The streets of Ambri Island, which should have been bustling and lively, were somewhat chaotic at this moment. Amidst the frantic crowd, a group of mysterious figures dressed in large cloaks, completely wrapped up, moved through the chaos unhurriedly, like a school of fish swimming against the current. Normally, such a strangely behaving group would certainly attract curiosity and suspicion. But the current chaos made the regular island residents completely oblivious to their presence.
"Hey! Dragon! Why don't you say something! What exactly happened?!" Emporio Ivankov, with his heavy makeup and huge head, could no longer hold back and urgently questioned the tall man leading the group.
He only knew that a short while ago, they were still in the gladiator arena, watching the exciting final match. Then, before they could react, the Marine Admiral Aokiji, who was supposed to be competing, suddenly attacked the North Sea Emperor Takero in the stands! And then... the entire gladiator arena was in complete disarray! All of this happened too suddenly, too unbelievably! It didn't give them any time to react. They also saw the surrounding spectators frantically fleeing outwards, so their group had no choice but to follow the flow and temporarily withdraw.
Hearing Ivankov's question, Monkey D. Dragon, who was walking at the very front, just slowly shook his head. At this moment, his face was also filled with confusion.
'That Marine... could he have a grudge against Takero?' he wondered. 'No... If it were a vendetta, he would never choose this time, this place. This is more like a... premeditated... raid?'
Just then, a girl also wearing a cloak, yet unable to conceal her dashing and heroic demeanor, spoke with a smile. "Ginny, that's what I'm here for. Don't worry, Dragon, Ivankov. I've already sent someone to get the latest news," she assured them.
After hearing this, Ivankov let out an exaggerated praise. "Oh, oh, oh! As expected of our cutest Ginny! So capable! So reliable!"
The strange-looking Revolutionary Army cadres beside him also echoed his sentiments. "Big Sister Ginny, mighty!" and "Big Sister Ginny, we will always worship you!" they cheered.
As they were speaking, a Revolutionary Army soldier with an extremely ordinary appearance, the kind that would disappear in a crowd, silently appeared beside Ginny like a ghost.
"I'm back, Officer Ginny," the man reported.
Ginny's eyes instantly lit up! She quickly asked, "How is it, Joe? Did you find out what exactly happened?"
The man called "Joe" nodded. "Although the specific details are still unclear," he reported, "based on my preliminary investigation... it seems the World Government made a move."
"The World Government?!" Upon hearing this, Dragon's deep, sea-like eyes instantly sharpened!
Joe continued to recount the astonishing intelligence he had just gathered in his calm, unruffled tone. "In the deepest part of the back mountain outside the city, there's a secret laboratory of the Golden Group. But just now, a group of secret agents of the World Government, whose identities are unknown, raided it."
"How do you know?" Dragon pressed, his voice deep.
"I went there myself and took a look," Joe explained. "I personally saw members of the Saiyan Guard in combat suits escorting a group of men in black suits out of a pile of ruins. I also disguised myself as an ordinary island resident and subtly inquired with one of the Guard members who looked like a small leader. He personally admitted that those men in black were agents sent by the World Government."
Then, Joe seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, and Officer. I also saw a familiar figure there... Nico Robin, the Devil Child. It seems she was the on-site commander."
"Nico Robin..." Dragon was also taken aback when he heard this name. However, he quickly reacted. 'Never mind, now is not the time to talk about this,' he thought.
He quickly connected all the clues in his mind. "I estimate," he said in a deep voice, stating his guess, "that there's something in that secret laboratory that the World Government is extremely interested in, or rather... extremely wary of. That's why they launched this joint operation with the Marines. They had Marine Admiral Aokiji, on the surface, use participating in the Martial Arts Tournament as a disguise, to hold back Takero himself. Then, the secret agents of the CP organization would secretly carry out their real mission—raiding the laboratory."
It must be said, Dragon was indeed a born strategist. Although he hadn't personally seen the full picture of events, he had almost analyzed the entire incident's ins and outs solely through these scattered pieces of information.
"So, Dragon," Ivankov asked, "what do we do now? Should we continue to stay on this island? Since this island has been targeted by those running dogs of the World Government, our Revolutionary Army identity could be exposed at any time."
"Sigh, if Kuma were here, it would be great," Ginny also sighed. "Then we could withdraw at any time."
However, after looking around at everyone, Dragon said calmly, in an undeniable tone: "No, we're not leaving. No matter what, this time, we must... meet that man named Takero."
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Their Revolutionary Army's job was to overthrow the World Government. And looking at it this way, Takero, who dared to directly confront a Buster Call, and the Golden Empire he represented... had a very high chance of becoming their Revolutionary Army's most powerful... ally on this vast ocean!
Just as everyone fell into silence—
Ginny suddenly noticed something. She looked up, pointing at the dark night sky in the distance, and said with some uncertainty: "Hey... look over there! What... what is that? In the sky... it looks like black fire is burning?"
Upon hearing this, Dragon immediately looked up and stared intently! Immediately, his face, which was always as calm and unperturbed as an iceberg, for the first time, showed pure, unbelievable... astonishment!
In that distant sky... a strange figure with two horns on its head and a lower body like a giant spider, full of ominousness and evil, was enveloped by an even darker flame, like the fires of hell!
And that figure... that face... "That... that is..." Dragon's pupils instantly constricted to the extreme!
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