A few days later.

Headquarters.

"Okay, okay, I understand. Come back now, it's all resolved."

Kuro hung up the Den Den Mushi, leaned back, and said to Lida beside him, "See, isn't that all there?"

After sending people out for so long, he received a collective feedback today.

Dressrosa and its naval base encountered the Unicorn Pirates and ended in a complete victory.

David killed Herbert, and Cass defeated Wang Long, but Wang Long escaped. Wilbur forced away Yagyu Shikator, a member of the Unicorn Pirates. Kuro killed Nakoruru first, and then joined forces with Rudolph to find Orpheus and kill him. As for the last member, the Navy searched for several days and finally found an ice sculpture on the sea. They confirmed that the last member, Garford, was inside, but everyone on the ship had been frozen to death.

"A giant ice sculpture... Kuzan? Did he pass by?"

Kuro, with a cigar in his mouth, thought for a moment, then shook his head: "Forget it, why should I care?"

QQ...

"Lieutenant General!"

There was a knock on the office door and the sound of the navy outside.

"Enter."

As Kuro spoke, a naval captain saluted at the door and said, "Vice Admiral, something has happened in Sabaody."

"Sabaody? Sabaody and me..."

Kuro was about to speak when he suddenly realized something was wrong. Sabaody was also his territory, so he changed the subject, "What about Sabaody? I remember Sentomaru is the one stationed there, right?"

Sentomaru is there, along with two Pacifistas. They're just supernovas from the first half of the Grand Line, so how could anything happen to them?

"Sabaody was ravaged by a pirate who escaped, and the two Pacifistas deployed there were destroyed. In addition, although there were no casualties, many buildings were damaged, resulting in losses to Sabaody's assets," the naval captain said.

Upon hearing this, Kuro raised an eyebrow. "The Pacifistas are all gone? What, did the new Supernovas unite?"

"No, only one..."

The naval captain said with some difficulty, "A pirate with a bounty of 30 million, 'White Admiral' Sam William, was not caught by Rear Admiral Sentomaru, and he got away."

"William?"

Kuro was taken aback. "Sam William?"

Lida paused for a moment, then turned to Kuro. "Kuro, isn't that the pirate you met in the East Blue? The one that emits steam?"

It wasn't just that we met; he even arranged for the arrest warrants to be issued on his behalf. He was an old acquaintance.

"He's already in Sabaody?" Kuro raised an eyebrow. "So fast? Is Sentomaru injured?"

"No, Rear Admiral Sentomaru did not capture that pirate," the naval captain replied.

"Alright, you can leave now, I understand." Kuro waved his hand, dismissing the naval captain, then hissed and pondered, "What the hell? How did this guy get to Sabaody Archipelago? Something's not right. Why is his bounty still 30 million? He hasn't encountered any pirates along the way?"

"What's wrong, Kuro? Isn't a low bounty a good thing? It means he hasn't done anything outrageous," Lida asked curiously.

"That's not too outrageous, is it? Is he treating it like a vacation?!"

Kuro said unhappily, "With such a huge fortune and so many things he's done in the East Blue, and he's not exactly a dreamer or an adventurer, why shouldn't his bounty be raised? What, did the Navy chase him and he escaped? Or did he become friends with the pirates? Didn't he even have a single battle?"

...

In the first half of the Grand Line, in a certain sea area far from the Sabaody Archipelago.

Several pirate ships drifted on the sea, all bearing some damage, some even incomplete, except for the large ship that resembled a flagship, which was completely unharmed.

At that moment, several people were waiting in the captain's cabin on that ship.

One of them, dressed in a captain's uniform with a large white scarf around his neck, exuded a gentlemanly air and remained silent in contemplation.

The others on the side, however, seemed quite excited.

“See, William, I told you there was no fake wanted poster. That pacifist you encountered is quite famous on the high seas now, and you still took care of him, didn’t you? Just like you took care of those pirates. We don’t need to be cautious at all. The pirates in the first half are no match for us!” Montblanc said happily.

This period has been too agonizing. Every time William encounters a pirate crew, he has to fight with all his might. Whether it's a bounty of 60 million, 80 million, or even a 'supernova' with a bounty exceeding 100 million, William thinks they are all fake. In his words, he needs to find someone with a bounty similar to his own to test their true strength. Of course, they can't be fake.

Unfortunately, he never encountered it. If he had been a little slower, he definitely would have, and then he would have realized that his bounty was too low. But he never encountered it because he was too rushed.

William would fall into a state of extreme anxiety after each time he dealt with a high-bounty pirate.

He believed he had stumbled into a trap, surrounded by pirates with fake bounties but weak strength. If he stayed in this area for too long, he might become arrogant and be taken down by a real, powerful pirate.

no!

This can't be done!

We must leave, we must escape this sea!

So William got to work. With his steam power boosting them, the ships were bound to be fast. They made almost no stops along the way, encountered very few pirates, and made it all the way to Sabaody Archipelago.

This made William even more certain that the rarity of pirates they had encountered on their voyage was definitely suspicious.

What he didn't know was that his route happened to be the same route Rudolf was stationed on.

However, a conflict arose upon their arrival in Sabaody.

The navy discovered their trail and dispatched pacifists to capture them. Not wanting to have a direct confrontation with the navy, William simply used his abilities to create blind spots and destroy buildings, keeping them busy. The two pacifists, however, were in some trouble. But in the face of high-temperature steam, such sophisticated instruments as machines suffered far more damage than normal brute force.

It was the major general stationed in Sabaody that took William quite a bit of effort to escape. It wasn't that he couldn't fight, but dragging it out would make their situation more dangerous. That guy was very strong and fit the position of major general stationed in Sabaody.

But the pacifists...

Montblanc was finally happy after escaping from Chambord.

Look, the pacifists have already taken care of you, and you still dare to say you're weak?!

“Those pacifists can easily take down pirates worth 60 or 70 million, so your strength definitely surpasses theirs. It’s just that your bounty is low. You didn’t believe me before, but now you do,” Montblanc said excitedly.