Chapter 190: The Pirate Alliance

Honey and Marianne walked down the village. They saw many abandoned huts covered with green moss. There were overgrown branches and roots everywhere claiming the place. They had no windows and just holes in their place. Some of the huts had doors which were completely destroyed due to the weather. Others did not have them.

"I don't like this place," Marianne said.

"I don't either," Honey replied and added, "But we are together." Honey smiled. 

Marianne smiled back as they continued walking. They walked for a few minutes until they got to an odd building. It was in the center of the road. It looked different to the rest. 

The abandoned hut had a circular roof. At its zenith, a weathered golden rod protruded, a stoic sentinel bearing the brunt of years of exposure. The hut's walls, made of timeworn wood, curved gently outward. Nature, in its gradual reclamation, had woven tendrils of ivy around the exterior, creating an intricate dance between man-made structure and organic growth.

"This is different," Marianne said.

"Very different to the rest," Honey added.

"We should check it out," Honey said. 

"But," Marianne tried to say. Honey smiled. 

She leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Just think of Ben." 

Marianne thought of Ben. He was handsome. He loved her and will protect her. Her bravery got higher. "Let's go," Marianne shouted. She put her arms in the air. Honey giggled. 

They walked into the large hut. They saw it was a mess. It smelled horrible. There were branches sticking everywhere. There was a bird nest on the high pillars. The place was open and had plenty of room.

"It looks like a place for people to gather," Marianne said.

"Like a town hall," Honey pointed out. 

They walked around and saw a drawing of the outlines for several islands. The drawings showed seven islands. The six islands surrounded the seventh island in the middle. 

"Interesting," Honey said. 

"There are seven islands," Marianne said. 

"Yes, we should tell Ben about this," Honey said.

"The seven islands?" Marianne asked. 

"Yes, maybe there is something special there," Honey replied.

"Okay," Marianne said. They had a quick look around and saw nothing else of interest and left. 

They headed out of the hut when they encountered two groups of pirates.

"What are you two girls doing here?" a man said. He smirked. He was a muscular man with tan skin, sharp cheekbones, small eyes, a large mouth, and a round chin. He wore a green helmet that had horns, a sleeveless green-and-black-striped shirt, green shorts, sandals. 

"This place is dangerous for women like you," another man said. He was a lean, dark-skinned man with slightly-long, black hair. He had a large, downward-pointing nose, large lips, a square chin, and a big forehead. He wore a yellow bandana on his head, a blue, short-sleeved shirt, black pants, and blue shoes.

Another man had a sheet of papers with him. "Captain that is Marianne with a 29,000,000 Beli

and Honey Queen with a 7,800,000 Beli," another pirate said. 

"Some small fries, Kimmel," said the muscular man. 

"Yes they are Carragan," Kimmel said. 

"Honey Queen is part of the Trump Pirates, their captain has a 11,600,000 Beli bounty," the man with the sheet said. 

Honey got angry. "He is not my captain, Ben is my Captain," Honey said.

Kimmel and Carragan laughed. "I don't care who is your Captain, you will be useful to find the treasure," Kimmel said. He viewed other pirates as hyenas, to bring him the treasure. This included his new friend.

"You are right, their crew will be useful to find the treasure. We can use them as hostages," Carragan said. 

Marianne and Honey looked at them coldly. 

"Captain Carragan, Demon King Ben only has a bounty of 20,000,000 Beli," the man with the paper said. Honey thought this was her Captain's bounty after defeating Arlong. They do not have his updated bounty. She thought, how long have they been here. 

"He is also weak," Carragan added.

Kimmel was wondering why this little girl bounty was higher than the Captain's bounty. He shrugged his shoulders. "Get them," Kimmel ordered. 

Two dozen men charged towards Honey and Marianne. 

"This alliance will bring us the treasure," Carragan said. He smiled at Kimmel.

"Indeed it will," Kimmel replied. He smiled. He thought what a fool. 

Honey raised her hand. "Liquid Air Blast," Honey said as a torrent of purple liquid shot from her hand and hit half a dozen men. They were knocked from their feet and went flying back. They landed on the ground. Some of them hit their head and were knocked out. Two of them hit the arm which got hurt. He groaned in pain. 

Kimmel and Carragan looked in shock. "A devil fruit," Kimmel said. 

Carragan gritted his teeth. At the same time Marianne took her bag pack off and took her paint pallet out. She got her paintbrush out and dipped it in black paint and threw it at other dozen pirates who Honey did not hit. All of them got hit with the paint. "Betrayal Black," Marianne said. 

The pirates who got hit with the black paint stopped. Their facial expressions changed. The half a dozen pirates turned to the group of pirates behind them. They charged towards them and started slashing. 

Kimmel and Carragan looked shocked. Their men were turning on each other.

"What's going on Carragan, why are your men attacking mine?" Kimmel shouted. 

"I don't know, it's your men as well," Carragan shouted back. 

Carragan took his short sword out. He went to a pirate and slashed him.

Kimmel took his katana out and slashed another pirate with black paint. "Don't kill them," Kimmel shouted. 

"They are crazy," Carragan said. 

"Liquid Bullet Barrage," Honey said as she made a gun shape with her hand. Purple liquid shaped like bullets went from her fingertips and hit the pirates. They screamed in pain as they went down. The high speed bullets hit their vitals and critical organs with force. 

Carragan picked up a body and used it as a shield. Kimmel used his sword to deflect the liquid bullets but he got hit in the chest. He stumbled back. He was breathing heavily. "That hurt," Kimmel said. 

Carragan dropped the body and charged towards Honey. "I will get you," Carragan shouted. He swung his machete towards Honey. 

Honey jumped out of the way. Carragan followed up with another attack. He tried to stab Honey. Honey kept dodging. 

Kimmel ran up towards Marianne. "I will get you," Kimmel said. He swung his katana down. Marianne jumped out of the way. She dipped her paintbrush in the red paint. She threw the red paint towards Kimmel. The paint hit him. "Red of Bullfighting," Marianne said. She jumped back. 

Carragan was busy trying to hit Honey however he was failing. He saw the red paint on Kimmel`s body. He swung his blade and sliced Kimmel.

"Why?" Kimmel asked. He got hit.

"I don't know, it's the paint that made me do it," Carragan tried to explain. He could not ration it.

Kimmel was about to say something when Honey raised her hand and fired a torrent of purple liquid at Kimmel. "Liquid Air Blast," Honey said. It hit him on the exposed wound and he went flying in the air. He landed on the ground with a big thud. He was down. 

"Kimmel," Carragan said.

"We only made the alliance a few days ago," Carragan added. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. 

"He was weak, why don't we work together," Carragan proposed. 

"You are shameless," Honey said.

"Very shameless," Marianne nodded.

Carragan laughed. "This is the world of pirates, betrayals happen all the time," Carragan laughed. 

Honey and Marianne looked at him. "I will never join you," Marianne said.

"Our Captain does not like scum," Honey added.

Carragan looked mad. "Then I will kidnap you both and make him trade your treasure," Carragan said. 

"Double Air Blast," Honey said as she raised both her hands and fired a torrent of purple liquid from both. It hit Carragan who went flying back. He hit the wall of the hut and collapsed.

"That was interesting," Marianne said.

"It was, I wonder how many of these people are here?" Honey wondered.

"We will take them all down," Marianne added. Honey smiled.

"Let's go and find Mikita and Alvida," Honey said. They both nodded and headed out.