"Hey, brat! Don't forget you promised to cover Koby's rice crackers! Sengoku hasn't lent me a single Berry lately…"
Garp's voice crackled from the Den Den Mushi.
Koby, standing nearby, looked like he'd just swallowed a lemon.
Collateral damage. Again.
"Admiral Luoyu… why am I the one paying for something you promised Vice Admiral Garp?"
"Why?" Luoyu asked, sipping his liquor and biting into a steamed bun.
"Because I'm broke."
"Broke?" Koby gave a pained smile.
"Admiral, your bonuses are worth dozens of times my salary. And you still haven't paid back what you borrowed on Garp's ship…"
"Pay it back?" Luoyu adjusted his glasses, eyes on the approaching ruined dock.
"Relax. Those who repay promptly are decent people. Those who repay late? Legends. I'll pay it back eventually."
"By the way, didn't you do something in Water 7? I forget."
"Ah! Admiral Luoyu, Fleet Admiral Sengoku told us to focus on military merit and downplay materialism. We should learn the spirit of selfless service. I've still got some of last month's salary—I'll buy Garp his crackers myself…"
Koby straightened up, trying to salvage his dignity.
He glanced nervously at the Flying Six member tied up like a dumpling behind him, worried Luoyu might "accidentally" blast him next.
"Admiral Luoyu, we've dropped anchor. Should we disembark?" Helmeppo reported.
"But… why are we stopping at this abandoned island, Area 13?"
Sabaody Archipelago, the gateway between the first and second halves of the Grand Line, was divided into 79 zones.
Some were lawless zones, others housed Marine bases.
And some, like this one, had been deliberately abandoned.
Because pirates couldn't cross the Red Line directly, they gathered at Sabaody to coat their ships and head to the New World via Fish-Man Island.
This made Sabaody a strange blend of chaos and prosperity.
"So many kinds of people… I guess everything has its place," Luoyu mused, taking another swig before leaping ashore.
Waiting for him was Ain, who quickly stepped forward.
"Admiral Luoyu, Vice Admirals Tsuru and Chaton arrived three days ago to search the archipelago. But so far, no sign of CP9."
"Tsuru and Chaton are here too?" Luoyu raised an eyebrow.
Then again, it made sense.
CP9 weren't ordinary fugitives.
They were elite agents with authority rivaling Admirals during the Enies Lobby operation.
Rob Lucci alone was stronger than most Vice Admirals.
And CP9 held secrets the World Government couldn't afford to leak.
That's why, once Spandam branded them traitors, the order was clear:
Eliminate them. No mercy.
"So that's the new Admiral everyone's been talking about?"
A girl with short orange hair and a Marine Captain's cloak whispered beside Ain.
"Doesn't look like much."
Ain shot her a glare.
"Admiral Luoyu, this is Isuka. She just transferred back from the first half of the Grand Line. She's just curious, no offense meant."
Isuka blushed, realizing her words might've been out of line.
"Admiral Luoyu, I didn't mean anything by it."
"I know," Luoyu said, sipping his drink. Then he smirked.
"You're the rookie who chased Fire Fist Ace all over the sea, right?"
"We're both rookies. No need to be so stiff."
Isuka beamed at first—being acknowledged by a famous Admiral was a huge honor.
But then her smile froze.
"Admiral… are you mocking me?"
"You're an Admiral. I'm just a Captain. You're making the rest of us rookies look bad…"
"But Admiral, Ain said you boarded Whitebeard's Moby Dick and made it out alive."
"You met Fire Fist Ace, right? He turned down the Warlord title and became Whitebeard's Second Division Commander."
"People are comparing you two. Who's stronger?"
Luoyu blinked, surprised by her sudden enthusiasm.
He remembered that in the original story, Isuka had tried to convince Ace to accept the Warlord title.
He took a sip and replied:
"He's probably stronger."
"Fire Fist Ace is stronger?" Isuka was stunned.
She hadn't expected Luoyu to admit that.
Most rising stars would never say someone else was better.
"He's joking, right?" Ain jumped in. "You don't really think Ace is stronger than Admiral Luoyu, do you?"
"Admiral Luoyu escaped from the Moby Dick unharmed."
"Sooner or later, the world will see—he's stronger than Ace. At least a little bit stronger!"
"Right, Admiral?"
Luoyu rolled his eyes.
"Hard to say. I've never fought him. Maybe I'm just a tiny bit stronger."
"Anyway, this isn't the time for that. We've got CP9 to find. Any leads?"
The girls snapped back to attention.
They'd gotten carried away.
Isuka stepped forward.
"Three days ago, I led a squad with Vice Admiral Tsuru to search the archipelago. We had a lead on CP9's location, but since then, they've vanished. Vice Admiral Chaton suspects they've already left Sabaody."
"Left Sabaody?" Luoyu frowned.
His Gold Chest had just finished upgrading.
He'd been hoping to rack up some bonus points and do a flashy ten-pull.
If CP9 had already slipped away…
That would be a serious waste.