"There's a ship coming!"
John, who had been speaking halfway through his sentence, suddenly spotted a pirate ship in the distance. Judging by its purposeful course, they had definitely already been discovered.
Forcing himself upright, John placed a hand on the somewhat damaged hilt of his sword and stared intently at the approaching vessel, his expression grave.
Beside him, Babu quietly slowed his breathing, preparing to use his ability again.
Slowly, the ship drew closer and closer, while John's saber slid inch by inch from its sheath.
"Hm? That's..."
Finally, at a certain moment, John saw the flag on the opposing ship clearly. His entire body relaxed once more, and his sword slipped back into its sheath.
"That's our Pirate crew's flag! The secondary flag looks like Foll's ship. What is he doing here?"
Babu had also recognized the two flags hanging from the distant ship's sails and mast.
That was right—the one who had come was Foll, Skypegate's elder brother and a John Pirates officer originally stationed on Fenrir Island.
Strictly speaking, Foll was not a member of the John Pirates, but the captain of a Pirate crew under John's command. Several years ago, he had brought his own crew to pledge allegiance to John.
Though he was quite strong, he was still an "outsider" who had come with his own crew. John had therefore stationed him on Fenrir Island, an important but not "vital" location, to fend off Kaido's harassment.
It was the treatment of a border force.
Still uneasy, John had also sent one of his trusted subordinates—Fogg—to "assist" him in managing the weapons stockpile and the surrounding subsidiary islands.
Seeing Foll, who should have been on Hachinosu Island, appear here now, John was briefly uncertain.
But seeing the other man sail straight toward him without