At the Kubo Island pier, a warship filled with soldiers slowly docked.
The island's commercial street was still bustling, with people coming and going, though a hint of fear was evident on their faces, clearly startled by the recent battle offshore.
"Huh? This crack… did Newgate make it?" Kenji stood at the bow of the ship, noticing a fissure in the ground of the island ahead.
The crack was about a palm's width, far from being a chasm, but looking into it, it seemed bottomless. And when Kenji observed it closely, he found that this crack traversed the entire Kubo Island.
"The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit can indeed affect the entire world…" Kenji looked along the crack into the distance, deep in thought.
He wasn't surprised that the tremor waves from a distant battlefield could affect this island, as he knew the true power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
If Whitebeard were to fully unleash his Tremor-Tremor Fruit power at Marineford, it could even affect islands deep within the New World, tearing a chasm.
Actually, Kenji was considering something else at the moment.
Should the crack on the island be repaired, or should it be turned into a special attraction?
That's right, Kenji had already begun to think about matters after taking over Kubo Island.
"In any case, this crack must not affect the island's income…"
He had already planned to use the island's income to expand the training camp and cultivate more of his own people.
Of course, Kenji hadn't discussed taking over Kubo Island with anyone yet, especially not with the true behind-the-scenes players who managed the island, the big bosses of many shops on the island, who hadn't even met Kenji.
But he figured these people probably wouldn't have any objections.
After all, Kenji had personally led the team and, together with Sengoku and others, expelled two Legendary Pirates.
The people on Kubo Island might not know the exact battle situation, but they saw a Marine warship dock, while the other two Legendary Pirates were nowhere to be found.
The facts were laid bare. There was no need for further explanation.
"Anna, you'll take people to the island to take over later." Kenji turned to Anna and instructed.
At this time, the warship docked steadily, and the soldiers on board, under the command of Tsuru, lined up orderly to disembark.
Anna didn't rush to move, but instead looked at Kenji's clothes, frowning slightly, and reminded him, "Kenji, would you like to change into a new overcoat?"
Kenji looked down at himself upon hearing this, only then realizing that his overcoat was already tattered from the previous battle.
He raised an eyebrow and looked up at Sengoku, who was preparing to disembark on the other side, but only saw that his clothes were intact, with hardly any damage.
"Transformation abilities are great… clothes don't get easily torn." Kenji exclaimed in admiration.
Sengoku had used his Golden Buddha form earlier, and his clothes remained intact after he reverted.
"As expected of a Mythical Zoan ability… Hmm, Logia Devil Fruit abilities also seem to have this effect…"
Kenji watched as Sengoku and Tsuru disembarked one after another, while he himself, in the end, was too lazy to change clothes, so he simply ripped off his tattered overcoat and tossed it aside.
Soon, most of the Marine personnel disembarked.
Among them, Sengoku and Tsuru stayed near the pier with their respective units, awaiting warships arriving as subsequent reinforcements.
In reality, this war involved two Legendary Pirates, and Marineford had been continuously dispatching Marines from nearby areas to reinforce.
Kenji had always found this kind of reinforcement somewhat puzzling.
They are Legendary Pirates, possessing the power to destroy nations.
Isn't sending a bunch of warships led by Marine officers just sending them to their deaths?
But whether it was a fixed procedure or some other reason, every major incident inevitably involved a large number of warships.
To be fair, with Marine fleets lined up, at least the visual impact was quite great.
Sometimes Kenji even suspected that Marineford did this just to make a statement, to let others see that the Marines were diligently working. In short, he found it hard to understand.
However, the reinforcing warships this time did prove helpful.
As four or five warships successively docked, Sengoku and Tsuru, with their respective units, boarded these ships, finally preventing any further instances of overloaded warships.
"Sengoku still refuses to speak clearly." Kenji watched the few warships depart, recalling the brief exchange on the warship earlier, and Sengoku's ambiguous words.
"Encountered an unexpected enemy? Why don't you explain who it was…"
Just as he was secretly frowning, the noise from deep within the island suddenly surged.
Kenji didn't pay much attention to it at first, until a loud bang echoed.
Boom!!
The huge sound was like a sudden clap of thunder, as if a building had collapsed.
Thick smoke rose from the streets deep within the island, and the flow of people instantly became panicked.
"Huh?" Kenji released his Observation Haki, then turned around somewhat surprised, "Someone's still causing trouble right now?"
"Is it courage gained from seeing the main force leave?"
He found it somewhat unbelievable, so he got up and personally headed to the scene.
Bang!!
Halfway there, Kenji saw a figure fly out of a building in the distance.
It was Marie, holding a sword with both hands, seemingly knocked away by immense force, but she was unharmed and landed steadily on the street.
Kenji was not surprised by this situation. He had already used his Observation Haki to sense the strength of those troublemakers, and one of them was indeed quite strong.
"Oh, Kenji." Marie wanted to rush forward and fight again, but seeing Kenji arrive, she quickly stepped forward to explain the situation, with a hint of embarrassment and shame in her expression.
Through Marie's narration, Kenji generally understood the entire sequence of events.
Earlier, Marie had gone to the central street area as ordered to announce the island's takeover.
Everything went smoothly at first. The behind-the-scenes bosses of those shops had clearly given some instructions.
It wasn't until the last gambling house that an incident occurred. A group of thugs suddenly rushed out and attacked, with their captain being exceptionally powerful.
"The captain is probably the major criminal with a bounty of nearly 500 million Berries, 'Sea Tiger' Cliff!"
After listening to Marie's introduction, Kenji thought carefully and realized that he indeed didn't know this Cliff.
The New World, as the most dangerous sea, has an almost countless number of powerful pirates. Pirates with bounties over 100 million Berries can only be considered 'rookies' in this place.
And every year, Supernovas from all over the world come here, plus the strong individuals who rise locally in the New World, so even the World Government may not be able to accurately count all of them.
"How careless!"
"Did Sengoku and Tsuru never really investigate this place before? To allow such a major criminal to hide on the island…"
"Or, did the behind-the-scenes bosses here already make thorough arrangements beforehand?"
Kenji shook his head slightly and turned to look at the tall building beside him.
His Observation Haki clearly sensed a powerful aura rapidly approaching.