Sabaody Archipelago—this place had changed drastically compared to just over twenty days ago.
The once-bustling islands were now nearly deserted. After the shocking incident where Celestial Dragons were kidnapped, the residents had fled in terror. They feared that the Navy might unleash a "Buster Call," and if that happened, their lives would be forfeit.
To make matters worse, despite the Navy's attempts to suppress the information, rumors were spreading rapidly: the criminals who kidnapped the Celestial Dragons would return to Sabaody and seize control of the islands!
Under such circumstances, who would dare remain here?
Ironically, the civilians' evacuation made things easier for the Navy. Without innocent bystanders, their operations could proceed with fewer complications.
Now, the waters surrounding the Sabaody Archipelago were patrolled by warships, and the islands were crawling with marines. The entire area had been fortified with a high state of alert.
The Navy had also deployed forces to Jaya and Long Ring Long Land. Patrols scoured every corner of these islands daily.
Naturally, no pirate would be foolish enough to provoke them under such conditions.
Marine Headquarters.
The Navy high command was in complete chaos.
The disappearance of the three Celestial Dragons had already drawn the full attention of the World Government. Under pressure from the Five Elders, Fleet Admiral Sengoku was nearly at his breaking point. They still hadn't captured the culprits responsible for the fiasco!
"Damn it! It's all because of those bastards—why did they have to pull something like this?!" Sengoku roared, furiously tossing a handful of rice crackers into his mouth, consumed with frustration. He hated Lin Xuan more than anyone—this man had brought him nothing but headaches!
Sitting beside him, Garp crossed his arms and burst into hearty laughter. "Hahaha! I think those guys are hilarious! I can't help but laugh just thinking about the Five Elders' faces when they heard the news!"
"Garp… SHUT UP!" Sengoku roared.
How could this guy still be laughing at a time like this?
Sengoku had been so stressed lately that his hair was falling out—he feared he might go bald if this kept up!
Looking at the ever-carefree Garp, Sengoku could barely restrain himself from punching him.
Over the past few weeks, the Navy had held countless high-level meetings, all centered on one thing: how to safely rescue the three Celestial Dragons.
No matter the cost, they could not allow the Sabaody Archipelago to fall into enemy hands, and the Celestial Dragons must be rescued alive.
Otherwise, the world would be thrown into chaos.
Staring grimly at the deployment map before him, Sengoku's face grew even darker.
Even now, they hadn't come up with a truly effective plan.
"This time, no matter what it takes, we must rescue the Celestial Dragons—and crush the enemy with overwhelming force!" Sengoku said through gritted teeth.
Meanwhile, despite the Navy's best efforts to suppress the rumors, many still believed the so-called "myths."
Whether it was pirates from various factions or the Revolutionary Army, all eyes were now focused on this storm.
"Unbelievable! Someone actually escaped the Navy's pursuit and even dared to declare war on them?"
"Yeah, I heard it's just two or three people, and they've already thrown the Navy into chaos. It's insane!"
"What intrigues me more is the rumor that they enslaved three Celestial Dragons—and plan to publicly judge them at Sabaody. Is that true?"
"Who cares if it's true? Just daring to say something like that proves they've got guts!"
"Hah! Two or three people against the entire Navy? They must be insane!"
As Lin Xuan's one-month deadline with the Navy drew closer, speculation around the world reached a fever pitch.
Sky Island.
After subduing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, Lin Xuan had spent three days resting, helping her recover some chakra, and preparing a batch of White Zetsu clones to use as sacrifices.
Now, he was finally ready to return to the Blue Sea, accompanied by Conis and Kaguya.
During this time, his reputation points had slowed down significantly. After the earlier surge, the growth had completely stagnated. In fact, he still hadn't replenished the ten million reputation points he had spent to subdue Kaguya.
Clearly, the previous events had already reached their maximum publicity. If he wanted more reputation points, he couldn't lie low anymore.
It was time to stir things up again.
Just as Lin Xuan and his party left the Sky Island and returned to the Blue Sea, they were ambushed by a group of pirates.
Of course, there was no suspense—the pirates were swiftly annihilated by Lin Xuan's group.
In fact, most of the grunts were taken down by Conis alone!
This angelic girl from Sky Island had shown remarkable talent in ninjutsu. After just ten days of training—and with the help of some beginner-level enhancement potions Lin Xuan had secretly purchased—she had already reached the level of a Genin.
While she couldn't yet handle powerful pirates, taking out small fry was no problem at all.
As for the stronger pirate leader aboard the ship, he was taken out by Kaguya.
However, this time Lin Xuan didn't kill them. He was starting to get tired of doing everything himself, and decided it was time to get some labor help.
So, he spared the pirates and forced them into servitude to do chores and grunt work.
Their captain was named Felix, a pirate with a 30 million bounty—supposedly a big name in these parts.
Of course, that was just according to his crew. Lin Xuan had never heard of him, so he treated him like just another background character.
But none of that mattered.
What did matter was that now someone else could steer the ship—and bring him tea when needed.
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T/N:
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