chapter 112

"Do you know what kind of numbers and weapons they have, Urouge?" I asked as I turned to look at the mad monk.

"They had about two hundred pirates," Urouge stated with a grin. "But I managed to cut down that number through hit-and-run tactics in the past year," he added, his grin becoming more pronounced on his face.

"And this guy here cut that number down by a dozen more," he remarked as he turned to look at Wilson. "So that leaves them with about eighty-five or so able-bodied fighters," he added as he took out a map of the sky island.

"The lot of them are normal people except for Lokni himself," he explained as he unfurled the map on a barrel. "But you shouldn't underestimate them because they are normal people," he said in a stern voice.

"Lokni had equipped all of them with dials and dial-based weaponry," he explained in a grave tone that was a big contrast to his grinning visage, creating a strange expression.

"Dial-based weaponry?" Law remarked with a frown, seemingly curious about such weapons. "Burn Bazuka, burn blade, flash gun, and heat javelins, to name a few," Urouge replied with a nod of his head.

"And that's only the weapons with average Dials," the mad monk explained with a wave of his hand. "There are also weapons with much more dangerous Dials, but I don't know if they have any, so I'll get to it later," he added with a frown.

"They also have Dial-based transportation devices, like jet boards and shooters, that make them that much more dangerous," he concluded as he turned to look at the map he unfurled earlier.

"They are currently occupying the god palace in the middle of the island," he stated as he pointed his finger at the center of the map. "That is another problem since the palace has its own set of defensive measures that the pirates completely control," he added, scratching his head in an attempt to recall everything he knew about said defenses.

"I don't remember most of them, but I do remember that they anything to scoff at," he said in an embarrassed tone, still sheepishly scratching his head at his failure to remember the details.

"At any rate, if you people are as strong as you captain here, then those defenses shouldn't be a problem," he reasoned after a second of awkwardness he used to gather his wits.

"But there is one thing that could prove dangerous to everyone here," he added as he suddenly seemed to remember something. "It's a thunder cannon with an ungodly amount of thunder dials," he explained with a frown.

"A single blast from that thing could blast a hole inside a mountain, so we need to deactivate it or find a way around it," he concluded with a sigh.

"And that's all the information we have for now," I said as I stood up, taking back everyone's attention. "I have a rough plan in mind as to how we will deal with this situation," I stated with a smile, causing everyone to nod.

"The plan is pretty simple," I said with a smile. "Wilson and I will act as decoys and charge at the pirate's front door to attract their attention and this thunder canon Urouge talked about," I stated, causing everyone except for Wilson, who smiled eagerly to frown.

"With all due respect, captain," Laffite said with a frown. "If your friend's words are true, then that thunder cannon is too powerful for even you to take head-on," he added, causing everyone to express their agreement.

"That would typically be true, but I have an innate resistance to lightning," I replied with a smile, shaking my head. "It's like my resistance to poison but a little weaker," I added as I began rummaging through the Dial barrels for the only lightning dial I found earlier.

"See?" I remarked as I pressed the button on top of the dial, zapping myself for a couple of seconds.

Although I wasn't immune to lightning-like I was to poison, I still had a very high resistance, which meant that enduring this so-called was manageable even if it meant I had to use Haki to come out of it unscathed.

"You keep getting weirder and weirder every time I learn something new about you, captain," Laffite said in an amused voice, raising an eyebrow at my display, something that my crewmates did a lot these days.

"Hey, I resent that," I said in a mocked, hurt tone. "I'll have you know that I'm a completely normal monster," I added with a smirk, earning several eye rolls from my crewmates.

"Now, like I was saying before, I was so politely interrupted," I remarked while looking at my navigator sideways, causing him to shrug his shoulders.

"Wilson and I will act as decoys while Elly, Laffite, Kozue, law, and Urouge infiltrate the pirate's base to disable the defenses," I explained my plan as I singled out everyone who was going on the infiltration mission.

"I understand why you chose us to infiltrate the palace, but why is he tagging along, captain-Ya?" Law asked as he turned to the mad monk, giving him a once over with unamused eyes.

"His size isn't appropriate for such actions, and I doubt he even knows the meaning of the word subtlely based on his appearance alone," he rested his case as he pointed his index finger at the mad monk. Still, Urouge merely smiled proudly, not taking any offense at the surgeon's words but considering them as praise instead.

"Well, he's been dodging Lokni for a year now without being caught while taking out his men, so he can't be that bad," I replied while shrugging my shoulders. "I can do subtle when needed, but that doesn't mean I like it," the mad monk added from the side with a grin that wasn't so reassuring, but that will have to do.

"He also knows the layout of the palace, and he's the only one with any experience with Dials, making him our best chance at deactivating the defenses," I concluded.

"If you say so, captain-YA," Law said from the side, resigning to his fate.

"What about me, captain?" Byron asked just as I was about to point out his task. "I was getting to that," I replied, nodding with a smile.

"I want you to stand by near the palace when we begin acting on the plan," I instructed, and Byron tilted his head in confusion as he looked at me to elaborate.

"I want you there just in case something goes wrong," I explained, raising one finger. "If someone needs help, whether it be me or anyone else, then it's your job to help us," I added with a smile.

"And if the infiltration mission doesn't work, then I want you to blast the palace to high hell with that new ability you learned earlier as soon as our friends come out," I stated, raising another finger as my smile turned into a cold grin.

"Put as much power into the attack as you can if that happens," I instructed in a grave tone. "We don't need any survivors," I concluded.

"Understood, captain," Byron replied while nodding his head. "But wouldn't it be easier to destroy the palace instead of risking your and Wilson's lives as decoys to infiltrate it?" he asked again in a concerned tone.

"It would, but there is probably a ton of treasure in the palace," I replied with a smile, making a coin sigh with my hand. "Not to mention the powerful Dials Lokni must have hoarded during his stay in the cloud sea," I added, not even bothering to hide the desire in my voice.

I wanted those rare and extinct Dials, and I'm going to get them one way or the other. My primary motivation for coming here was to obtain dials to upgrade my ship.

I already knew of a genius inventor, and the only reason I didn't ask him to upgrade my ship was so that I could secure more tools for him to do so before I did.

So now it was only a matter of gathering as many Dials as I could and bringing them to Wolf to let him work his magic, or science, in this case, but I digress.

"We're going to need those Dials to upgrade the ship, but we can get to that later," I stated, waving my hand dismissively as I turned to look at Bob and Doc Q.

"You two are on ship guard duty," I instructed, and they both nodded.

"Let's get going then. We have places to be and people to kill."