To truly become stronger, one still needed real experience, unless they could cheat outright the way he did.
But Kuina and Zoro clearly did not have any cheats.
Under Cyrus's influence, the entire structure of the sea had already changed drastically.
Kuina's fate had changed as well, and Zoro had entered the Grand Line much earlier than he originally should have.
The path of their growth had already shifted.
As for whether Zoro could truly grow into the person he was meant to become, even Cyrus himself could not be certain.
Still, this was part of their fate now.
"Can't we go with you?" Kuina thought for a moment before asking.
"No. If you stay by my side, the chances of you growing properly are very low," Cyrus said, shaking his head.
Even with Robin, Cyrus could clearly feel that after her strength improved during that early period, she had not made much progress for a long time.
Since he knew Robin had the potential to awaken her Devil Fruit, he could also guess that it was probably because of his influence.
By his side, there simply were not many chances to experience life-or-death battles.
Issho was different.
His strength had already reached the peak of his original path, and after finding other ways to grow stronger, he had improved quite a bit.
"Of course we'll keep traveling across the sea," Zoro said after thinking it over.
"Cyrus, we want to make our way through the Grand Line too."
Zoro looked rather excited.
"Mm. In that case…"
Cyrus nodded, then looked toward Hawkeye.
"Until they run into true danger, you don't need to step in."
Hawkeye: "…"
'I'm not your subordinate!'
"After this matter is over, I'll find you at least three top-class swordsmen."
"No problem," Hawkeye immediately replied with a nod.
The Guild was developing faster and faster now, and the amount of information it held was absolutely enormous.
If there really were hidden swordsmaster out there, the Guild would surely have some news about them.
Three decent opponents were worth paying a small price for.
Besides, he was free anyway.
"Still, are you really planning to go to war with the World Government?" Hawkeye asked.
Even if Hawkeye did not care much about anything outside swordsmanship, a major event that could affect the entire sea still made him curious.
"That depends on whether the World Government accepts the challenge. Now we'll see how they react."
Cyrus shook his head.
This time, it seemed Imu did not intend to escalate the conflict.
The lives of those Celestial Dragons meant nothing in Imu's eyes.
And the Five Elders had to obey Imu's orders, so a direct conflict was unlikely to break out for now.
However…
Cyrus raised his head slightly and looked upward.
Back in Dressrosa, his Observation Haki had directly sensed the attack from above.
But when he had been in the Holy Land earlier, his Observation Haki still could not capture that thing's true body.
Given the range his Observation Haki could cover, that thing was probably located somewhere in the outer space of this planet.
Knowing that extraterrestrial beings existed in this world, Cyrus naturally guessed that the so-called Uranus might be some kind of orbital weapon.
That was clearly the trump card in Imu's hand.
Unfortunately, he had no intention of cooperating with Imu.
And the cards in Imu's hand were not limited to that possible orbital weapon. There was also Imu's own Devil Fruit ability.
As for how to completely bring Imu down, Cyrus still needed to think of a method and find the right opportunity.
At the very least, he had to break through Imu's ability to transfer consciousness.
If he could do that, Cyrus was confident he could kill Imu in a very short time.
Unfortunately, that person had hidden too deeply.
After ruling this world for hundreds of years, no one knew what other trump cards Imu still held.
Hawkeye studied Cyrus seriously, trying to judge whether what Cyrus had said was true.
If it was true, then it meant Cyrus did intend to go to war with the World Government, yet the World Government was the side backing down.
To reach this point in such a short time was truly astonishing.
"I should go back as well."
Cyrus stood and looked at Kuina and Zoro again.
"The situation on the sea is changing very quickly now, but the Hunter Guild's strength is not weak either. The journey to Sky Island should be exciting enough."
After saying that, Cyrus looked at Hawkeye.
Hawkeye nodded lightly. He understood what Cyrus meant.
"Don't worry. I won't make a move until I have to."
"Mm. Then I'll see you on Sky Island."
Cyrus nodded, raised his hand, opened a door, and stepped through.
"I thought Cyrus was going to take us with him."
Seeing Cyrus disappear, Zoro, who had been sitting straight, leaned back slightly and looked a lot more relaxed.
"Why didn't you argue about who the senior brother is this time?" Kuina asked with an amused smile.
"Hmph. Cyrus is stronger than me right now, so I'll let him have the title of senior brother for the time being. Once I'm stronger than him, he'll have to call me senpai!"
Zoro folded his arms and said proudly.
"Oh. That will take a very long time," Hawkeye suddenly said.
"Mr. Mihawk, we'll be troubling you from now on," Kuina said politely.
"It's no trouble. Cyrus will pay me afterward."
…
Revolutionary Army Headquarters.
Ever since Dragon learned that Cyrus might head to Mary Geoise, he had already given the order to prepare.
After that, however, no news came.
Based on his understanding of Cyrus, if Cyrus had gone there, he would definitely cause a major incident.
Then the conflict between both sides might erupt directly.
Although the Revolutionary Army's preparations were not sufficient, they would not simply stand by and watch either.
But the current situation was somewhat strange.
"Still no news about Cyrus?" Dragon asked, his expression grave.
"Chief, there is still no news about Chairman Cyrus. But it's extremely difficult for outsiders to learn his movements. Other than his earlier appearance on Sabaody Archipelago, we don't know anything else. As for Mary Geoise, no news has come out from there either."
Sabo, who had already taken over the Revolutionary Army's intelligence work, gave the report.
"Chief, should we contact the Hunter Guild directly?" one of the army commanders suggested.
"Not yet."
Dragon shook his head.
Since the Hunter Guild had not taken the initiative to bring it up, it clearly meant this matter did not require their intervention.
"Chief!"
Sabo lowered his head to look at the information before him, then suddenly raised his hand.
Everyone's gazes turned to him.
"Mary Geoise's reaction seems off."
Being watched by everyone, Sabo remained calm.
He raised several intelligence reports.
"Over the past two days, the blockade on information from Mary Geoise has become even tighter. Not a single piece of information has leaked out. That, in itself, is abnormal."
"Explain in detail."
Dragon's expression did not change. He nodded for Sabo to continue.
"We were already monitoring news from Mary Geoise before. Although their information blockade was tight, we could still investigate some things. But these past two days, there has been absolutely nothing."
"Sabo, are you saying Mary Geoise has tightened its information blockade even further?"
The others also began to react.
The Revolutionary Army naturally paid close attention to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
The information blockade there had always been strict, and obtaining useful intelligence was already extremely difficult.
That was why they had not noticed it before.
But now that Sabo mentioned it, everyone realized something was indeed wrong.
"Are you saying Cyrus has already made a move against Mary Geoise?"
Surprise flashed through Dragon's eyes as he asked.
"Chief, that's only my guess," Sabo said, shaking his head directly.
He only felt that something was wrong. Mary Geoise's blockade this time was far too strict.
Of course, it was also possible that Mary Geoise had sensed Cyrus might do something and had made preparations in advance.
That was possible too.
"Mm."
Dragon nodded slightly.
If nothing else, Sabo's mind was indeed sharp, and he was very perceptive.
"Chief, should we sneak into the Holy Land and take a look?" another army commander asked, sounding rather excited.
If Cyrus had truly made a move, they should react as well.
After all, in the eyes of these army commanders, the Revolutionary Army was the main force that would overthrow the World Government.
"Let's wait a little longer first."
Dragon could naturally see the excitement among his subordinates, but he still shook his head.
They would wait and see how the situation changed.
The World Government's reaction was strange, and not intense enough.
What exactly had Cyrus done?
…
Several days after the Mary Geoise incident, the atmosphere inside the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters was extremely heavy.
Everyone's expression was grave.
The information Kizaru had brought back made all of them look grim.
When Kong had contacted Sengoku earlier, he had not revealed too much information.
But Kizaru, who had gone ahead to provide support, had arrived in time to see the current state of the Holy Land with his own eyes.
"How many died?" Garp asked with a strange expression.
"I don't know the exact number, but it was a lot. i think at least eighty percent may have died."
Everyone drew in a sharp breath again.
Eighty percent dead?
How was that any different from being wiped out?
Even after that, the Holy Land gave no other reaction?
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