Noah and his crew meticulously searched every corner of Sleepy Town, especially areas that might conceal secret rooms or underground structures. They left no stone unturned, combing through the ruins for two whole days, yet the Vampire Fruit remained elusive.
The sun was setting over Sleepy Town.
In the chilly autumn breeze, numerous bats flitted through the air, chasing moths and mosquitoes. A thin plume of smoke rose into the sky.
Noah and Vepa were grilling sea king steaks over the fire.
Ari and Raqi sat at a nearby table, staring intently at the map with furrowed brows. The map was marked with numerous crosses, representing the areas they had already scoured.
"Let's eat first!" Noah said, slicing the meat into portions and handing a piece to Ari and Raqi each.
As they bit into the perfectly charred, tender steaks, Noah expanded his Observation Haki, enveloping the entirety of Moon Isnd.
With the aid of electromagnetic waves, he carefully scanned the isnd’s terrain.
Moon Isnd wasn’t home to just Sleepy Town—there were four towns in total, as well as a ruined pace, resembling a sacrificial altar, located halfway up a mountain at the isnd’s center.
Logically, if the isnd had been destroyed by the Celestial Dragons, the treasure would have been looted clean by the Dragons and the World Government.
For the Vampire Fruit to have survived, it must have been hidden in an exceptionally well-concealed location, one that had escaped even their thorough search.
Noah’s decision to search Sleepy Town was influenced by memories from his previous life. His recollections told him that Red Count had found the Vampire Fruit in Sleepy Town, but there were no details about how or where. It seemed that Robin had needed to decipher ancient text to unlock the hidden location of the fruit.
After all, the outskirts of Sleepy Town could still be considered part of the town. And the pace ruins on the mountainside, less than two kilometers away, could also be counted within the area.
However, Noah wasn’t pnning to waste more time searching in vain.
The next morning, at dawn.
Noah borrowed the power of the Float-Float Fruit.
Pcing his hand on the ground, he caused the entire isnd to float ten meters into the air. Then, he forcefully ripped apart the earth, peeling away any sections that might contain hidden ruins.
Within two hours, a long-buried ruin hidden within the nearby mountain was unearthed and lifted into the air before the group.
Noah tore open the rocky outer yer of the ruins, revealing piles of treasure inside.
The few million Berries’ worth of treasure didn’t interest Noah and the others. However, a massive obsidian coffin caught Noah’s eye.
He pulled the stone lid off the coffin, revealing a corpse dressed in opulent garments. The corpse’s hands clutched a small chest.
Opening the chest, they found a dark red fruit lying inside.
“Is this the Vampire Fruit?” Ari asked, curiosity lighting up his face as he eyed the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.
Noah, on the other hand, picked up a parchment book lying next to the corpse’s head. He flipped through it for a few moments but quickly lost interest when he realized it was written in ancient text he couldn’t read.
As for the Vampire Fruit, Noah intended to give it to Vic.
Among the core members of the family, Vic was the only one who hadn’t eaten a Devil Fruit yet. Even without a fruit, Vic’s sheer physical strength and mastery of Haki allowed him to hold his own against Marine rear admirals.
Of course, Noah was well aware of Vic’s potential. Even with a vast reservoir of life energy, Vic’s ceiling would be just shy of admiral level.
The Vampire Fruit was Vic’s fastest path to breaking through to the admiral level.
With the Vampire Fruit and the treasure safely stored, Noah and his crew didn’t linger on Moon Isnd for long and soon set sail again.
This time, Noah was preparing for a trip to the West Blue.
For safety reasons, he didn’t pn to go directly through the Reverse Mountain Canal. Instead, he decided to detour through the South Blue, then scale the Red Line from that side to reach the West Blue.
Technically, they could also reach the West Blue from Sky Isnd. By following the Western Sky Route and reaching the final destination at the Top of the West Sky, they could descend to sea level, which would pce them in the center of the West Blue.
But Noah didn’t choose that path.
One of his goals was also to explore the South Blue.
After leaving Moon Isnd, the Nautilus didn’t stay submerged the entire time. Periodically, they surfaced and sailed along the waves.
During these periods, Noah and his crew experienced the bizarre weather of the Grand Line firsthand.
One moment the sun was shining brightly, and the next they were caught in a torrential downpour. That, they could tolerate. But sudden tornadoes, hailstorms, and massive waves? That was when things became dangerous.
Any ship that dared to sail the Grand Line needed either an incredibly skilled navigator or a crew of powerful fighters.
Noah and his crew relied on their strength to navigate these treacherous waters, even without Lilith—the fact that they continued to charge through the Grand Line was a testament to their confidence in their abilities.
After bypassing Santine Isnd, where Abasta was located, they entered the fifth route of Paradise.
At that moment, Noah, reading a newspaper on the deck, frowned.
“Ari, prepare to dive.”
Though Ari didn’t fully understand Noah’s thoughts, he quickly obeyed, bringing Raqi with him to maneuver the Nautilus into a dive.
Half an hour ter.
A massive galleon appeared in the nearby waters.
“Yasopp! Didn’t you say there was a ship around here?” said a confused figure with curly hair, standing atop the mast.
“Now what?” Lucky Roux asked anxiously.
Ben Beckman, the vice-captain, quickly made a decision. “Forget heading to Drum Isnd. We’re turning back to Twin Cape.”
“No problem, but the captain’s illness…” Lucky Roux said, worried.
Ben Beckman sighed in frustration. “We can’t risk going to Drum Isnd.”
Their original pn was to “borrow” a Log Pose from a nearby ship to help them get to Drum Isnd, but they hadn’t expected the ship to vanish.
Faced with the unpredictable weather of the Grand Line, even if they stayed on course, Beckman couldn’t guarantee they’d encounter another ship in time, let alone one that had a Log Pose to Drum Isnd.
Shanks’ illness was reaching a critical point—he had about ten days left at most.
If they pushed themselves, they could make it back to Twin Cape within those ten days.
They had been too careless this time. They’d assumed their enemy was a minor figure, but it turned out that the opponent’s doctor had the Sick-Sick Fruit, which had unleashed a hidden virus just before dying. Shanks and three other crewmates had contracted the virus and were now unconscious.
After the Red-Haired Pirates sailed away, the Nautilus slowly resurfaced.
“Red-Haired Shanks? Poisoned?” Noah mused. Even from under the sea, his Observation Haki, enhanced by the electromagnetic field, had allowed him to eavesdrop on Beckman and his crew’s conversation.
At that moment, Noah had briefly considered attacking the Red-Haired Pirates.
But after sensing the strength of Beckman and his crew, he abandoned the idea.
Although Shanks wouldn’t rise to the rank of Yonko until 1514, the Red-Haired Pirates were already a formidable force.
The Red-Haired Pirates were known as the Iron-Wall Pirate Crew, renowned for the banced strength of their members, all of whom were masters of hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, or swordsmanship.
Beckman himself was already at the level of a Vice Admiral, and the crew included a dozen more fighters equivalent to Marine rear admirals or vice admirals. Even if Noah went all out and summoned reinforcements from his family, he wasn’t confident he could wipe them out entirely.
What’s more, he had no way of knowing how seriously ill Shanks was.
If he couldn’t annihite the entire crew, Noah wouldn’t make a move. Attacking prematurely would not only expose his pns but also put his enemies on high alert, robbing him of the element of surprise for the future.
