The current Marine Fleet Admiral is still Kong, and Sengoku the Headquarters Admiral. Ideally, this kind of mission should have been carried out by Sengoku himself. However, at this moment, Kong is attending a meeting in Mariejois, and Garp has taken several months of paternity leave, citing his daughter-in-law’s impending childbirth.
Sakazuki and Borsalino also have their own missions. Zephyr is currently leading his new recruits in the open sea, and the Marine Headquarters must also have one Admiral on duty.
So, this mission has been assigned to Kuzan, who is still the Admiral Candidate. As a Vice Admiral, his strength has already surpassed that of an ordinary Vice Admiral, but he hasn’t reached the point of assuming the role of an Admiral yet.
The Marine’s plan is to have the three of them serve as representatives of the new generation of Marines while taking on the role of Admiral simultaneously. However, this can only happen when Sengoku is promoted.
Even though his rank is not sufficient, his strength is nearly there. But when Kuzan received the order, Sengoku realized that Kuzan was still slacking off.
“Bicycle?!”
Upon hearing Kuzan’s explanation, Sengoku felt his temples throbbing. This Kuzan was starting to become as worrisome as Garp.
“Yes, Sengoku-san, you know I always ride a bicycle when I go out.”
“The battleship is ready. Immediately, right now, set off! If anything happens to the Celestial Dragon, get ready for Fleet Admiral Kong’s scolding!”
Given Kuzan’s usual leisurely way of traveling by bicycle, by the time he arrives at the destination, it’s likely that everything will have cooled down.
“Yes, yes, I’m leaving.”
Saying this, Kuzan leisurely walked out, showing no sign of urgency.
Just as Kuzan boarded the battleship, Olga had already acquired her loot.
“These guys sure are loaded.”
As a Celestial Dragon, he had various payment methods like checks at his disposal. However, this particular Celestial Dragon carried a large amount of cash. This was to satisfy his desires, as paying with checks and using cash provided entirely different experiences.
One suitcase was stuffed with one hundred million Berries in cash, and there were a total of forty such suitcases. This Celestial Dragon was carrying an astounding four billion Berries in cash alone.
The Devil Fruits that he had bought were now in Elizabeth’s possession. After glancing at those suitcases, she grabbed three of them with one hand. Five suitcases were also strung onto Elizabeth’s tail. In total, they had robbed eleven suitcases and five Devil Fruits.
“Let’s go, Elizabeth. It’s time to retreat.”
“Understood.”
After making a grand exit from the auction house, the two of them left the scene in an almost invisible manner, leaving behind a dummy constructed from wooden sticks.
With Olga’s abilities added, this dummy temporarily represented Ryleth, and a group of Marines was locked in a battle of wits with it. This approach was quite similar to Ryleth’s ability.
“Sure enough, doing business without investing any money is the best. This is much easier than earning money the normal way.”
“Lord Arceus said that the most profitable methods are written in the law; it all depends on whether you have a conscience or not.”
On their way back, Olga and Elizabeth were still discussing the windfall from their heist. Initially, they had intended to spend 1.2 billion Berries on two Devil Fruits, but in the end, they didn’t spend a single Berry, instead they earned 1.1 billion Berries plus five Devil Fruits.
While these bills have serial numbers on them, and the World Government could certainly trace them with some effort. However, in the New World, there is no shortage of places to launder black money. Anything obtained through raiding allied nations, Marines, or the World Government needs to be cleaned up before it can be safely circulated.
It’s rare to use Ryleth’s disguise, but not making the most of it would be a huge waste.
The two of them almost appeared out of thin air on board the Shadow Fox, and Ryleth’s figure transformed back to the way it was when they were hunting slave catcher’s ship.
“Boss? How come you’re back so soon?”
“Nothing much, just a little heist. Dive immediately; it’s time to return to the New World.”
Upon reaching Sabaody Archipelago, the Shadow Fox had already undergone coating, so following Olga’s command, the ship immediately submerged and set sail towards the New World.
For Victarion, who had already decided to join them, this had no impact. However, it caused a problem for Hancock and her group, as it disrupted their previous plans.
Amazon Lily was not in the New World, and going directly to the New World would make it even more difficult for them to return home.
But it was too late now; coating was a single-use work. If they surfaced now, the coating would shatter immediately. They don’t have the time to wait for three days to redo the coating.
So Hancock and her group were taken underwater directly.
But when they explained it to Olga, her expression also became helpless.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
She hadn’t expected that these people had stayed on the ship for such a reason.
“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
“What’s the good news?”
“The good news is that there shouldn’t be much of a problem sending you all back.” The Beasts Pirates’ ships can easily traverse the Calm Belt, and if there’s extra income to be made, any passing ship in that area can readily transport them back.
“What’s the bad news then?”
In theory, this was a good answer, but this twist gave them a bad feeling.
“Bad news, ah! The bad news is that you can only leave after three years.”
It’s a long-standing rule of the Beasts Pirates – a three-year period of silence. After they quietly carry out significant actions, people are not allowed to leave during this three-year timeframe unless they are confirmed to be trustworthy people.
Olga had just dressed as Ryleth to steal from a Celestial Dragon, so these people left on the ship had temporarily lost their right to go out.
As for three years later, the memories in this vast sea are quite short-lived. Once the initial heat dies down, the post-event handling is not as serious as it was at the time. For instance, the incident of a certain Straw Hat who had beaten a Celestial Dragon seemed to have been forgotten two years later.
Anyway, these Celestial Dragons are surprisingly tough, able to withstand a lot of beatings.
“Three years?”
No freedom and restricted movement; it seemed like they were entering a new form of slavery.
“Don’t misunderstand; we don’t do that kind of thing unless they’re pirates who lost to us. But if you’re from the Kuja tribe, have you considered joining us? I hear people from the Kuja tribe are all powerful warriors, and the captain will surely be quite interested, I think.”
Following the Beasts Pirates tradition, Olga continued with the recruitment. Kaido never seemed to mind having more strong warriors on his side.
“Uhh…can’t you let us just leave?”
“Unfortunately, no. Don’t make me do something difficult.”
The three-year silent period was for those willing to cooperate. For those who didn’t want to cooperate, it wasn’t a three-year silent period; it was simply disappearing from the world.
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