Chapter 347: Chapter 348: Survivor’s Account
Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 11.
A large manor stood at the center of the town, with the Chris Pirates’ jolly roger fluttering from its highest rooftop.
This was the Chris Pirates’ base on Sabaody Archipelago, a place specifically for gathering intelligence and storing various military supplies. Additionally, Aeridar owned three arms dealing shops and a large hotel, plus four taverns on Sabaody Archipelago, making this manor the central hub for the Chris Pirates’ peripheral forces here.
Inside the manor’s largest room, Aeridar sat comfortably on a dark red sofa. A tea set rested on the rosewood coffee table in front of him, steam rising from the teapot. On the opposite sofa sat four somewhat constrained men.
"Well~ don’t be so stiff. Just tell me about that island, and I’ll give you a generous reward." Aeridar smiled, placing four exquisite small teacups one by one in front of them. He then picked up the teapot and poured fragrant tea for them. "Here, this is high-grade tea, very hard to come by outside."
Seeing Aeridar pour tea for them, the four men instantly looked flattered and excited. They eagerly picked up their small teacups, ignoring the scalding hot tea, and drank it down.
These four were the sole survivors from the 37th ship. Of the 651 crew members on board, only these four managed to escape alive after finding that mysterious island.
After finishing their tea, one of the slightly leaner men spoke.
"Your Majesty, as you requested, we searched the Calm Belt. If I’m not mistaken, it was your target."
"Oh, tell me, what exactly happened back then?" A hint of curiosity appeared on Aeridar’s face.
A large warship comparable to a Marine secondary warship, even inlaid with Seastone to avoid Sea Kings, with over six hundred elite crew members, yet it was almost completely annihilated without a trace. It was truly baffling.
"We were searching the Calm Belt as usual. After entering the deep parts of the Calm Belt, a strange roar suddenly echoed. Everyone on the ship heard it. More importantly, this bizarre roar was terrifying, causing panic in everyone’s hearts," another brown-haired man among the four began.
"However, some people at the time speculated that we might have found the target. So, we headed in the direction of the strange roar. After about half an hour of sailing, we discovered an island, a very large island."
"Upon discovering that island, we all guessed that we had probably found the target. Then, the ship approached the island, and we disembarked. But the next moment, the nightmare began!" The brown-haired man shivered as he spoke, and all four men’s faces showed expressions of terror.
Seeing the expressions of these four men, Aeridar’s own face became solemn.
"It was a terrifying giant beast over a hundred meters in size, with a horse-like head, a single horn, and a mouth full of fangs. Its head, neck, and torso were almost entirely covered in black scales the size of washbasins. Its neck was long, with sparse dark brown long fur. It had four legs, three claws, and a pair of gigantic, bat-like wings. Its tail was long and winding, with a triangular tip," described one of the middle-aged men wearing black-rimmed glasses.
"A legendary Black Dragon?" Aeridar raised an eyebrow, frowning.
"No, no, no." The middle-aged man, whose face was somewhat pale, quickly waved his hand in denial. "I also thought it was a Black Dragon at first, but then I realized it wasn’t. Because I used to have a tattered old parchment book at home, which my grandfather obtained by chance. It was called the ’Legendary Creatures Record,’ and it documented many legendary creatures, even with illustrations. There was a picture of a Black Dragon among them, and it was quite different from the giant beast we saw."
"’Legendary Creatures Record’... interesting. And then?" Aeridar’s eyes narrowed, and he continued to ask.
"Then, that terrifying giant beast discovered us."
Including the middle-aged man, all four men shivered again, fear evident in their eyes.
"Fire! That giant beast spat fire at us, like a sea of flames. At least two hundred of us were engulfed by the fire. In a few breaths, only a pile of ashes remained. That entire stretch of beach turned into glass," the middle-aged man recounted with a raw voice.
"Burned to ashes?" Aeridar’s eyes widened. Two hundred people burned to ashes in a few breaths, and a stretch of beach turned to glass? What kind of flames were those? Even Akainu’s magma didn’t have such high temperatures.
"Exactly. Then we counterattacked, but our guns and cannons were useless. At best, they only caused some sparks and dents on its body. Some people were eaten, some were burned to ashes. Even our warship was rammed and sunk by it. The transport small boats left on the beach were almost all burned as well. If the four of us hadn’t been blown into the sea by the fierce wind from its wings, we wouldn’t have survived," the muscular man beside him said with some grief.
"We hid in the sea, and after it left, we found a capsized but intact small boat. After finding some supplies, we quickly left the small island. On our way back, we encountered some Kuja Pirates and asked them for help. Those women of the Kuja told us that the island was a legendary forbidden island in the Calm Belt, and that terrifying giant beast was also a legendary creature called ’Calamodus,’ said to possess terrifying, disaster-like power," the middle-aged man with black-rimmed glasses revealed a crucial piece of information.
"’Calamodus’! Disaster-like power! Hehe~ How exciting!" Aeridar licked his lips, a look of excitement on his face. "Excellent, do you still remember the location of that island?"
"When I left there, I intentionally buried half of my Vivre Card," the middle-aged man quickly pulled out the other half of his Vivre Card from his pocket.
"Good, good. You will all be handsomely rewarded," Aeridar praised, nodding. "And you, Julius, right? Are you interested in working in the Royal Capital?"
"Work in the Royal Capital?!" The middle-aged man named Julius was first stunned, then realized, his face breaking into wild joy. "Willingly, I am willing to go to the Royal Capital!" He had been putting on such a show precisely to gain recognition and avoid going to such dangerous places again.
Seeing Julius being recognized by Aeridar and offered a position in the Royal Capital of Nakor, the other three couldn’t help but look on with envy.
"Once I’m done with my affairs here, you’ll come back to Nakor with me," Aeridar quirked his lips, smiling. He had found another good subordinate. Although not strong in combat, his mind and knowledge were quite impressive. He would make a good scribe or something similar.
———————
Calamodus is previously translated as "Inu-Matou." Changing it to Calamodus for a more impactful name.
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