Chapter 31: Planning the assault

"Man, this is going to take us all day to patch up! I need some more wood over here!"

"Coming!"

"Hey, are these cannons even usable? It's covered in rust!"

"I think it is just on the surface, so I should be fine."

"Woah, they really stockpiled quite a lot of rifles."

"Hey, these canned foods aren't expired, right?"

The sounds of people going about the town in the late evening sun carrying armaments aboard their ships echoed across the newly reclaimed port town of Melayu truly made it feel like we were preparing for war.

After the last of the pirates were captured, every ship that made it here immediately docked into the port and the shipwrights immediately began scouring the town for materials to patch up their respective vessels.

At the same time, a soup kitchen was set up with the ship cooks all cooking up a storm judging by the smell of stew in the air.

A field hospital was also quickly established to take care of the many wounded; and there were a lot of them from all the ships, with a good portion of them already on death's door.

It was a miracle that none of them had died so far.

Those that weren't doing any of the above were commanded to perform various miscellaneous tasks all over the port; though it was mostly moving supplies and armaments to their respective ships.

As for me…

"A pre-dinner snack, mademoiselle?" Sanji smoothly came up to me with a small tray of freshly baked butter cookies.

"Thank you, Sanji." I told the blonde cook while accepting one of the cookies.

I was tasked with the same task as before; keeping an eye on the pirates to make sure they didn't do anything to interfere with our preparations or attempt to stab us in the back.

As such, I was currently stationed with the Straw Hats and Gin on the Going Merry; the ship currently docked at the edge of the docks away from the other ships.

So far, none of the Straw Hats hadn't left the ship so things had been relatively calm; with each of them busy with their own work from Zoro swinging his heavy weights to Usopp busying himself with his chemistry set.

Even Luffy, who should normally be causing chaos, had taken to napping on his usual perch on the ship's figurehead; which was quite a surprise, for sure, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Especially when it concerned Monkey I-do-whatever-I-want D Luffy.

As I snacked on the cookie, I scanned the docks and at the many workers busy with their respective tasks, making sure to keep a lookout for any suspicious behavior.

After telling him that there might be a traitor among our ranks to him, Draconis had pointed out that they might be hiding among the men we have here right now.

"If it were up to me, I'll put the bastard with us to keep an eye on us in the event we end up surviving."

Were his words. Draconis's point made a whole lot of sense, especially if you considered all the meticulous planning the mastermind had done up till now; they no doubt wouldn't risk having his plans getting overthrown by some unknown variable.

As such, while it felt scummy for me to look at everyone with suspicion, I was also tasked with keeping a lookout for anyone that could possibly be the traitor.

So far, none of them seemed to be acting out of the ordinary; aside from all the judging and distrustful looks they were giving whenever they passed us by–

"Heyyo, Reiny~ looking great, girl~!"

"Hah… hi, Dva."

A tired sight escaped my lips when a familiar young woman skipped up to the Going Merry with a bright smile, her dyed blonde hair that bounced with each step contrasted greatly with her exposed dark tanned skin.

She was Dva, the quartermaster of the frigate called Beneavor and the eldest daughter of its captain; Bronz.

Dressed in a dress shirt that was left open to show off her flat stomach and voluptuous bosom in a bikini top, and with a miniskirt that exposed almost the entirety of her leg that wasn't covered by a leg warmer, she was the very definition of a Japanese gyaru girl; in both appearance and personality.

For some reason, she had made it her life's mission to make me dress more feminine; with her dragging me away for clothes shopping any chance she got despite my countless protests.

And considering her choice in attire, the clothes she chose for me were just as risqué as hers.

"Heard you got saddled with babysitting the pirates, so I came to cheer you up." She stated, "I mean, this job has got to be, like, the worst."

"Eh, they are not as bad as most other pirates." I told her.

"Well, they sure don't look like pirates either. I mean, who has a nose as long as that? That's so weird~!"

"Hey!" Usopp shouted from his work, "I'll have you know my nose is one of my most charming features!"

"Really~? Hm, beauty is subjective, I suppose." Dva giggled.

"Rude!"

"Do you wish to have a cookie, my

lady?" Sanji asked with a smirk and a wink as he presented his tray to her, "It

is freshly baked, filled my love~"

"Hahaha, how suave~" Dva giggled as she accepted a cookie, "If only all pirates are as cool and handsome as you~"

"Oh, you are too kind~"

"Guess beauty really is subjective." Zoro remarked offhandedly.

"And what do you know of beauty, moss head!?" The blonde cook shouted at him.

"Hey, are you sure you should be here at all?" I asked her, "Aren't you busy with supplies and all that?"

"Eh, it's not like there is anything I need my attention right now."

"That's a lie, and you know it."

"Teehee, pero~"

A sight left my lips at her reaction. This girl had been known to slack off whenever she got the chance to; it had become somewhat of a bad habit of hers that her father often had to literally drag her back to work.

Though this time, it felt that it was more than that.

Dva's usual smile felt less genuine and more forced, and her eyes reflected a sense of worry and fear within them.

"…Are you feeling okay, Dva?"

"Eh? What are you talking about, Reiny? I am just as peppy as ever~!"

"Dva, you're not fooling me with that act." I told her, "What's wrong?"

"…"

Her smile tensed a little, the corner of her lips dropping slightly as she let out a nervous giggle, "Was it that obvious?"

"A little, yeah."

"Heheh…"

Dva twirled around on her heel for a moment, her cheery presence she always had dimmed down a bit in the process, "…I am worried about my family."

"Ah…"

Dva's family consisted of her parents, her, and her seven younger siblings; her mother worked as a store owner for one of Temasek's many general stores while the oldest of her younger siblings had only began his apprenticeship at the local shipyard.

As far as I was aware, none of them had any training or experience dealing with pirates in any shape or form; making them perfect targets for the raiding pirates.

"I've heard that the pirates that attacked were some of the most terrifying pirates of the East Blue…" She added, her trembling arms around herself, "The thought of them doing anything to mom and my sisters and brothers…"

"Yeah…"

"And mom is just a housewife; she isn't strong like me or dad."

"…I'll have to disagree with that statement…"

While she looked like a delicate flower with her smooth skin and silky black hair, Bronz's wife was as ferocious as a tiger when she got upset; I once saw the lady knock out a man twice her size with a well-aimed right hook to his jaw.

Still, if the initial invasion was anything like how Lee had described it, there might be too many of them for her to handle; it would be easy for them to just overwhelm her with numbers and take her down that way.

"…Still, there's a good chance your family is fine and well." I told her, "From what I've heard from Lee, the pirates seem to focus more on hijacking and capturing than plundering and killing."

"But you know how pirates are, they are scary lowlife scum that perform the vilest of deeds at a whim!" She cried out, "And even if they're still alive, who knows what those bastards might be doing to them right now…"

"Um…"

I glanced over at the pirates listening in on our conversation; Gin specifically had been looking over at us since I alighted the Going Merry.

"Oh! Present company not included, of course!" Dva quickly added, "I was talking about other pirates."

"No offense taken." Gin stated, "And you are right; all pirates are scumbags."

"But not you lot, right?" She pointed out, "You guys are, like, the coolest pirates I have ever talked to."

"Mm-hm."

Despite nodding, his expression told me that he didn't agree with her words ever the slightest.

"…In my experience, your family is most likely to be unharmed." Gin told Dva, "The only reasons pirates ever take anyone captives are to either hold them for ransom or as a hostage; torturing them in any way wouldn't do them any good."

"Really? That's a relief—"

"Though, they might tear off some hair or cut off a finger as a threat—"

"A f-finger!?"

"That last bit is unnecessary, Gin!" I shouted at the ex-pirate; this guy had no experience with comforting people at all.

"R-Right… sorry." He apologized.

"That final bit aside, what Gin said makes sense." I said to Dva, "They wouldn't be so focused on capturing people if none of them has value as captives; your mom and siblings should be fine."

"I hope so…"

"…We'll rescue them." I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave it a firm assuring squeeze, "And take back Temasek from those pirate alliance bastards."

"…thanks, Rein."

"Don't mention it."

"Miss Dva!"

"Eep! Gotta run!"

With a half-eaten cookie in her mouth, the tanned girl quickly hopped off the Going Merry and made a break for it; moments later, a lanky man came running up to me.

Black long bangs covered the top half of his face with only his large round frame glasses showing where his eyes should be, dressed in a simple tunic and pants under a white lab coat; he was the definition of a background character.

While struggling to catch his breath and adjusting his glasses, he asked me, "Miss…Miss Rein… was… was Miss Dva just… here?"

"Yeah, you just missed her." I told him.

"Damn it!"

"You sure got it tough, Steve…"

Steve was the assistant of Beneavor's ship doctor; aside from his usual duties, he had also been designated as Dva's handler whenever their captain was too busy with their own things; mostly due to them being roughly the same age.

Unfortunately, the poor guy hadn't been successful in reeling Dva in once; and was often be seen running around the place desperately looking for her to no avail.

"The captain is going to kill me…" He cried.

"Eh, it's not like it is the first time you failed to get her to do her work." I told him.

"It's different this time; we have too many casualties, so we need every able body to help out as much as they can."

"Ah…"

I had heard that out of the current fleet, the Beneavor had the most wounded members, with a good half of their injured being relegated to the field hospital for near fatal wounds.

That left them with a huge shortage of manpower that the other ships had to lend them a crew member or two just so they could finish packing up their supplies, with Kris being the one we sent to help out.

"Guuhhh… Miss Dva, where did you go now…"

"If you are looking for Dva, I believe I just saw her a minute ago."

A new voice interjected as someone else came walking towards us.

Tall and pale skinned with long gray hair and small eyes that looked closed from eyes narrowed in slits, dressed in a black dress shirt with white pants and breast coat, the man gave off the impression of a white snake.

The man was Balck, the vice-captain of Signoria and known to be Draconis's trusted right-hand man.

"Oh, Mr Balck. You saw where Miss Dva went?"

"Indeed. She looked to be heading to the back alleys."

"Got it! Thank you!"

Steve quickly ran off, leaving me alone with the snake-like man; he let out a quiet chuckle beneath his breath. "Not sure if seeing Dva getting chased by Steve as usual is a good thing or not…"

"It is comforting, though?" I pointed out.

"Hebibibi… indeed it is."

The corners of his mouth inched slightly upwards in what I could only assumed was a smile; though it made him looked even more snake-like.

If there was one word that fully describe him, it would definitely be 'unnerving; the man's expressions always had this snake-esque look to it to the point that it became hard to tell if he was feeling most of the time.

It didn't help that all his expressions came out looking like he was mocking you; and it was heard to tell if he was or not.

"I-Is there anything you wish for me?" I nervously asked him.

"Hm? Oh, no. I'm just here to deliver something." He told me as he climbed aboard the Going Merry, "Roronoa Zoro! Are you there?"

The mossy haired swordsman looked over from where he was busy swinging what looked to be a long rod with heavy weights at the end, "What do you want?"

"My captain wants me to hand these to you."

Balck tossed what was in his hand towards the former bounty hunter, Zoro easily catching them in the air as he dropped his weights.

In his hands were two swords, katanas if the hilts were any indication but their scabbards were straight instead of curved.

"You use three katana swords, correct? There aren't the usual types, but it should work just as well."

"There's no need for him to do this." Zoro said, "I can make do with any standard sabers."

"He said that they are a loan." Balck told the former bounty hunter, "And he expects you to give them back once Temasek is recaptured."

Draconis probably wanted Zoro to fight at his best; and the swords were no doubt also a sign of trust from him to the Straw Hat Pirates.

"…I understand." Zoro told him, "Give your captain my thanks, and tell him I'll try to return these swords to him."

"Will do. Now then, I'll be leaving now. You take care now, Rein."

After a firm pat on my shoulder along with a gesture to his eyes that meant 'keep a lookout', he walked back towards the port; his figure soon blending in with all the countless others.

"…What an unnerving man." Usopp pointed out.

"Well, that's Balck for you." I told him.

The first time I'd even met the man in person was during Silvia and Lee's wedding, and he was just as unnerving then as he was now, if even more so.

Still, that gesture he did for me just now; was he also tasked with looking out for suspects by Draconis?

That would make sense; he was Draconis's Right Hand Man, there was no one he could have trusted more than him.

"Was that Balck just now? I'm surprised to see him wandering about like that."

"Oh, hey there Sen."

My mentor walked up to the Going Merry with a small package in his hand, one wrapped in oil paper and twine, "Brought your dinner over for you; passed by the soup kitchen earlier and Gord asked me to bring it to you."

"Much appreciated."

"You better; he put in a lot of work into making that."

I easily caught the package thrown at me and quickly unwrapped it to reveal a relatively large sandwich filled to the edges with cuts of meat and vegetables; the smell of toasted bread gracing my nostrils made me very aware how empty my stomach was.

"What about you guys?" Sen asked the Straw Hats, "I think there is still plenty of food left over if you want some, I can bring some over for you all."

"Thanks for the offer, but we have it covered." Sanji told him, "And… well, you know how much our captain eats."

"Ah, true enough; been a while since I saw someone eat that much without as much imploding…"

"Yeah, and I'm responsible for feeding that bottomless pit…"

The two shared a laugh as I got into devouring my meal with gusto; the sourness of the sauce and crispiness of the lettuce helping in whetting my appetite.

"Oh, food!"

"Hey, hands off!"

No doubt attracted by thr smell of my sandwich, Luffy immediately woke up from his slumber with mouth drooling and attempting to grab it out of my hands with his own rubbery ones.

"Quit it!" Sanji slammed his foot onto his captain's head, "I'm already preparing dinner; so just wait!"

"Eh~~?! But I'm starving~~!"

"Then bear with it!"

"So," As Sanji and Luffy argued, Sen got onto the Going Merry and sat on the railing next to me, "Saw anyone acting like the traitor?"

"Not yet." I told him, "You?"

"I have one in mind, but I'm not totally sure."

"Really? Who?"

"It's–Huh?"

"Hm?"

Following my mentor's gaze, I took notice of what looked to be a ship in the distance, one that was rapidly entering our waters.

And judging by the colours of its flags, it was one of ours; another survivor of the pirate attack.

"Looks like more have survived." Sen noted, "But… something's feel off about this–Shit! We need to move!"

Sen suddenly stood up on the railings, much to my surprise, "W-What is it?"

Then all of a sudden, a loud bang rang out, and the sea erupted.

Within the manor that overlooked the port of Melayu, the captains of the surviving ships all sat around a big table; all with grim expressions on their faces.

After the recapturing of Melayu, Draconis had called for an immediate assembly of all the captains in the manor's conference room.

And as the Silver Fang's second-in-command, Lee was there in place of his captured captain; being among the seven others.

"So, we are all that were left." The man sitting next to Lee addressed the room, "Not many, I say…"

He was Bronz, captain of the frigate Beneavor; dressed in a yellow vest left open to show off his dark tanned abs, loose black pants with a pair of leather sandals, and a striped bandana that held back his brown bangs, he gave off a somewhat loose feeling to his presence.

"It is a miracle that even seven survived, Bronz." One of the three female captains in the room told him, "Especially with how many pirates had attacked."

She was Seline, captain of the brigantine Luna; a crop leather jacket over a button-up dress adorned her slim figure, which was paired with a leather belt around her waist that matched her shoes.

Her attire was an attempt for her to look more imposing despite her short stature, though all it did make her look like she was trying too hard to be imposing, especially with her long pink hair which she had tied in a spiky ponytail.

"Yeah, I know." Bronz nodded in agreement, "Still, it do make taking back Temasek a lot harder now; and my crew is suffered a heavy blow."

"Maybe if you managed to better command them better, your ship wouldn't have eaten so many cannons; but what did I expect from you?"

"Oh, shut your mouth, Simon! Your ship suffered as much as mine!"

The man opposite Bronz let out a scoff in response to his retort, a scowl marred his expression which made Bronz even angrier.

He was Simon, captain of the brigantine Tyfos; from the waistcoat over a dress shirt along with a pair of cut slacks and matching leather gloves and loafers, to his black hair that's slicked to the side, his attire contrasted greatly against Bronz's.

"Come on, now; this is no time to fight." The other female captain told them with a worried frown.

She was Flaun, captain of the fluyt Duchess; dressed in blouse shirt under an underbust corset along with a matching pair of pants and boots, the masculine attire was her attempt to fit in more with her fellow peers.

Unfortunately, said attire only managed to make her already sensual figure stand out more, though no one among her crew would dare point it out to her.

"Harharhar! Just leave them be, Flaun." Said the plump man sitting next to her, "This ain't the first time they've gotten into an altercation like this."

That man was Scott, captain of the frigate Thrud; adorned in a leather jacket opened to show off his gut along a pair of loose pants and matching leather boots, he came off as a drunkard to most people.

It didn't help that orange hair was as shaggy and messy as his ill-kept beard.

"ENOUGH!"

With that loud declaration, Draconis silenced them all immediately, though Bronz and Simon were still glaring at each other.

"I have gathered you all here to discuss our next course of action, not to bicker among ourselves like children." He told them, "Now, I'm sure you have already heard of what had transpired at Temasek a few days ago."

"I have been briefed on the event, yes." Simon nodded.

"With how things have played out, it is clear that we have a traitor amidst our ranks." Seline stated, "One that has been leaking information to them pirates."

"Any leads on who that traitor might be?" Bronz asked.

"I have a few men keeping a lookout right now."

Lee knew who Draconis meant by that; Rein and Sen were among them, after all, though he wasn't sure who else the elderly man had tasked with it.

The first that came to mind was Balck, whom the man trusted the most; as unnerving as he appeared, there was no one more trusted by Draconis than him.

"But we can shelve that for later; right now, the main priority was for us to take back Temasek from those pirates that called themselves the East Blue Pirate Alliance." Draconis stated.

"Judging by the name, they consist of almost every pirate crew in the East Blue?" Flaun asked.

"That much is obvious." Seline stated, "The problem is whose among them."

"Indeed." Draconis nodded as he spread several jolly rogers and wanted posters on the table for all to see, "These are the ones we managed to get out of Hundred Plans Kuro."

"I'm surprised that you managed to get some information out of him." Lee noted.

"He was surprisingly cooperative with our questions; almost eager, in fact."

'Guess the pirates aren't as unified as we thought…'

"Yikes, there are at least several well-known ones." Bronz noted, "The Trump Siblings, Eldoraggo, Golass, Billy the Orca Killer, some of these are all million beri bounties."

"They have even managed to get the former marine captain Morgan." Simon noted as he looked at the most recent wanted poster, "I've heard he escaped capture, but to think he would team up with pirates of all things…"

"And with the among of pirate crews, we can safely assume that they have at least a hundred men in their ranks." Scott noted, "And we have…"

"If we are counting the unwounded, about a few dozen." Draconis concluded, "We are facing an uphill battle."

"…Then we have to use quality over quantity." Seline stated, "Just Sen alone should be able to deal with several dozen goons on his own."

"Yeah… about that…" Lee nervously laughed, "Sen isn't going to help out unless it is necessary…"

"Huh!? Why not!?"

"He said he didn't want to be responsible for any massive collateral on the island."

"Ah…"

If there was one thing about that man everyone was deeply aware about, it would be how destructive he could get if he was not careful.

Even if he was able to push the pirates out of Temasek, the damages he would leave behind in his wake would no doubt push the East Traders's budget into the red for at least a decade.

"Harharhar! At least he isn't outright refusing to assist!" Scott bellowed, "But we should no doubt shelve him as an absolute last resort."

"Agreed." Bronz nodded, "As much as I want to take those pirates down, I would much rather not have it achieve at the cost of our island."

"…Speaking of cost…" Simon looked over at Lee, the quartermaster shivered under the glare the captain was giving him, "Lee, is it true that you have struck a deal with some pirates to gain their assistance?"

"Yeah, I've heard about that!" Seline shouted, standing up and slamming her palms on the table as she glared at him, "What's the big idea; you know how pirates are! Any deal with their kind isn't worth the words said!"

"A-Ah…"

"Now, now, settle down." Flaun said to her, "I'm sure Lee here has a good reason for it; don't you?"

"Grgk!"

Despite the gentle smile on her face, the intimidating aura she was emitting made it clear to Lee that she didn't agree with his decision either.

'Well, I can't exactly blame them; with how many pirates we had dealt with every day on the job, cooperating with any one of them felt extremely wrong.'

"…I'm aware that it isn't a good idea to strike deals with pirates, but this batch is different." Lee explained, "And we need all the help we can get, where we can get them. Also, I'd spent some time around them, so I am confident that–"

"Pirates are still pirates, Lee!" Seline snarled, "They are criminals; besides, what's stopping them from selling us out to get into the pirate alliance bastards!?"

"I can assure you; they have no intention of joining them!"

"On what grounds!? For all we know, they could be making contact with them as we speak!"

"That's enough, Seline!" Draconis shouted, "While unorthodox, what Lee had done had helped us recapture Melayu; and that was with just the pirates. It is no exaggeration that their strength is what we need right now."

"Sir Draconis, are you telling us that you actually trust those pirates?" Seline asked.

"What I am telling you is that those pirates are an asset we can't afford to give up in our upcoming battle."

The young female captain scowled, but sat back down regardless; Simon let out a sigh in response while Flaun frowned at the elder man's words.

"Still, if anything happened because of them, it is on you, Lee." Draconis added.

"I'll take full responsibility if that ever comes to pass." Lee noted.

Scott gave a few hearty claps, "Alright, shall we get back to why we are assembled here in the first place?"

"Agreed." Bronz nodded, "The faster we come up with a plan of attack, the faster we can take back Temasek from–"

*Tick-tick*

The sound of something tapping on the window's soundproof glass caught their attention, Flaun being the closest moved to open up the curtain; which revealed Sen of all people standing in front of it.

'Wait, isn't this the second floor?' Lee mentally noted, 'How did he…?'

Those thoughts were quickly forgotten when Sen tapped the windows again, which prompted Flaun to opened it to ask him why was he–

*BANG*

*BOOM BOOOMM*

The moment she did, the shocking sounds of cannon fire along with several explosions rang out from outside and echoed into their room.

That got every captain to get up from their seat and look out the window, where they saw several buildings near the docks had been turned to rubble; the smoke coming out of them meant their destruction was only recent.

They also witnessed pillars of water erupting in the coast as two ships engaged in a sea battle.

One of them was a ship sailing their colours, while the other was the ship belonging to the pirates Lee had contracted.

One of them was a ship sailing their colours, while the other was the ship of the pirates Lee had contracted.

"See, I've told you they can't be trusted!" Seline shouted at Lee.

"No… no, there must be a reason why they–"

"I believe the phrase is, 'seeing is believing'?" Simon noted, "Unless we are not seeing those pirates attacking one of our ships?"

"Oh for–you guys can gloat later!" Bronz shouted, "We need to get out there and save that ship!"

"…Tch, you made a good point." Simon clicked his tongue, "My ship is closer, so I'll go–"

"AHEM!"

Sen's loud clearing of his throat got them to stop their argument, "If you can let me talk, I can explain what is really happening."

"What else is there to explain!?" Seline shouted at him, "It is clear that the pirates have shown their true colors–"

"Actually, it is the other ship that fired upon the docks."

That revelation stunned everyone in the room, they all looked at each other in sheer confusion over what was just told to them.

"You have to be mistaken!" Flaun cried, "You're saying that one of our own attacked us!?"

Sen nodded, "Yeah; I saw them firing myself. The pirates are actually the ones trying to stop them."

That left them all speechless, and extremely puzzled over the situation.

Why would one of their ships be attacking them?

…
To be continued…

Happy New Year!

There we are! Sorry it took this long! Took me a while to write this all out.

Most of it was due to the captains themselves; I have an idea of what their individual personalities may be, but it was different when I had to write them all down.

Hopefully, you find them interesting!

With that, I thank you all for reading this!