161 Set off once more (2/2)

Thatch shot me an infuriated glance with his reddish eyes before muttering at the bar tender for a refill of his tankard.

”Jagged Dagger.” Marco called out as he settled next to me, nodding his head in Fawkes direction before shooting me an expectant glance.

”Do you have a coater on board? We're gonna need to coat our ship if we're going to leave the New World. Sailing through the calm belt is a definite no no. Especially within the next few months, after all I amn't insane enough to challenge Sea king's in the heat.” I asked as manner of greeting as I motioned for the bartender to bring me a cup of water.

”You're in luck, Lorean.” he replied before beckoning to one of the crewmates in the far right.

”Nice. Now, what about our payment?”

*****

The sun glowered down on our naked backs as we left Sphinx in the distance. It seems the New World had decided it was going to be one of 'those days' where living felt like utter torture and the sun felt like our personal stalker.

It had been only a brief half hour since we had left the banks of the island and already most of us had begun to sweat bullets. Barts had opted back to her more airy and open island clothing as she waved her hand around from time to time to generate a wonderful smelling aroma that masked the otherwise repetitive smell of creaking wood.

Rein ran around with a pair of tiny shorts as he pulled the ropes of the sails around, catching what little wind would allow us to exit the shallow and languid waters that we were in.

Angella helped him, doing more work than he could even conceive of doing in the process. She had stripped down to her bra and had folded up her pants all the way to the edge of her thighs as she attempted to fight off the oppressive heat.

I stood at the very centre with dagger in hand watching the skies around for any sudden movement. My Haki pervaded the deck of the ship, spreading through the creaking wood empowering it.

Sorren stared at me from his end of the deck, glaring at me with a little dissatisfaction.

”Captain! Tellll mmeeeeee!!” He whined, referring to the brief encounter that I had had with his father prior to us setting off, where Thatch had in no unclear words told me about the suffering he would bring upon me if his son were to be hurt in any way. He had then had the gall to turn around with a sunny smile and tell Sorren he had confided within me a secret 'between men!' that was not to be repeated and firing me a surreptitious wink that meant nothing.

Luckily, for us, the coater in Marco's group had had with him a sizeable amount of resin that would be required in the overall coating process. All it had taken was a brief two hours for the ship to be fully coated before we were ready to set off.

Marco had also been kind enough to provide us with an eternal pose to one of the bordering islands of the New World. From there it would be a mere day to reach the Red Line.

Oh, did I mention he gave me Whitebeard's calling card?