One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

Amidst the pitch-black clouds, two bolts of lightning suddenly struck down, one hitting the mast and the other striking the canvas.

The howling wind was mixed with torrential rain, with pea-sized raindrops pounding against the deck, the water cascading down the sides of the ship like a waterfall, swirling into the sea and then quickly rising again, forming giant waves like the claws of a wild beast, tossing the ship about.

Yet, amidst this storm, faint sounds of revelry could still be heard.

The building on the deck was three stories high, designed for carrying passengers, so it occupied quite a bit of space. The first floor was a banquet hall similar to that of a merchant ship, which Sage had preserved.

The second floor was the captain's quarters, but compared to the commandeered warship, this place was much larger, suitable for use as a living room, and of course, it belonged to Sage.

The third floor served as a combined command room, control room, and conference room, which could later be used for meetings among the crew. Lily and Renetia could command, observe, and operate from above.

As for Sage's treasure, he had placed it in the central room of the first level of the cabin, allowing Renetia to enhance it with power. The ship's material itself would not be destroyed by cannon fire, and being in the center made it even less likely. Coupled with the power, it maintained movement around the treasury, making it difficult for anyone to easily break in.

Of course, this setup only prevented petty theft; if they encountered a strong opponent, it would either be the loser eating dust or the winner taking all.

"Yo ho ho, yo ho ho~ ho."

"Yo ho ho, yo ho~ ho ho!"

The banquet hall on the first floor was brightly lit, radiating a golden hue. A group of pirates was feasting heartily in the hall, toasting each other. Although there were only about thirty people, they occupied little space in the hall, yet the noise they made was considerable.

At the head of the hall, beneath the throne, was a beautifully decorated round table where Sage, Lily, and Renetia were gathered, cooking hot pot.

Sage wore a string of red jade beads around his neck, a thick gold bracelet on his left wrist, a green jade ring on his left thumb, and gold rings on his index and pinky fingers. His right hand's index, middle, and pinky fingers were also adorned with gemstone and gold rings, as he held a pair of chopsticks, picking up meat from the hot pot and stuffing it into his mouth.

He was completely unfazed by the storm outside.

Neither Lily, the navigator, nor Renetia, the shipwright, showed any signs of panic.

Instead, they were both enjoying themselves, using chopsticks to pick vegetables from the hot pot.

"Make it even livelier!"

Sage poured himself a glass of wine, downed it in one gulp, and shouted to the pirates in front of him, "Everyone, sing along!"

The pirates' songs were numerous, and the one they were currently singing was the old but still popular "Binks' Brew" from the sea.

Eating hot pot and singing songs while welcoming the storm had its own flavor.

As for Lily, she occasionally glanced out at the raging wind and rain, her eyes betraying a hint of worry.

Renetia, however, was indifferent, her small hands eagerly picking vegetables with her chopsticks, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"This is delicious, and this one too! It's just water with some seasoning, but why does it taste so good? So strange!"

"On a stormy day, eating hot pot is definitely comfortable. Outside it's stormy, but inside it's warm and lively, how wonderful!"

Sage raised his glass to the lively pirates, smiling, "Days like this, I wouldn't mind living for a lifetime."

"Are you really sure it's okay?" Lily bit her lip and said, "Maybe we should try a bit harder."

"Don't worry! The ship I built can definitely withstand this level of storm without a scratch!" Renetia said confidently.

Sage had even gotten somewhat used to storms like this since leaving Natia Kingdom.

He had been thinking that with the treasures he had painstakingly plundered from Natia Kingdom and the ship he had built, perhaps his fortunes were finally turning around!

After all, he had been unlucky for so long; it was about time for his luck to change.

But just as he had this thought, the heavens told him that his bad luck was still very much intact.

The storm had not let up at all.

At first, Lily was very diligent, commanding the crew to lower and raise the sails, trying to navigate out of the storm as quickly as possible, day and night.

Then, it seemed as if the storm had a mind of its own; no matter which direction Lily steered the ship, the storm would follow. Even though she had calculated the wind direction and was sure the rain clouds wouldn't move, as soon as the ship set sail, the wind direction would change.

It was hard to tell if Sage's luck was just that bad or if the ship's base color was too dark. In the end, Lily simply gave up.

After all, the ship wouldn't sustain any damage, so she thought, let it be, she was tired.

Thus, outside there was a raging storm and giant waves, while inside, it was a scene of song and dance, lively and bustling.

It was indeed a bit unlucky; the banquet could only be held inside, but with the ship's protection, it was no big deal.

Just like Sage himself, although he was quite unlucky, his strength ensured that he wouldn't be greatly affected.

As for the wind direction, although the ship was strongly affected by the wind, it also had a power system. When necessary, they could simply lower the sails and add fuel to use the power, and with Renetia around, they didn't even need to do that.

She was the power source herself, able to apply power at any time, guiding the ship toward its destination.

As for the storm, no one cared anymore.

Sage even went to the kitchen to find some seasonings and made a hot pot, directly cooking meat to eat.

Cooking didn't require any specific ingredients; as long as it was edible, dipping it in would make it delicious.

It wasn't that he had to do it himself; mainly, none of the pirates knew how to cook. They were good at drinking, but cooking was just about getting things cooked, and previously there hadn't been much food, so they could eat whatever was available.

Now that they had confiscated so many supplies, including precious ingredients from the kingdom, even the simplest roasted dishes were too tempting.

Sage was there to enjoy himself, not to suffer, so there was no need to be stingy.

"So, being my subordinate means you can enjoy life together!"

Sage raised his glass to his subordinates, laughing, "You guys work hard, and once you help me secure a big territory, I'll throw banquets every day!"

"Oh!!" The pirates cheered enthusiastically.

"Sage, why not try my scrambled eggs?" Lily looked at Sage with eager anticipation.

Sage subtly tugged at the corner of his mouth and said, "I've been eating too many eggs lately, let's save it for next time."

"What about Renetia?" Lily turned to Renetia.

"I'm allergic to eggs!" Renetia said with absolute certainty.

Around the hot pot, there were several stacks of what were likely eggs.

Because Sage had gone into the kitchen, Lily also became interested and entered to show off her cooking skills, and her favorite ingredient was eggs, so she made scrambled eggs.

As for why it was said to be likely eggs, it was because that thing was charred black; if it weren't said to be food, one might think it was some kind of burned wood.

A proper scrambled egg dish is supposed to be a delicious recipe made from eggs, but Lily's scrambled eggs were just burnt eggs.

The key issue wasn't even that! Sage clearly remembered that there were no eggs among the supplies; aside from his lower half, there wasn't a single egg on the entire ship! What on earth was this 'scrambled egg' made from?