Operation
Three months later, Mijela successfully became familiar with Saga and the others, and could occasionally join in the conversation.
Meanwhile, on their side, there were not only a few of them, but also several young talents who had performed well within the Combat Pyramid. Geniuses always attract each other.
Among them were trainee crew members of the Night Pirates, or those sent by other forces, regardless of their purpose.
On the ninth level of the Combat Pyramid, a small group formed, and this group may continue to expand in the future.
Saga and his companions also consciously sought to get to know more people, perhaps among whom would become their future companions. Getting to know them earlier would allow them to forge stronger bonds and friendships.
After all, they are people of the same era, living in this imperial age, and are still very young, with a considerable amount of time to grow up.
As peers, we also have more topics to discuss.
The Combat Pyramid an excellent platform for finding companions. So many people use it to make a name for themselves, meet others, and recruit companions to sail the seas.
Once you set sail, there are usually quite a few people, or groups of companions.
Unlike some pirates who set sail alone, searching for companions and recruiting members one by one.
Attention to Mijela was gradually decreasing. People always need time to get used to things, even if she is the daughter of the Dark Emperor. Besides, Teach didn't want Mijela to be disturbed by the outside world.
"Lady Esdeath, Shiryu has something to discuss with you."
At the very top of the Combat Pyramid, Esdeath walked out of the arena with a dashing air, followed by cheers and a defeated opponent.
With her potential fully unleashed, Esdeath's strength is rapidly increasing. At seventeen years old, the immense energy Esdeath unleashes is astonishingly terrifying.
Another victory, with a huge advantage. Esdeath is also a genius in battle, and she has the upper hand against opponents of similar strength.
Having defeated her opponent with unstoppable force, Esdeath was getting closer and closer to the precious Temperature Fruit, with absolutely no obstacles in her path.
"What did that guy want from me?" Esdeath turned her head slightly, a curious look flashing in her eyes. Her words showed no respect for Shiryu, the now powerful Dark Lord, even though he was her teacher.
The member of the Night Pirates secretly wiped the sweat from his brow. Esdeath was now considered an "adult" in the Night Pirates, although she didn't have any official position yet, she was already an officer.
Without a doubt, Esdeath will bypass the Seventy-two Demon Pillars and numerous commanders, and directly challenge the Thirteen Demon Generals.
Everyone has their own internal scales, and the strength and potential he has demonstrated have earned him the recognition of many members of the Night Pirates through numerous battle achievements.
Moreover, Esdeath was Shiryu of the Rain's disciple, although there was no formal master-disciple relationship between them.
Shiryu hasn't really made a move in recent years; the only time he did so was as a special guest during the Blood Escape, where he unleashed a massacre on the entire Death Island.
These criminals' sole objective was to evade Shiryu's pursuit and become one of the last three to survive.
This massacre caused a great shock in the Underworld, attracting a lot of attention. Of the five thousand people, Shiryu killed more than 80%, or more than four thousand, like chickens. Most of the rest died in infighting.
Therefore, Shiryu action, but his legend lives on throughout the seas.
As a benchmark of killing swordsmen, one of the Seven Demon Kings, and a powerful ability user, he is a true monster with a bounty in the Navy that is higher than that of Slada, reaching 1.6 billion Beli.
It's not just because of their terrifying strength, but also because of their status as traitors to the World Government.
"I don't know, it must be something important. After all, there haven't been many situations like this over the years."
"Then let's go take a look."
Shiryu's demon army has a fixed base, but their movements are not restricted.
At this moment, Shiryu appeared at the Night Pirates' base on Pagila Island, obsessively polishing the Demon Sword Thunderstorm in his hand.
Nourished by the Blood-Blood Fruit and tempered by Shiryu's own Haki, Raiu became even more terrifying and eerie, his body gleaming with a fierce light.
"What is it?" Esdeath glanced at Shiryu, wearing a white military uniform with long, straight blue hair. She looked at Shiryu, sat on the sofa, poured herself a glass of wine, and crossed her legs.
Esdeath struggled to understand Shiryu's fondness for swords. Although she was also a swordswoman, the sword in her hand was merely a weapon that she could switch to at any time.
"Hehe! I've decided to give you a task assigned by the Overlord. Consider it a trial for you. Once the task is complete, I'll reward you with a fine sword."
Shiryu didn't care about Esdeath's attitude; this was their way of getting along. To be honest, Shiryu now treated Esdeath like his own daughter.
After spending a lot of time together, Shiryu grew to like him very much. His belief in the survival of the fittest was deeply ingrained, and he had fighting spirit flowing through his veins, so he performed exceptionally well.
Esdeath's weapon is still a standard Western-style sword, which she has changed several times over the course of many battles.
"Oh! Okay."
For Esdeath, obtaining a suitable weapon was a good reward. The weapon that Shiryu her was unlikely to be ordinary, and having to change weapons every now and then would be a hassle.
More importantly, this was the Sovereign's order. Dark Emperor Teach, a legendary figure, whom she had never seen in person, was a mission she knew was extraordinary, and a sense of curiosity arose within her.
Seeing this, Shiryu took out a piece of intelligence and threw it in front of Esdeath.
Esdeath picked up the intelligence report and examined it carefully.
"So, my task is to take care of them all?"
"Of course not. You're not part of the main force; we're just having you participate. The navy's strength shouldn't be underestimated."
"This is a sniping operation; we don't need to eliminate them all. There might be other powerful individuals watching in the shadows. We just can't make a bad impression and let the Navy know they've crossed the line!"
As he spoke, a hint of coldness flashed in Shiryu's eyes.
That's right, someone has already infiltrated the Night Sea Domain. It's the Navy. As for their target, it's not the Night Pirates, but Edward Weevil and Bakin.
More than a year has passed since the massacre at the Marine Elite Training Camp, and the three pirates who orchestrated it are still missing. However, they have been spotted in the New World and are currently lying low for the time being.
Meanwhile, Edward Weevil and Bakin were still living a carefree life in the New World. After spending Beli in the Night Sea Domain, they went to other seas to rob and plunder.
With their formidable strength, they also caused quite a few troubles.
Once again, Weevil and Bakin returned to the Night Sea Domain with a full haul, while the Navy launched an operation against them.
While it might be described as targeted, that's not entirely true; at least headquarters didn't have such a concrete plan.
A small number of naval personnel acted on their own initiative.
According to information from the Night Pirates, and from Novoya's side, this is still related to Zephyr.
More than a year has passed, Zephyr has not yet recovered from his grief. The blow he suffered was too severe. Although he can still talk to people, he still has no fighting spirit and has given up his teaching job.
I still have nightmares from time to time.
This situation caused great distress to many of Zephyr's students, who did not want Zephyr to continue tormenting himself like this.
They desperately wanted to help Professor Zephyr, and in their opinion, the only way was to kill the culprit behind all of this—"Whitebeard II." Edward Weevil, who had massacred a large number of naval cadets and severed Zephyr's arm.
This idea has been spreading ever since it was conceived, even among some of Zephyr's students.
Over the years, Zephyr has cultivated a large number of talents for the Navy, and his influence in the Marine Headquarters is beyond imagination. Most of the Navy's high-ranking and core personnel are Zephyr's disciples, occupying various important positions.
Therefore, under the cover of many people, a warship sailed away from the Marine Headquarters, and Marshal Sengoku did not have time to react.
This warship was filled with many of Zephyr's graduated disciples, who were the backbone of the Marine Headquarters, including Smoker, the White Hunter was somewhat well-known on the high seas.
This operation was mainly organized by White Hunter.
"Those idiots, do you think Whitebeard II. is so easy to deal with? Who do they think they are? Where do they get such audacity?" Upon receiving this news, Gion was completely stunned. Forgetting all about her composure, she couldn't help but swear.
This is an absolute difference in strength. Edward Weevil possesses the power of Whitebeard in his youth, and even Zephyr was defeated. Are Smoker and his ilk, who aren't even Vice Admiral, just going to their deaths?
Such monsters cannot be dealt with by a few people working together.
"Let's go, let's go to the New World and find them. In case..." Tsuru said, shaking her head. The Marine Headquarters had already lost three generations of elites, and could not afford to lose any more, especially these members who had already grown up.
These will all be important combat capabilities for the navy in the future.
The Sengoku issued a strict order: they must be brought back intact.
Punishment is certain, but the prerequisite is survival.
"Kuzan has already set off, and we're preparing to leave too, along with Kake."
"Do we really need to send out such a high level of combat power?" Gion, somewhat puzzled. "Wouldn't it be more troublesome to bring these little guys back?"
"That's the Night Sea Domain," Tsuru said calmly, causing the boy from Gion to shrink back.
She had been to the Night Sea Domain, the territory of the Night Pirates, before, but the Night Sea Domain was completely different now.
"Be prepared, I have a feeling a conflict is likely to break out."
"What a hassle. Hopefully it will be quick." On the open sea, Kuzan shook his head helplessly, riding an ice scooter and gliding rapidly along an icy path.
He needed to find Smoker before they ran into Edward Weevil and bring them back.
He needed to be as fast as possible. If the Night Pirates made their move, a major battle would be inevitable, and he was already prepared.
Smoker is not mature enough and has not truly recognized the gap in strength. At the same time, he does not know how much trouble his unauthorized intrusion into the territory of a top-tier force like the Night Pirates will cause the Navy.
Everything will have to wait until this is over. Headquarters will definitely impose severe punishment, with demotion being the bare minimum. As the head of the Inspection Department, Sakazuki will not easily forgive him.
From a broader perspective, instigating conflict Night Pirates was a huge mistake, and it certainly wasn't because the Marine Headquarters was afraid of the Night Pirates.
It's not that the time wasn't right.
"This is your first major battle, so don't let us down." Shiryu looked at Esdeath, though he actually had a lot of confidence in Esdeath abilities.
Dealing with some young navy personnel is a piece of cake.
Of course, there are still difficulties. The navy has a large number of people and is powerful. As graduates of the elite training camp, they are now at least at the rank of colonel in the navy, and the highest rank has reached Commodore general.
Smoker wasn't the strongest among them, just the most famous.
After all, there are too many naval personnel who have graduated from the elite training camp, including some who graduated even earlier.
This is the extent of Zephyr's influence, and more so, it reflects the Navy's dissatisfaction with the headquarters' inaction. Edward Weevil is the culprit; what good would it do to only deal with ordinary pirates?
Edward Weevil spent his days in carefree bliss, and the thought of their teacher Zephyr, who had not yet recovered, only fueled their rage.
When anger accumulates to a certain threshold, it becomes unbearable.
Of course, the Marine Headquarters still has to clean up the mess.
"Truly commendable courage." Novoya was quite surprised to hear the information, but that was the Night Sea Domain, the territory of the Night Pirates, and the Navy would not leave so easily no matter what.
Meanwhile, the Night Pirates also held an impromptu meeting.
"Let me go, I'll teach these marines a lesson." Enel was a little excited. He was already bored out of his mind, and now that he finally had a chance to act, why would he pass it up?
"Alright, anything else? This time the Navy has also sent Admiral Aokiji, elite Vice Admiral Momousagi and Chaton, as well as Chief of Staff Tsuru. There might be some hidden powerhouses as well. Just wait and see."
One Admiral, two Admiral candidates, and one Vice Admiral —this is a formidable fighting force, but the Night Pirates are not intimidated at all.
Teach had no intention of making a move; he wanted to see who would.
Besides Enel, there are already two other confirmed candidates: Shiryu and Esdeath.
In this operation, Teach did not intend to go too far, such as leaving Kuzan alive and killing him.
He didn't really have that kind of confidence. It would be fine on land, but on the sea, Kuzan was determined to escape, and even if Teach personally intervened, it would be difficult to stop him.
Therefore, his intervention would be meaningless, and triggering a major battle between the two sides would only benefit others. There will be a major battle, but not now.
However, since they dared to trespass into the Night Pirates' territory, the Navy always had to leave something behind.
On the relatively calm sea, the Night Pirates need to demonstrate their power and show their status as overlords of the New World.
This is an opportunity. If they don't act for a long time, the Night Pirates' deterrent power will decrease.
This matter actually has nothing to do with the Night Pirates; it can be easily overlooked by turning a blind eye.
Unfortunately, the Night Pirates had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by.
The main purpose of this operation was precisely this: to demonstrate the power of the Night Pirates by stepping on the heads of the Marines. Otherwise, Edward Weevil wouldn't be worth the effort.
"I'll go too." Clemons was filled with fighting spirit. Although he had failed to challenge the Seven Demon Kings for the position in the past two years, it did not affect his powerful strength, especially his explosive power.
"Hehe! Leave Ms. He to me." Lafitte adjusted his hat and chuckled easily.
The objective of this operation is very clear, meaning his task is easy: simply stall Staff Officer Crane.
"Just five people? Should we add two more younger ones? There are quite a few of those marines; Esdeath alone might have a hard time dealing with them."
Mostima asked.
Five people are not enough: Shiryu deal with Kuzan, Enel will deal with Momousagi, Clemons will deal with Chaton, and Lafitte will deal with Advisor Tsuru.
Everyone knows that, apart from the battle between Lafitte and Staff Officer Crane, the battles between the other six are unlikely to be decided in a short time.
The remaining Esdeath is powerful, but she can't handle so many Marines; her stamina alone is a major problem.
They all knew Esdeath well; she was Shiryu's disciple, one of the future Thirteen Demon Generals, and a major contender for the Seven Demon Kings, though she was still somewhat inexperienced.
Although it's a learning experience, it shouldn't be too difficult.
"Then let Pito go over there, it'll give him something to do." Teach was really going to great lengths to keep Pito from being idle, first by keeping an eye on Mijela, and now he's assigned this task.
"Then get ready. You will be informed of Edward Weevil's whereabouts."
In Teach's view, these six people alone are enough; if the Navy doesn't have any hidden forces, then it's highly likely they do.
He also needed to take this opportunity to stretch his legs and avoid any accidents. He had made things too easy for the Demon Caesar last time. He was already seriously injured and exhausted, so how could he possibly be a match for him?