One Piece: We already have the Four Gods, so my Six Paths Sage is reasonable, right?

"Alice." Shakky's gaze sharpened slightly as she looked at Alice and asked, "You mean, you've already met Ron?"

"Yes," Alice nodded, her tone light, "He not only recruits companions, but also wives and concubines. With your looks, I'm sure he'll take a liking to you."

Xia Qi didn't reply immediately. Her gaze lingered on Alice's face for a moment, her eyelashes drooping slightly for a instant, as if she were quickly flipping through a few pages of memories in her mind.

"Recruiting wives and concubines?" Xia Qi repeated the four words softly. The Ron she knew, if he really wanted to find wives and concubines, would have already had a large number of them with his strength and reputation.

The fact that he didn't have it shows that he doesn't care about that kind of thing at all.

So the "Ron" on this island... is most likely an imposter.

Shaki came to this conclusion and was about to tell Alice when she realized that Alice had already left.

"Never mind," Xia Qi muttered, then turned and instructed the crew, "Replenish supplies and leave here as soon as possible."

"Yes, Captain!" the Kuja Pirates crew behind him replied in unison.

"Xia Qi, let me help you!" someone on the shore immediately shouted.

"Lady Shakky, I can do it too!"

"I have fine wine on board; may I share a drink with you?"

Xia Qi turned her head, her gaze slowly sweeping over the eager faces, and said in a gentle tone, "Helping is fine, but drinking together is out of the question."

Those who were rejected showed no anger or resentment; instead, they wore satisfied smiles on their faces because they had received a response.

What a bunch of sycophants!!!

-------------------------------------

Several days later.

Naval Headquarters, ward.

Sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting soft dappled patterns on the white sheets.

The upper body of the Warring States period was wrapped in bandages, and his several arms, which were in casts, made a slight rubbing sound when he raised them slightly.

His face was still a little pale, but his eyes had regained focus.

He only woke up today, after the defeat.

"Little Crane,"

Sengoku's voice was a few decibels lower than usual, carrying a hint of weakness from recovering from a serious illness. His gaze fell on the spare Den Den Mushi that Tsuru had brought by the bedside, and he said, "This Den Den Mushi... hasn't rung even once?"

Tsuru sat by the hospital bed, followed his gaze to the Den Den Mushi quietly perched on the bedside table, and then gently shook her head: "No."

Zhan Guo's expression instantly darkened. What did Wang Zhi mean? Did he take the money and then retire from the business? Even if he wasn't going to cooperate anymore, shouldn't he have given him a heads-up beforehand? Why was he pretending to be dead and not responding?

"Alright." Tsuru's voice was calm and gentle, as if she was already used to his tendency to worry about work even while in the hospital. "Sengoku, just focus on recovering. Put work aside for now; your health is the most important thing."

Sengoku let out a heavy sigh, as if barely suppressing the anger that was stuck in his chest: "Look at me now, I can't help but feel at ease..."

After a moment of silence, he seemed to suddenly remember something: "By the way, while I was unconscious, that bastard Garp didn't come to see me even once, did he?"

When Garp was mentioned, Tsuru's expression changed slightly for a moment.

"Garp..." He paused, "something happened."

Sengoku's heart tightened suddenly, and a light flashed in his eyes, which were still recovering: "Don't scare me, Tsuru."

Tsuru paused slightly, realizing that Sengoku might be thinking the worst, and quickly waved her hand: "No, what I'm talking about isn't that something happened to him. It's that he was suspended from his duties under the pretext of taking a vacation..."

Sengoku first breathed a sigh of relief, then his brows furrowed again: "This idiot...did he talk back to a Celestial Dragon? Or did he take something from a Celestial Dragon? Or perhaps, was he framed by someone in Marine Headquarters?"

Tsuru gently shook her head: "Neither. After you fell unconscious, he was investigated by the World Government. As for what they were investigating... Mr. Sora didn't elaborate. He just told me not to worry and that he would be reinstated soon."

"Phew~~~" Sengoku sighed heavily again, complaining, "What is all this nonsense?"

-------------------------------------

A new world, on an island.

Inside a room at a pirate base.

The light was dim, with only a kerosene lamp hanging in the corner flickering slightly, casting long and crooked shadows in the room.

A man, shirtless, is kneeling with his head bowed.

His face shape and features were almost identical to Ron's, from the curve of his brow bone to the line of his jaw, they were as if they were carved from the same mold.

The only difference was a strange tattoo on his left arm, which gleamed faintly with a dark sheen in the dim light.

In front of him, where he was kneeling, lay a Den Den Mushi (a type of electric scooter).

"You don't have much time left..." came the voice from the Den Den Mushi.

The man who looked remarkably like Ron shuddered violently, as if he had been doused with cold water. He lowered his voice, his tone filled with panic and apology: "I'm sorry... I didn't expect that after I had pretended to be him and done so many things, he wouldn't have taken it to heart at all."

"I don't want explanations," the voice on the other end of the Den Den Mushi said flatly, "I want results. Otherwise, you know what will happen."

A fine layer of sweat appeared on the man's forehead. He swallowed hard, forcing down the tremor in his voice: "Don't worry, I've already come up with another plan. This time, it will definitely work."

"You better hope so..." With that, the Den Den Mushi communication was disconnected.

[Second update delivered. These are transitional chapters, please bear with them and don't let the book sit idle; there's almost no one reading it anymore...]