One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 13 When Giant Wings Descend from the Sky to the Forest!

“The G-51 branch in Port Master was attacked three days ago. Branch Colonel Astor Campbell was killed, as was Mantal Das, the royal steward of the Kingdom of Nismair.”

"Captain Loy Amos, who was in custody in the nearby waters, rushed back to Masterport and led the branch marines to search for the attackers overnight, but so far they have not found any."

"Furthermore, according to the World Government's assessment, there is a possibility that Chief Administrator Mantal Das might expose the location of the Celestial Gold, so he will send ships to move the Celestial Gold from Arahit Island."

In the center of Arahite Island, in the Arahite Great Forest.

A navy man with a cigar in his mouth is lying on a deck chair, basking in the sunlight filtering through the ancient, massive trees.

A large silver katana leaned against the recliner.

The one reading the intelligence report at that moment was one of his subordinates standing in front of him.

"leave."

At that moment, the navy officer, who was smoking a cigar, spoke in a deep voice.

"Yes, Brigadier General Renly."

The subordinate lieutenant colonel nodded: "We need to leave, but before that, you need to contact the warships that are transporting the celestial gold and confirm the evacuation time."

But before he could finish speaking, he saw the brigadier general glare at him with annoyance: "Idiot, I want you to leave that place."

"You're completely blocking my sunlight, can't you see?"

The lieutenant colonel was taken aback upon hearing this.

He then noticed that holding the intelligence in his hands had indeed blocked the sunlight—mainly because sunlight was precious in the Arathi Forest, where the trees were often over fifty meters tall.

The lieutenant colonel hurriedly left his position, repeatedly saying with an embarrassed smile, "Sorry, Brigadier General, I wasn't paying attention."

"Be more careful next time—in my hometown, blocking people from sunbathing is a serious crime."

Brigadier General Lanley snorted coldly.

"."

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant colonel thought to himself, 'What kind of godforsaken place would have such a rule?' while obediently nodding in agreement.

However, Brigadier General Lanley then let out a cold snort.

"As for transferring the Heavenly Gold, it's just a bunch of cowards!"

The brigadier scoffed, clearly displeased with the World Government's assessment.

He turned his head and saw the huge building hidden in the forest behind him.

"This golden house is an excellent stronghold located in the center of Arahit Island, hidden by a great forest."

"There are four bases guarding the four sides of the island's coastline, and ordinary ships are strictly prohibited from passing through the nearby waters. It is also very close to the calm zone, so there are large whirlpools in the sea near the island that are big enough to swallow up even large ships."

"Who could possibly breach a place like this? Besides, the time to transport the celestial gold is less than a month away. To move it now? Have the people above lost their minds?"

He complained like that.

"But this is an order, Brigadier General."

"Moreover, the message was personally delivered by Lieutenant General Huoshaoshan."

At this point, the lieutenant colonel could only appeal to his emotions and reason with him.

He knew very well that the Brigadier General Lanley in front of him was a rising star in the Navy, and at only thirty-five years old, he already held the rank of Brigadier General.

He has mastered both types of Haki and is proficient in swordsmanship. He is incredibly strong and is considered almost certain to be promoted to Vice Admiral within a few years.

The only person who could persuade or even command him was his mentor, Vice Admiral "Fire Mountain," a veteran admiral from the Navy Headquarters.

It's strange, really—the 'Fire Mountain' Lieutenant General, known for his gentle yet powerful nature, had a disciple who was surprisingly unruly.

And as expected.

Upon hearing that the order came personally from Lieutenant General 'Fire Mountain', Lan Li frowned.

then
"You need to contact the warships, right? Bring me a Den Den Mushi."

He reluctantly raised his hand.

So, the lieutenant colonel thought to himself, 'It really worked,' and quickly picked up the Den Den Mushi.

"Commodore, there are five warships coming to transfer the Celestial Gold. You can contact them individually using this Den Den Mushi—this is a special Den Den Mushi made by the World Government, which can communicate via different channels and even has a voicemail function. There's already a message."

As he said this, he noticed that the Den Den Mushi had started talking.

“Commodore, this is the ‘transfer ship’ that’s here to move the Sky Gold—but we’ve encountered some really strong winds on the way, so the journey might be delayed by about half a day. We’ll be entering the island from the base port on the south side.”

"Beep, the above message has been active for three hours."

The Den Den Mushi briefly announced the message and the time it had been there.

Commodore Lannister frowned.

"Commander, please don't be angry. When sailing at sea, it's inevitable to encounter storms and delays."

Seeing this, the lieutenant colonel thought the brigadier general was angry again, and quickly comforted him, "Besides, it's only been three days since the attack on Masterport—the fastest ship from Masterport to here takes at least a week, so there's no need to rush the transfer of the celestial gold."

But he was interrupted halfway through his sentence by Brigadier General Renly's stern shout.

"Idiot! Something's wrong!"

As he said this, Lanley sat up straight in the recliner.

He was a perceptive man, and by this time he had already realized that something was wrong.

"This is Arahit Island, an island near the doldrums. The surrounding waters may not experience strong winds even once a year."

He looked at the lieutenant colonel: "Contact the South Base and ascertain the weather conditions in the southern sea area!"

"Yes Yes!"

The lieutenant colonel immediately saluted and hurriedly took out a Den Den Mushi (a type of electric telephone) to make a call.

"Bulubulu!" "Bulubulu!" "Bulubulu!"

The call of the Den Den Mushi echoed through the quiet forest.

But no one answered the phone until the very end.

As a result, the tranquil forest seemed to grow even more gloomy.

"Call the Den Den Mushi at the other three bases."

Only when Brigadier General Lanley's voice pierced the silence did the lieutenant colonel hurriedly accept the order and continue dialing the remaining three Den Den Mushi. And so it was.

The three Den Den Mushi continued to ring, but there was no echo.

"Brigadier General, this is..."

So even the lieutenant colonel realized that something was wrong by this point.

"Contact the sentry tower."

Brigadier General Lanley had already picked up the greatsword and stood up, leaning on it with both hands.

The lieutenant colonel's expression changed drastically once again.

The watchtower—that is, the penultimate line of defense of this 'golden house' located outside the great forest.

Although he couldn't believe the situation had gotten this bad, he still followed orders and made the call to the Den Den Mushi.

"Bulubulu!" "Bulubulu!" "Bulubulu!"

The Den Den Mushi rang as usual.

Each time it rang out, the lieutenant colonel felt as if his own heartbeat was roaring.

And until the very end.
"Hahaha."

The Den Den Mushi finally connected.

But all that came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi was a weak, panting sound.

"Who is it? What happened?"

The lieutenant colonel immediately asked loudly.

From the other end of the Den Den Mushi came the intermittent voice: "This is the watchtower. Guard. Ha. Ha."

The other party was clearly extremely weak, and his voice was somewhat hoarse and unclear.

"Attack. A monster of gale-force winds descends from the sky."

His words ended there, and the Den Den Mushi suddenly went silent.

Just like this tranquil golden house.

then
"Brigadier General, I'll go check the situation immediately. Oh, and the defensive walls too! I'll go raise the defensive walls over this forest right away!"

The lieutenant colonel immediately spoke.

Yes—as the place where the heavenly gold was stored, the Golden House was also specially fortified.

That is a colossal wall that, once activated, would be difficult to breach even by a thousand armies.

"brigadier?"

But soon, the lieutenant colonel realized that Brigadier General Lanley did not give him a direct answer.

On the contrary, the brigadier general simply carried his nodachi (a type of katana), with the sword hanging slightly at his side.

He took a few steps forward.

The lieutenant colonel recognized it—it was the brigadier general's combat stance.

Moreover, this action is only used when facing a truly formidable enemy.

then
"no need."

The lieutenant colonel heard Brigadier General Lanley's reply and saw the brigadier general raise his head in a certain direction.

"The other side has arrived."

"And this aura, hey!"

Already here?

Upon hearing Brigadier General Lanley's words, the lieutenant colonel subconsciously looked up in the direction the other was looking.

But it was in that instant he looked up that he realized something was wrong.

The wind is coming.

It was neither the gentle breeze that often accompanies a forest, nor a violent but still understandable hurricane.

It was a destructive airflow accompanied by a tremendous roar!

"boom!"

That was the sound of a sonic boom produced by something enormous flapping rapidly through the air.

The powerful wind made the lieutenant colonel feel like he could barely stand, and his face was stinging from the sand and gravel blown by the wind.

And along with the wind came darkness.

Yes—at this moment, all the precious sunlight that had been filtering through the leaves in the forest vanished completely.

That doesn't mean the sunlight has actually disappeared; it just means it's been blocked.

By some enormous thing.

"what is that?"

Yes, the lieutenant colonel has already seen it.

Above that vast forest, above those countless trees, a huge outline appeared.

That was a creature that should have disappeared from this era.

Its outstretched wings seemed to blot out the sky, and its wing membranes were a rocky blue-gray.

"What is that? Do you even need to ask?"

Brigadier General Lanley, however, was smiling.

He gripped the greatsword tightly, a burning fighting spirit flashing in his eyes.

"That's a monster!"

　Three chapters today, please read on the first page.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)