That day, Kai took the Warlord invitation personally written by Fleet Admiral Kong and left Tsuru's warship alone.
His destination was Alabasta.
Under the eyes of the Marine elites on deck, and under Tsuru's slightly worried but expectant gaze, Kai departed.
He boarded a small sailboat by himself, holding a Log Pose that pointed toward Alabasta. Following its direction, he sailed across the open sea.
A Marine officer standing beside Tsuru could not help but ask, "Vice Admiral Tsuru, will this really be all right? Letting Rear Admiral Kai go to Alabasta alone to invite Crocodile…"
Crocodile kept a low profile.
His bounty was not especially high either.
Only sixty-eight million berries.
But every Marine who understood the sea knew one thing clearly.
Crocodile was no ordinary pirate.
He was a terrifyingly powerful sea rogue.
His bounty remained below one hundred million only because he rarely committed large-scale massacres or openly challenged the World Government. Unlike many pirates who built their fame through slaughter, Crocodile moved with purpose.
His true goal was not simple pillaging.
He was searching for the Ancient Weapon Pluton.
In other words, Crocodile was not a brute.
He was a pirate with ambition, patience, and a long-term plan.
That made him even more dangerous.
If he had acted as recklessly as other great pirates, his bounty would have easily exceeded two hundred million berries. It might even have approached Doflamingo's.
Tsuru looked at the small sailboat drifting farther away.
"Don't forget what we saw in Demon Town yesterday."
Her voice was calm.
"Kai may be young, but his strength is beyond doubt."
"Even a monster like Doflamingo couldn't defeat him. We should trust him."
"Across this sea, there are not many pirates who can truly threaten his life."
The Marines around her fell silent.
That was true.
Kai was strong.
Terrifyingly strong.
"Besides," Tsuru continued, "Crocodile may not even dare to attack him."
"With Crocodile's personality, he is cautious. Under normal circumstances, he won't casually provoke the Marines unless he is sure the benefits outweigh the risks."
"So the two of them may not fight at all."
Even if they did, Tsuru believed Kai could handle it.
At worst, he could fight Crocodile to a draw.
"Do not underestimate Kai."
Tsuru turned and left after leaving those words behind.
"He is the strongest genius the Marines have ever produced."
"Do not judge him as a normal five-year-old child."
Her words echoed in the ears of every Marine on deck.
Only after a long while did they gradually return to their senses.
They looked toward the direction Kai had gone, their eyes filled with awe.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru is right. Rear Admiral Kai is not weak at all."
"Don't forget his battle with Admiral Zephyr. Even Admiral Zephyr couldn't take him down quickly."
"Crocodile may be strong, but he shouldn't be able to threaten Rear Admiral Kai's life."
The Marines slowly dispersed.
After leaving the deck, Tsuru took out a Den Den Mushi and reported the details of the mission to Fleet Admiral Kong, including Kai's decision to travel alone to Alabasta to invite Crocodile.
From the Blue-Green Sea to Alabasta, the journey would take about four or five days.
That was under smooth sailing conditions.
If anything unexpected happened along the way, the travel time would stretch even longer.
Before leaving the warship, Kai had already prepared enough supplies.
Food, fresh water, emergency tools, and navigation equipment had all been loaded onto the sailboat.
He did not need to search for islands to resupply.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, three days had gone by since Kai had left the warship.
During those three days, the voyage had been unusually smooth.
No storms.
No reefs.
No pirate ships.
That last part made Kai feel rather puzzled.
Had pirates suddenly learned to behave?
He had sailed for three full days, yet he had not seen a single pirate flag.
Occasionally, merchant ships passed in the distance. Kai traded with them a few times and bought several useful supplies, but aside from that, the sea was strangely quiet.
The Grand Line was supposed to be crawling with pirates.
If not for the rising number of pirates in recent years, the World Government would not have been so anxious to establish the Seven Warlords system.
And yet, on this route toward Alabasta, not a single pirate crew had appeared.
Kai faintly sensed that something was off.
"Forget it."
"If I don't run into them, there's no need to overthink it."
With nothing else to do, Kai returned to his daily training.
Over these three days, he had not wasted a single moment.
Most of his time had been spent training.
His strength had risen again, bit by bit. The improvement was not dramatic, but every day brought progress.
Given enough time, those small gains would eventually become something terrifying.
Just as Kai was absorbed in training—
"Hm?"
He suddenly raised his head.
His gaze shifted toward the sea ahead.
There, drifting across the water, were the remains of a shipwreck.
Broken planks.
Splintered beams.
Shattered fragments of a hull.
The wreckage floated across the waves, scattered in every direction.
It was obvious that a large vessel had recently collapsed.
And it could not have happened long ago.
If too much time had passed, the sea would have already swallowed most of the debris.
Kai's eyes moved across the wreckage.
Then he saw someone.
A survivor.
A person clinging weakly to a floating wooden beam.
The survivor's eyes were filled with fear as she looked around, desperately searching for any passing ship that might save her.
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