Chapter 500: The Envious Law, Ship Spirits and All That...

Chapter 500: Chapter 500: The Envious Law, Ship Spirits and All That...

Looking at the bruised and swollen Luffy, everyone on the Thousand Sunny fell silent.

"Was the enemy’s strength that great?" Sanji asked in surprise.

To be able to beat Luffy into this state, did it mean the opponent was someone with a bounty no lower than Luffy’s?

"Not exactly." Meiser glanced at Luffy and said, "I’m the one who beat him up."

"This kid was just asking for it, so I gave him a lesson."

Sanji: ...

Just what did Luffy do to provoke Meiser enough to give him a beating?

Forget it. Although he didn’t know what happened, it was good enough that they got Caesar back.

Law, who had witnessed the entire process, wore a complicated expression.

He truly understood the Straw Hat Pirates less and less.

Not only was this sunglasses-wearing fellow’s strength ridiculously high, but he actually possessed Conqueror’s Haki!

And most importantly... Straw Hat-ya didn’t even dare to resist much while being beaten!

Is this guy really the captain?

Looking at the battered Luffy, Law fell into deep thought.

"Damn it, why wasn’t it Joker who sent people to save me..." Caesar said with tears streaming down his face.

Now he was back in the hands of these demons!

Dammit... dammit!

"You might as well give up on that idea." Coming back to his senses, Law glanced at Caesar and said, "I will never allow Doflamingo to rescue you."

After a slight pause, Law continued, "Also... you’d better behave yourself, or else..."

At this point, Law took out Caesar’s heart and gestured slightly toward him.

Seeing this, Caesar’s face immediately turned pale.

"Damn it, my heart!"

Law was very satisfied with Caesar’s reaction. With a cold snort, he put the heart away.

Caesar lowered his head as if resigned to his fate, saying nothing more.

Without his heart, he was like a fish on a chopping block, completely incapable of resistance.

Thinking of this, Caesar let out a silent sigh.

When would these days ever end?

"Hey, Merry."

Meiser turned to look at Merry, who was floating in mid-air, and said, "Come with me for a bit."

"What are we going to do?"

Merry floated over to Meiser’s side with a look of confusion, clearly unable to guess what he wanted her for.

"I plan to collect that big ship down there." Meiser pointed to the giant pirate ship below that hadn’t suffered much damage. "It has a huge aquarium inside; it’s definitely worth a lot of money."

Hearing Meiser’s words, Nami zipped to his side, her expression excited. "Merry can collect that?"

If that were the case, selling that ship could fetch at least a hundred million Berries, right?

That’s pure cash!

"Hey, Nami."

Meiser looked at Nami speechlessly. "I’m the one who spotted this."

"It’s all the same, all the same."

Nami waved it off dismissively, then looked at Merry with a beaming smile. "Merry, can you put this ship away?"

Merry tilted her head, thinking for a moment, then said, "I should be able to."

Although she hadn’t tried to collect a pirate ship this massive before, she had used the Sealing Scroll to collect pirate-related items before.

So, Merry felt it shouldn’t be a problem.

"Alright, let’s go. Ignore this money-grubber," Meiser said, rolling his eyes at Nami.

Nami didn’t care at all.

What’s wrong with being a money-grubber?

Only money-grubbers live happily!

Seeing that Nami had nothing more to say, Merry led Meiser as they flew downward.

"What about that enemy?" Merry asked curiously.

"Ah, I already threw him into the sea," Meiser replied.

When saying goodbye to the Kung Fu Dugongs and the others, he had conveniently snapped the neck of that Pet-Pet Fruit bird-person and tossed him into the ocean.

Afterward, the few of them returned to the top of the ship and used Merry’s ability to return to their own pirate ship.

Merry nodded, then focused her gaze on the pirate ship below. "I wonder if my scroll can fit this ship inside."

"That scroll of yours was specially crafted by me, so there shouldn’t be any problem."

While speaking, Meiser scanned the pirate ship below, then pointed to a recessed area. "Let’s go. That spot will block their line of sight."

If Merry’s Sealing Technique couldn’t store such a massive pirate ship, he would have to step in.

Therefore, he couldn’t let that guy Law see.

Understanding Meiser’s meaning, Merry immediately used her ability to transport them there.

Then, she took out her specially-made giant Scroll.

"Let’s begin."

"Right!"

Merry nodded and activated the Sealing Technique without hesitation.

In the next instant...

Poof!

A massive cloud of white smoke erupted, completely covering the area.

When the smoke cleared, the giant pirate ship was gone.

Seeing Merry in mid-air tucking the scroll away, Law said in shock, "Merry-ya can actually collect such a massive pirate ship?"

This was simply staggering!

What exactly was the limit of her Sealing Technique’s capacity?

"Of course." Luffy tilted his head up proudly. "Merry is very amazing!"

Although he hadn’t been with Merry during those two years, he had heard about her progress from Meiser.

The current Merry was truly impressive!

Law fell silent upon hearing this, and that feeling of envy surfaced in his heart once again.

If possible, he also wanted a Ship Spirit partner who could store pirate ships away.

Looking at Merry as she returned to the pirate ship with Meiser, Law let out a silent sigh.

"There shouldn’t be much time to rest now." Meiser turned to look at the horizon, which was beginning to lighten. "Dawn is breaking."

Although they didn’t know the exact time, the fact that the sun was about to rise meant it was morning.

The others understood this as well and naturally gave up on the idea of going back for a nap.

Soon, under Merry’s control, the pirate ship returned to the surface and continued toward their target area.

Just then, a News Bird carrying the morning edition appeared above the Thousand Sunny.

Caw!

Caw!

"A News Bird is here!" Law shouted. "Hey, give us a paper!"

Hearing Law’s call, the News Bird quickly descended onto the Thousand Sunny, took a newspaper from its pouch, and handed it to him.

Having secured the paper, Law didn’t waste any time and immediately turned to head toward the deck, intending to spread the paper out for everyone to see.

However, the News Bird, not having received its Berries, was not pleased.

Caw!

Caw!

"Law," Chopper spoke up. "He says you haven’t paid yet."

Law, who was feeling a bit impatient, blinked, then remembered he hadn’t paid.

Merry smiled, turned around, and took a hundred-Berry coin from her pocket. "Here you go."

Caw!

The News Bird’s mood clearly improved upon getting the money. It gave Merry a friendly nod before flapping its wings and departing.

Merry smiled and waved at the News Bird, while asking Chopper, "Chopper, what did he just say?"

"He said... thank you for your generosity, human girl worth a hundred Berries."

As soon as those words were uttered, Merry’s movements froze.

Meiser: ...

Looking at the moisture welling up in Merry’s eyes, Meiser sighed helplessly.

Why was Chopper so blunt...

"A human girl worth a hundred Berries."

Merry burst into tears. How could her life be so tragic?

Seeing this, Chopper blinked. "Did I say something wrong again?"

"But even I’m only 50 Be—"

At that point, Chopper suddenly stopped, and then he too burst into tears.

Perona approached with pity, pulling the two little ones into her arms to comfort them.

After a good deal of consoling, the two little ones were finally calmed down.

"Don’t worry, your bounties will definitely go up in the future," Perona comforted them.

"Mm!" The two little ones nodded, their emotions stabilizing.

The rest of the Straw Hat Crew breathed a sigh of relief, then turned their attention to Law.

"How is it?"

"He did exactly as I requested," Law said, his eyes narrowing.

The newspaper clearly stated that Doflamingo had resigned from the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea.

The others gathered around, and Usopp said in shock, "He actually resigned from the Warlords?"

That was truly surprising!

"Not only that," Sanji added. "He also resigned as... the King of Dressrosa?"

"This guy was actually a king before?"

Brook looked at the paper in shock, clearly not having expected Doflamingo to have such a status.

Didn’t that mean this man was the same type of pirate as the Pirate Empress?!

Is it trendy for kings to become pirates nowadays?

"A king, huh..." Luffy wrinkled his face. "Does that mean that country is a Bird-person Kingdom?"

If the king was a bird-person, the citizens must be bird-people too.

"What kind of weird theory is that?" Meiser said speechlessly.

Just because the king is a bird-person doesn’t mean the whole country is...

Wait, Doflamingo isn’t a bird-person anyway!

"It seems things are progressing smoothly," Nami said with a smile.

"But the fact that it’s going so smoothly is actually a bit unsettling," Franky frowned.

The development was unfolding exactly as they had imagined, but was that really the case?

For some reason, he felt something wasn’t quite right.

"It’s fine, this is good," Law said, the corners of his mouth turning up. "This way our plan can proceed."

Although he didn’t know what kind of psychological journey Doflamingo had gone through during the night, but...

The man truly had no choice!

"Just you wait, Doflamingo!" Law thought to himself. "You’ll soon know what hell feels like!"

As if he had thought of something, Law’s smile grew even wider.

"That’s good then."

Luffy nodded, then pointed to some information in the paper. "But why are we in the paper too?"

"Us?"

Usopp blinked, then asked in surprise, "Where?"

"Right here."

Luffy pointed to the section about their alliance. "Right here."

Everyone looked where Luffy was pointing and noticed the massive headline.

"Royal Seven Warlord Trafalgar Law and the Straw Hat Crew form an unprecedented alliance," Nami said in shock. "Has the news of our alliance been exposed this quickly?"

"Don’t forget those Marines," Meiser explained. "Also, Caesar was conducting a public experiment via live broadcast at the time, so it’s normal for them to guess we’ve allied."

Meiser didn’t find it strange that this had been discovered, given that the events had been broadcast live.

It was just that the other side didn’t know the true purpose of their alliance yet.

"I suppose that’s true," Nami agreed.

That made sense.

"But what does it mean that the World Government’s judgment on Law is ’unclear’?"

Staring at those words, a trace of doubt appeared in Nami’s eyes.

Thinking this, Nami voiced her confusion.

"Perhaps it’s because... the World Government can’t confirm yet if Law has truly resigned from his position as a Warlord," Meiser speculated.

This time, the others didn’t say anything more but nodded in agreement with Meiser’s thought.

After all... they couldn’t think of any other possibilities.

"There’s more here." Usopp pointed to the information below. "Magician Hawkins and Apoo have also formed an alliance."

"The Hawkins Pirates and the On Air Pirates, huh." Law narrowed his eyes at the two crews, his thoughts unknown.

Franky asked curiously, "Could it be that they, like us, formed an alliance to deal with one of the Four Emperors?"

According to Law, allying was the best choice for dealing with a Four Emperor, so it was possible others had allied for the same reason.

"They’ve allied, have they?"

Luffy said with interest, "Then which target did they choose?"

If they also chose Kaido, then both sides might end up meeting in the Land of Wano.

"That’s unknown," Usopp said, shaking his head. "The paper doesn’t say."

"How could something like that be written in the paper?" Perona interjected.

Forming an alliance to take down a Four Emperor is a secret; how could it be exposed in advance?

Doing so would likely provoke a Four Emperor prematurely!

"Let’s not worry about others," Law said calmly. "We continue with our operation plan."

"Keep your focus on Doflamingo for now."

He didn’t care what Apoo and Hawkins were thinking; those guys couldn’t possibly affect their current plan.

As for whether they would meet in the Land of Wano?

If those guys really dared to interfere, he wouldn’t mind helping the Straw Hat Crew wipe them out!

The members of the Straw Hat Crew also shifted their gaze away from Hawkins and the others.

"Judging by Doflamingo’s reaction, Caesar is extremely important to him." Meiser crossed his arms and looked at Law. "Your operation plan has indeed been effective."

Law nodded, then said, "Now you know how heavy yesterday’s deal was for Doflamingo."

"We only snatched Caesar away, yet that man abandoned the throne he held for ten years overnight!"

"At the same time... he also gave up the Warlord privilege of legal plunder!"

"And this is Doflamingo’s reaction to reclaim Caesar!"

"Now, we can proceed to the next step of the operation!"

By the end, a sharp glint flashed in Law’s eyes, and his mouth began to curl upward involuntarily.

Doflamingo, you’re finished!