One Piece: The Archangel's Guide

Chapter 34: The Flag

Since he was born, Louis had been called a monster, an angel, and even a succubus. But being called a god by the shrine maiden—that was a first. Therefore, he was utterly speechless.

Beside him, Uta and Yelena both raised their eyebrows, seemingly quite surprised by the old shrine maiden's words and actions. But when their gazes fell upon Louis, they felt a sense of understanding. It was conceivable that the old shrine maiden would misunderstand Louis's identity.

Louis's answer did not change the old shrine maiden's pious attitude. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and then became even more respectful. "Yes, you are not a god."

With that, she prostrated herself again.

Louis shook his head and turned to leave. It was difficult to communicate with these kinds of religious fanatics. Yelena and Uta saw this and followed him. The villagers all lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at Louis, and quietly cleared a path.

After the trio left, the old shrine maiden knelt in the direction of Louis's departure, her posture pious and sincere.

Several days later, in an unknown sea.

A warship flying a seagull flag cruised on the surface of the sea, dragging a red wake behind it. A massive school of ferocious, carnivorous sea fish, attracted by the trail, gathered behind the warship. They dived into the crimson wake, enjoying a grand feast.

On the deck of the warship, transparent, humanoid figures consecutively threw bodies into the sea, churning up bloody waves.

After a long while, when the last body had been thrown into the sea, waves rose without wind, and a monstrous swell surged on the ocean's surface. The sky-blotting wave swept down, swallowing the warship whole and pulling it into the deep sea.

Soon, the monstrous wave subsided as quickly as it had appeared. In a very short time, the sea's surface showed no trace of the giant wave. After a while, a massive dark shadow emerged from beneath the wind-swept surface. A mast flying a seagull flag pierced the surface first, followed by the huge sail, which was once again revealed to the air.

BOOM—

The warship rose from the seabed. A tremendous roar erupted, startling the gulls in the sky. Waves surged, dazzling under the sunlight.

A moment later, everything returned to calm. On the vast, limitless sea, only the massive warship, now clean as new after being washed by the deep sea, remained.

A golden figure approached from the distance, its flawless white wings spread, and slowly descended onto the deck.

THUD...

Louis stood on the warship's deck, slowly folding his wings, and walked straight toward the cabin. As he walked, his eyes swept over the deck, which was free of any bloodstains. He approved of his own genius idea to sink the warship into the sea to wash it. As expected, people who spent a lot of time in the sea knew more about this sort of thing.

In front of the giant mast, scorching flames ignited out of thin air behind Louis. By the time Louis was directly beneath the mast, the flames roared and expanded. The searing flames licked around the ship, causing its temperature to rise rapidly, and the seawater remaining on the deck evaporated at a visible rate.

The sails and flags bearing the World Government and seagull insignias were instantly ignited. For a moment, a fierce fire engulfed the entire warship. Soon, the sails with the World Government's insignia were burned to ashes, and wisps of black soot scattered in the wind.

Louis opened the cabin door and slowly walked inside. What greeted him was the sight of countless items piled chaotically in the various passageways and spaces, a result of being tossed and turned by the sea. It was worth noting that there were no bloodstains left inside the cabin. Most of the Marine soldiers had been dragged onto the deck to await their final fate.

Louis walked through the warship's internal corridors. Wisps of golden light particles emerged from his body, swirling around him like a brilliant river of stars. Wherever he passed, the pale golden particles drifted down, merging into the scattered items and transforming them into living things that automatically sorted themselves.

After a long time, Louis walked out of the cabin and came to the top of the warship to wait for the belatedly arriving Island Cloud. A moment later, the white cloud descended from the sky, accompanied by clear and pleasant singing. The two girls, carrying large and small bags and standing at the edge of the cloud, also came into Louis's view.

Avant Heim hovered at the same height as the top of the warship's island, level with Louis.

"Is this the ship we'll be using for our voyage from now on?!" Uta leaped down, backpack and all, and stood next to Louis, looking around curiously. It was her first time on a Marine warship, and everything felt very unfamiliar.

"Yes. This warship will be fine for sailing the Four Seas, at least," Louis nodded. He then took the more fragile items from Yelena's hands and gently placed them on the deck of the ship's island.

Yelena's red eyes swept over the empty masts and the warship's iconic blue-green paint job. "Does the ship's paint need to be changed?..." she asked. "On the last island, I bought a lot of waterproof paint." Yelena thought that while sailing in the Four Seas, the World Government's home turf, it was probably necessary to conceal the fact that they had stolen a warship.

To this, Louis said casually, "There's no need to waste time changing the ship's paint. Anyone with eyes can see this is a warship's structure. It can't be hidden."

Yelena nodded thoughtfully. She then met Louis's eyes and asked again, "Besides the flag, do we still need to hang the sails?"

After a moment of contemplation, Louis gave his answer. "Let's hang them." Although his mode of transport didn't need things like sails to navigate the sea, a ship without sails would probably look strange.

"Okay!" Yelena put down her backpack, took out the high-quality canvas she had bought, and slowly walked towards the mast.

Uta's eyes lit up. She stopped her exploring and ran towards Yelena. "Yelena, I'll help you!"

"Come on!" Yelena replied concisely.

Then, the two worked together, hanging a jet-black flag from the top of the crow's nest on the mast. On the black flag was a skull insignia backed by a pair of white wings. When the time was right, Louis would sail the seas under this flag.

Since Louis had deliberately left all the ropes when he burned the old Marine sails, Yelena and Uta were able to hang the new sail very quickly. This was thanks to their experience on the Red Hair Pirates' ship, which had allowed them to learn a great deal before even properly setting out to sea.

After a long while, Yelena and Uta stood beneath the mast, looking up at the giant sail which bore the same insignia as the flag, brilliant smiles on their faces.

Louis slowly walked over and stood beside them, also smiling.

Just then, Uta turned and tugged on Louis's sleeve. When Louis looked down at her, she threw a question at him.

"Hey, Louis!"

"What is it?" Louis asked back.

"What name are you going to give the pirate crew?"