failure.
Sanji walked at the back, cigarette in his mouth, hands in his pockets. He watched the craftsmen jump and stumble under electric shocks and shook his head.
He didn't pity them at all.
'Idiots… hurry up, coat the ship… hurry up and dive… my mermaid lady…'
Among the "sheep," the ragged old man calling himself Ray still trailed behind at an unhurried pace, gulping wine while studying the ship.
'What a vessel.'
'The hull seemed made from Adam Wood… no… something even tougher.
'Since when did G-5 become so… wealthy?'
'And that 16-year-old lightning kid… Rehn, was it?'
'An unbelievable monster.
'That power… that fanatic devotion to the Haiiroyo…'
Rayleigh's gaze finally rested on the boy driving the craftsmen forward.
'Haiiroyo… just what kind of person are you?'
"Get on board!!"
Rehn leapt onto the deck first, then roughly grabbed and tossed the craftsmen aboard one by one.
Aboard the Nap-One, Upper Deck
When the foreman and the dozen craftsmen staggered up and finally saw the deck…
They turned to stone.
Thud… thud thud…
Knees buckled. Bodies collapsed.
"Ah… ah… ah…"
The foreman pointed at the leisure deck area, lips trembling, unable to speak.
There-
A man in a yellow-and-white striped suit, wearing amber sunglasses and sitting cross-legged, calmly sipped tea while looking at them.
"Oh my guests, you've arrived~?"
One Marine's highest combat power.
The user of the Pika Pika no Mi.
Marine Admiral, Kizaru, Borsalino.
Their brains shut down instantly.
'Ki… Ki… Kizaru?!'
'Why… why is an Marine Admiral drinking tea here?!'
But it wasn't over.
Their eyes moved to the lounge chair beside him.
Renzo lay there wrapped in a thick blanket, back turned to them… apparently asleep. Nearby, a composed, bespectacled Monet softly read something to him.
"Lord Renzo!" Rehn ran over and stood at attention, almost crying.
"Your subordinate has failed!! We… encountered some 'noise sources' on the way… wasted… three minutes!!"
"I deserve death! Please punish me!!"
He dropped to his knees.
The blanket shifted.
"…Noisy."
Renzo slowly turned over and lowered his sleep mask, revealing sleepy gray eyes filled with morning irritation.
"…The craftsmen… here?"
"Y-Yes!!" the foreman shouted while crawling forward.
Renzo's gaze swept across them.
When G-5's commander, Admiral Haiiroyo, and Admiral Kizaru, two of the Marines' greatest powers… appeared together on a single ship… and looked at them with expressions clearly saying you disturbed my vacation…
The craftsmen broke down.
"Tw-Two Admirals?!!"
"Sa-Save us!!"
The terrified foreman rolled his eyes back and fainted.
"…"
"…Tch." Renzo clicked his tongue. "Rehn, wake him up. Unconscious people take up more space."
"Yes!"
Within the craftsmen stood one person still upright:
"Dark King" Rayleigh.
Even he was stunned.
His wine bottle froze mid-air.
'You've got to be kidding…'
His lenses reflected Kizaru's smirking face and Renzo's annoyed one.
'Kizaru… and Haiiroyo…'
'Two monsters of the Marine…'
'Vacationing together?!'
Rayleigh had sailed the seas for decades, yet this was the most surreal scene of his life.
Then.
"Maaaa~"
Kizaru's drawn-out voice sounded. His gaze passed the craftsmen and stopped on the only man still standing, the shabby old drunk.
His smile stiffened for 0.1 seconds.
His glasses slid slightly, revealing suddenly sharp eyes.
"Oh my… what a rare guest~."
Rayleigh's heart tightened.
'Recognized?!'
'Of course… it was Kizaru.'
Just as Kizaru was about to say something significant, Renzo spoke lazily.
He was also looking at Rayleigh, calmly, not surprised. More like ah, so it's you.
He had recognized him, too.
"You," Renzo pointed, "you're 'Ray,' right?"
Rayleigh paused, then nodded.
"…Y-yes… I'm Ray… short on drinking money…"
Renzo nodded.
"I don't care if you're Ray or Way," he said, pulling his eye mask back down and lying back. "I only care whether my ship can dive two hours and forty minutes from now."
Silence.
Kizaru froze briefly… then understood.
He chuckled and leaned back.
"Hmm, I see~."
He closed his eyes as well.
Arresting the Dark King Rayleigh…
Just thinking about it sounded exhausting.
Sleeping and tea… far more comfortable.
Rayleigh understood, too.
He looked at the two Marine top powers instantly entering "vacation mode," and his mouth twitched.
'One… too lazy to act.'
'The other… too lazy to speak.'
They just… ignored the Pirate King's right-hand man… and treated him like a ship-coating worker?
Rayleigh sighed, then smiled helplessly and drank again.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!"
Rehn didn't care about their silent understanding. He cared only about time.
"You! Start coating immediately!"
"The boss fainted? Then YOU!" he pointed at Rayleigh
You look oldest! You're in charge!"
"…Huh?"
"One hour! No, less than an hour! Finish coating the ship! If not, I'll throw all of you to the Sea Kings!"
"One hour?!" the craftsmen wailed.
"…Fine. One hour then," Rayleigh suddenly said.
He rolled up his sleeves and tucked the bottle into his belt.
"Since I'm getting paid several times the wage… I should work."
The Dark King Rayleigh, Pirate King's right hand and legendary coating craftsman, under the gaze of Renzo and Kizaru…
…began his part-time job.
An hour later.
Under Rayleigh's professional direction and Rehn's electrical "encouragement," the craftsmen unleashed unprecedented efficiency.
The massive hull of the Nap-One became perfectly wrapped in a flawless, crystal-clear Yarukiman mangrove resin bubble.
"Admiral Haiiroyo… A-Admiral Kizaru…" the foreman trembled, "i-it's finished…"
"Mm."
Renzo extended a hand from the blanket.
Monet immediately handed the foreman a heavy suitcase filled with Beli.
"Five times the wage. Not a coin missing."
"And," Renzo added, "this hush money."
Another small box, gold bars.
After all… they'd witnessed two Admirals on vacation.
The craftsmen's fear was instantly replaced by money-filled eyes.
"Thank you, sir! We saw nothing! We were never on this ship!"
"Good."
Renzo waved. "Rehn."
"Yes!"
Rehn grabbed them like chickens and tossed them, Rayleigh included, back onto the shore.
The Nap-One slowly departed GR-1.
On the dock, Rayleigh watched the white flagship while holding his ten-times pay and a gold piece.
"What a strange bunch."
He smiled and headed toward the tavern at GR-13.
'Haiiroyo… and that lightning kid…'
'This sea is becoming troublesome again.'
Inside the Flagship, Captain's Cabin
"Monet, dive."
"Yes, Lord Renzo."
"Sanji…"
"Here!!"
"…No screaming."
"MERMAID LADY!!!"
"…"
The flagship descended, bursting through Sabaody's bubble into the dark deep sea.
"Oh my, finally quiet," Kizaru said while watching outside. "That old 'Ray'… excellent craftsmanship~."
"Yeah," Renzo yawned. "He is the Dark King. A professional."
"So you recognized him from the start~."
"…Too noisy. I'm sleeping."
The Nap-One continued its calm descent into the deep ocean, toward the paradise 10,000 meters below.
Fish-Man Island.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu