Grand Voyage- Log 62

Log 62: Black Swallow Can't Suspect
And so the next several weeks went. The Marimos steadily worked their way through the jobs that Marshall had compiled for them, and in so doing quickly replenished their monetary funds. Pura began hanging out with them more and more, until she was practically a member of their crew, though no one had yet officially asked her to join...

“Hmmm...” Stormy murmured as she sat in the Shooting Star’s lounge, staring at a number of quick calculations she had drawn up.

“Something wrong?” Art asked, as he moved from the deck to the lounge, sipping from a mug of rum.

“I’m... not sure...” the doctor mused, staring even more intensely at the papers before her, “it’s about these jobs that we’ve been doing...”

“The jobs?” the Majin plopped down next to her, “what about them?”

“Something doesn’t seem right,” Stormy answered, “taking out the mountain troll, delivering packages to the village and not being able to see what’s inside them, clearing a large amount of razor-sharp coral on the far coast, et cetera. It just feels like we’re clearing a path for something.”

“And that something is...?” the first mate inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know...” Stormy rubbed her chin, “...I have no idea at all...”

“Uncle?” Pura called as she walked through the house. She had detected what she worried was a potential chink in Yamiryuu’s blade, and had decided to ask her uncle if he could find one as well.

But, with him nowhere in sight, she decided to check the one other place he could be, in his personal study. She slid open the door, and...

No one.

Marshall Rihawk was not in the building.

They called themselves the Haywire Pirates, and they were practically nobodies, at least, for the Grand Line. Their captain, Haywire himself, had a bounty of only 9,000,000 beli, and no one else in the crew even had a cent attached to their name. The only real crime they had committed after entering Paradise was an attempted raid on Pleasure Island a good few years ago, and that had been stopped by a local Marine chapter.

However, said Marine chapter had been called back towards Marineford following a minor incident a few years back, and the island’s security had become somewhat lax. To top it all off, they now had an inside man. Well, they had had him last time, but they had only learned of his assistance later. Now though, they were fully cooperating.

The door to Haywire’s cabin opened, and one of the practically nameless peons that made up his pitiful crew poked his head in. “Haywire-sama!” he said, “he’s here!”

Haywire was a tall and somewhat thin man, though he had a good bit of muscle to match. He had deeply tanned skin, and wore a large, furry cap with a yellow insignia on the front. He also wore a long leather coat, which was mostly black, except for yellow designs adorning it, with no visible pattern. He also wore black jeans and brown combat boots.

“Oh?” Haywire asked, his voice a deep basso, “let him in then.”

“We already did, sir.”

Haywire stepped out, and faced his contact. “Are we ready?” the captain asked.

“Of course,” the informant replied, his voice as smooth as a newly polished knife, “I managed to get some gullible rookies to clear out any possible obstacle. You can start moving your ships to shore, and, well... open fire when you’re ready.”

“Excellent,” Haywire chuckled, “this damn ‘raid’ has taken too long already. My men want to head further into the Grand Line.”

“Don’t fool yourself,” the informant replied, “you and your pathetic crew wouldn’t make it much farther anyways.”

“Gwahahahahaha!” Haywire laughed, reaching out to shake his informant’s hand, “damn right. Still, at least we’ll have a cozy place to settle down on.”

Marshall Rihawk took the hand offered to him. “Indeed you will.”

Thoom!

Thoom!

Thoom!

The townspeople screamed and ran, abandoning their homes as cannon fire landed on Pleasure Island, utterly destroying any structure the citizens had risen. As they scrambled towards the front of the island, blundering through the forest, a single cry rose out from the masses.

“PIRATES ARE ATTACKING!”

~End of Log~

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