Joining the Golden Lion Pirates

The powerful killing intent, coupled with his explosively enhanced physical abilities, had pushed Minos's Armament Haki to another level. The Drawing Sword Slash he unleashed once more also became a blade of light dozens of meters long, colliding with the Wave Slash Golden Lion had sent flying.

With a thunderous boom, surging energy scattered in every direction, tearing the ground apart. At the point where the two forces met, they had even carved out a narrow fissure.

"Jiehahahaha! Not bad, Three-Eyed Brat. Come work for me!" Golden Lion said.

Being able to take one of his Wave Slashes meant the brat was clearly no weakling. Besides, he could give Charlotte Linlin some face and take him in as a subordinate!

What? What if he could not take it? Then he could die! Golden Lion did not want someone that weak as a crew member.

Minos took two deep breaths. "Fine, but the rest of my crew must be allowed to leave."

"I'm not negotiating with you," Golden Lion said coldly. "Join me, and they live. Otherwise, they die!"

However, Minos spoke with complete confidence. "Lord Golden Lion, I believe my value is more than enough for you to make an exception."

"Oh? What value do you have?" Golden Lion sneered. "Don't tell me you can read Poneglyphs. I'm not Roger—I have no obsession with the final island!"

"Of course not." Minos shook his head. "The Third Eye of the Three-Eyed Tribe develops different abilities depending on the individual. Mine is an exceptionally rare ability among the tribe: Clairvoyance."

Naturally, that was a blatant lie. But the Three-Eyed Tribe was practically extinct anyway. Even if Golden Lion went and asked Charlotte Pudding or Charlotte Linlin, they would not know what abilities the Three-Eyed Tribe possessed. That crude brute Golden Lion knew even less.

"With Clairvoyance, Lord Golden Lion, you'll never have to worry about storms and the like again! Even if my navigational skills are only average, talent alone would make me better than the finest navigators!"

If they were talking about abilities, Violet behind Minos was the truly gifted one. The Glint-Glint Fruit gave her a viewing range of four thousand kilometers through the sky, far superior to Minos's Clairvoyance, which only reached five hundred kilometers at most.

But Golden Lion did not know that. The moment he heard that Minos possessed Clairvoyance with a range of five hundred kilometers, he was overjoyed. After all, the sudden colossal storm during his battle with Roger had practically become an indelible nightmare for the rest of his life.

That was precisely why Golden Lion thirsted for top-tier navigators, just as Big Mom craved master pastry chefs and rare races.

"Good! If you really have that ability, I'll let them all go," Golden Lion said without hesitation.

"Wait... this..." Kyros opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Minos glanced at him and shook his head. "Don't worry. Whether it's the Charlotte Pirates or Golden Lion's crew makes no difference to me."

Well, to Minos, both the Charlotte Pirates and the Golden Lion Pirates were basically companies. He was just an employee. Changing jobs was not something that gave him any psychological pressure.

As for companions and all that... neither crew was like the Straw Hat Pirates or the Red-Hair Pirates. Even if they were, Minos did not think he could stay with them for long.

After all, he had the mindset of a modern person. He had never truly fit in with the people of the Pirate World.

"Besides, Captain Golden Lion, if I'm switching pirate crews, I should at least inform Captain Charlotte."

As he spoke, Minos had already taken out his Den Den Mushi.

"Jiehahaha! Leave that to me." Golden Lion snatched the Den Den Mushi from his hand and directly contacted Charlotte Linlin.

Minos gave a slight shrug. It was for the best if Golden Lion was willing to take the blame for him.

There was no need to elaborate on what followed. No matter how furious and frantic Charlotte Linlin became, it meant nothing against Golden Lion, whose mobility was now maxed out.

Afterward, Minos contacted Charlotte Linlin again. "Sorry, Captain Charlotte. The gap in strength was too great. I could only ensure the others' safety first."

An icy voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. "Don't worry, Minos. Stay with Golden Lion for a while. That old lion won't be smug for much longer! I'll come get you back then."

Keep bragging. The whole Charlotte Family has only one person who can fly—you. Where are you going to find Golden Lion?

But he did not provoke Charlotte Linlin. At the very least, if things did not work out with Golden Lion someday, he would still have somewhere else to go.

After hanging up and discussing things with the others, Baby5 immediately voiced her opinion.

"No! If Lord Minos isn't leaving, then I'll stay here too!"

"If you want to stay, then stay." Minos glanced at Baby5 and spoke.

Baby5 staying was within Minos's expectations. If Baby5 had actually left, that was when Minos would have been at a loss!

After all... if anything happened, Baby5's ability to transform into a Bat Fighter would be his only escape route. Otherwise, on Golden Lion's Sky Island, with nowhere above and nowhere below, Minos would not be able to run even if he wanted to!

That was also why he wanted the others to leave. The Bat Fighter Baby5 transformed into could not possibly be too large; at most, it could carry Minos alone. If he escaped one day and left the others behind, Golden Lion might very well take his anger out on them.

Otherwise, apart from Talon, who might have been somewhat loyal, what difference was there between staying here and staying elsewhere for the others? Was there really such a huge difference between the Big Mom Pirates and the Golden Lion Pirates for Violet and Kyros?

Of course, Kyros's wife and child, as well as Violet's father and sister, were all with the Big Mom Pirates. If he truly asked them to stay, they probably would not agree.

Otherwise, as long as Minos revealed Violet's ability, he could guarantee that they would receive better treatment than they had with the Big Mom Pirates. Even if he slipped away in secret, Golden Lion would not punish them.

Golden Lion directly gave their pirate ship the ability to float, then had everyone leave. Baby5, on the other hand, did not care much and stayed behind in high spirits.

As for Violet and the others, although they were all worried, they also knew that Golden Lion would not do anything to Minos, his precious new asset. At the very least, his personal safety would not be a problem. On the contrary, staying behind would only cause more trouble.

After the group left, Golden Lion laughed "Jiehahaha" and took Minos and Baby5 around to tour his islands. At the same time, he waved a hand, and a group of pirate grunts seized everyone from Sleepy Town.

Minos had nothing to say about it. When your fists were not strong enough, you should not think about changing the world. And when he lacked the strength, he did not have that much excess sympathy to spare.

Golden Lion's islands in the sky were not just one island, but an entire archipelago. They were practically no different from an ordinary nation, with at least seventy or eighty thousand people living throughout the island chain.

However, Golden Lion had no patience for managing all those people. The inhabitants of these islands were basically subjected to an extremely crude form of rule.

When food ran short, the Golden Lion Pirates simply went out and stole some. When they needed laborers, they directly captured a few strong men. When they wanted to conduct experiments, they captured people as well. The same went for repairs, shipbuilding, and everything else—they just seized whoever they needed. As for governance, there was none at all!

Furthermore, Golden Lion cultivated a plant called IQ on his islands, causing all the animals there to undergo Ferocious Transformation. There were also rampant viral infections. As a result, the island residents could be said to live in utter misery.

This time, they had come down to seize the people of Sleepy Town as test subjects in order to find pure humans who carried no viruses whatsoever. Otherwise, they could have simply captured people directly from the islands.