Undercurrents Surge, Momonga's Killing Intent!

East Blue, an unnamed island.

Inside a natural cave, burning skull soul lamps cast a faint, eerie glow on the walls, illuminating shadowy figures standing along the passage, occasionally letting out low growls.

"Momonga is coming to the East Blue?"

In the modified stone room, Lowett paused his actions and turned around curiously.

"Y-yes."

A gaunt man prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to look up.

"This is news I heard from town, and the newspaper confirmed it."

With that, he pulled out a newspaper from his embrace, carefully crawled forward on his knees, and handed it to the dark figure not far away.

The next second, his hand was empty.

The dark figure had already taken the newspaper and was standing in front of Lowett.

Taking the newspaper from the Black Knight, Lowett scanned it quickly from top to bottom, a smirk playing on his lips.

"So that's how it is."

Setting aside the premise of how the Navy confirmed that the annihilation of Branch 153 was his doing, simply to deal with him, there would be no need for a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral to personally intervene.

Lowett never overestimated himself and knew his current capabilities.

Momonga's trip to the East Blue was because the Navy saw the ripple effect that the annihilation of an entire branch could cause, hence they sent the renowned Vice Admiral to stabilize the situation.

Such an event was rare even in the chaotic Great Pirate Era, and the enraged Navy cavalry would absolutely tear apart any enemy who dared to obstruct them at this moment!

In other words, Momonga was specifically here to kill and establish authority.

His time to prepare was running out.

"You, did well."

Having figured out the problem, Lowett rolled up the newspaper. "Speak, what reward do you desire."

"I dare not!"

The man trembled, prostrating himself on the ground.

His name was Wallace, the navigator on the ship of the "Great" Pirate Bruto. Back then, there were many pirates like him on the ship who were not combatants, yet only he survived. Wallace knew clearly why.

In front of this adult who could control death, any slight carelessness on his part could be fatal.

"Not arrogant, not impatient, good!"

Lowett smiled faintly. "Work hard, and with me, as long as you are diligent and honest, wealth, power, and even immortality can be achieved!"

"It all depends on whether you are worth my effort."

This was not Lowett boasting; simple longevity was the least difficult thing for Mages.

A damaged body could be replaced, a weakened soul could be replenished. As long as a Mage was willing to act, ordinary people could live as long as they wished, until their minds broke.

For souls that evolved to the formal Mage stage, their lifespans were measured in millennia.

The primary cause of death for Mages was actually despair!

The existence of various ultimate riddles not only motivated Mages to advance but also constrained their endpoints, an insurmountable chasm.

Facing the disappointment of pursuing something for hundreds or thousands of years and failing, recalling the youthful ambition of the past, most old Mages would choose to retire.

With the help of the Star Spirit.

Dust to dust, earth to earth.

Dispelling their souls and returning them to the embrace of the world.

As for Necromancers, they were a bit more… unconventional.

The art style suddenly changed.jpg

They would turn to the Underworld and, with the help of Emperor Haisan, experience a new life in a blank state. After all, for Necromancers, the world of the living was no different from the world of the dead.

So if one day Lowett summoned a skeleton warrior who could use magic and had a Dragonborn template, he wouldn't be surprised at all.

It was just habit!

"I will definitely not disappoint you, my lord!"

Immortality, what a grand goal.

Wallace trembled with excitement, then slowly crawled backward. Once outside the stone room, he stood up and jogged away.

"Roar!"

The Black Knight let out a low growl, its embedded steel cat claws twitching.

"I know."

Intelligence was a weakness, but it didn't mean it lacked the ability to think.

As a bio-engineered creature verifying the research results of Necromancers, the Black Knight also possessed simple thinking abilities and could evolve.

It was reminding Lowett that the living could not be trusted!

"Everything has an expiration date, and people's hearts even more so."

Lowett picked up the bloody scalpel again and smiled, "If a part breaks, just replace it. It's that simple."

He then pointed to the magic array in front of him.

"Come on, lie down."

"This time the enemy can swim, so you have to be careful."

This was the sea area near Branch 153 of the East Blue, on an island behind a mountain, only half a day's journey from the village ruled by Arlong at the foot of the mountain.

The mage world was a world dominated by humans, with undead elves and Star Spirits besides them. Orcs and dwarves were, in fact, byproducts left behind by certain mages.

Coming to this world, was it possible not to be interested in a species like Fishmen?

Ten days later, Momonga arrived in the East Blue.

Following behind him were pirates, tied up in rows and escorted off the ship.

Under the horrified gaze of the residents of Loguetown and various informants, several Great Pirates with bounties over one hundred million were dragged off the ship like dead dogs and thrown into the Loguetown prison.

The power of Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Momonga was instantly impressive!

Over one hundred million!

If you like this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.

What kind of concept was that?

One followed by nine zeros, 1,000,000,000!

In the East Blue, pirates with bounties in the tens of millions were considered important figures, while those over one hundred million almost only existed in legends.

Yet now, under the jaw-dropping gaze of countless people, not one, but several pirates with bounties over one hundred million were captured and brought to justice.

Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, terrifying indeed!

"You've brought me a lot of trouble, Senior Momonga."

In the conference room at the Loguetown Marine base.

Smoker's legs were propped on the table, two cigars in his mouth, puffing out smoke.

With wild, unruly silver spiky hair, his Marine uniform was altered into a jacket, worn open, paired with black fingerless gloves and a Seastone Jitte, looking more like a thug than a soldier.

This was the strongest active Marine in the East Blue, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, "White Hunter" Smoker.

He was stationed at the "beginning and end" gateway of Loguetown, causing countless pirates who attempted to enter the Grand Line to be defeated here. His business efficiency was so high that it even led to a decline in Loguetown's economy and the closure of shops.

One sheep is driven, two sheep are herded.

The pirate business was also a business, wasn't it?

"I believe you can handle them, Smoker."

Momonga shook his head at the words, "And also to test if your strength has declined after all these years."

Bounties over one hundred million also had levels. A few trash fish who dared to find trouble with him by banding together were nothing to fear.

"Tch!"

Smoker curled his lips and didn't reply.

As a proud prodigy who emerged from the Marine Headquarters rookie training camp, Smoker had his own pride. Even though he was demoted to the East Blue, he would never tolerate pirates stepping all over him.

Momonga's words were clearly a provocation.

"So, where do you want to start?"

He turned to look behind him. Tashigi, who had been following Smoker, shivered and placed the document in her hand in front of Momonga.

"First Alabasta, then the East Blue. I don't think you'll get any rest this year, Senior."

"Call me Vice Admiral Momonga!"

Momonga glared and reprimanded, then opened the document, "I'm not familiar with the East Blue, you tell me."

"Tashigi... Fine."

Under Momonga's stern gaze, Smoker rubbed his hair with a headache and sat up.

"The most troublesome one right now is that Lowett. The East Blue isn't like the Grand Line; if we just find an island to hide on, we'll be searching for a needle in a haystack."

Getting down to business, Smoker's expression immediately turned serious, showing no trace of his usual roguish demeanor.

"Next is Krieg, ranked second. It's said he's been recruiting lately, wanting to form a large fleet to break through the Loguetown blockade."

"Then there's the Fishman Pirate Arlong, who has been missing for many years. He's a pure racist, lurking in the East Blue with sinister intentions."

"Finally..."

Smoker sneered, "Kuro of 'Hundred Plans,' who isn't on the list. I have this feeling that he's both dead and not dead, and the Black Cat Pirates have also disappeared, which is unsettling."

Smoker wasn't interested in whether the arrested Kuro was real or not.

Compared to the things Morgan of Branch 153 did, he cared more about where Kuro went... If Lowett hadn't escalated this matter, he would still be in the dark.

"This is a disgrace to the Marines!"

The two looked up at the sound. Tashigi let out a soft gasp and quickly bowed in apology.

"Don't look at me, she followed me on her own. You know... I'm not interested in managing too many trivial matters."

"Hmph!"

Vice Admiral Momonga snorted and skipped over the topic.

"Of these four, who is the most likely candidate right now?"

"That's the problem, none of them are likely."

Smoker ignored Vice Admiral Momonga's fiery gaze and answered seriously, "I've told you, Vice Admiral Momonga, this is the East Blue... Once they find a place to hide, unless you give me a hundred thousand troops, it'll be incredibly difficult!"

The sheer breadth of the sea alone would crush the Grand Line.

The guys on this list, coupled with their increasing cunning, were like a new generation of cockroaches that had developed immunity to insecticide, constantly thwarting the Navy's search efforts.

"Is that so!"

Vice Admiral Momonga got a headache. He knew the Four Seas weren't as easy to find people in as the Grand Line, but he hadn't expected the situation to be this dire.

Thinking back, finding Lowett back then was possible not only because Lowett was young and inexperienced, but also because his soldiers had put in a lot of hard work.

"However..."

Suddenly, Smoker changed the subject.

"I do have a piece of gossip..."

"The sea area under the jurisdiction of Branch 16 has the fewest pirate appearances. Of course, they publicly claim it's due to Branch 16's effective management, deterring pirates... But according to some pirates' conversations, the Arlong Pirates are stationed in that sea area, which is why they don't dare to get close."

Smoker placed his feet back on the table and exhaled a smoke ring.

"Of course, this is just gossip, it can't be taken as fact."

It couldn't be taken as fact!

Smoker was ordered to be stationed in Loguetown and had neither the authority nor the reason to interfere with Branch 16's affairs based on mere rumors.

But that was before...

Now, Vice Admiral Momonga was here!

"The Fleet Admiral previously said that the East Blue is a small pond with strong winds and shallow waters filled with many turtles. It seems that is indeed the case."

Vice Admiral Momonga's face turned cold, and a powerful sword intent began to erupt.

"Tch, as if the Grand Line's waters aren't deep..."

Smoker muttered, waving his hand. "Bye-bye, senior!"

Forgot yesterday, thank you to the book friend ~Lao Tie, let's go~ for the 1000 reward, thank you for your support!

Everyone, we're on the recommendation list. As it stands... the recommendation effect is average, so if you have any votes, please cast them. Da Shu thanks you all here!