I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"I was prepared for being smeared and vilified long before I decided to leave the Navy."

"And Sig has probably already suffered the same treatment."

Zephyr recalled that when he was still in the Navy, Ain once mentioned to him in private that she had investigated the bandit king Sig and said that he was not as vicious as rumored.

For example, he once cut through a sandstorm to save a city... The result of that was that the bounty was raised by one level, and his notoriety became even greater.

Looking back now, I think Ain probably intended to speak well of Sieg back then, but these things can still serve as a reference to some extent.

Over the past two years, Zephyr has done similar things and suffered similar treatment, so he has gained some insights into the current state of pirates.

Zephyr paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "So... I don't believe the World Government's story."

"It's better to trust Sig than the World Government."

After two years as a "pirate," Zephyr's attitude has subtly changed from his time in the Navy.

“Is that so…” Some sergeants couldn’t help but nod.

As NEO Navy personnel, they shared the same experience as Zephyr.

Two years ago, Admiral Higuma's emancipation of slaves in the Sabaody Archipelago had a significant impact.

That incident carried just as much weight in the minds of Zephyr and his ilk as the Marineford War, directly creating a rift between the Navy and the World Government.

Most of the naval soldiers who followed Admiral Higuma in the liberation of slaves at that time joined Zephyr's command and became members of the NEO Navy.

They have always been conflicted about Sigrid's attitude.

With Zefa taking the lead in speaking, their inner turmoil has lessened considerably.

After chatting with the port officers about the news, Zephyr was about to return to his office to rest when a thought suddenly struck him, and he looked out to sea.

There, a small vessel flying the NEO naval ensign broke through the waves, its hull bearing numerous bullet holes and battle scars.

The ship docked, and a small squad of NEO Navy soldiers and a haggard-looking woman disembarked.

The woman was very thin, looked haggard, dressed in tattered clothes, and had a somewhat vacant look in her eyes. She wore a standard NEO Navy cape draped over her shoulders.

"What happened?"

Zefa stopped and asked.

The woman instinctively hid behind a naval officer next to her and gently tugged at his sleeve.

Zefa noticed that the woman's wrists had many marks, which appeared to be from whipping.

The leading naval officer explained:

"General Zefa, a nobleman from the Kingdom of Jeston in the nearby seas, has been secretly keeping slaves... but he's hidden them well, so we didn't discover them before."

As soon as he finished speaking, many soldiers by the port turned their eyes to him.

Because of the incident involving Higuma, they are quite sensitive to the word "slave".

Zefa glanced carefully at the woman hiding behind the sergeant, whose expression was somewhat panicked. A dark red mark was visible on the shoulder of her collar.

This is not a tattoo, but a brand.

The Celestial Dragons would brand their slaves with the hoof of a Celestial Dragon, signifying that they belonged to the Celestial Dragons.

The Celestial Dragons are the world's nobles, the nobles among nobles. As a result, it is not uncommon for other small countries to follow suit.

“Last night, a small-scale slave riot broke out within the Kingdom of Jeston…” the officer continued to explain:

"Although the nobles suppressed the slaves and the situation did not escalate, a few slaves managed to escape, and she was one of them."

At this point, after being comforted by the surrounding soldiers, the woman gradually calmed down.

She finally emerged from behind the sergeant, then knelt down in front of Zephyr, lowering her head to kiss Zephyr's boots.

"What are you doing?" Zefa grabbed her shoulder, his voice filled with barely concealed anger.

The woman was so frightened that she curled up into a ball and squatted on the ground, not daring to make a sound.

Zefa sighed almost imperceptibly, then turned to look at the soldiers around him who were already filled with righteous indignation.

“It seems we need to take action again,” Zephyr said in a deep voice.

He gave the order for the troops to begin assembling and preparing to set sail.

Just ten minutes later, as they were about to set off, a sudden change occurred.

boom!

A cannon shot rang out from a great distance, followed by the flash of an explosion.

Looking up, flames soared into the sky on a distant island, golden laser beams pierced the clouds, and the cacophony of gunfire erupted. Through binoculars, the faint silhouettes of naval warships and the heavy sails of the CP new army warships could be seen in the far distance.

The direction in which the firelight shone was not the same as the direction of the island where the Kingdom of Jeston was located; in fact, it was completely opposite.

The target of the attack was an island outpost under the control of the NEO Navy!

"Is it the Navy and CP forces? They've finally arrived." Zephyr's heart sank slightly.

From the day he defected from the Navy, he knew this day would come, and that he would one day confront the Navy.

"The enemy is attacking one of our key strongholds, and General Fujitora is currently stationed there," a sergeant said quickly.

"Have you gotten in touch with Fujitora? Ask him about the situation there," Zephyr said.

"...The phone call won't go through. It's possible that Nenbo Communications has been specifically jammed. The enemy probably has special horned Den Den Mushi."

There are many varieties of Den Den Mushi (snail telephone mushi), each with different functions.

The purpose of the horned Den Den Mushi is to interfere with the telepathic communication of other Den Den Mushi, essentially acting as a signal jamming device.

"It seems the World Government's army came prepared." Zephyr waved his hand and ordered his men to assemble at the port in preparation for rescuing Fujitora.

The World Government has not taken any action against Zephyr for two years. Now that it has, it is likely to strike with overwhelming force, and Zephyr dares not be careless.

Although he had just decided to deal with the slave revolt in the Kingdom of Jeston, Zephyr naturally understood the priorities.

...............................

Amidst the roar of cannons and the sounds of battle, a massive meteorite fell from the sky.

As the meteorite violently rubs against the air, it heats up and turns red, leaving a long trail in the sky before falling to the ground.

"It's a shooting star! I saw a shooting star! What a lucky day!"

A man's voice said with surprise:

"If you see a shooting star, you have to make a wish right away."

"I hope... you all die soon."

A colossal giant, nearly seven meters tall and more than two stories high, stood on the battlefield, holding a naginata. He had a long, thin, crescent-shaped white beard under his nose.

With his shouts, one after another, giant clones who looked exactly like him roared and leaped into the air, their large swords slashing down at the meteorites in the sky.

Boom! Boom boom!

Several Whitebeard Jr. clones fell like dumplings in a pot after being hit by the meteorite, their flesh and blood mangled beyond recognition.

But the meteorites in the sky also continuously revealed huge ravines, eventually breaking into large and small fragments that fell to the ground.

Mid-air beneath the meteorite.

Fujitora stood on a flying rock, his eyes closed as he looked at the clone soldiers in front of him.

His purple clothes were stained with blood, and he had many wounds on his body. He was breathing slightly heavily, and his breath was somewhat weak.

“These are truly a bunch of monsters.” Opposite him, a CP0 member in a white suit wearing a golden crying face mask stood there and said in a low voice.

CP0 spoke with a hint of mockery, his gaze not on Fujitora, but on the hands of the clone soldiers.

"Some people in this world are born strong, standing on peaks that ordinary people can only look up to."

"The great pirate Edward Weevil, whose original bounty was 480 million Berries, was described by Kizaru as having monstrous strength comparable to a young Whitebeard. It was a terrifying assessment, but also quite accurate."

"It's a pity we failed to obtain Big Mom's body. If we could have obtained that monster with the body of a steel balloon, we wouldn't have needed to be distracted by researching giant soldiers."

“The World Government has changed so much in the last two years, it’s even getting involved in person.” Fujitora swung his cane sword, and the distorted horizontal gravity surged forward like a wave, instantly tearing several warships apart and turning them into wreckage.

The surging, twisting gravity swept over him, but the CP0 member only staggered back a few steps at first before quickly standing still, like a rock in the waves.

“That’s right…” The face behind the CP0 mask, wearing a golden mask, twitched into a smile.

"The war potential of a government that rules the world is beyond the imagination of most people."

"Thanks to your existence, CP0 has been able to transform itself from a purely espionage agency..."

He stood firm amidst the distorted gravity, then took one step at a time and walked forward.

At first, his steps were a bit unsteady and labored.

But after walking about ten steps, his pace became much more natural, and he even started jogging.

This caused Fujitora's expression to change slightly.

He wasn't unfamiliar with enemies who could resist his gravity attacks, but this was the first time he had seen one adapt so quickly.

"Flying Finger Gun!"

With a flick of his finger, the golden mask sent a crescent-shaped shockwave rapidly expanding at a visible speed after it left his hand.

Fujitora slightly sidestepped, but the flying rocks beneath his feet were grazed by the shockwave and shattered instantly, causing Fujitora to fall from the sky.

The shockwave had not yet subsided when a small mountain behind them was blasted through, creating a huge hole, before collapsing with a deafening roar.

But the eyes of the man in the golden mask showed no sign of smugness; instead, his brows furrowed slightly.

He looked into the distance.

The fragment of the flying rock that it shattered flew away at an extremely fast speed into the distance.

He looked at Fujitora, who had landed on the ground, with a stern face.

"You clearly have the advantage, yet you surround me without killing me. Are you not only training your troops, but also trying to use me as bait?" Fujitora gently shook his head.

He gripped the staff-sword tightly, surrounded by the clone army.

.................................

the other side.

Zefa's warship had just set sail when a flying rock came hurtling through the air in the distance, eventually stopping mid-air on the deck, where Zefa caught it.