Chapter 186: The Target
In order to better protect his family, Kyros had made up his mind. He didn't care if it meant throwing himself in with the pirates he had once despised.
Kyros, using his broadsword as a support, knelt on one leg on the ground, bowing his head to the Archangel.
"Have you considered that becoming a pirate means you can no longer have a peaceful life?" Louis lowered his eyes and spoke in a meaningful tone. "You should know that only a few can retire from a pirate's life with their bodies intact. For the vast majority of pirates, dying in battle against other pirates or the Marines is the norm."
Hearing Louis's words, Kyros tightened his grip on his sword hilt, his gaze incomparably firm. "I am prepared," he said, looking up, the fire and determination in his eyes revealed to Louis.
"I see." Louis's gaze gradually became profound. "Welcome aboard, Kyros!" he said with a smile.
Just as Louis had said when Kyros first refused his invitation, as long as he changed his mind, Louis would agree to let him join.
Kyros heard him and, using his greatsword to stand up, looked up at Louis's flawless face. "Yes, Captain!"
"No need to add 'Lord.' Either call me Louis directly, or just call me Captain," Louis said.
Kyros heard this, and a subtle light flickered in his eyes. A hint of hesitation appeared on his face. In the end, he replied in a deep voice, "Yes, Captain!"
Louis nodded, then turned his gaze to the black-haired woman following behind Kyros. "King Riku's youngest daughter. Violet, what about you?"
Louis's voice made Violet subconsciously look away. Then, she lowered her head and replied, "Lord Archangel, I am the user of the Paramecia-type Glare-Glare Fruit. I can see through people's hearts and have the ability to expand my vision to a radius of four thousand kilometers."
"Four thousand kilometers?" This number, which seemed to have been pulled out of thin air, made Louis subconsciously raise an eyebrow.
"Yes. As long as I wish, people and things within a four-thousand-kilometer radius are all clearly visible in my eyes," Violet said, revealing her abilities without reservation in order to make herself seem more valuable.
"Then you can stay too." Louis did not hesitate. Only a fool would let such a useful ability get away.
Violet was taken aback, wanting to say something but holding back. She had never expected to join so easily.
Louis saw the strange expression on her face and spoke again. "What? Is there anything else?"
Violet subconsciously shook her head and said no more.
Seeing this, Louis turned to Kyros and said something that left him in a daze. "If you're really worried about your family's safety, then bring them here. This is the safest place within a radius of ten thousand nautical miles."
The Gothic castle Louis had built was huge. Even after housing the entire Archangel Pirates, it still seemed very spacious. Even if Kyros brought his family up, it wouldn't be crowded at all.
Kyros heard him and stood frozen on the spot, a strange light in his eyes.
Louis ignored the impact his words had on Kyros and dropped another bombshell. "After you've settled your family in the castle, I will perform a surgery for you to restore you to your peak condition."
Soon, Kyros and Violet left, following the old road from the King's Plateau down to the town below.
Louis walked along a path reserved in the forest, letting the sunlight pierce through the leaves and scatter on his flawless white wings and pale-golden hair. As he walked, the tall trees around him swayed slightly, as if welcoming their creator.
After a moment, Louis stepped onto the green grass and sat down at the edge of the King's Plateau, looking down at the giant concert hall being built bit by bit at the edge of the town below. It was being built according to Uta's request, its overall design mimicking the giant concert hall in Elegia.
Once this concert hall was completed, Uta would begin her plan to spread her singing voice throughout the entire world. To the dreams and decisions of those around him, Louis was, of course, unreservedly supportive. Therefore, Louis had even given nearly 90% of the Flügel puppets in his possession to Uta, letting her train them as she pleased to become her professional song and dance troupe.
As for combat, it had been a long time since Louis had deployed these creations of his on the battlefield. Ever since entering the New World, the intensity of Louis's battles had increased exponentially, and they had gradually, temporarily, become obsolete.
As Louis's development of his Devil Fruit ability improved day by day, his understanding of new life was also gradually evolving. When he awakened, the species he envisioned creating might no longer need the puppet techniques from the Sand Ninja. Of course, after awakening, Louis also planned to carry out a second modification on these works created with puppet technology, to make them into a second powerful military unit. As for the name, Louis had finally decided to use the name he had once rejected—"Ex-Machina."
However, to create a satisfactory Ex-Machina, two things were indispensable.
"The Paramecia-type Copy-Copy Fruit. And an excellent team of scientists."
Currently, Louis already had people closely monitoring the movements of the Copy-Copy Fruit user. As for the team of scientists, Louis also had a preliminary target—the Vinsmoke Family. Actually, Vegapunk was more suitable, but Louis currently felt that it was better for him to be dead.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi on Louis's body suddenly rang.
Brrring~ Brrring~ Brrring~Click. Louis's eyes showed a thoughtful look. He took out the Den Den Mushi, answered the call, and placed it on the grass beside him.
The next moment, the Den Den Mushi, which had two styles of decoration, mimicked Daz Bonez on the other end. "Captain, we have arrived at the island where the chameleon is. Should we capture him now?"
"Are you confident you can capture him alive?" Louis did not immediately give the order, but first asked about Daz Bonez and Baby-5's chances.
Far away, Daz Bonez did not make Louis wait long and directly gave his conclusion. "We are confident. But this is the territory of the Whitebeard Pirates. And someone from their crew has already made contact with him. It seems to be an acquaintance from his time with the Whitebeard Pirates."
The meaning behind Daz Bonez's words was self-evident. He was worried that this move would anger the World's Strongest Man, Whitebeard. Therefore, he had not dared to act on his own authority and had reported to his captain, Louis, for instructions first.
Hearing this, Louis also understood Daz's concerns and then gave the two the most direct order. "Bring him back alive."
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood! We'll get right on it!"
Having received Louis's affirmative order, Daz Bonez and Baby-5 no longer had any misgivings and immediately took action.
"With that, only Germa 66 is left." Louis hung up the Den Den Mushi and muttered to himself.
The progress on the Copy-Copy Fruit was a little faster than he had expected. Now, all that was left was the technology of the Vinsmoke Family. After Daz Bonez's capture mission was completed and he came to report, Louis would have him contact Germa again through the intelligence network to create the mechanical weapons with copied abilities that he envisioned.
However, this plan also had a drawback. It was uncertain whether Vinsmoke Judge, who was more than one tier below Vegapunk, could create "Green Blood." But Louis didn't dwell on it too much. Whether Green Blood could be created or not was one thing; bringing the people back was the most important thing. The technology could be slowly improved, but if Louis didn't go to them, they would certainly not research in this direction.
Several days later, on the balcony of the castle's upper floors.
Louis opened the newspaper in his hand and began to read with great interest. When he turned to the second page, something unexpected was written there.
It said: The Arlong Pirates have failed in their attack on the jungle island of Katachan AGAIN!! After suffering many casualties, they fled in a sorry state. The warriors of Katachan have once again won a victory in their battle against the fish-men!
"Jungle Island Katachan?" Louis showed a rare, speechless expression. "Why would they be active in the East Blue under such a name?"
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