"Boys, get ashore! Bring everything edible and drinkable back to the ship. Then we sail back and take the fight to them!" Torre stood at the bow of the ship, raising his Western sword high.
"┗|｀O′|┛ Roar~~"
"Yeah!"
"Captain, you're the best!"
As his crew shouted in support, Torre smirked, thinking to himself, Just wait, Navy! The first thing I'll do when I return is seize your base.
There were around sixty pirates in the crew. Some stayed aboard the ship, while others went ashore using small rowboats since they couldn't find a proper place to dock the main vessel.
Torre was the first to land. He quickly issued commands to the others who followed. "Split into three teams. One searches for food, one for water, and the last one comes with me to check if anyone else is on this island."
At the captain's command, the pirates scattered in all directions, each team handling their assigned task.
Such was the absurdity of this world—one moment it seemed lifeless, the next it was swarming with pirates.
Meanwhile, Weiss had no idea pirates had landed on the island. Even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have cared. A few sword swings would deal with them easily enough.
…
…
At this moment, Weiss stood before a cave. He had been drinking from a stream when the dumb deer that had been tagging along accidentally wandered into it.
He followed, now standing at the cave's entrance. It was clearly man-made, with messy wild grass roots growing around the opening. The mouth of the cave was damp, and the surrounding soil showed signs of erosion—stepping on it even caused water to seep out.
It looked like a hiding place once used by pirates or others to stash treasure, recently exposed by yesterday's heavy rain that had washed away part of the hillside.
He gathered some dry branches from elsewhere and lit one for a torch before entering the cave.
The entrance was muddy, a mix of wet earth and fresh grass, and the air reeked of damp soil. Weiss wrinkled his nose in distaste.
After walking about ten meters, the passage opened up and the ground turned dry. Ahead, the path split into two tunnels—one left, one right.
Going with the standard "stick to the left wall" rule for mazes, Weiss chose the left path and continued deeper inside.
Activating his Observation Haki, Weiss picked up the presence of things ahead and mapped them out in his mind. The tunnel twisted and sloped unpredictably.
Suddenly, his senses warned him—a bend ahead led to a wide, open chamber.
About ten meters from the open space, a faint light spilled into the tunnel. At the entrance, scattered gold coins glimmered.
Weiss took a step forward.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
From both walls, black holes opened up and fired arrows tipped in poison.
Weiss easily dodged them all.
"Pretty nasty setup," he muttered. "Whoever buried the treasure wanted to make sure no one walked away from here."
He estimated the tunnel to be about a hundred meters long. Without Observation Haki, even with a torch, anyone would've had to walk very carefully.
Especially the average pirate.
After surviving such a nerve-wracking stretch and then spotting gold at the end, who would still be cautious?
That's why this final part of the tunnel was the real killer. One footstep on the first tile had already triggered the arrows. There were still about seven or eight more tiles ahead.
"Tch. Cheap tricks. I just won't step on them."
"Soru."
In an instant, Weiss flashed forward and appeared inside the treasure hall. What he saw nearly blinded him.
Boxes—large and small—were stacked everywhere. Some were tightly sealed, others already opened.
The opened ones were filled with piles of gold coins.
The walls were lined with fist-sized luminous pearls, illuminating the entire chamber.
After checking around, he still didn't see the dumb deer. Probably died in the right tunnel.
"So annoying. There's so much gold here, but I can't carry it all…" Weiss muttered. He didn't even know how much it was worth, since he had no idea what the exchange rate between gold and Berry was.
He scooped up a handful of coins and let them fall back into the chest. The clear, ringing sound was oddly pleasant. Who wouldn't like a sound like that?
Especially when it all belonged to you.
"Huh? What's this?" In one of the boxes, he found a book that looked like a journal.
He opened it and began reading.
It was a diary written eighty years ago by a pirate named Rector, who had a bounty of thirty million. He was also a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user—specifically the Crocodile Fruit.
He had hidden his treasure here because the island was near the Calm Belt, and just beyond it lay the Grand Line.
After stashing the treasure, Rector had never returned. Perhaps he had become sea king dung… or was killed by the Navy.
Back then, thirty million was a huge sum—unlike today's inflated economy.
"What a shame… Well, too bad. All of this is mine now," Weiss grinned. "I'll call Ace and the others later to haul it all back to the Chris."
As for a reward? What reward? They ate his food, drank his drinks—helping him out was the least they could do. Wes lay contentedly atop the mountain of gold.
Just then, he heard footsteps echoing through the passage. A mess of them. Sounded like a group. Then a few screams rang out.
From both sides.
"You, go ahead," Torre ordered, standing at the bend. He shoved a crewmate forward. A dead deer lay at his feet.
The crewmate stepped onto the tunnel floor cautiously, eyes wide with fear. He planned to bolt the second anything felt off.
Step.
Nothing.
Another step.
Still nothing.
"Captain, no traps! Maybe that deer triggered the mechanism already. We probably just hit the last one!" the pirate called back happily.
"Step on every single tile and walk to the open area," Torre ordered. His massive frame—over three meters tall—left him little room to maneuver. If there were traps, he'd have no space to dodge.
The pirate pulled a long face and began carefully stepping on each tile. A walk that normally took seconds now took nearly six minutes.
Once the scout was safe, Torre stormed in.
Seeing the treasure everywhere and the glowing pearls on the walls, the pirates erupted in cheers.
A near-death encounter followed by a massive treasure? Fortune had smiled on them!
If it weren't for the storm, would they have met the Navy?
If it weren't for the storm, would they have landed here?
If it weren't for the storm, would they have found this cave?
"Boys! Get all this treasure back to the ship!" Torre shouted, his voice cracking with excitement. This is a jackpot from the heavens!
"Yeah!"
"┗|｀O′|┛ Roar~~!"
But just then, a calm voice echoed in the chamber.
"I say… gentlemen… that treasure happens to be mine."
---
Currently at chapter 80 on Ko-Fi
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27