stonecrandall Chapter 105 Reorganizing the Fleet and Big News
Chapter 105 Reorganizing the Fleet and Big News
Chapter 105 Reorganizing the Fleet and Big News
Outside Thor Island, in mid-air.
The Ark Maxim floated silently above the clouds, its hull surrounded by crackling arcs of electricity.
Enel stood at the bow of the ship, almost dropping the golden scepter in his hand.
His pupils suddenly contracted.
"How is this possible..."
'
As the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he is the embodiment of lightning. Controlling lightning is as easy as breathing for him; when a bolt of lightning strikes, he can not only absorb it without being harmed, but also convert it into his own power.
But Enel saw those two punches clearly. When Norton threw his first punch, a gash was torn in the thundercloud, but it quickly closed up.
Enel was thinking at the time, "That's all there is to it. He can do this much too."
But the second punch—
When those two punches were thrown at the same time, Enel felt his heart skip a beat.
That power was terrifying. It wasn't the power of lightning, but a pure, brute, and irrational physical force.
Wherever the force of the punch passed, the clouds were shattered, not torn apart, but broken apart completely and irreversibly, like a piece of glass being hit by a hammer.
Enel didn't know how many years those thunderclouds had existed.
But he knew that if he were in that situation, even if he could use lightning to disperse the clouds, he definitely couldn't do it so thoroughly. And—
He looked up at the sky, which had now completely cleared up.
The sun was blazing, and the sky was cloudless.
There wasn't a trace of thundercloud left.
That guy...
'
Enel muttered to himself, gripping the golden scepter in his hand even tighter.
He recalled how he had lost to Norton.
The fleet slowly sailed into the port of Thor Island.
Speaking of which, the port on this island is quite interesting to build.
Above the dock, rows of wooden sheds were erected, their roofs densely covered with metal spikes, clearly for lightning protection.
The pier's boardwalk was also covered with some kind of insulating material, which felt soft underfoot, somewhat like rubber.
The people on the island had already gathered at the pier to wait.
The leader was an old man with gray hair, dressed in simple linen clothes, and holding an umbrella that could ward off lightning.
Although there was no more thunder in the sky, decades-old habits can't be changed overnight.
Behind him stood dozens of islanders, men, women, and children, all with expressions of shock and fear on their faces.
Norton jumped off the ship and landed on the dock.
When the old man saw him, he instinctively took a step back and raised his umbrella slightly. But he quickly realized that this action was pointless and awkwardly lowered the umbrella.
"This, sir..."
'
The old man's tongue was a little tied.
He'd lived most of his life, and this was the first time he'd ever seen someone shatter thunderclouds with their bare fists. What kind of monster was that?
Norton waved his hand.
"Don't be afraid. We're just here to resupply; we'll leave in a few days."
The old man paused for a moment, then nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, sir, please do as you please. If there's anything needed on the island, just let us know, and we'll do our best."
"No need," Norton interrupted him. "Just normal transactions. Fresh water and food, buy at market prices. Your men should do what they're supposed to do; don't worry about us."
The old man paused for a moment, then the fear on his face was gradually replaced by a complex expression.
He had lived most of his life and seen his fair share of pirates. Those pirates were all vicious and ruthless; they would come to the island and act arrogantly, eating and taking for free as a matter of course, and if they were unhappy, they would even kill and set fires.
But the monster in front of us, which can shatter thunderclouds with its fists, is actually the most reasonable.
"Yes, yes." The old man bowed deeply. "Thank you, sir."
Norton ignored him and turned to look at the fleet of ships that were gradually docking.
Fifty-four ships, more than five thousand people.
Although we rested for a few days on Fishman Island, to be honest, the management of the fleet has been a bit chaotic.
The pirate crews that joined us each had their own captains and their own habits. They were fine when nothing happened, but once something did happen, it was a real problem.
The conflict in Fishman Street was a lesson learned.
If it weren't for Akin's quick reaction and Norton's ability to control the situation, the incident could have escalated to the point where more than three people might have died.
It's time for some cleanup.
Two hours later, in the conference room of the White Pearl, Norton had gathered everyone together.
.
The round table was packed with people, and Chloe stood next to Norton, holding a notebook, ready to take notes at any moment.
"I called you here today because I have something to say to you."
Norton leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. "The fleet is getting too big and chaotic now; this can't go on."
No one spoke; they all waited for him to continue.
"I plan to reorganize it."
Norton said, "We'll follow the model of the Whitebeard Pirates, dividing them into several divisions. Each division will have a captain and a vice-captain, each in charge of their own ship and crew."
Everyone here has heard of the Whitebeard Pirates' structure. It's the most stable pirate crew organization, and it hasn't had any major problems for decades.
"How exactly will it be divided?" Moria asked, his tone tinged with interest.
Norton nodded to Chloe. Chloe opened her notebook and began to read.
"The First Division, with Zoro as captain and Buggy as vice-captain. It commands the former Buggy Pirates, the former Black Cat Pirates, and various small and medium-sized pirate crews that defected from Sabaody Archipelago."
Bucky paused for a moment when he heard his name called, then a smug look spread across his face. "Captain, sounds pretty good." But he soon realized a problem.
"Wait, Zoro's the captain, and I'm the vice-captain?"
"Is there a problem?"
"N-nothing..." Bucky shrank back, not daring to ask any further questions.
Zoro didn't show much expression, he just nodded slightly.
"Second Division, Captain Moria, Vice-Captain Enel. It commands the pirate crews formerly belonging to Thriller Bark, Ark Maxim, and those captured in Mock Town."
Moria laughed.
"Interesting. Should I move to live on that flying ship?"
"Whatever you like," Norton said.
Enel sat in the chair, his expression somewhat complicated.
He was the vice-captain, and Moria was the captain—to be honest, he wasn't entirely convinced. But the lingering force of those two punches still made him too afraid to say anything.
"The Third Division, with Captain Arkin and Vice-Captain Palu, is in charge of some of the ships formerly belonging to the Krieg Pirates."
Akin nodded without saying a word. Paru sat beside him, a simple, honest smile on his face.
"The Fourth Division, Captain El, Vice-Captain Dalton. They are in charge of the Evanki people who followed Granfor."
""
El straightened his back and answered loudly, "Yes!"
Dalton nodded, his expression calm.
"Fifth Division, Captain Mr. 1, Vice-Captain Paula. Commands the remaining ships of the former Krieg Pirates."
Mr. 1 remained silent. Paula sat next to him and winked at Norton.
Norton ignored her.
"There are also a few special positions," Kuro continued. "Sasuke serves as a close attendant ninja, responsible for supervising the various divisions on behalf of the admiral."
Sanosuke stood behind Norton and nodded to the crowd.
Come to think of it, this position is quite suitable for him. Although this guy has had some bad luck, he is loyal enough to Norton.
"Nami serves as the navigator, commanding all the navigators on board. She also concurrently serves as the treasurer, managing the fleet's finances."
Nami was taken aback: "You're in charge of the finances too?"
"Is there a problem?"
"N-no..." Nami quickly shook her head, but in her heart she was already thinking—a treasurer, huh? Maybe she could secretly save some money for herself in the future?
Although she had always managed the money on the White Pearl, it was now the wealth of the entire pirate crew.
Norton seemed to read her mind and added a casual remark.
"I will have Chloe check the accounts regularly."
Nami's smile froze.
"Funing served as the chief shipwright, directing all the shipwrights."
Fu Ning nodded, her expression calm.
After the assignments were made, the room was quiet for a few seconds.
Moriah suddenly burst into laughter.
"Interesting. Now we can be considered a proper great pirate crew."
Norton didn't reply, but turned to look at the person in the corner who hadn't said a word.
Roy.
This intelligence officer, recruited in Granville, is usually low-profile, but very reliable.
"Roy."
"exist."
"Contact Morgans; there's a business deal we want to do with him."
Roy nodded and pulled a small Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
The Den Den Mushi connected quickly.
"Moses, Moses—this is the World Economic News Agency, I'm the editor-in-chief, Morgans. Who is this?"
A sharp, excited voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, and the Mushi's face transformed into that of a bird with curly feathers and a long beak.
"It's me, Roy."
"Oh—Roy!" Morgans' voice grew even more excited. "You guys have been making quite a stir in Sabaody lately, haven't you? I've heard the news. So, do you have some big news to share with me?"
Roy glanced at Norton, and seeing Norton nod, he continued.
"There are two pieces of news. First, we've just arrived at Thor's Isle."
"Thunder Island?" Morgans' voice held a hint of doubt. "That island that's always thundering? What are you going there for? That place isn't safe."
"Thunder Island won't be thundering forever anymore."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
"What do you mean?"
"Admiral Norton just dispersed the thunderclouds over Thunder Isle," Roy said calmly. "Now the sky above Thunder Isle is cloudless and the sun is shining brightly."
The silence on the other end of the Den Den Mushi lasted even longer.
Then-
"W-What did you say?!" Morgans' voice suddenly rose, so sharp it almost pierced eardrums. "You dispersed the thunderclouds?!"
"Do you need me to repeat that?"
"No, no, no need! I heard it clearly!"
Morgans' voice was filled with an almost frenzied excitement, "My God, my God, my God, this is huge news! Absolutely huge news!"
"Thor's Isle has existed for countless years, and no one has ever been able to change its climate, yet Admiral Norton went there and dispersed the thunderclouds—if this news gets out, the entire New World will be in an uproar!"
As one of the three islands that need to be chosen to land on after entering the New World, almost all pirates in the New World know how terrible Raijin Island is.
After Roy and the others calmed down a bit, they continued.
"Second message. We need the locations and permanent markers for the most resource-rich islands in the New World."
"That's easy!"
Morgans replied quickly, "I happen to have information on that."
"
"What specific location and pointer are needed for trading?"
"It's simple, trade the news." Morgans' voice carried the shrewdness characteristic of a businessman. "The Thunder Isle news is big enough; I can offer you permanent markers for three resource islands. How about that, fair enough?"
Roy looked at Norton.
Norton nodded.
"Deal," Roy said.
"Great!" Morgans exclaimed happily. "I'll have the pointer prepared right away, and it'll be delivered to you first thing tomorrow morning. As for the news—I'll start writing it now! The headline will be: 'The Silver-Haired Demon Descends on the New World, Scattering the Millennia-Old Thunderclouds of Thunder Island with a Single Punch!' Pretty explosive, right?"
Norton frowned slightly when he heard the term "silver-haired devil," but said nothing.
"There's one more thing," Roy said.
"Speaking."
"Admiral Norton asked me to tell you—this message should be released in a high-profile manner."
Morgans paused for a moment.
"A high-profile release?"
"Yes. We need to let the whole New World know that the Norton Pirates have arrived."
After the phone call ended, the captain's cabin fell silent again.
Moriah chuckled.
"This is going to be interesting. I wonder what kind of expressions those old guys who have been in the New World for decades will have when they suddenly hear that a ruthless person who can scatter thunderclouds has arrived."
Nami was a little worried.
"Wouldn't it be bad to be too high-profile? What if those notorious pirates target us?"
Norton waved his hand.
"So what if they've got their eye on us? We're bound to clash sooner or later anyway."
He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the sky outside, which had cleared up.
To be honest, before entering the New World, he had considered whether to keep a low profile and develop slowly. But after what happened on Fishman Island, he changed his mind.
What's the point of being low-key?
If you keep a low profile, thugs will dare to bully you. If you keep a low profile, pirates will dare to underestimate you. If you keep a low profile, there will always be people on this ocean who dare to cause you trouble.
Why not be more high-profile?
Let everyone know—the Norton Pirates have arrived.
As for those who were dissatisfied, "We just need a few to establish our authority," Norton muttered to himself.
Morgans' newspaper arrived as promised early the next morning.
No, it shouldn't be called "delivered," it should be called "sprinkled down from all directions."
Just as dawn was breaking, several newsbirds flew over Thor Island and dropped bundles of newspapers down.
The newspapers fell like snowflakes, covering the entire harbor, the decks of every ship, and even drifting into the captain's cabin windows.
Norton picked up a copy and glanced at the front page.
[The silver-haired demon descends upon the new world! He shatters the millennia-old thunderclouds of Thunder God Island with a single punch!]
Below the title is a huge photo—the moment Norton throws both fists at the thundercloud.
The shot was excellent, with a tricky angle and perfect lighting, capturing the power of that moment perfectly. I wonder where Morgans got this photo from.
Norton continued reading, and the main text described in detail the changes on Raijin Island, while also reviewing the "glorious deeds" of the Norton Pirates as they fought their way from the East Blue to the New World—the liberation of slaves in Sabaody Archipelago, the capture of Moria, the capture of Crocodile, and the suppression of Jinbe on Fishman Island. Each event was described vividly.
Finally, there's a thought-provoking conclusion: "With the Norton Pirates' high-profile entry into the New World, this already turbulent sea is bound to undergo a new upheaval. How will the veteran pirates who have been entrenched in the New World for many years deal with this formidable new force? This newspaper will continue to follow this story."
After Norton finished reading, he handed the newspaper to Crowe.
"How is it?"
Chloe read it carefully and adjusted her glasses.
"Morgans is quite the bird. Once this news breaks, the whole new world will know we exist."
"That's exactly the effect I wanted."