Near Elbaf, a Marine warship was anchored in the calm waters. When Rona appeared on the warship with her severe injuries, the entire ship was thrown into immediate commotion.
"Admiral Crimson Snake, you're injured!?"
"Damn it, was it those giants from Elbaf?"
"All hands, battle stations!"
The warship erupted in complete chaos until Rear Admiral Ella, Rona's trusted adjutant, stepped forward with authority.
"Everyone shut up!"
The short-haired female Marine looked directly at her superior, meeting Rona's gaze without backing down as she asked with obvious concern, "Admiral Rona, what exactly happened on Elbaf?"
The warship was not positioned far from Elbaf, so the Marines had more or less sensed the tremendous disturbances that had occurred on the island. But trusting in Rona's exceptional abilities, they had not taken it upon themselves to land and investigate.
After all, they were Marines operating under strict protocol. And Elbaf was a non-World Government-affiliated nation. One wrong move could potentially create a serious diplomatic conflict between the Marines and a sovereign nation.
They also believed that with Rona's incredible strength, just taking a casual stroll around Elbaf, absolutely no one could possibly discover her presence.
Who would have thought that when Rona reappeared, she had sustained such serious injuries? One of her shoulder blades was nearly completely shattered.
"Well, it is really nothing significant..." Rona replied evasively.
Meeting Ella's penetrating gaze that seemed to see straight through to one's heart, Rona looked around uncomfortably. She could not very well admit that she had gone up there and gotten into a serious fight with an old man and nearly lost, could she?
"The White Wolf Pirates are up there?" Ella asked with sudden understanding.
"!!!"
Hearing Ella's words, Rona was immediately shocked. She had not said anything revealing.
Seeing Rona's surprised expression, Ella rubbed her forehead helplessly. How long did Rona think she had been serving as her adjutant?
Ever since Rona first had her own warship, became a Marine Rear Admiral, and gained autonomous operation rights, Ella had always been by her side as her adjutant.
Rona, who normally did not care much about anything, only got seriously motivated when encountering the White Wolf Pirates.
At first, Ella thought Rona had some kind of personal grudge against the White Wolf Pirates. But after several consecutive battles and even several times when the Marines had set up elaborate traps to capture the White Wolf Pirates, only to fail due to Rona's reckless pursuit of individual glory, Ella began to understand.
Rona definitely had complicated issues with the White Wolf Pirates!
The fighting was absolutely real. The beatings were genuine. But when it came to delivering the killing blow, she was never willing to follow through.
It was not until Ella accidentally learned that when Rona was young, her hometown had been attacked by vicious pirates, and the one who had driven off those pirates was Silas before he became a pirate himself, that everything suddenly made sense.
Ella had even imagined tens of thousands of words worth of dramatic scenarios where Rona admired Silas while joining the Marines, vowing to fight the pirates who had destroyed her hometown, only to discover that her childhood idol had become a pirate, leading to their complex love-hate relationship.
Most importantly, Rona clearly recognized Silas, but Silas obviously did not recognize Rona. He just thought she was some annoying Marine from who knows where.
Damn it, were they the male and female leads of some third-rate romantic melodrama?
Ella had always felt that if Rona kept letting the White Wolf Pirates escape without explaining her reasons, she would eventually get into serious trouble.
See? Was she not in trouble now?
Ella did not believe the White Wolf Pirates could repeatedly escape from the Marines simply because they were strong enough. There had to be someone on the inside helping them. And this mole was right beside her, her direct superior.
"Admiral Rona..."
"Alright, alright, do not say anything more. This time was entirely my fault. Next time I will definitely give it my all and bring you all along to capture that old bastard and throw him in Impel Down!"
Despite her confident words, Rona felt that the current Silas had become somewhat troublesome to deal with.
Ella thought Rona held back every time she encountered the White Wolf Pirates. But that was not actually the case.
Precisely because he was someone she had once admired deeply, Rona wanted even more to capture him. To demand answers from him about why he became a pirate!
So Rona had never truly held back. She had always been going all out against Silas.
It was just that the impulsiveness of youth gradually faded with time and age, leaving only pure obsession behind.
She absolutely had to capture Silas! Not to ask why, but because she wanted to capture him!
Five years ago had been the first time Rona had defeated Silas in terms of pure strength. It was also the first time she felt that her former childhood dreams were no longer out of reach.
But what followed was crushing disappointment.
So the White Wolf Pirates were nothing special after all. The once-arrogant White Wolf Silas would also gradually weaken with advancing age.
That encounter made Rona realize that Silas was truly getting old. No longer spirited and vigorous. No longer young and reckless. No longer bold and unrestrained.
Although the White Wolf Pirates had still managed to escape that time, Rona's desire to pursue them gradually faded.
Even this time, when she had whimsically headed to the Giant Kingdom, it was merely to give herself closure for this long, obsessive chase.
And then, she was directly repelled by Silas in his renewed prime.
Rona did not know what Silas had been doing during these past five years. But the Silas she encountered seemed completely reborn.
At this moment, it was as if the navigator who had rescued her from the ruins when she was a child had reappeared before her. Still so spirited and vigorous. Still so young and reckless. Still so bold and unrestrained.
When she was injured by Silas, she felt not the slightest bit of dejection, but instead experienced infinite joy.
This was the target she had been chasing all along! This was the true White Wolf Silas!
Under the bewildered gazes of the Marines, their female Admiral let out a hearty laugh that simultaneously sent chills down their spines.
"Haha, Silas, you won this time. But next time, I will not hold back anymore!"
Meanwhile, above Elbaf, sitting on the giant eagle that the giant Battian had transformed into while pursuing the fleeing CP0 agents, Silas suddenly sneezed unexpectedly.
"Achoo!"
"Is it because I am getting old? Why do I suddenly feel cold?" he wondered aloud.
He felt like something was intently watching him from somewhere.
"It is probably from excessive blood loss," Rocks observed, looking at Silas, whose wounds had not fully healed yet, and curled his lips dismissively. "If you are injured, you should just go back and lie down obediently. Leave the rest to us."
"It is leave it to Ripley, not to you," Silas replied, mercilessly refuting Rocks's confident words with a meaningful smile. "The current you is no match for those CP0 agents below."
Forget about Rocks. If those CP0 agents were not injured, even Ripley going down there would not be able to fight three opponents at once.
"Hmph." Rocks turned his head away in obvious dissatisfaction.
Silas pretended not to notice and looked at Ripley. "Ripley, are you ready?"
"Yes!" On the giant eagle's back, a tiny figure no bigger than an ant nodded firmly. Just looking at her diminutive size, you would never imagine her true form was actually a giant nearly twenty meters tall.
Silas placed Ripley carefully in his palm and, facing the small ship drifting below the giant eagle, gently tossed her toward her target.
"Then, go!"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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