Three Pieces of News

At the same time.

On the other side, in a private meeting room.

The scientific defense god among the Five Elders, namely Saint Saturn, hung up the phone.

"That Oboro is probably preparing to enter the Grand Line... Besides funding, they are also expanding their manpower. With his shrewdness, he also anticipated that upon returning to the Grand Line, he would face a life-or-death battle." The bald man, the financial martial god Nass Juro, who was holding a large sword and wearing a white martial arts uniform, said calmly.

"Although Steel Bone has become the commander-in-chief, he still has a deep affection for the navy."

The voice of Saint Mars, the environmental war god with a full white beard.

His implication was that the World Government still faces difficulties in completely controlling the Navy. Although the Navy is an organization under the government, some members, including factions, are not absolutely loyal to the Celestial Dragons. Furthermore, Steel Bone's identity is quite unusual, and he wields immense influence over the Navy. If someone else were to become the World Government's Commander-in-Chief instead of Steel Bone, the connection between the government and the Navy would likely be weakened, and there might even be a degree of 'decoupling'.

For various reasons, even though they are the true rulers of the World Government, they sometimes cannot be too 'powerful' towards Steel Bone.

During the Sabaody Incident, Sengoku was able to retain his position despite the deaths of the Celestial Dragons because of Steel Bone's protection.

The importance of Steel Bone to the World Government is self-evident.

Should we let him go?

"He's alone?"

"Judging from the God Slayer's reaction, this guy is too alert. If there are too many of them, he might become suspicious."

"As One Piece?"

"If it were him, he might succeed. Even if he were exposed, he would most likely be able to escape unscathed and bring back some useful information."

The people inside the room were having a discussion.

The 'he' they mentioned seemed to be a very special character.

"What about Doflamingo?"

"Our patience is also limited. Don't think that just because we've caught some 'small dirt,' we can do whatever we want... Before things get 'serious,' he has plenty of time to make a choice." Saint Saturn leaned on his wooden cane and said coldly, "Moreover... knowing part of the truth, he knows very well what the consequences of going against us will be. He's a smart man... just a bit opportunistic."

"Then let's do it that way."

With a scar on his forehead, Saint Warcury made his final decision.

North Blue.

The former site of the Flevance Kingdom.

When reinforcements from other naval bases arrived, all that was left on the island was still burning smoke and scorched earth, as well as the remains of naval soldiers scattered everywhere... This scene terrified many of the new recruits on the ship as they cleaned up the battlefield, and some of the less resolute ones couldn't help but vomit.

They also found the remains of Colonel Xi Si among the corpses... as well as the World Government agents, whose identities were confirmed from some fragments of artifacts.

And the original bodies of these individuals... have been completely blasted into minced meat.

It is unknown what kind of attack or injury he suffered before his death... His manner of death was extremely bizarre.

It took them a whole day to get here. The reinforcements could have been delivered much faster, but the higher-ups at Marine Headquarters seemed to have intentionally slowed them down... resulting in a 'corpse-collecting scene'. The Marine force led by Xi Si numbered several thousand. The officers of the other Marine divisions had expected the battle to drag on for some time, but it ended so quickly. After consulting with their superiors, they burned the mountain of corpses on the spot.

They came to cover up the crime.

To prevent outsiders from finding out what happened here.

However, the news that the Hell Pirates had wiped out a North Blue branch army spread quickly... The reason was simple: there were quite a few One Piece forces that were involved with Xi Si. After these people found that they could not contact Xi Si, they would use various channels to inquire, and even approached some officers in the Navy who had been bribed by them.

The news was leaked anyway.

This once again made the Hell Pirates the center of attention.

For many One Piece in the North Blue, Xi Si was a troublesome obstacle, but now the Hell Pirates have easily wiped him out.

The One Piece felt a sense of satisfaction, while some secretly cursed the Hell Pirates for meddling in other people's business.

After all, besides One Piece, there are other forces that are involved with the Xi Si and belong to a community of interests. Now that the Xi Si is gone, their alliances 'planted' within the Navy will no longer exist, which will make many things and businesses more difficult.

But none of this mattered to Oboro and the others... After dealing with the matter of Flevance, he gave an order to all members of the Hell Pirates, allowing hundreds of One Piece to roam freely throughout the North Blue, to 'grow wildly' like weeds, and to give them two months to improve. After two months, they were to return to their original location and travel with him to the Grand Line.

By doing this, Oboro was naturally further fueling the trainee crew members' 'ambition' and 'arrogance', causing them to completely lose their way... In the absence of constraints and supervision, they amplified the 'evil' in their hearts.

As for Yurivich, Dom, and a few others, they remained by his side.

In the next two months, he plans to give them some more guidance in their cultivation, mainly focusing on the aspect of Haki.

As for Yingge and Kaka... besides Haki, they also need to impart some other insights.

Yingge is a swordsman by nature, and her skill level is quite good... After receiving the amplification from the effects of the three cards, especially the skill card Flame Breathing, she is even more powerful.

However, he hasn't awakened Haki yet... With this level of strength, he can barely survive in the first half of the Grand Line; it's far from enough.

Kaka has excellent close combat skills. Apart from the Bloodline Card and experience card, the skill card he was given was not from Demon Slayer, but from Dellinger, a former member of the Donquixote Family who died at the hands of Oboro.

Kaka inherited some of Dellinger's strength, and his kicking skills are currently his most notable asset.

As for Haki... it achieved absolutely nothing.

However, perhaps influenced by the Dellinger skill card, Oboro discovered during his training that he had a good talent for understanding Haki... It's something to look forward to.

The instruction given to Dom and Yuri was a form of friendly exchange.

He himself took to the field, fighting the two alternately. Although he wasn't fighting seriously, the intensity of the battles was astonishing... Sometimes, just watching made Dorans break out in a cold sweat and swallow hard. He knew Dom and Yuri's fighting strength better than anyone... but even when the two of them attacked together, let alone fighting in a tag-team battle, they never gained the slightest advantage over the captain. In the first few days, even Yuri, who was considered a physical monster, could only last for about ten minutes against Oboro...

As time went by, the two gradually adapted to the intensity of the battle.

One day, Dom received a communication and only returned to the training ground from a distance after finishing the conversation.

They are currently on an extremely cold island in the North Blue.

Looking around, the world is covered in white snow, and even now, snowflakes are still falling from the sky... It's as if the snow has never stopped.

The island is home to a special rare animal, a snow wolf called "Dango." It's as fat as a pig, and although it looks like a wolf, its physique is quite comical. But don't underestimate this ferocious beast. They are incredibly fast and move silently across the snow... sometimes they can even come right up to you without you noticing.

These snow wolves prefer to hunt in packs... their fur allows them to blend perfectly into their surroundings, and they are also quite intelligent.

Oboro used the large number of wolves on the island to train Kaka and Yingge, setting many 'troublesome rules' for them, which made them suffer terribly... As for Dom and Yuri, they had already mastered the power of Haki and there was no need for them to participate in this kind of 'training' anymore.

"There's some new information."

Dom looked at Oboro, who was sitting in front of a campfire in the center of the cleared snowfield, and spoke.

There were only the two of them in the room at that moment.

Everyone else went to 'exercise'.

Tell me about it.

Long smiled slightly.

"First, Trafalgar Law appeared on a route in the first half of the Grand Line. Someone spotted their One Piece ship and flag, and that guy also broke through the Navy's encirclement."

Long remained unmoved, waiting for the next installment.

"Secondly, the Navy sent a capable person from headquarters to take over the branch base that was previously under the Xi Si's control."

"Black Cage Hina".

"You know him?"

Long raised an eyebrow.

Dom's tone sounded a bit off.

"Hmm... Back when I was in the Flame Dragon Pirates, I got 'taken care of' by that woman quite a bit... In the early days, that group of people frequently operated in the first half of the Grand Line, probably just using 'small fish' like us as practice targets..." Dom chuckled self-deprecatingly.

The group he referred to were the 'newcomers' who graduated from the Marine Headquarters Elite Training Camp, seeds of future hope entrusted to them by the Marines... Smoker and Tina graduated in the same year, and Dom joined the Flame Dragon Pirates relatively early. At that time, the One Piece crew itself did not have a high bounty or pose a high level of danger, making them the best 'peachwood'.

"Of course, back then, even though she was just a minor character in the Marine Headquarters, she still seemed very powerful to a small-time One Piece like me... But now, if I were to run into her, I'm confident I could kill her." Dom sneered.

This is the difference between One Piece and the Navy. The Navy has a complete system of facilities and resources... and a whole set of 'traditions', so as long as they go through a series of training processes, their starting point is far higher than that of One Piece. On the other hand, most One Piece need time to grow, honing themselves through their own experiences and environment, essentially feeling their way across a river by trial and error... It's not the same thing at all.

Is there anything else?

Long asked a question.

"The last news... just recently, our men were killed."

Dom replied.

"Oh?"

Long became interested and smiled.

"Who?"

"A rookie One Piece, it seems... he just set sail and isn't very famous."