"Then... let's set off!!!"
At the dining table, Austin's crew, who had yet to establish a pirate crew, held a small meeting while eating.
Austin slapped the table and made the decision.
"You haven't stopped causing trouble since you set sail, have you..."
Mihawk cut his steak helplessly, speared it with his fork, and put it in his mouth.
"You're talking about war the moment you open your mouth. Don't you need any preparations?"
Little Sand had veins popping on her forehead. She still found it utterly ridiculous.
"What preparations do we need? We'll just attack them directly."
At that moment, Austin had no fewer veins popping on his forehead than Crocodile did. His expression was ugly as he spoke.
Let's rewind to two hours earlier.
Aboard the Oro Jackson, which was slowly sailing away from Alabasta, Little Sand served as Austin's crew's strategist.
She roughly assessed the territory under Austin's control and the military force he could mobilize, then wrote down some suggestions for their next moves.
While she was writing furiously,
Austin was reading a free newspaper.
It had originally been free because he had snatched it. Now that it was his own company, there was even less reason to pay for it.
After all, even seagulls had to salute Austin before flying away. Newspapers and the like were delivered to him immediately.
"Hey, boss! Shouldn't you have some plans of your own by now? The underground world is far bigger than you can imagine!!"
Little Sand held a cigar between her lips and stared seriously at a certain slacker as she could not help asking,
"You can decide that sort of thing. I trust you."
Austin nodded perfunctorily. He had brought Crocodile aboard precisely because he valued her intelligence and methods, with just a tiny bit of