On a small boat about the same size as the one Shakky gave to Noy, Noy held Luo Fan and looked at the four young men covered in scratches and needle holes with a look of disdain: "With such poor skills, you still want to be pirates? Aren't you afraid of being sunk immediately by the Marine?"
"That's still better than staying on the island and starving to death!" the leading young man said.
"Exactly! I'd rather be sunk by Marine cannonballs than starve to death."
"Me too."
"Same here!"
The determined attitude of the four young men made Noy look at them with a bit of newfound respect.
However, she still didn't quite support their actions. Setting everything else aside, even if these four guys attacked together, they couldn't beat her. How could they possibly become pirates?
Since they had met, Noy didn't want to see them perish at sea.
To Noy's surprise, however, the determination of these four to become pirates was unexpectedly firm. Even after the ship arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, they remained true to their original intention.
Noy sighed, said nothing more, and let them go their own way.
Not long after Noy and Luo Fan returned to the Sabaody Archipelago, Big Cat and Cat Two came looking for them.
It had been about two months since they left the Sabaody Archipelago, and many things had happened there during that time.
First, a Colonel from Marineford named Dies Barrus defected. This Colonel was a student of Admiral Zephyr and was deeply trusted by the Marine; no one expected him to defect.
Secondly, the Marine has recently been investigating the Baku Baku no Mi, and many pirates have been taken away as suspects.
The unluckiest one was Shanks. He had just established his own Pirate Crew with only one crew member, Benn Beckman. Shanks had originally intended to come to Sabaody to greet Rayleigh and show off his new crew member.
However, to Shanks's surprise, as soon as he landed on the island, he was accused by the Marine of being the suspect who used Conqueror's Haki to knock out the King of the Drum Kingdom and steal the Baku Baku no Mi, and he was subsequently hunted by the Marine.
Faced with the sudden arrival of two warships led by Marine Branch Vice Admirals, Shanks was completely dumbfounded.
"Captain, you didn't actually go and steal someone's fruit, did you?" Beckman asked with a dark expression.
"I didn't! I'm not! Don't talk nonsense! Haven't we been together this whole time?
But it doesn't matter anyway, the Marine seems convinced it's me! This is actually quite interesting, hahaha~"
Looking at his foolish Captain, Beckman suddenly wanted to ask if it was too late to quit this Pirate Crew.
Shanks went to great lengths to shake off the Marine encirclement and escape from the Sabaody Archipelago.
A month after Shanks left, which was yesterday, another big figure, the Captain of the 1st Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, Phoenix Marco, arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago.
Luo Fan was startled by the news; Marco had actually come to the Sabaody Archipelago!
He immediately asked Big Cat and Cat Two for Marco's location, then manifested wings and flew over.
On Island 33, Marco was sitting alone in a bar drinking, and none of the other people in the bar dared to approach him.
"Hey, hey~ Do you see that? That's the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, a monster with a bounty of several hundred million!"
"I'm not blind, do you need to tell me?"
"I heard he ate the legendary Mythical Zoan Type Phoenix Fruit. That's a Mythical Zoan! Currently, in this sea, it seems only he and the Marine's Admiral Sengoku have eaten one."
"I've heard Mythical Zoan Types are even rarer than Logias. Anyone who can eat such a fruit is truly lucky."
Marco seemed not to hear the discussions of the people in the Tavern as he raised his glass and drained the liquor in one gulp.
Just as Marco put down his glass, he felt a familiar weight on his shoulder, and an equally familiar voice rang in his ear: "Why are you drinking here alone? Wouldn't it be better to wait for me at Rayleigh's place?"
"Rayleigh is living in seclusion on the Sabaody Archipelago. My identity is quite sensitive, so it's not appropriate for me to stay there all the time," Marco replied with a smile.
"That's true, it's not good to keep bothering Uncle Rayleigh.
Alright, enough about him. Did you come looking for me because Pops has some instructions?"
Marco shook his head and said, "No, it's a mission of my own. You might not know yet, but a while ago Whitey Bay left the Moby Dick and established her own Pirate Crew to manage the crews that recently joined under the Whitebeard Pirates' banner on behalf of Pops.
Yesterday, Whitey Bay's crew ran into some trouble in the North Blue, and Pops asked me to go handle it.
I took the ocean currents from the New World, and I just dropped by to see you on the way."
"See me? You're looking for me because you want me to go to the North Blue with you?" Luo Fan said in an annoyed tone.
"Hehe, I still can't hide anything from you. It's been a few years now! I think it's time to join forces with Donquixote Doflamingo to get the Cloning Technology from the Vinsmoke Family.
Also, I wanted to ask you about Oden. Although I promised you before not to tell Pops about Oden's situation for the time being,
I can't just do nothing while knowing Oden is in trouble. That's also why I came to find you."
"You mean, after the matters in the North Blue are finished, you want to go to Wano Country with me?" Luo Fan asked after a moment of silence.
"Yeah!"
"It's not time yet, I still have some things to do," Luo Fan said after thinking for a bit.
"What else do you have to do? According to Rayleigh, your current strength has improved greatly compared to over a year ago, and I've also become much stronger than before.
If the two of us go to Wano Country together, along with Oden, can't we deal with Kaido?" Marco asked.
"Marco, you misunderstand. What I need to do isn't for dealing with Kaido, but to obtain a Devil Fruit.
And I've said it before, dealing with Kaido isn't the problem. Even if the two of us don't act, Oden alone might not lose to Kaido. The key is whether we can help Oden take back Wano Country legitimately."
"Is being legitimate that important?"
"Extremely important. This isn't just a matter of national stability; more importantly, it's about whether we can perfectly take over Wano Country's Weapon Factory."
"Does Wano Country have a Weapon Factory? I remember when I went there, there was no such thing!" Marco asked with a look of confusion.
"There wasn't then, but there was after Kaido took control of Wano Country. Kaido needs money to buy zoan-type devil fruits to expand his Beasts Pirates, so he established this Weapon Factory in Wano Country."
"What do you want that Weapon Factory for?" Marco pressed.
Luo Fan didn't answer Marco's question immediately but instead changed the subject and asked, "Marco, do you know why Pops has been living so frugally all these years?"
"I didn't before, but a while ago Thatch discovered that Pops has actually been subsidizing his own hometown all these years, so everyone understands now."
"Since you all know, then I'll be direct. One of the reasons I want the Weapon Factory is for Pops.
If we can control Wano Country's Weapon Factory, our Whitebeard Pirates will have the capital to intervene in the gray trade of the Underworld. When that time comes, we can earn more money and help share Pops's burden."