There's No Going Back!

"I never expected to have such a great haul along the way." Vidal watched as the ship, which had already lowered its pirate flag, slowly sailed towards Alabasta.

As for the ship full of pirates, it has already left, which can be considered as putting Woonan's mind at ease.

However, who knows how far they can go?

"Rogers, pass on the order: the Golden Pirates have been annihilated. Report this to headquarters."

"Yes!" Lieutenant Rogers glanced at Vidal's back but didn't ask any more questions before turning and leaving. He actually felt that the Golden Pirates should be let go, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it.

But did Vidal really let it go?

At that moment, Weini, now Lieutenant, strode over and handed Vidal a report.

"Sir, this is the list of children and their basic information that Dr. Nacil asked me to give you before she left."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Vidal turned around and took the report, which was occasionally being blown by the sea breeze.

Since Nacil was the only woman on the ship, she was asked to check on and comfort the children.

In the end, because he was really worried about those big men in Woonan, he let her go with him to Alabasta, and she would come back after bringing the child to Forest City.

Of course, the seed still had to be placed inside Nacil's body, even if the woman looked unwilling and pitiful, as if asking why she didn't trust her.

However, this also made Vidal consider taking Nacil as a retainer, rather than incorporating her into the navy.

But if he doesn't join the navy, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to carry the other person with him; it wouldn't be legitimate, and his words wouldn't be convincing. He needs to think about this some more.

There were a total of eighty-one children on the paper, with girls making up the majority, a total of fifty. This suggests that girls might sell better or fetch a higher price.

At the same time, there were thirty newborn babies, all girls, and the rest were girls and boys aged three to ten. There were no older babies.

However, although it is called a list, the children on it do not have names. The report states that the ages were determined by Nacil herself by feeling their bones.

"Hehe, they're going to have a headache from now on, but we can ask Igaram for some maids to help take care of them." Vidal chuckled happily and walked into the cabin.

But with the twenty people and eighty-one children that Woonan brought, his private territory 'Forest Palace' will likely become more lively.

Back in his office, he sat comfortably in his armchair, and the warship beneath his feet began to move again.

Vidal gazed calmly through the round cabin window at the white clouds in the sky.

"I wonder what the result of this test will be."

The reason he so openly released pirates and recruited Woonan in front of Rogers, Weini, and his subordinates was actually partly due to other calculations.

He just wanted to see how long this could be kept secret.

Honestly, even if this matter were to leak out, at most I would get a scolding from Sengoku and Sora, which would further reinforce my love of money; there would be no real cost.

However, if no information leaks out for a period of time, it means that these subordinates are trustworthy, and then we can increase our efforts to train them.

Especially his subordinate officers.

"Don't let me down, you lot," Vidal sighed inwardly. If it turned out that these subordinates were untrustworthy, that would be quite troublesome.

What's more troublesome is that after he returns, he will become Commodore, and as a general, he will be given two more warships with a crew of 800 men each.

This brings the total number of his subordinates to two thousand four hundred!

The rest of the voyage went smoothly, after all, it wasn't the Great Pirate Era yet, and the number of pirates was far less than in the future.

They rested for a day at the G-8 Branch.

Vidal first met with Vice Admiral Dewitt, then looked at their old house and found that nothing had changed, and it was obvious that it was regularly cleaned.

This incident made him very satisfied with Dewitt. Although DeWitt wasn't particularly strong, he was an excellent person, and he thought he could help him out if the opportunity arose.

However, Vice Admiral from the fact that he will not be among the veterans in the future, he either died in battle due to an accident, or he retired at the age of sixty due to limited talent.

When he finally arrived at the door of his rooftop botanical garden room, he found two elite naval soldiers guarding the entrance.

According to Vice Admiral Dewitt, this was to prevent unauthorized entry, and it had only been opened once since his family left, when the people from the Germa Kingdom came that day.

Vidal believed it.

Because when he stepped into this incredibly familiar environment, all the plants immediately 'told' him about the basic situation here.

Deep within the botanical garden, the wooden cabins, tables, chairs, and hammocks remain, and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the Combine-Combine Fruit still hang on the trees, though they are hidden by a dense canopy of leaves.

He didn't bring them with him when he went to Marineford, mainly because he felt that the G-8 Branch was more reliable than the former.

There are too many big shots and too many informants at headquarters.

He also brought with him the three Devil Fruits he had, as well as the treasures of the Leopard Cat Pirates, the World Pirates, and the Golden Pirates.

Speaking of which, there are now more than a dozen large wooden crates piled up in this botanical garden, and they are all the kind with their lids sealed shut.

But it was filled with gold and jewels, with a total value of over one billion Beli, possibly even reaching two billion!

Furthermore, the Alabasta Kingdom and the Jierma Kingdom have to pay money every year; the former receives one billion Beli in cash, while the latter receives treasures worth three hundred million Beli.

Vidal is still unaware that Judge has given him a 100 million coin raise.

At this very moment, the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the Paramecia Combine-Combine Fruit, and the Special Paramecia Gummy Bears...

There were also the Mythical Zoan Bat-Bat Fruit and the fruit from the Leopard Cat Pirates whose power was unknown, all arranged on the wooden table for Vidal to admire while sitting in his chair.

The reason it's unclear is that when he used his ability to sense it, the image that appeared in his mind was a red light. How can you guess that?

It's definitely not the Logia Flame-Flame Fruit. He knows exactly what the Flame -Flame-Flame Fruit looks like. Oh, right, the location of the Flame-Flame Fruit seems to be specific.

Should I take some time to pick it up myself?

A beam of golden sunlight streamed through the glass skylight above, making his handsome face and the five Devil Fruits gleam.

He was enjoying this moment, surrounded by trees and vegetation, with countless treasures piled up like mountains, and so many lovely gems in front of him.

Honestly, he seemed to have everything a man should aspire to, but that couldn't satisfy him; human desires will only ever grow.

Vidal suddenly wanted to rest here for a while, because once he left, he would have to plunge back into the storm at sea.

He can find the greatest relaxation here.

Thinking this, he looked away from the five fruits, then stood up, walked to the hammock, rolled over, lay down, and comfortably closed his eyes, enjoying the warm comfort of the sunlight.

But even with his eyes closed, he's still thinking about the future; he can't go back.

Thank you z189 for the 188 reward!! Thank you!

Note that the overall timeline of this book has been shifted two years ahead; it is currently in 1943. Sorry, the earlier dates have been changed, but this will not affect your reading experience.