One-Punch Man in the One Piece World

53. Ruhanna, the intelligence network!

After learning about the "snow disaster" from Polino, Nami remained worried. This is a navigator's instinct to avoid natural disasters.

Moreover, Nami's awe of the Grand Line's climate and the horror of the "snow disaster" described by Porido made it impossible for her to ignore it!

"Very well," Norton nodded. "Give the order to gather supplies on the island, regroup briefly, and then head to the next island!"

Although they had already looted almost all the treasures in Birch Town, there was surprisingly little food left in the town.

Perhaps due to the small population, it was completely insufficient to support the consumption of Norton's massive fleet of nearly three thousand men.

It's worth noting that pirates are generally large, muscular men with huge appetites.

Eating several bowls of rice in one meal is very common.

"Get all the restless folks out of town to hunt! Those 'Ruhanna' deer are a local specialty! Bring me some to try!"

Along the Grand Line, the different climates between islands give rise to many magical creatures, whose meat is different from ordinary ingredients and has the unique flavor of the island.

On this island called 'Granfoll', there is no doubt that it is a fierce deer named 'Ruhanna'!

Since we're already here, Norton won't be polite!

"Perfect timing, I'll go outside for a stroll and sober up!" Zoro perked up at the suggestion.

Having drunk at least a dozen barrels of sake, Zoro wasn't truly drunk, but his head was spinning, and he hadn't fully sobered up after the fight.

"Don't get lost, you idiot," Sanji said, taking a drag of his cigarette. "Nobody has time to find you!"

After the fleet docked, the chefs from the floating restaurant also came to town to collect ingredients, but they didn't have much success.

Although the townspeople had consciously begun stockpiling food in preparation for the snow disaster, it was still far too little for the Norton Pirates.

It's barely enough, and far from meeting the standard of "sufficient grain reserves".

"That kind of thing will never happen! Curly Eyebrows!" Zoro scoffed.

"That's hard to say, after all, you're a natural plant-headed guy who only knows how to fight." Sanji continued to banter.

Norton watched this scene with amusement, without getting involved.

"Nami, Funing! Come on! I'll take you out to sober up too!"

The task of overseeing Birch Town was naturally left to Zeff and the others. Apart from Sanji, all the cooks chose to stay and prepare the ingredients. With the addition of a large number of pirates, there shouldn't be any unexpected incidents.

Outside Birch Tree Town, the ground is covered with withered yellow leaves, which no one sweeps away.

Once outside the town, there is a withered forest, and further on, there are tall, withered birch trees. These plants are significantly larger than any other plants on the island, and you can see one every few dozen or even a hundred meters.

If you walk further, you can see even taller dead trees.

"Hey! Norton! We've been gone for half an hour! We've encountered several kinds of prey, why aren't you making a move?" Nami rubbed her shoulders, tightened her clothes, and complained.

After leaving the town, the temperature dropped significantly for some reason, perhaps because we were in the countryside, giving it a late autumn feel.

"Leave those ordinary prey to my men to hunt. What I need to find is a creature called 'Ruhanna'!" Norton said.

"Is it that one?" Fu Ning suddenly pointed ahead.

Norton looked ahead and saw that the view opened up. The gaps between the dead trees had widened, and they were taller than the dead forest they had just passed. The leaves on the ground were as big as a human face.

In the withered forest ahead, a large reindeer with long, dark brown fur was lowering its head and chewing on the fallen leaves on the ground!

"What a huge reindeer!"

"It feels taller than an elephant!"

Nami and Funing were both surprised. After recalling what the people in the town had said, they quickly hid behind Norton.

"Finally found it!" Norton's eyes lit up.

The deer in front of us must be the so-called "Ruhanna", because its size is completely different from the wild animals we encountered on the road!

"Should we attack it?"

"Be quick, don't let it escape!"

Nami and Funing spoke one after the other.

They weren't worried that the "Ruhanna" would harm them; with Norton around, that wouldn't happen.

They had complete faith in Norton's abilities!

Along the way, apart from Garp, none of the enemies Norton encountered could withstand a single punch.

"What's the rush? It's about to attack," Norton laughed.

"Eh?"

Almost the instant Norton finished speaking, the giant reindeer that was chewing on fallen leaves suddenly raised its head, revealing glowing scarlet eyes.

Then, it charged straight toward Norton!

Nami and Funing quickly shielded Norton in front of them.

Just kidding, it looks almost like an assault tank!

Norton grinned, his smile undiminished, and as the 'Ruhanna' charged at him, he gently extended his palm.

He held down Ruhanna's antlers!

The "Ruhanna" frantically swung its limbs, trying to knock Norton away.

But Norton didn't budge. Instead, he casually tossed the enormous reindeer, which was bigger than an elephant, into the air, smashing several dead trees and sending leaves flying.

Nami and Funing then mustered up their courage and went forward to take a closer look.

"It doesn't look much different from a regular reindeer!" Funing said.

She had seen reindeer before, the live kind. As the daughter of a duke, she often saw all sorts of animals from all over the world; this was a privilege and experience that came with her status.

Norton did not answer immediately. He stepped forward and reached out to pry open the mouth of the already dead 'Ruhanna'.

"what!"

Nami and Funing gasped in surprise, covering their mouths.

What they saw was that the mouth of that "Ruhanna" was filled with sharp teeth! Long enough to reach the forearm length of an adult!

"The people in town weren't lying; this creature is indeed omnivorous, eating both grass and meat." Norton withdrew his hand. "And it's highly aggressive."

As expected of the Grand Line, the strength of the creatures here is far greater than in the East Blue. Norton has been training his fists in the East Blue for so long, and apart from Sea Kings, he has never seen a creature stronger than 'Ruhanna'.

This level of power is beyond what ordinary pirates can handle.

"Nami, tell the guys down below to team up and not get separated," Norton said, turning to Nami.

Aside from the ship's officers and lower-ranking leaders, any other pirates who encounter this creature alone will simply be eaten.

"Oh right, have someone drag this one back. I'll capture a few more alive. Didn't the people in town say that these creatures live in groups? Let's catch some and see if we can raise them as battle pets," Norton added.

As he said this, a scene unconsciously appeared in Norton's mind...

With hundreds or thousands of pirates riding such fierce deer and fighting in open areas, the kingdom's army, with its outdated weapons, would have no chance against them.

"Got it!" Nami nodded.

...

...

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Zoro wiped the blood off the Sandai Kitetsu, looked at the giant reindeer lying before him, and breathed slightly.

"What a strong deer...it almost got injured..."

In pursuit of the "Ruhanna," Zoro ventured far from the town, completely disoriented in the unfamiliar surroundings.

All around him were identical dead trees and fallen leaves; in Zoro's eyes, there was no difference between east, west, south, and north!

Suddenly, Zoro heard a noise and pushed aside the dry branches beside him.

He saw a group of tribesmen wearing deerskin skirts and appearing to be quite uncivilized emerge from under a tall, withered birch tree in the distance!

"What's going on? Where did it come from? Is there a hole in that tree?" Zoro muttered to himself.

...

...

About two hours later.

In Birch Tree Town, panic suddenly gripped the people.

"Ruhanna! Lots of Ruhanna!"

"Could they be migrating?"

"That shouldn't be the case! The houses in our town are all built with insulated birch wood, which naturally masks human odors!"

...

The townspeople of Birch Town, who were tied up, were talking amongst themselves when they saw the pirates walking towards the group of Luhanna, cheering loudly.

"Admiral Norton!"

"You're back!"

The townspeople looked closely and saw that in front of the group of Ruhanna, the tallest Ruhanna, who was obviously the leader of the group, was sitting on the back of a silver-haired man and two young women.

It was Norton, Nami, and Funing!

Upon entering the town, the group of Luhanna appeared even larger, towering a head above the houses along the roadside.

"Buggy! Sam!" Norton shouted to the cat-men in the crowd, "Take these dozen or so 'Ruhanna's' onto the ship!"

He has now tamed the herd of deer. Although he does not possess Conqueror's Haki, Norton can do so by using his reverse hearing of the voices of all things, and almost all creatures can understand what he says.

After the leader of the deer herd was defeated, all the Ruhanna naturally submitted.

In the animal world, obeying the strong is a survival instinct.

"Where's Chloe? Bring him here!"

After the cat-man brothers left, Norton casually gave orders to another pirate.

Shortly after, Chloe, dressed in a black suit, appeared in Norton's sight.

"What about the non-pirate townspeople you picked out?" Norton asked.

Before setting off, he instructed Kuro to identify all the townspeople who were not pirates.

"I've already chosen."

As he spoke, Kro led Norton to a house next to the banquet hall.

Inside, dozens of people were huddled in a corner, their hands and feet bound by ropes.

"There aren't any fakes, are there?"

"No, it's all been confirmed. Even their previous professions have been recorded," Kro said.

Norton nodded in satisfaction. Crowe was indeed one of the few smart people on the ship, efficient and reliable.

If Bucky were to do this kind of thing...

The people in the room looked at Norton in fear, wondering what was about to happen.

"Raise your hand if you've ever worked in intelligence!"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, and finally, a man with black-rimmed glasses and a refined appearance shakily raised his hand.

Norton looked over: "What did you do before?"

"Sir! I used to work at the World Economic News Agency!" the man with black-rimmed glasses replied.

Norton's eyes lit up: "Excellent!"

Norton had already asked everyone on the ship, but none of them were professionals skilled in intelligence work, so he decided to place his hopes on the townspeople.

After all, people who have received higher education in this era generally live well, have a decent job, and won't end up as pirates.

Those who choose to become pirates are usually those who have no other choice but to become pirates.

Seeing that he seemed to have some use, the man with black-rimmed glasses' eyes flashed with delight: "Sir! What do you want me to do? I promise I'll do whatever you say!"

Most of the people in this town are pirates, and the people in this house were coerced into becoming part of the town.

The pirates first hosted a banquet for them, then secretly sent men to destroy their ship. Unable to leave the town, they had no choice but to obey the mayor, Polito, in everything.

Furthermore, the island was almost completely isolated from the outside world, making it impossible to contact anyone and leaving no hope of escape.

Norton waved his hand, and behind him, Nami tossed a bag of Berries in front of the man with black-rimmed glasses.

"This is..." The man with black-rimmed glasses was stunned.

"I need you to be my informant!" Norton said with a laugh. "On the Grand Line, without Log Pose, we can't pinpoint the location of islands! And I need you to help me solve this problem!"

"I want to establish my own intelligence network! I'll know the locations of all the merchant ships, warships... all the ships worth plundering, and all the wealthy islands worth seizing, wherever my fleet passes!"

"If you can do it, these are yours! From now on, you can live as a member of the Norton Pirates!"

The man with black-rimmed glasses swallowed.

"You just said you were a former employee of the World Economic News Agency, right?" Fu Ning added. "I've heard that the World Economic News Agency is the world's largest intelligence organization besides CP. If you could get in touch with them..."

"Sure! I have the headquarters number! Just give me the Den Den Mushi!" the man with black-rimmed glasses shouted.

Norton gestured with his chin toward Funing, who understood and tossed a Den Den Mushi to the man with black-rimmed glasses.

Kro stepped forward and untied the man with black-rimmed glasses. The man immediately picked up a Den Den Mushi and dialed a series of numbers.

"Polopolo..."

"Polopolo..."

"Moshi, Moshi? This is headquarters! I'm Morgans!"

A voice came from the Den Den Mushi. The man with black-rimmed glasses was still hesitating about how to speak when he snatched the Den Den Mushi away with one hand.

"I am Norton Morgans, you should know me, right?"

"Norton?" Morgans paused, stunned, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi at the World Economic News headquarters.

"Silver-haired Norton?"

"Didn't you call me the 'Fifth Emperor'? Have you forgotten so quickly?" Norton grinned.

"Hahaha!! It's actually our 'silver-haired' Norton!" Morgans' tone turned to surprise. "He actually contacted us! How did you manage that?"

"Never mind that, I want to do a business deal with you! Are you in?" Norton said.

"Oh? What kind of business?" Morgans sounded very interested.

"Be my eyes! Provide me with the intelligence and record-keeping I need!"

"What's in it for me?" Morgans asked.

"You want big news, don't you? I plan to rob all the way to the New World. Marines, pirates, even Celestial Dragons' ships, I won't let anyone go! You don't want to miss news like pirates robbing Marines or stealing Celestial Gold, do you?" Norton laughed.