Double-transformation: I, Sakura Haruno! Will crush the pirates!

The guards from Ryugu Castle poured out of the school and surrounded the square. Otohime and Jinbe, having received the news, also rushed over.

As the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Sakura, her feet sinking deep into the ground, appeared before them.

Sakura took a deep breath, her raised arm bulging with veins, and forcefully lifted the 100-meter-long, 400-ton speedboat.

He then exhaled a breath of white air and slowly lowered the large ship.

Every fishman who witnessed this scene, regardless of size, had eyes bulging out of their sockets, with bloodshot eyes filling the whites of their eyes.

They gasped in astonishment, their mouths agape.

"Huh—???"

Chapter 230 Prelude to the New World

A few minutes later, in the reception room of Coral School.

"Sakura-chan!"

Oblivious to her surroundings, Otohime hugged Sakura tightly and nuzzled her head.

"Stop! You just came out of the sea!"

Sakura, soaked in seawater, thrashed about, but dared not touch the fragile Otohime, for fear of accidentally breaking her here.

"Haha, I really didn't expect to meet you all here, Miss Sakura, Brother Tiger, Kuina, and..." Jinbe nodded with a smile, "Welcome to Mermaid Island."

"Damn it, don't forget me!"

Enel, his body crackling with electricity, flipped himself to his feet, preparing to unleash his lightning indoors.

But the next second, Leviathan flew back from outside the window, grabbed its head, and shook it violently.

Tiger tried to break up the fight, but Guina joined in the commotion, turning the entire reception room into complete chaos.

"It was definitely the right thing to ask Miss Sakura back then; Tiger looks very happy now."

Without joining in the noise, Jinbe stepped forward and sat down next to Sakura.

"Of course, my ship is the best in the world!"

After escaping from Otohime's arms, Sakura gave Jinbe a big thumbs-up with a grin.

"That would be wonderful."

Jinbe, arms crossed, nodded. "Oh, right, I haven't congratulated Sakura on becoming a Shichibukai yet."

As soon as the words were spoken, the entire reception room fell into complete silence.

The pirate crew members, who were still playing around, all looked at Sakura with puzzled expressions.

—Aren't we buddies? When did you vote for the world government? How come we didn't know?!

"what?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, held up a finger, and pointed at herself. "Me? I've become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

This was so outrageous that Sakura didn't even have time to react at first.

She, Sakura Haruno, is a pirate with rebellion written all over her face. She has killed special agents, fought against the Marines, and slaughtered Celestial Dragons. Now, the World Government is actually planning to unilaterally recruit her.

Why don't you say that the reason the Great Kingdom failed 800 years ago was because Joey Boy fell in love with Im and couldn't bring himself to kill him, which ultimately led to its defeat?

"Isn't it you?"

Jinbe was also somewhat unsure of what to do when the group reacted so astonishedly, so he reached out and pulled a newspaper from his sleeve and handed it to them.

Kuina and the others immediately surrounded Sakura and began to watch.

A few hours earlier, the World Government had printed the appointment letter in the World Economic News, which included the hoofprints of the Celestial Dragons and a photo of Sakura, with her long, flowing white hair, receiving her appointment on Punk Hazard, an island owned by the Navy.

Because Sakura and her group were on a deep-sea dive at the time, they did not receive the message immediately.

"Is it really Sakura-nee?" Kuina tilted her head curiously.

Tiger frowned. "Yeah, this is the low-temperature mode of your Heat-Heat Fruit, isn't it?"

"So, we're going to have to hand over the work to the Qinghai government again?" Enel said nonchalantly, crossing his arms behind his head.

Among the group, only Leviathan, standing on Enel's shoulder, shook his head, "No~, it's not Sakura, the size and eyes are different!"

Upon hearing this, the others pressed their hands against the newspaper, scrutinizing the photos closely.

After comparing the size proportions of the figures and some scenery, the conclusions are indeed different.

However, they didn't notice that Sakura was sitting outside the crowd with a deep look in her eyes.

Even though she has spent nearly twenty years in two worlds, her memory is hazy.

However, I still have a deep impression of the famous Vegapunk.

When she saw the snow-white-haired girl in the photo, she recognized her as the Seraph, a gene-fusion weapon that was developed eight years later!

However, judging from the state of the photo, it seems that it has not yet acquired the special bloodline factor green blood to obtain Devil Fruit abilities.

"Those five old men are really cunning."

Sakura exhaled a breath of stale air, chuckled softly, and shook her head.

"What do you mean?"

Jinbe, sitting next to her, cast a puzzled look at her.

"This is an open conspiracy. Punk Hazard has probably already laid a trap, waiting for me to walk into it."

Sakura snatched the newspaper from the noisy crew members and tapped it on the table.

"If we go, we'll probably be facing the World Government's last and most intense punitive force this time."

If I don't go, the label of being a government lackey will tarnish my reputation, and I'll face obstacles at every turn when expanding my territory in the New World.

"how come!"

Jinbe stared in disbelief. "What a sinister intention!"

“Hehehe, hahahahaha!”

With one hand covering her forehead and the other slapping the table, Sakura burst into laughter.

"That's how it should be! Use every trick in the book, fight with all your might! Both sides should bet everything they have, like gamblers!"

Like a greedy hyena praying for victory at the gambling table, the winner chews on the loser's remains—ugly, utterly ugly! Hahahaha!

"Hey, is that how you describe yourself?"

Leviathan used its tiny wings to pry at the table and crawled up to Sakura.

"You don't understand! In this world, the so-called government and us pirates are actually the same thing!" Sakura lowered her hand and let Leviathan walk onto her shoulder. "The only difference between the two is who is the winner and who is the loser!"

"However, the World Government is too confident in its own power and has never considered that if it is defeated, you will become the most prominent pirate emperors."

When everyone turned around, they were surprised to find that the person who had just spoken was actually Queen Otohime, who had been listening in for a long time.

"Not bad, my impression of you has changed~" Sakura winked her left eye at her.

"Don't underestimate me! I've also learned about war and political intrigue!" Otohime puffed out her cheeks. "That's why I despise conflict so much!"

"This path is correct, but it is destined to be long, Queen Otohime."

Tiger glanced at Otohime and sighed softly.

"It's alright, I'm prepared." Otohime crossed her arms over her chest. "Besides, haven't the seeds of hope already been sown?"

She stood up, opened the window, and looked at the many children in the school square learning mermaid jujitsu from the dojo instructors. She smiled very gently.

"Hey, you two are getting off-topic!" Enel, sitting cross-legged in his chair, raised an eyebrow. "Isn't the issue right now our dispute with the Qinghai government?"

He removed his arms from under his head and raised his fingers to stand upright.

"Me, the captain, the fish, the boat, and the Death Woman, there are only five of us in total."

"This time, we are going to confront an organization that commands a maritime superpower like the navy. How can we, who are already struggling to deal with a single navy, possibly contend with it?"

Sitting next to him, Kuina drew her knife and slashed directly at his hand.

"Of course, we should fight them with the knife in our hands! Don't you even know such a simple truth? You arrogant fool!"

"Hmph, you're just a dead woman who's been practicing swordsmanship to the point of brain damage, and that's all you know."

With a flash of electricity, Enel's fingers returned to normal, his middle finger pointing towards Kuina.

Soon, the two began exchanging attacks amidst the whirlwind of lightning.

“Enel is right, our strength alone is definitely not enough.”

Sakura pinned Enel and Kuina down with one hand each, then used them to stand up, a wild smile playing on her lips.

"However, now it's time to show you what kind of storm the name Sakura Haruno can stir up on this sea."

Chapter 231 If you can't beat them, call for backup!

"Moshi Moshi, Dorag? There's something I'd like to ask you for help with!"

"Donlly, Brogy, do you know any mercenary groups of Titans? Send me their numbers!"

"Hey! Old Lion, are you dead yet? If you're not, come to Fishman Island!"

"Joke, give me a copy of Germa 66's contact information!"

"Hey Shanks, set a time for me to keep the G5 branch in check for three hours. Consider it a favor I owe you!"

...

On the second day after arriving at Fishman Island, a temporary residence on Coral Hill outside Mermaid Bay.

Sakura, with her legs crossed and half-suspended in the chair, reached out and hung up the Den Den Mushi.

Jinpei and the others watched in disbelief as Sakura answered the phone, talked, hung up, and repeated the process.

The constant stream of conversations among the various contacts left even the onlookers feeling parched.

The names repeatedly mentioned range from pirates to gangsters, from mercenaries to revolutionary armies, covering almost every gray force that exists on this sea.

"Incredible, just how many people does she know?"

Jinbe's pupils twitched, and his lips moved slightly.

"That's all, that's about it!"

Before anyone else could speak, Sakura walked over and put her arm around his shoulder. "By the way, ask Neptune if he has any plans to put the army into actual combat."

"You don't need to show your face and harass us underwater; our Other Shore Pirates can pay you."

"Wait, Sakura-nee, where are we going to get the money to pay the fee?"

After listening to the conversation all morning, Kuina finally extracted the most crucial point from the dialogue—reward.

"Silly child, we'll have it after this battle!"

Sakura squinted, admiring the girl's dazed expression, and reached out to rub her head.

At this moment, Guina's brain had completely shut down, and smoke was billowing out.

What do you mean by "you'll get it after this battle"? So you're already thinking about dividing up the spoils before the battle even starts?

But using the money from robbing the government to hire people to rob the government... you know what, it's actually pretty cool!

"I still need to consult His Majesty Neptune regarding the military matters, but..."

Jinbe helplessly covered his forehead with his webbed hands. "Is it really okay for me to hear about your plan to deceive Ryugu Castle like this?"

He regretted coming to this temporary residence. Now that he had heard about Sakura's plot, he was caught in a dilemma: telling Neptune was wrong, but not telling him was also wrong. He was caught between two opposing forces and couldn't win either way.

Oh, although he wasn't human to begin with.

"That's true, I can't make things difficult for you."

Sakura patted Leviathan on her shoulder, and it opened its mouth and spat out a ninja scroll.

He unfolded it in front of Jinbe and took out three test tubes containing emerald liquid.

"This is a creation of my power, a potent healing agent."

As she spoke, Sakura tossed the test tube to Jinbe, "If Lord Neptune is willing to send troops, I will give you five as a reward for each soldier he sends."