"The boss is here!"
Jabra transformed into his werewolf form, his face flushed with the redness of intoxication, his tongue lolling out, head shrinking and stretching, wolf claws moving stealthily like a thief, circling around Kumadori, making Sage laugh even louder.
At this moment, they were all very happy.
Aside from Sage's return, the main reason was the huge haul from this robbery.
The wealth of three cities, it was astonishing.
Especially in a special Kingdom like Sisomia, where the wealth was concentrated in the hands of the rich, not a bit was shared with the kingdom itself.
Just gold and jewels, they seized fifty chests, overflowing fifty chests.
Sage took twenty-five chests, the rest was distributed among them.
Regarding the Belly aspect, they snatched as much as four billion Belly!
Nearly all the wealth of the kingdom was within those three cities, plundered entirely by them.
Excluding the two billion Sage took, the shares for the officers and public funds, each of the remaining eight hundred people received around one and a half million Belly.
This sum of money, along with the gold and jewels distributed, was the main reason for the Pirates' revelry!
However, amidst this revelry, there was a corner in the banquet hall that was somewhat irrelevant to the celebration.
Over there, Lucci held a wine glass, silent.
Alongside him were Kaku, Kalifa, and Blueno, but not Owl, who was clapping his hands, hooting like an owl.
The two squads of CP9 were now in completely different situations.
"Lucci! Why the long face, smile a little!"
Sage poured himself another glass of wine, raised the gemstone wine glass towards him, laughing: "Also celebrating your joining my Disaster Pirates, I'm giving each of you a 1% share, especially you, Lucci, you have 3%, just like a high-ranking officer. Working for me won't let you down!"
These words made Lucci pause slightly, he lifted his head and looked at Sage, saying, "Let me reiterate, we're merely cooperating."
Since robbing Sisomia, they returned to the ship, but their status had somewhat changed.
When Sage wasn't around, they conversed with Lily as equals, mutual distrust, yet mutual cooperation, each taking what they need.
But after Sage's return...
Things changed subtly.
They still conversed with Lily as equals, at least Lucci did.
But now there's a problem, Sage stood above Lily, genuinely the Captain.
The status is somewhat different, and he himself is a domineering person.
Without a word, he classified them as subordinates.
"We will eventually return to the World Government, Spandam can't stop us, you'd better not have high expectations for us," Lucci said coldly.
"Such matters are unimportant!"
Sage laughed heartily: "I still count on you for intelligence, if there's a way, I won't stop you, but since you're on my ship, you're certainly members of my Disaster Pirates. A Special Agent and a Pirate, both are professions, work is work, ho ho ho!"
Such courage!
This spirit instead left Lucci at a loss for words.
He seemed to fear nothing, and entirely didn't care whether, if they returned to the World Government, they might transmit intelligence.
Everything was clear, but the more it was like this, the more Lucci felt astonished.
Clearly, they had just emerged from Impel Down...
And still not viewing anything with concern?
"Hmph, if you keep going like this, you'll only end up back inside." Lucci snorted coldly but raised his glass, clinking it from afar with Sage.
"Drink it dry, hey, that's more like it!"
Sage drained his glass once again, surveyed his reveling subordinates, and showed a sinister grin: "Having eyes in the open is always better than hidden ones, can't you guys be straightforward?"
"Captain! Totally have no idea who you're talking about!" shouted one of the subordinates.
"Ha ha ha, forget it, not important!" Sage waved his hand, "Continue the banquet!"
Without CP9, surveillance on the ship wouldn't decrease.
Even though the ship had fewer than four hundred people, Sage knew that those hidden eyes wouldn't leave.
They were very diligent indeed.
Unless ordered by the World Government, they would always play pirates and transmit intelligence at any time.
Sage knew this full well, but he just didn't care.
It was merely because they didn't provide him intelligence that he grumbled a bit.
What's the big deal about working...
He's paying more money!
Unlike Lucci, who's capable, speaking straightforwardly too.
On this ship, these people play a big role, although there's no intelligence from the World Government now, their many years of experience is that Special Agent expertise in infiltration, can scout a lot of information for him.
Just for that alone, Sage already felt he wasn't losing out.
As for Lucci's own thoughts...
Boarded a pirate ship, how easy is it to get off, he's not interested in Lucci's thoughts, he's only interested in Lucci and those CP9's abilities.
"Keep dancing, keep drinking!"
Sage raised his glass towards his subordinates, "Your Captain just got out of prison, rouse things up for me, if you don't drink until you drop today, then you'll be knocked down by me, choose!"
"Oh!!"
The Pirates all shouted.
The gloomy sky hid the changes in daylight, but the clock turned from afternoon to midnight, until every Pirate in the banquet hall was drunk, Sage shook his head, snorted, "Really can't hold their drink."
Now, he rose to leave, heading up the internal stairs back to the Captain's quarters.
"Sage..."
He just reached the stairway, Lily was already waiting there.
"Hm? Lily, not sleeping at night? Staying up late is the enemy of a young woman's beauty, hurry to bed."
"There's something I need to say..."
Lily pursed her lips, said, "The escape and rebellion of four hundred people are due to my lack of stabilizing the ship, I..."
Clap.
A hand landed on her wavy blonde hair, rubbing it twice.
"Lily."
Sage passed by her, ascended the stairs, without turning his head, said, "We're just Pirates, not armies, the rebels are already dead, no need to be overly critical of yourself, you've done very well."
"Boarding and leaving the ship is their freedom, if you're displeased, exercise your high-ranking officer's authority to execute them. If not, then leave them be, they're just subordinates, if we're short, recruit more, the sea never lacks this type of subordinates."
"As long as our basic foundation remains, we can sail anew no matter how many times, it's just a temporary setback, ha ha ha ha!"
He laughed for a while, disappeared into the stairway on the second floor, entering the Captain's quarters.
Lily stood there, her gaze moving for a moment, clenched her fair fist, "I also need to fulfill my duty, Sage... you have your Captain's duty, for everything else, I will resolve them myself, won't make the same mistake again!"
Returning to the Captain's quarters, Sage shook his head, "Still too young, hasn't faced setbacks yet..."
Raised in the Royal Palace since young, cultivated like a songbird, her only setback was intentionally given by her wicked father, after forming the Pirates, although there were some dangers in between, ultimately the plan didn't change.
But this time, she seemed to feel the setback was too great...
Something so trifling, in Sage's eyes, entirely doesn't need reflection.
What does it matter if some people ran away?
It was still a planned success, wasn't it?
Even if everyone left, as long as the foundation remains the same, he could start again, which is much better than before.
Being a Pirate...
It's simply finding the right opportunity!
Sage grinned with enjoyment, entered the bedroom to sleep.
The Death Star's journey halted for a half night, until after dawn, the subordinates woke from their drunkenness, adjusted their direction to move forward.
The log pose for Sisomia only needed one and a half days to record, Lily had been there for two days, already stored full magnetic power, entered the actual voyage.
The remaining plunder targets were all along the Sisomia to Fishman Island route, they could slowly follow and rob.
Half a month later, the Death Star crossed the short border of the Devil's Triangle sea region, sailed for about a day, discovering the final robbery target...
It was a structure like a tall tower at sea, sitting on the sea surface, its entirety like a pillar, but the upper part unfolding like a small island.
A land of tourism and rest, Hot Spring Island.
This place, was Sage's final raid target on the Grand Line, a report stated it was a World Government-recognized resort, its annual revenue... a hundred billion Belly!