Looking at the inscriptions on the seven rings, Blackbeard and Crocodile seemed to want to make a comment, but they only twitched their lips and didn't say anything.
"Then I'll take the first one." Sig took the first one.
Loyalty... well, Sig is loyal to himself and to his original aspirations, there's nothing wrong with that.
Yamato's eyes lit up when he saw the word "filial piety", and he immediately took it down - I, Yamato, are the most filial to Oden's father-in-law!
Yamato is currently Yamato, and even Crocodile doesn't want to offend her. He only took the third one—"Jin." Crocodile doesn't care whether he has anything to do with "Jin" or not; he just wants to be ranked higher.
Blackbeard had stopped pretending to be weak and had developed a competitive spirit. Although he didn't fight for the top three, he directly took the "righteousness" token, laughing and saying, "I, Blackbeard, am the most righteous. If you ever need anything in the future, you can come to me... Hahaha."
Hancock glared at the two of them, but... not wanting to ruin Sig's important matter, she didn't react on the spot, and then took the "gift".
"I am the symbol of 'propriety,' after all... I am simply too beautiful." Hancock struck a classic pose while showing off her ring—a gift from Sig.
"Tch, I'll take this one then. Sometimes you can't solve problems with just brawn." Moria took "Intelligence" with some displeasure.
Tesoro smiled slightly, unconcerned that it was the last one, and instead said, "Who doesn't know that the Gild Tesoro values integrity above all else in business? This is something only I can truly emulate..."
Thus, all Seven Virtues have found their masters.
Meanwhile, Luffy and his crew had already arrived in Alabasta, but... their current target was not Crocodile.
Although the Nefertari Royal Family's situation doesn't seem too good right now, with the nation's center of gravity entirely in the Western Continent, and the power in the Western Continent having long been seized by the Western Continent's governor Crocodile, with not a single ounce of power being relinquished, Cobra himself is inclined to a laissez-faire attitude, leaving only Igaram and the others anxiously waiting.
However, Vivi encountered other troubles. Recently, a group of "bandits" came to the Eastern Continent, kidnapped Cobra, and demanded a large ransom.
Vivi originally wanted to ask Crocodile for help, but Igaram hired Luffy and his crew without permission—because he didn't want to see Crocodile use this opportunity to extend his tentacles to the Eastern Continent!
At first, Vivi didn't trust the pirate crew, but Igaram had witnessed Luffy crew protecting the people of Alabasta from other pirates, so he had a different opinion.
However, Igaram's other reason persuaded Vivi — Crocodile might not genuinely want to save Cobra, and if he harbored any ill intentions, the bandits might easily find out about the situation and kill her!
In contrast, Luffy and his crew are also pirates; they can at least try to befriend those bandits...
In the end, Vivi decided that she wanted to see Luffy and his Luffy rescue her father with her own eyes, so they set off together!
Sig also learned about Luffy's crew and Cobra from Crocodile —did they think that Crocodile wouldn't know such confidential information if they didn't contact Crocodile?
Even the Nefertari Royal Family's surveillance of the Eastern Continent is probably not as effective as Crocodile's; Crocodile already knew about Cobra's kidnapping the moment it happened.
And...
These bandits were actually old acquaintances of Sig's!
It was the traitors from the Navy who attacked the Celestial Dragons and looted the auction Beli in the Sabaody Archipelago.
This defecting Rear Admiral is now a Great Pirate with a bounty of 400 million, a disgrace to the Navy!
If Strawberry hadn't been involved in the Celestial Dragons' auction, he would probably be an elite Vice Admiral in the Navy by now...
However, due to the defection incident, Strawberry's will was greatly affected. Although he became increasingly degenerate in recent years, his Pillar was rebuilt after he went mad, and he made slight progress compared to before, but he was still only at the level of an ordinary Vice Admiral.
This time, Strawberry pulled off a big heist, kidnapping King Cobra of Alabasta and now occupying a small seaside town on the Eastern Continent.
For the sake of the king's safety, Alabasta did not publicize the matter...
This time, Strawberry isn't just looking to pull off a quick heist and retire; he's using his vast funds to recruit more pirates and... build a pirate fleet by replicating Navy warships!
For a long time, the navy did indeed have an absolute advantage over pirates in terms of warships, and when Strawberry defected, he took the warships with him.
Moreover, since he didn't defect as an undercover agent, he has been studying the naval warships he took with him all these years and is now preparing to replicate them. He has even contacted a shipwright pirate crew to cooperate with him.
Therefore, there is another group of people who have their eyes on Strawberry, namely Smoker, who came to Luffy Smoker.
Smoker naturally wanted to arrest Luffy, but... after discovering Strawberry, Smoker's attention was completely drawn to it—this was the infamous disgrace of the Navy!
Luffy is merely a stain on Smoker's record, and Smoker believes that Luffy will pose a greater threat to the world in the future, which is why he has been relentlessly pursuing him. Strawberry, is a stain on the entire Navy.
Moreover, Strawberry now wants to erase the Navy's advantage in warships, which is a serious taboo!
Smoker then turned his attention to Strawberry.
Just as Luffy and his crew overcame numerous obstacles and defeated Strawberry's henchmen along the way, they arrived at the seaside town...
Strawberry was already waiting leisurely on the high platform. "Heh, Alabasta has really fallen, actually asking pirates for help?"
"SOS? You bastard! Don't joke around, we're here to take hostages!" Luffy immediately put on a fierce expression.
Although Luffy wasn't very good at acting, and Vivi wanted to cover her face in embarrassment, it didn't matter whether Strawberry believed him or not. After all, they were just a group of "insignificant pirates" in Strawberry's eyes, and he didn't want to kill them directly.
Beside Luffy, there was only Vivi, dressed as a pirate.
Zoro and Sanji had already encountered their respective opponents, Brook had "prematurely" joined the Straw Hat Pirates and made another promise with Laboon, so he also had a matchup. Usopp was still getting beaten up...
Meanwhile, Lucas, the Straw Hat Pirates's Navigator, is an expert in swimming and various nautical knowledge, and his combat strength should not be underestimated... At this moment, he swam from the sea to the ship where Cobra was being held!
Little Lucas, though only eleven years old, looked more like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy with a youthful face...