Rona's arrival at Sphinx happened a week later.
From Dressrosa, rushing all the way.
Thinking about how Elephant Yama had transferred her to pursue an ordinary great pirate, Rona was furious. Having her come catch Silas would have been the optimal choice.
If Silas, who now had Admiral-level strength, required at least two Admirals to be taken down, then Kong counted as one, while Sebastes at most counted as half!
But complaints aside, facing Sebastes, who was already dead, and Kong, whose mental state was clearly poor with two black circles under his eyes, Rona could only vent her frustration elsewhere.
"Damn it, what? Giant Shark Pirates? They should just rename themselves the Loach Pirates. A bunch of trash fish wasted two months of my time!"
Rona and Silas faced each other across the sea. Seeing Silas's aura, which was only stronger than it had been a few months ago, Rona could not help grinding her teeth.
Did this old bastard take drugs? It has only been a few months. How does he feel much stronger than before?
Logically, reaching their level made further progress very difficult. Rona had stepped into the Admiral-level threshold five years ago, but five years later, she was still hovering around that threshold.
Three months ago, Silas had clearly been like her, just reaching Admiral level. But three months later, his strength had obviously improved significantly again.
One-on-one, she might no longer be his match.
The Marine fleet formed a line, while pirates followed behind Silas, standing on shore, densely occupying the entire coastline.
Although Silas had no intention of subduing this group of pirates, after learning the Marines had brought another Admiral, all pirates spontaneously stood behind Silas.
A group of pirates facing Marine warships showed no fear whatsoever.
"What is so scary about a mere Admiral?"
"We have White Wolf Silas!"
"That is right! That Crimson Horse Admiral came so aggressively before, but was he not beaten into a dead horse? Simply laughable!"
The group of pirates stood behind Silas using his power to intimidate. It had to be said, with over ten thousand pirates standing behind Silas in a dense mass, it really made the Marines on the warships feel somewhat breathless.
What was momentum?
This was momentum!
But Rona could not just watch a group of pirates insult her colleague.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, the Conqueror's Haki belonging to a Marine Admiral erupted. Rona's Conqueror's Haki had not reached the top tier.
But suppressing a group of ordinary pirates was more than sufficient.
Instantly, a terrifying suffocating feeling struck. Strong pirates felt their limbs go numb, breaking out in cold sweat, while weak pirates were like ducks being strangled. Even breathing became difficult.
Only then did Silas's Haki belatedly appear.
Colliding with Rona's Haki.
Whooom!
Invisible air waves rose between the warships and shore. Silas's and Rona's gazes intertwined, both restless, as if they might strike at any moment.
"Haha, Rona, do you want to fight me again?"
Silas grinned arrogantly and laughed loudly.
"Bring Kong along too. You alone probably will not be enough!"
A week's time was sufficient for Silas to heal most of his injuries.
Against two Admirals, Silas definitely could not win.
But did the current Kong really still have Admiral-level strength?
A confused person was weak and fragile.
Without understanding what he truly wanted, the current Kong was even worse than the previous Sebastes.
Silas did not believe Rona could not see this.
So Silas did not think Rona had come to start a war.
The Marines had already missed the best opportunity to defeat and capture him. On these seas, trying to catch an Admiral-level pirate determined to escape was extremely difficult.
"Silas, let us talk!"
Now, even Rona had to admit that Silas had become a force to be reckoned with.
Previously, no matter how much trouble Silas could cause, he was just a cunning pirate. As long as an Admiral made a move, any schemes would crumble.
But now, Silas had the qualifications to say "no" to them.
Seeing Rona soften, Silas's expression changed.
"Then let us talk about compensation!"
"Compensation?"
"That is right. As everyone knows, Sphinx is a country. Your Marines entered Sphinx's territorial waters without permission from the Sphinx royal family and bombarded and attacked the port town, causing massive casualties."
Silas looked at Rona, speaking seriously.
"Therefore, I demand that the World Government and Marines compensate the Sphinx royal family and residents for their losses in this war."
Hearing Silas's words, Rona's expression immediately became very interesting.
You had to know, Silas was a pirate.
Headquarters' thinking was that Silas would definitely use this opportunity to extort them, but they had to grit their teeth and not give too much substantial compensation.
Because in external propaganda, the Marines had launched this attack to protect Sphinx Island's residents and manage Sphinx's security situation, to help Sphinx.
Although the operation failed, the Marine propaganda department was ready for public relations.
They would portray Silas as a despicable, shameless pirate.
Using hostages to threaten their Marine Admiral.
And their Marine Admiral had ultimately died in battle to protect the hostages.
This was a glorious sacrifice!
But everyone had overlooked one thing.
That was, damn it, until now. Sphinx's royal family and nobles were still the nominal owners of this island.
Then Silas, with his combat power, whatever he wanted these royals and nobles to say, they had to say it.
Was the Marine propaganda correct?
Or were the words of local Sphinx people true?
"Let us find a quieter place."
Looking at the pirates on shore, knowing the situation had become thorny, Rona could not possibly discuss compensation in front of a group of pirates.
"Haha, follow me."
Silas took the lead, running toward the distance, with Rona following closely.
Kong originally wanted to follow but was stopped by Rona.
"Kong, one failure means nothing. That bastard Sebastes once said that if he retired, you would be the best successor candidate."
"Do not forget what your justice is!"
My justice?
Kong stood in place, silent. After this period of reflection, he had thought about many things. Elephant Yama had also given him guidance later.
Striking down pirates, protecting civilians.
Why were their Marines not just?
The World Government's rules were order. Because everyone followed order, most regions of this world could maintain stability.
As for Celestial Dragons and non-World Government affiliated nations, Elephant Yama's explanation was that no rules in this world were perfect. The Order would have loopholes, and was it not the Marines' role to maintain order and fill those gaps?
Kong's gaze gradually became sharp.
That was right. No rules were perfect. His justice was maintaining order.
And also filling gaps.
He would protect those who needed his protection, whether they were civilians from government-affiliated nations or non-affiliated nations.
He would propose abolishing slavery. Such an inhumane system should not be accepted by order and should be discarded.
For this, he needed power and position.
Only when he possessed sufficient power and position could his voice reach the higher-ups.
When he accomplished all this, next time, he would definitely use his fists to tell Silas what his justice truly was!