Holding a Big One (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

"Why are you contacting me all of a sudden?"

"Akuldona."

Louis landed on a branch of a large tree, holding a Den Den Mushi, and slowly folded his wings.

He faced the brightly lit courtyard not far away, his face filled with confusion and bewilderment.

A voice that Louis found very familiar rang out, answering his confusion.

"After I handed over my people on Bal to that muscle-bound old guy, I came to Seikai too..."

"You were right, Bal and even the Calm Belt were too peaceful. The fierce beasts in the Calm Belt haven't been able to make us stronger for a long time."

[As I write this, I hope readers will remember our domain name: Taiwan Novel Network is awesome, ẗẅḳäṅ.ċöṁ is super great]

"So what are your plans?" Louis asked softly.

"I plan to find a way to infiltrate the Marines and then pull off a big stunt behind their backs!" The confident voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

"???"

Louis's expression was incredibly strange, and he felt completely taken aback. His voice couldn't help but rise a bit, "Are you treating the World Government and the Marines as blind?"

In response, Akuldona replied with full confidence, "I've already thought of a solution!"

"Elaborate!" Louis narrowed his eyes, wanting to know what kind of brilliant idea this guy, who was terrible at everything except physique and swordsmanship, could come up with.

"It's simple, I'll just pretend to be an ordinary person!"

"How can you pretend to be one?"

Louis was highly skeptical. How could a five-meter-tall, dark-skinned, bird-like giant possibly pretend to be an ordinary person?

On the other side of the world, on top of a mangrove tree in the Sabaody Archipelago, a tall man with Black Wings, dark skin, short white hair, and two peculiar long swords at his waist explained in a relaxed tone:

"I plan to cut off my wings and throw them away, then dye my hair, and then, like you, stop igniting the flames on my back."

"This way, I'll become a dark-skinned, slightly taller ordinary person, and I can use my Logia ability to infiltrate the Marines."

"With my Devil Fruit ability and swordsmanship, I'm sure I can rise to the high ranks of the Marines in a very short time!"

"Then, I'll cooperate with you and the muscle-bound old guy to put on a good show for the Marines and the World Government!"

Akuldona's face broke into a confident smile, as if he could already see himself rising to the high ranks of the Marines and betraying them, and the World Government.

However, Louis, who was far away in the East Sea, immediately poured cold water on him.

"Give up!"

"You can't blend in!"

Louis looked annoyed. He had thought this guy could pull off something big against the World Government. But the reality was, this guy had just managed to produce a big mess for himself.

"Why do you say that?"

Akuldona suppressed his smile, his face full of confusion. He had thought about it countless times and couldn't find any loopholes.

In response, Louis ruthlessly stabbed him with a truth.

"Have you ever considered how you'd get past the physical examination during your rookie training?"

"The World Government can determine a person's race by their Lineage Factor!"

"If you dare to infiltrate, the World Government will gladly accept a brand new test subject!"

This wasn't an exaggeration; there had been such cases decades ago.

Bartholomew Kuma.

He and his father became slaves to the Celestial Dragons because their Buccaneer Tribe Lineage Factor was discovered by a hospital. The World Government found their identities through their medical records.

"You need a physical exam to join the Marines?"

"How come I've never heard of that?"

"Also, what is a Lineage Factor?"

Akuldona was completely bewildered. He thought he had figured out how to join the Marines during his time in Seikai.

"If there's no physical exam, how would the Marines know if you have any illnesses, or how would they transfuse blood if you get injured?" Louis sneered. He found Akuldona's naivete almost cute.

Putting aside the Lineage Factor for now, he hadn't even grasped the concept of a physical examination, yet he dared to suggest infiltrating the Marines. Did he really think the Marines were as easy to fool as most pirates?

For special races marked by the World Government, even going to a hospital was a risky act. Daring to join the Marines would lead to a death so meaningless, he wouldn't even know how he died!

On the canopy of the Sabaody Archipelago, Akuldona looked towards the distant Marine base and fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he reached up and scratched his head, muttering with a headache, "This is going to be difficult!"

"Stop thinking about it. Infiltrating the Marines is not feasible," Louis continued to persuade him via Den Den Mushi.

"Alright..." Akuldona sighed. "In that case, I'll just continue to lie in wait here and catch some Celestial Dragons..."

Since Louis said infiltrating the Marines was not feasible, he had no choice but to pick up his idea of catching Celestial Dragons again.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Louis breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Akuldona give up on that outrageous idea.

He had already abandoned his dignity and beliefs as a swordsman for his tribe. If he were to give up his wings now, it would be too much to bear.

Fine, I'll target Celestial Dragons!

That's a hundred times better than joining the Navy.

If I kill a Celestial Dragon, I just need to escape before the Navy Admirals arrive. With Akuldona's speed, I can strike and run. Even Kizaru couldn't catch me. But joining the Navy is a different story.

That would be like a lamb walking into a wolf pack.

"It's good that you understand. Just honestly target your Celestial Dragons. After you find them, kill them from a distance using other methods. Showing off your Lunarian traits and heading to the New World is better than thinking about joining the Navy!"

Honestly, if Akuldona had proposed targeting a few Celestial Dragons from the start, Louis wouldn't have been this angry.

How much did you drink? To get this drunk.

On the other side, the white-haired man atop the mangrove tree showed an embarrassed expression. He felt inexplicably awkward.

"Understood."

"I'll be careful with the Celestial Dragons. I'll try to act far from Navy Headquarters, giving them no time to react."

"If the opportunity doesn't arise, I'll choose to give up and leave directly."

Louis's expression softened upon hearing this.

Although the other party was disastrous in many aspects, if he made a promise, Louis would do his best to fulfill it.

Then, Akuldona asked again, "Where are you now? Have you found Mr. Momora?"

"I'm still in the East Sea. I plan to leave my mark on the world before everything begins."

"As for Mr. Momora, that person seems to have changed his name and is now active in the world under a different identity."

Akuldona was stunned. Without immediately asking about Mr. Momora's current situation, he grinned and said, "Leaving your mark on the world? That's a very romantic thing to do!"

"It's fine, you can take your time. We have plenty of time. Without you, we might have to wait a hundred or two hundred years and never return to the sea."

"Compared to a hundred or two hundred years, the time you need is nothing."

Then, Akuldona seemed to recall something and confided in Louis with a slightly troubled tone, "Louis, I saw someone on a newspaper and bounty poster who looks like one of our people!"

"After I finish observing Sabaody Archipelago for a while, I plan to go to the depths of the New World to find him."

"King the Conflagration of the Beasts Pirates?" Louis asked thoughtfully.

"!!"

"That's right. You saw his bounty poster too, and you think he resembles our people?"

"He is indeed one of our people."

"..."

"Really...?" Akuldona's hand trembled as he held the Den Den Mushi, his voice no longer calm.

"Really. You can go to Mangrove number 13 and find someone named Shakky. Ask her to find King's contact information through the underground world's connections and try to talk to him."

"Rayleigh, whom you know, is also at Shakky's place!"