"The Kingdom of Tada is not afraid of pirates at all. Its long-standing reputation means that the great pirates will not come here, and the small pirates cannot even break through the port gate. They will be wiped out before they even get close. In two years, I have accomplished nothing, and it is really hard to talk to my old friends and colleagues."

Hugo covered his face in shame.

"Isn't this great?"

Kuro, on the other hand, got excited.

No achievements to speak of? No pirates?

OK!

Great place!

"Peace is certainly good, but as you can see, this base has no navy at all."

Hugo sighed: "The original mission of the base in Tada Town was not to catch pirates, but to recruit soldiers. We used to be able to recruit marines here, but we haven't been able to since three years ago. No matter how good the benefits are, the people of the Kingdom of Tada just don't want to join the navy. The current navy consists of people who stayed here before and my subordinates."

"The people of the Kingdom of Tada are very brave, and the World Government is very keen on recruiting soldiers from here. However, it was difficult to find people from here in the past, and in recent years it has become completely impossible to recruit them."

"I can't recruit any marines, I can't catch any pirates, and I can't complete my missions, so I can only stay here. But as a marine, how can I just enjoy this peace for no reason? I want to catch pirates, I want to go back to the sea."

Hugo said sadly, "The wind is blowing, the cannons are beating, and the navy and pirates are fighting fiercely for peace and freedom on the high seas. How can such an epic be complete without me, Hugo!"

"Don't you guys think so?!" Hugo looked at Kuro and the others.

Kuro, though looking at Hugo, seemed unconcerned by his words, instead frowning. "Kuro..."

“Yes, it is indeed that voice.” Kro adjusted his glasses. “The tone is the same, but that’s where the strangeness lies. May I ask, Lieutenant Colonel Hugo, are you sure you didn’t make any calls for help?”

"Me? I didn't." Hugo paused, then said, "Wait, you mean you received a call for help from me?"

“That’s right. Judging from the sound, we concluded that the owner of the sound was in grave danger, but you are perfectly normal now. That’s the strange thing,” Kro said.

Kuro nodded: "Generally speaking, if I had heard what you just said, and combined it with your call for help, I would have thought you were bored out of your mind. But now the situation is a bit strange. You've been stationed here for so long, won't something strange happen at night?"

As he spoke, he repeated to Hugo what he had said to Sipatia when they met earlier.

Hugo scratched his head: "If that's the case, then there is a conspiracy, but that doesn't make sense. There's a custom in Tada Town that you can't go out after nine o'clock at night. But I've been out before, and apart from the fact that there was no one around at night, there was nothing else. It made me want to recite a poem to the moonlight."

"You haven't done anything unusual in the past two years?" Kuro asked.

"Yes... oh, no, that's not right either. When I came here to be stationed, the residents of Tada Town were no longer coming to enlist in the navy. I asked them why, and some of them wanted to join the navy, but no one said anything. They must have some kind of hardship. But that's their country's internal affair. I even called the higher-ups to report the intelligence here, but there was no follow-up."

"Haven't you been to Tada Town?"

Upon hearing this, Hugo shook his head, stood up, pointed out the window, and said, "Do you see that big door?"

At the end of these towering buildings, there is a huge door connecting the buildings. From this side, you can see what the door looks like. In addition to the main gate, there is also an iron gate. The fortress near the main gate is full of heavy cannons.

"Once you pass that, you'll be inside the Kingdom of Tada, but no one can go in. Apart from this port town, the rest of the Kingdom of Tada is closed to the public. And inside that gate lives Lord Gugas, the 'gatekeeper.' With him there, no one can get through."

"My lord?" Kuro chewed on the word.

Speaking of which, Sipatia mentioned this before.

"Yes, sir."

Hugo's eyes revealed a hint of admiration. "What you said about Sipatia is impossible. Lord Gugas is of noble character and would never do anything to harm the Kingdom of Tada. Lord Gugas strictly adheres to the principles of justice and helps those in need. He is like a true knight. If I weren't in the Navy, I might follow in his footsteps."

Kuro stubbed out his nearly finished cigar, lit another, and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. "This is so annoying..."

Hugo couldn't provide any information, but the person Kuro encountered wasn't a fake. However, given Sipatia's personality, she might have been trying to sow discord, but it's hard to say.

"Report!"

At that moment, the captain and the lieutenant from Tada Town entered together, holding a wanted poster, and said, "We've found out, that Absolon really is a pirate!"

The photo on the wanted poster was quite old; it showed a young Absolun with slicked-back hair and a gloomy expression.

[Phantom Demon] Absolon, bounty of 330 million Berries, dead or alive.

"Three hundred million..."

Lida glanced at it. "It's not very high, is it?"

"You have to look at when the 300 million was calculated."

Kuro said, "The background of this photo is at least ten years ago. The 300 million back then was different from what we have now."

That person's abilities, if placed among today's supernovas, would be utterly crushing them.

If he were to enter the new world, he would be a silver medalist.

However, it is certain that this Absolon is indeed a pirate.

“Where is Sipatia?” Kuro asked.

“Lieutenant Colonel, we couldn’t find any trace of Sipatia. She doesn’t seem to be a pirate.”

Kuro narrowed his eyes. "Fine, let's interrogate him. That Absolun must have important information. Bring him here."

"Yes, sir!" The captain and lieutenant saluted together and went out.

Three hundred million!

Hugo exclaimed, "That man is so tall! Good heavens! If I had caught him, I could have escaped this boring place! But why are there pirates here? How did they get in?"

Kuro glanced at him. "Is it your lack of intelligence or the lack of intelligence here? Didn't you watch the Marineford War a few days ago?"

"No, there are no Den Den Mushi here that can broadcast live. I only found out about the Navy's victory by listening to the broadcast. It's such a pity that I didn't have the chance to participate in such an epic war and experience it firsthand. How can I understand the grandeur of the war just by hearing others talk about it? How can I compose poems about it without understanding its grandeur? How can I sing poems about it without composing them? How can the people know the greatness of the Navy!"

Hugo slammed his fist on the table a few times in frustration. "Damn it! Damn it! If I had been in that war, I..."

"Stop, stop, stop."

Kuro waved his hand, feeling a throbbing pain in his head.

He discovered that this guy was a real chatterbox, and his words never got to the point, making him talk on and on.