Although he never had to worry about food, drink, or daily necessities, Is still needed to stay informed about what was happening outside.
"Understood, Master. I'll inform Lady Tatsumaki immediately."
The maid nodded respectfully before turning around and leaving, while Is continued his training.
Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Early in the morning, Kong had already received a summons from the Five Elders.
By the time he arrived at the grand hall, the Five Elders were already seated on the sofas, clearly having waited for quite some time.
On the table before them lay today's freshly delivered newspaper.
"You called for me this urgently. What happened?"
Kong walked over to the table and asked in confusion.
"Read the newspaper yourself."
The bald Elder leaned back against the sofa, his tone extremely heavy.
Even though Kong still didn't know what had happened, he could already tell one thing—
This was definitely bad news.
Sure enough, the moment he picked up the paper and glanced at it, his face instantly stiffened.
"The Ruler of the Seas, Rocks, Revived? The World Government Deceiving the Entire World?"
The contents of the article were crystal clear.
Rocks wasn't dead.
Back then, the World Government had announced that the Rocks Pirates had been annihilated, and that Rocks along with multiple executives had perished at sea.
But now the newspaper was openly accusing the World Government of falsely claiming Rocks' death in order to exaggerate their own strength, hiding the truth and deceiving the entire world.
"Rocks isn't dead?!"
Kong was stunned as he stared directly at the Five Elders seated before him.
"You're asking us? We should be asking you! Didn't the Navy's report clearly state that Rocks had sunk to the bottom of the sea? So what exactly is going on now? He's alive again?!"
Kong looked utterly innocent. He was a victim here too, completely unaware of the situation.
Back then, by the time he and the previous Fleet Admiral arrived at the battlefield, the entire area had already turned into open sea.
After searching for a long time, they had only found scattered remnants of the Rocks Pirates. Rocks' corpse was nowhere to be seen.
Under normal circumstances, there was simply no way anyone could have survived that situation, which was why the Navy had concluded that Rocks was dead.
"If the newspaper says Rocks is alive, then he's probably really alive…"
Kong sighed helplessly. There was nothing he could do about it.
"Do you understand how much damage this newspaper has caused the World Government? It could even affect relations with allied nations," the bald Elder said in a deep voice.
"And not just that," the sword-wielding Elder added coldly. "This incident directly damages the credibility of the World Government itself. The nations of the world may now see us as liars."
Kong quietly listened without saying a word.
Just like that, the discussion dragged on for nearly half an hour.
"Forget it. There's no point talking about it now. Besides, this matter doesn't really have much to do with you. It's a mess left behind by the previous Fleet Admiral."
Kong's face twitched in grievance.
If the Five Elders hadn't mentioned it, he almost would've forgotten himself—
He had only recently become Fleet Admiral. The one who reported Rocks' death had been the previous Fleet Admiral.
At that moment, he really wanted to say:
So because you can't find the previous Fleet Admiral to vent at, you're taking it out on the current one instead?
"What do you plan to do? Rocks has stayed hidden all this time, and now he suddenly reappears. He definitely has a plan."
"Mhm. Your analysis makes sense."
Kong nodded in agreement before continuing:
"If I'm not mistaken, Rocks revealed himself because of the prison break at the Navy prison. He's using this method to send a message to his crew members—that the Rocks Pirates were never destroyed, and their captain is still alive."
"So… you know what needs to be done now?"
"Prevent the officers and members of the Rocks Pirates from regrouping."
"There's no time to waste. I'm sure the scattered officers and crew across the seas have already seen the newspaper. They're probably rushing to reunite with Rocks as we speak. You all need to move immediately. We cannot allow their plan to succeed."
And reality unfolded exactly as the Five Elders had predicted.
The moment the officers of the Rocks Pirates learned that their captain was still alive, some became wildly excited.
But others—those who had long been unwilling to remain beneath another man's command—felt nothing but frustration.
Because they didn't know whether returning was the right choice.
If they refused to return and the Rocks Pirates regained their former glory, then the moment they dared to establish their own pirate crews, they would inevitably face retaliation and pursuit.
Even so, just in case, many of them still headed toward the island mentioned in the newspaper, preparing to reunite with Rocks.
New World, somewhere on an island.
"Swish! Swish! Swish—!"
A newspaper was instantly shredded into countless tiny pieces.
The final larger fragment was pinned to the ground by a longsword.
"What the hell?! What the hell is this?!"
Golden Lion threw his head back and roared toward the sky, utterly unwilling to accept reality.
"Damn it all… I already came up with the name for my own pirate crew, and now you're telling me Rocks isn't dead? He's not dead?!"
That's right.
During this period of time, he had devoted most of his efforts toward building his own pirate crew.
He had even finished the ship blueprints already.
All that was left was robbing enough money to build the ships and then recruiting companions.
But reality had ruthlessly slapped him across the face.
Everything he had done until now had become meaningless.
Now that Rocks had summoned everyone back… he had no choice but to return.
Golden Lion yanked the sword from the ground and continuously slashed toward the sea.
Wave after wave of sword energy shot across the ocean, causing the sea to violently churn.
"Captain… Captain… if you were gonna die, then just die already! Why the hell did you come back from the dead?!"
For some unknown reason, a thought suddenly emerged in Golden Lion's mind—
He actually wanted Is to lead another force over to wipe out Rocks again.
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