"Average age?"
Not far from Ace, Yixiao keenly overheard his words.
He chuckled and muttered to himself.
"This is actually quite interesting!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Yixiao silently began to calculate in her mind.
One is over 130, and three are over 70.
These four people alone have lived for almost 350 years...
There were only a few officers in total, and if you averaged them out, the average age of the officers on the Dark Bird Ship was almost fifty or sixty years old...
Thinking of this, Yi Xiao couldn't help but laugh.
"Ace is right, haha."
Our Dark Bird Ship seems to be a team bathed in the glow of the setting sun!
"So what?"
Rayleigh chuckled beside him.
Even at sunset, the light lingers on the sea for a long time, and isn't the sunset exceptionally rich and striking?
As soon as he finished speaking, Rayleigh raised his glass.
"Come on, haha, let's have a drink to the Sunset Team!"
Even if we face storms and tempests in the future, we old folks will still help you get closer to the finish line!
"Cheers!"
The group laughed and finished their drinks, then began to sort and prepare the food.
The ingredients brought down from the ship were fine; they were all banquet supplies prepared by the ship's chefs, and everyone only needed to do some simple cleaning before starting a fire.
But the giant squid that old man Crocus just got his hands on is causing some trouble.
It took Jinbe and Issho more than ten minutes to cut it into roughly the same shape, even when they worked together.
After they finished cutting up the ingredients, Isuka patted Ace on the shoulder.
"Put some more effort in!"
Upon hearing this, Ace rapidly increased the flames released from his hands, perfectly cooking the roasted meat and squid.
Hancock brought Gawain a squid leg that was over two meters long. Gawain held the squid leg with one hand, and with a giant, lightning-fast maw, he chopped off nearly a meter of its length.
As Gawain took his first bite, the banquet truly began.
About five hours later, on Twin Capes, it finally got dark.
Gawain lay on the beach, quietly gazing at the moon in the sky.
Beside him, Hancock gently slumped into Gawain's arms.
It seems that Hancock has become increasingly less able to hold her liquor, perhaps due to the many experiences she's had.
In the past, she could handle at least eight barrels of wine.
Now the two buckets can't move anymore; they can only survive by sticking to each other and hugging each other.
Just as Gawain gently stroked Hancock's hair, Crocodile slowly walked up to Gawain's side.
"Grown ups."
He greeted him casually, then sat down about a meter away from Gawain.
After sitting down, Crocodile casually reached his hand to the ground; there's no need to specify which hand he extended.
He only has one hand...
He plunged his hand into the sand, scooped up a handful of sand, and began to play with it.
He spoke to Gawain while playing with it.
"There are some things I don't quite understand about our upcoming voyage, and I'd like to discuss them with you briefly."
"Oh?"
Gawain tilted his head.
Feeling lost about the road ahead?
Perhaps.
Crocodile chuckled and continued.
"I simply feel that there seems to be no need for us to go to the East Blue."
That's the weakest sea ever.
"Whether it's recruiting manpower or seeking territory and influence, the West Blue is more suitable than the East Blue, isn't it?"
As he finished speaking, Crocodile looked into Gawain's eyes.
Gawain frowned slightly upon hearing Crocodile's words.
Seeing this, Crocodile felt a chill and whispered something.
"After all, the West Blue is home to a series of large countries, such as the Flower Country. For the operation of the Sea Train, the more prosperous the countries and regions that the first batch of Sea Train travel through, the more beneficial it will be for the promotion of the Sea Train, right?"
As he finished speaking, Gawain became even more serious. Looking at Crocodile, Gawain suddenly remembered something.
He himself always felt that he lacked the assistance of advisors.
But in reality, he truly forgot about Crocodile beside him.
This Sand Crocodile is a notorious pirate known for his strategic vision and tactics.
Gawain then decided to have a discussion with Crocodile.
He gently twirled a strand of Hancock's hair with his fingers, then spoke softly.
"The Flower Country is indeed a large country, and a large country with a fairly powerful armed force."
Its eight naval forces, all named after treasures, are led by figures like Chinjao, making them veritable great pirates.
At this point, Gawain couldn't help but find it outrageous, because looking at it this way, the strength of the West Blue was simply too great...
At his peak, Chinjao was at least Shichibukai- level powerhouse. His peak bounty, during Roger's era, had already reached 700 million.
But there are at least eight people like him in the Flower Country, because the Happo Navy and the other naval forces have always been able to maintain a balance of power!
This can be seen from the comic's plot.
After Chinjao the Drill's cone-shaped head was flattened by Garp's punch, the Happo Navy's momentum declined again and again. Two years after the Summit War, the Happo Navy even had to marry the daughter of the leader of the Two Treasures Navy in order to barely maintain its position!
Don't be fooled by the fact that Sai and Baby5 are together; Sai actually has a legally engaged fiancée!
Sai's fiancée is Huo Lisha, the daughter of Two Treasures Navy pillar, who looks remarkably like Fish-Man.
In other words, Chinjao, whose "cone head" has flattened and can no longer access the treasure trove of the Happo Navy, now has a weaker force than other water armies.
Otherwise, how could Sai possibly agree to marry a woman like that...?
Besides that, here comes the important part.
Despite possessing at least eight warriors of average Shichibukai caliber, the Flower Country repeatedly found itself at a disadvantage in battles against enemy nations...
This disadvantage was so great that they were even being chased and beaten...
It's important to know that Chinjao is the twelfth generation pillar of the Happo Navy. Like other pillars of the navy, they all have elders!
Eight pillars of society, plus the next generation of pillars, plus their elders.
This group of people, when gathered together, could easily be equivalent to the fighting strength of eleven or Shichibukai, and Chinjao even possesses advanced Conqueror's Haki!
Even this group of people was being chased and attacked by their enemy country, so just how powerful must their enemy country be?
In addition, the West Blue has far more criminal organizations than other sea areas, such as the Mafia, similar to Capone Bege's; the West Blue is practically overflowing with them.
It's easy to imagine that if the entire West Blue were brought out for a stroll, at least twenty or Shichibukai West Blue be found there!
This is only the West Blue; let's talk about the North Blue.
North Blue is also an exceptionally absurd place.
The Germa Kingdom, for example, was once extremely powerful, a single nation that rivaled the entire North Blue.
As a result, their kingdom lost the war and was scattered, leaving only the Vinsmoke Family.
Even in its current state of decline, and even Vinsmoke Judge has lost his country.
The Vinsmoke Family, too, could run into the Big Mom Pirates.
Although they will most likely lose, the fact that they can go toe-to-toe with the Big Mom Pirates means they are already a top-tier team on the high seas.
It's easy to imagine how powerful the Germa Kingdom must have been at its peak.
Thinking back, the once mighty Germa Kingdom was actually torn apart by the North Blue people...
Think about it again, the World Government could easily recruit two Admiral, Fujitora and Ryokugyu, in just a few months.
Just how many powerful figures are hidden among the various countries of the Four Blues?
Looking at it this way, don't you suddenly realize how deep the waters of the Four Blues are?
The East Blue is truly exceptional, and apart from the East Blue, which of the other three seas couldn't contend with the Four Emperors?
This is why the Five Elders of Mary Geoise have never wanted to wage war against the world again, and this is also why the Celestial Dragon have always maintained their policy of corrupting various countries.
This is also why Crocodile made the suggestion.
At the same time, Crocodile also spoke up.
"Yes, my lord, the Flower Country of the West Blue and its rival Grass Country are both large forces worth winning over and controlling."
Moreover, the West Blue also contains several countries where the Flower Country and the Grass Country are at odds with each other.
If we had traveled to the East Blue instead of the West Blue...
With your status and the capabilities of our cadres, we could very well turn those countries one by one into what Alabasta is today, making them our power!
As he said this, Crocodile seemed to be looking forward to it, though his desire to cause trouble had faded considerably by now.
He's come to terms with it!
Compared to becoming the Pirate King, if he could help Gawain become Five Elders, or even create something even better.
With most of the officers on the ship already past their prime, he, a key subordinate who had not yet reached his peak, had a real chance of rising to the position of Fleet Admiral or even Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces!
This position is at least much safer for Crocodile than the position of Pirate King.
So now, he is truly planning for the future from Gawain's perspective!
Gawain listened to Crocodile's advice in silence and pondered for a moment.
He was no longer considering the feasibility of the Crocodile Project, because he knew Crocodile was right.
But Crocodile was unaware that Gawain's trip to the East Blue wasn't solely for the purpose of seizing territory and power!
Gawain now simply wants to walk the path of destiny that the chosen one will take in the future, and incidentally clear out Luffy's territory along the way!
Gawain wanted to know what would happen if he managed to turn the East Blue and the Grand Line into a flawless, peaceful land free of darkness.
What will Luffy's fate be then, when he has Luffy no enemies along the way?
Leveling up by fighting monsters?
It doesn't exist!
Gawain had long been determined to create a smooth route for Luffy to the New World through his reforms!
Gawain even suggested that Luffy take the Sea Train directly from Foosha Village to Sabaody, a journey that would take no more than thirty days!
Is it possible for the chosen one to give up his plans to become a pirate?
Impossible!
Then Gawain wondered, what if the chosen one had neither his destined crew nor his destined enemy?
What kind of new fate awaits Luffy, who hasn't experienced any wars, hasn't made any significant improvements in strength, and entered the New World two years earlier?
This is not a game, but the most crucial war for Gawain!
That was his war against the fate of the Pirate World!
Even if Gawain arranged things so perfectly for Luffy, even if Luffy were to slip directly into the New World, he could still use his strength to defeat the Lord of the Coast to directly leap to Devil Fruit Awakening and evolve into Nika form.
That would be a pretty big challenge for Gawain...
Because that would mean that fate is giving the chosen one an endless advantage...
However, if Luffy all the way to the New World by train, only to become just another ordinary person New World, what would happen?
Or even if he were to use some special abilities, it would still be difficult for him to reach the level of the original storyline.
That would significantly reduce the challenges Gawain would face.
Challenge the world's Affiliated Nation, challenge the Five Elders and Imu?
That was a political and military challenge.
But defying fate...
That would seem much more tragic...
However, even though Gawain knew what the future held in his mind, he couldn't say it to Crocodile.
He must provide a reasonable explanation for this subordinate, who is different from Jinbe and whose intelligence has always been superior, in order to achieve his goal while maintaining Crocodile's initiative.
After Gawain said softly.
"Crocodile, what do you think is the key focus of our planned reforms?"
Is it power?
"Strength is certainly important, but since you say so, then strength must not be the absolute focus in your mind!"
Crocodile responded softly.
Upon hearing this, Gawain patted Crocodile on the shoulder.
"Strength is one of the necessary conditions for our plan, but it is only one of them."
Our goal is to mobilize the world to accept our views, not to force them to accept them by force!
If we force them, we can certainly take the road to the West Blue or the North Blue. Whichever sea we control, our hard power will increase dramatically.
But whether it's the West Blue or the North Blue, their significance to the ocean, especially in terms of publicity and guidance, is not as great as that of the East Blue!
Gawain took out a cigarette and started smoking it by himself.
He didn't give it to Crocodile because Crocodile was smoking a cigar.
So, Sand Crocodile and Smoker, who's the real Smoker?
Smoker doesn't smoke cigars in many parts of the anime.
But Sand Crocodile, in anime and comics, cigars are almost always present...
Getting back to the point, Gawain exhaled a puff of smoke and continued.
"The East Blue is an ocean that attracts global attention."
For pirates, this is the hometown of the Pirate King.
For the navy, this is the hometown of naval heroes, equivalent to Garp, the king of the navy.
For the Revolutionary Army, this place is also the hometown of the Revolutionary Army leader, Long!
If any Big News Morgans breaks in the East Blue, the potential for that news to spread Four Blues and have a significant impact is far greater than if it happened in other oceans.
That's why I set the destination in the East Blue!
Crocodile, who had overheard Gawain's words, nodded knowingly.
After some thought, he even took the initiative to fill in some details for Gawain!
He said knowingly.
"I understand, sir. The reason you chose the East Blue is simply to set a sufficiently striking example for the whole world."
If we were to control those large nations one by one, such as the Flower Country...
While this increases our hard power, it also puts most Affiliated Nation on high alert.
However, if we set our sights on the East Blue, we won't need to make any big moves; we can secretly and quietly take control of this weakest sea!
Controlling the East Blue, the weakest sea in the world, is far from enough to alarm other countries, since everyone knows that the East Blue is simply too weak!
At this point, Crocodile gave Gawain a look of admiration.
"As expected of you, sir, your vision is far superior to mine!"
I am utterly ashamed of my inferiority and willingly admit defeat!
It's the end of the month...
This month, my updates have been rather slow... I'm sorry.
No matter the reason, a poor update is a poor update, and there's no explanation for that.
However, from a half-dead perspective, writing slowly actually has many advantages, because as we all know, the Pirate King manga has recently seen many important plot developments.
If we Celestial Dragon want to avoid a rushed ending, waiting a little longer for Pirate King to continue is definitely not a mistake.
Based on my speculation, the upcoming Pirate King storyline will continue to expand upon various world-building concepts and details, and this expansion will conclude when the main enemy to be faced in the next arc is determined.
This kind of supplementary worldview will have a very significant impact on the half-dead creators, such as the issue of Mihawk fans and Mihawk critics.
Mihawk's bounty has been set at $3.59 billion, which directly defines his strength; he is at least at the level of Mihawk Four Emperors).
Crocodile's bounty of 1.96 billion also put Half-Dead on high alert.
Because in the original lore of Half-Dead, Crocodile didn't have a bounty of nearly two billion...
In short, this half-month was short, but its temporary brevity has paved the way for its future longevity.
I approach fanfiction with the same seriousness I would a thesis, so I hope you can forgive the brevity of this month's work...
Next month, I'll increase it slightly, aiming for a daily limit of 10,000, and I'll work my butt off to try and get a recommendation spot.
Finally, please vote for me with your monthly tickets...
And, I love you all.