Just as William and his men were making their preparations, a warship was slowly sailing towards them.

The leader was a lieutenant colonel, a branch lieutenant colonel from the naval branch near Swites Island.

Not the headquarters, but in the four seas, when a branch navy encounters a headquarters navy member, they are demoted three ranks.

"Lieutenant Commander, we're almost at Swites," a navy officer said, saluting the lieutenant commander on deck.

The lieutenant colonel nodded: "This was a request from Lieutenant General 'Golden Lion,' and it must be done beautifully."

"I don't quite understand."

The young navy officer asked in bewilderment, "Why would a vice admiral care about a pirate with no bounty?"

The lieutenant colonel shook his head: "I don't know either, but since Lieutenant General Jin Ni has made a request, we will naturally not slack off. After all, Donghai is Lieutenant General Jin Ni's hometown, and Lieutenant General Jin Ni is the pride of Donghai. We cannot refuse Lieutenant General Jin Ni's request."

I dare not refute it.

Although it is true that whether it is a branch of the Four Seas or a branch of the headquarters, as long as it is a base, the base leader must have great power. According to the procedure, they can refuse Jin Ni's orders.

However, there is no need for that. Jin Ni is a celebrity in the East China Sea, including his subordinate, the "Giant Shield" Cass. He used to be just a minor branch sergeant in the East China Sea, but because he followed Jin Ni, he first made a great name for himself in the East China Sea. Later, after entering the headquarters, he returned to Jin Ni's command and is now a brigadier general in the headquarters.

As a naval officer, who wouldn't want to go to headquarters?

If things go well, Lieutenant General Jin Ni might be pleased and they might even go to headquarters.

Just as the outline of Swites Island was about to come into view, the navy officer monitoring from the mast suddenly shouted, "Lieutenant Commander, there are ships ahead, many ships!"

The lieutenant colonel took out his binoculars and looked ahead. From the binoculars, he could see a large number of ships suddenly sailing out of the port of Swites. On the sails of those ships hung the pirate flags of their target!

"That skull and crossbones flag..."

The lieutenant colonel produced a photograph that was exactly the same as the skull and crossbones flag.

"Give me the Den Den Mushi (sound-activated Den Den Mushi)." The lieutenant colonel ordered the young navy officer next to him.

"yes!"

The navy officer shouted and ran into the warship, taking out a Den Den Mushi (a type of electric telephone) and handing it to the lieutenant colonel.

Meanwhile, at the port, William and his men, having just unfurled the sails and reassured the civilians, were preparing to set sail.

"Boss!"

A pirate scrambled into the captain's cabin, pointed outside, and exclaimed, "We've spotted a warship!"

Inside the cabin, besides William, there were three other people.

With a refined appearance and an expression that clearly suggests wisdom, Elmira is the navigator, sniper, and gunman of this pirate crew.

The muscular man wearing iron gauntlets is named Montblanc. He is the cook and combat captain of this pirate crew, and is also a martial artist.

There was also a thin, agile-looking man with a dagger slung over his waist. His name was Swell, and he was the intelligence officer on the ship.

These three are the three top officers of the 'Sam Pirates' and William's most trusted subordinates.

"navy?"

Among the three, Montblanc clenched his fist and said, "Perfect! Let's use the Navy as our battle to make a name for ourselves!"

Swell's lips curled into a smirk as he reached for the dagger at his waist.

Elmira hesitated for a moment and looked at William.

"They've arrived... It seems my preparations were correct; we have indeed been discovered."

William slowly stood up, picked up a rapier from beside the bed, and said, "Then let them see the power of our 'Sam Pirates'!"

"Yes, Captain!" the three men called out.

...

"ah?!"

At G-3 Fortress, Kuro stared at Kro and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Say that again?"

“Mr. Kuro, the naval operation to find Sam William has failed,” Kuro had no choice but to repeat.

Kuro said, "Are you kidding me? Are you sure you've relayed my words exactly as I said them? Without adding anything else? What I want is for them to go and talk to him. You can remove the pirate title, since there's no bounty anyway."

“Yes, that’s a complete repetition. The lieutenant colonel over there did indeed have that intention, but before they could advance, Sam William attacked them first,” Crowe said.

"Are there any casualties?" Kuro frowned.

"No."

Kro shook his head: "This is a rare occurrence. No one in our navy died, not even a single one was injured. According to the lieutenant colonel, as soon as they made their call, a white mist appeared over there, and then a bullet shot down their mast, rendering them unable to sail. After the mist cleared, the ships disappeared."

"A bullet? Not a cannonball?" Kuro asked, bewildered.

“Yes, bullets, the most ordinary lead pellets.” Kuro pushed up his glasses. “According to the lieutenant colonel’s description, Mr. Kuro, the person who shot the bullet must have been a powerful figure, and the sudden appearance of the white mist was likely a power user.”

People in the East Blue don't know much about Devil Fruits, and even regard them as legends. But people in the Grand Line know about them. When faced with many inexplicable things, their first reaction is not that this place is magical, but that it is caused by a Devil Fruit user.

“Also, there’s something else. When the warships arrived in Swites, the civilians there didn’t mention Sam William’s whereabouts at all, and they were very unwelcoming to our navy,” Klow said.

Kuro leaned back in his chair, took a drag on his cigar, and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. "A Devil Fruit user, with Haki, and a high reputation near the base, and ten years at sea... He's not the kind of naive person who just uses the name 'pirate'. How can there be someone like this in the East Blue? Something's not right."

Kro smirked.

Aren't you from the East China Sea? You've been wandering around there for ten years without becoming famous.

"Have the CP investigate again more thoroughly. I have a feeling things aren't that simple. Also, has anything happened at G-3 recently?"

"No, nothing much happens except for routine patrols," Kro said.

“Alright, bring the ship out. You and Lida come back with me,” Kuro said.

"Huh? Kuro, are you going back to the East Blue?" Lida asked, turning her head from the sofa.

Kuro nodded, tapping the table with his finger, and said, "If someone like this appears, we definitely have to go back. There's no one in the East Blue who can handle this kind of person. Have the Navy on the other three routes near Reverse Mountain keep an eye out for anyone with this pirate flag. Also, send a message to the other four routes and get the Seven Warlords moving."

In the East Blue, it's one thing to have Devil Fruit users, but it's a bit much if they also have Haki.

Where did this old scoundrel come from!

"In short, such an awesome person cannot be allowed to appear in the East China Sea!"

Kuro said fiercely, "Find one and kill it. If you find it on the island, bury it in the ground. If you find it in the sea, sink it!"

His hometown is in the East China Sea. He finally managed to wipe out so many pirates, maintaining a relative peace in the East China Sea. Now, this old codger has appeared—what's going on? And he's even from his hometown...

How come he never noticed before?