A new world, on an island.
A group of hippos dressed in black suits were singing loudly in the island's waterways. On a tree stump beside the waterway, a man wearing a black fur coat and with his hair slicked back sat with a cigar in his mouth and a newspaper in his other hand.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
After a while, he let out a strange and high-pitched, abrupt laugh, which made the hippos in the river roar even more vigorously. Faintly, the sounds of these hippos seemed to overlap with Crocodile's.
"Mr. 1, the world is starting to go into chaos."
Crocodile laughed and said, "After every World Conference, the world is in turmoil for a while, but this time is different. The seas are so turbulent now, and the World Government's sphere of influence is also in turmoil, which will only give those pirates time. Moreover, the Revolutionary Army seems to have started to move as well."
As for the news of the Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff's death, Crocodile did not believe it. If he were dead, the World Government would not have used such a simple article to publicize it.
“That Golden Lion has taken control of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and it seems there are new developments among the Four Emperors. This world is more chaotic than ever before,” Crocodile said. “But this is also our opportunity.”
Mr. 1, who stood to the side with his arms crossed and a cold expression, nodded and said, "But, boss, that Golden Lion once said that he invited you to become a Shichibukai. But now the rumors on the sea are that this Golden Lion is planning to abolish all the Shichibukai and then recruit them again."
Crocodile smirked. "It's just a rumor. He's not that stupid."
Snap—
Suddenly, a gust of wind came from the side, and Mr. 1 reached out and grabbed the object with his large hand.
A black bat was flapping in his hand.
“The government’s messenger bats,” Mr. 1 said in a deep voice.
The bat flapped its wings twice, and a sound suddenly came from its mouth.
These messenger bats don't deliver newspapers or letters like newsbirds; instead, they communicate directly through voice.
The audio inside is what Kuro recorded directly.
"Hey, Crocodile, come to G-3 Fortress for a meeting."
Simple and straightforward.
"Has it started...?"
Crocodile glanced at the messenger bat, puffed on his cigar, exhaled a puff of smoke, slowly stood up, touched his golden hook, and laughed, "Let me see what you're up to, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
...
One day later.
"Is this the G-3?"
A small raft slowly approached the port of G-3. On the raft, a little girl holding an umbrella held her hand to her forehead and looked up at the huge fortress. "Didn't I hear that Barrett destroyed G-3? Why does it look so intact?"
Perona's eyes twitched as she looked at the artillery installations outside; the firepower was far too intense.
Mihawk raised his head, revealing a pair of eagle-like eyes. "After all, they are the Navy, so it's normal for them to have this level of operational capability."
As the raft approached, the navy was already waiting at the port. However, before the raft could dock, Mihawk stood up and jumped onto it from the other side. He landed with a straight posture, and his trench coat swayed as he walked.
The navy personnel on both sides saluted at this moment.
They also have to show respect to the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
At the end of the port passage, Kro was waiting. When he saw the person approaching, he adjusted his glasses and said, "Hawkeye."
"Kro?"
Mihawk looked over and asked, "Where's Kuro?"
“Mr. Kuro is waiting for you over there in the conference room,” Kuro said. “Please come with me.”
"Hey, is there a room for me?" Perona called from behind.
“Yes, everything is arranged,” Kro said.
G-3 Fortress is huge; neither the Navy nor the Seven Warlords of the Sea who came to the meeting and their subordinates need to hold back.
When they arrived at the conference hall, Kuro was already sitting at the huge round table.
"your."
As soon as Mihawk saw the person, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a box of cigars, and tossed it over.
The cigar box stopped in mid-air and slowly floated to Kuro's side.
"Wow, nice box."
The box itself has a faint woody scent, and it's decorated with exquisite carvings, some even inlaid with gold. The box itself looks very nice, not to mention the contents inside.
He picked up the box and looked it over. At the bottom of the box, he saw a skull symbol with two crossed swords. The skull's head was lowered, and there was a letter that looked like an 'm' engraving on the captain's hat.
"Pirates?" Kuro asked, bewildered.
"What you get from pirates is, of course, from pirates."
Mihawk sat down next to Kuro, picked up the bottle in front of Kuro, and poured himself a drink from an empty glass.
"good..."
He took a bite and nodded, saying, "It tastes very good."
“Of course, who do you think I am?” Kuro said, then opened the cigar box and said, “What I mean is, this thing looks like it was made by pirates.”
What is seized from pirates remains what is seized from pirates, and what is produced by pirates remains what is produced by pirates; these two are not quite the same.
One type steals from others, while the other produces and sells its own products. It's not uncommon for pirates to run businesses in this world.
The cigar box was opened, revealing a pack of ten exquisite cigars. These cigars were different from ordinary ones, as they were covered with patterns of gold and white.
Kuro picked up one and smelled it.
"Oh? Edible gold? And there's a... how should I put it, a kind of surging aura, strange."
He's an old cigar connoisseur; he's quite knowledgeable about cigars, and he can tell the difference between good and bad cigars just by smelling them, much like Hawkeye's ability to taste wine.
Kuro put the cigar in his mouth, took out a lighter, and with a snap, a flame appeared, illuminating the cigar tip and lighting it evenly.
Kuro took a breath, held it in his mouth for a moment, then suddenly his eyes widened and he exhaled a straight stream of gas that looked like steam.
He quickly pulled the cigar from his mouth, staring blankly at the smoke in front of him, "This thing..."
"What's wrong?" Mihawk asked.
"No...it tastes very good."
Kuro smacked his lips. "It's sweet but not cloying, but strangely, when you suck this stuff into your mouth, it's like steam swirling around, vibrating in my mouth. It's a very strong flavor."
He stared at the white stripes on the cigar, running his finger over it. "The key is this thing; only this kind of thing has this kind of strength. This is a top-quality product. Mihawk, you wiped out that pirate crew? What happened to their base?"
Mihawk took the cigar box, glanced at the logo on the bottom, and shook his head, saying, "It's not from the same pirate crew. It was probably stolen from someone else."
"That's strange. This kind of stuff should be top-grade, so why have I never heard of it before?" Kuro asked curiously.
He had smoked countless cigars, from high-end ones sold at sea to naval special editions, including the kind that Sakazuki smoked. But he had never heard of one that was clearly superior to his special edition.
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