Five Elders with Grim Expressions, No Corpse?!

"Huff... huff..."

After a Life and Death Fight, Zoro, panting heavily, sheathed his three swords and walked away silently into the distance.

But as Zoro walked, he realized something was wrong.

Why... has he come back to the castle again?

"Um?"

Perona, who was lost in thought outside the castle, immediately looked surprised when she saw Zoro and said, "Didn't you say you were leaving? Why are you back?"

Zoro:...

He couldn't very well say he got lost.

"You haven't gotten lost again, have you?" Perona asked Zoro with a suspicious look.

A few days ago, this guy got lost in the forest outside.

If she hadn't happened to run into this guy while she was out wandering around as a ghost, he might have starved to death outside.

Zoro's face immediately turned red after hearing Perona's words.

This scene made Perona burst out laughing.

"Hala hala hala~"

Hearing Perona's laughter, Zoro's face turned even redder.

After mocking Zoro, Perona said, "With your abilities, you'll probably never leave this island in your lifetime."

"Impossible!" Zoro immediately retorted, "I can definitely get out!"

"Whatever you want," Perona said, shaking her head.

Clearly, the Ghost Princess wasn't going to argue with this man, after all... he was terrible with directions.

Just then, a News Bird flew over from a distance and called out to the two of them, clearly asking if they wanted to buy a newspaper.

This is something that happens frequently to News Bird.

"One order, please!" Perona waved her hand and said.

Upon hearing Perona's words, the News Bird immediately flew down from the sky and quickly arrived beside the two.

After taking a newspaper out of its backpack and handing it to Perona, the News Bird spread its wings toward Perona.

"Gah!!"

Clearly, they're asking Perona for money.

"Forehead..."

Looking at the News Bird's wing, Perona paused for a moment, then turned to Zoro and asked, "Do you have money?"

When she was photographed, she didn't have a single Beli on her, so she didn't have any money to buy newspapers.

Thinking of this, Perona gave an embarrassed look.

However, the awkward look in Perona's eyes disappeared when she thought that she was this man's savior.

Having saved someone's life... asking for money for a newspaper isn't unreasonable, is it?

"What are you going to do with newspapers if you don't have money?!" Zoro retorted.

As he spoke, Zoro reached into his pocket to see if he had any Beli left.

Finally, he took out a 1000-dollar Beli from his pocket.

"Here, take this," Zoro said. "This is all the money I have left."

"There is none left?"

"There is none left."

Perona:...

Isn't this guy a combatant in the Straw Hat Pirates? Why does he only have so little money in his pocket?

Perhaps sensing the meaning in Perona's eyes, Zoro explained, "I don't usually carry money in my pockets."

Only when they encountered an island could they receive some pocket money from Nami.

That thousand Beli was what he had left over from buying hops.

"A thousand it is, it's better than nothing," Perona muttered.

Then, she turned to the News Bird and said, "You can't take it all, remember to give me change, okay!"

"Otherwise, I'll use my Negative Ghost to deal with you!"

News Bird:...

The News Bird looked at Perona with some helplessness. It wasn't a robber; how could it just grab a thousand Beli and run away?

After shaking his head helplessly, the News Bird took out nine coins from his backpack and handed them to Perona, while gesturing for her to give him the thousand-dollar Beli.

"That's more like it~"

Perona nodded in satisfaction, and then exchanged blows with the other party.

Seeing this, Zoro stroked his chin and said, "Why does this scene feel somewhat familiar?"

Speaking of which... didn't Nami haggle with the News Bird back then?

Thinking about this, Zoro fell into deep thought.

After sending the News Bird away, Perona picked up the newspaper and prepared to read its contents.

"I wonder if there's any news about Lord Moria in the newspapers," Perona muttered.

After saying that, Perona noticed the latest news in the newspaper.

"Blood-Eyed Ninja... wreaking havoc in Mary Geoise?!"

"Um?"

"Blood-Eyed Ninja?!"

Perona's eyes bulged in shock as she read the words in the newspaper.

Isn't this the Red Eye scoundrel who showed her the cockroach?

How did this guy end up in a place like Mary Geoise?

"Is it a message from Xi Yan?!"

Upon hearing Perona's words, Zoro rushed over, his expression excited, and asked, "What happened?"

"Here it is." Perona turned the newspaper around and said to Zoro, "Your companion went and caused a ruckus in Mary Geoise."

"Mary Geoise?"

Zoro was taken aback. Where was that place?

"It's a place where the World Noble live," Perona explained. "I've heard some people mention it."

"World Noble?"

Zoro asked in shock, "Why would Xi Yan go to a place like that?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Perona said, speechless.

This time, Zoro didn't retort, but instead took the newspaper and read it carefully.

Looking at it this way, it's been almost half an hour.

Then, Zoro looked up and said, "What on earth is going on...?"

Why did Xi Yan cause such a ruckus in Mary Geoise?

Also, where did Luffy go?

One question after another arose in Zoro's mind, making him somewhat irritable.

Perona, who was sitting on the rock looking bored, said, "If even you can't see the problem, then there's even less chance that I can."

"After all, I'm not his partner."

"Partner..."

Upon hearing Perona's name, a Inazuma of inspiration struck Zoro.

Yes, partner!

"I think I know what Xi Yan is trying to say!" Zoro suddenly said excitedly.

"What are you trying to say?" Perona asked curiously.

She just said it casually, but the other person actually figured it out?

Look at this.

Zoro pointed to the symbol on Xi Yan's arm and said, "This is what Xi Yan wanted to express."

Perona stared intently at Xi Yan's arm for a while after hearing this, then looked at Zoro with a puzzled expression and asked, "Is there something wrong with this tattoo?"

Although the tattoo looked a bit strange, strange things happen all over this sea, so Perona didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Of course there's a problem!"

Zoro pointed to the 3D icon with an X and said, "This is the agreement we made back in Sabaody Archipelago."

"But the 3D feature is marked with an 'X,' which means the three-day event has been cancelled."

"And this '2Y' means changing three days into two years!"

"Considering what happened in the Sabaody Archipelago..."

At this point, Zoro paused for a moment, then said with a firm look in his eyes, "Xi Yan is trying to say is that we should gather again in two years!"

At that moment, Zoro understood what Xi Yan was trying to say!

Xi Yan wants everyone to use these two years to cultivate and strengthen themselves, so that... they won't have to go through what happened before!

With that thought in mind, Zoro changed his mind.

He looked up at the castle behind him, his gaze gradually hardening.

To become powerful enough, he must find Hawkeye!!

"What you said makes a lot of sense, but why can't it be another possibility?" Perona said.

"For example?"

"For example, the Straw Hat might have already been killed," Perona said, making a threatening face at Zoro. "After all, he went through that kind of brutal battle, so it's possible he was killed."

Zoro paused for a moment upon hearing this, then shook his head and said, "Impossible."

"Why?"

"If Xi Yan really just wanted to avenge Luffy, he wouldn't have put this design on his arm," Zoro said.

He preferred to trust his own judgment rather than Perona's.

Besides... he didn't believe Luffy would die!

"You're really optimistic."

"No, I just trust my comrades," Zoro said.

He then handed the newspaper to Perona, saying, "Here, take a look at the news at the back. I just saw Moria's name."

Although I didn't look closely, I did see those three words.

After Perona took the newspaper, Zoro resolutely headed towards the castle.

"I never expected to find news about Lord Moria here! This is wonderful!" Perona exclaimed excitedly.

As she spoke, she flipped to the back of the newspaper and quickly read through the information about Moria.

"Moria is being pursued by the navy; his fate is unknown..."

Perona froze the moment she saw this.

Then, the Ghost Princess hugged the newspaper and burst into tears.

"Lord Moria!!"

Hearing the voice behind him, Zoro immediately stopped and turned to look at Perona.

Zoro sighed after seeing the girl sitting there crying.

"Why..."

Then he turned around and strode towards Perona.

"No?!" Saint Saturn said with a grim expression, "You mean... there wasn't a Blood-Eyed Ninja's corpse inside those Super Sea King, right?!"

"Yes."

The guard said with a grim expression, "After receiving Saint Shamrock's orders, we began to deal with the corpses of those Super Sea King, but we couldn't find the Blood-Eyed Ninja's body at all."

They haven't found even human body tissue.

It's as if... as if the Blood-Eyed Ninja wasn't eaten by these giants at all!

Saint Saturn paused for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "Go look again, even if you can only find one arm!"

"We've searched several times, but..."

"I told you to go and look again, don't you understand?" Saint Saturn glared at him.

"Yes, Lord Saint Saturn!" the guard replied.

He then Great Gate and left.

After the other party left, Saint Saturn slammed his fist on the table and said, "Damn it, if we really can't find the Blood-Eyed Ninja's body, then our losses this time will be huge!!"

In this way, they not only failed to obtain the bloodline power of the Blood-Eyed Ninja, but also caused great losses to the Holy Land!

"Now we can only pray that these guys just missed it," Saint Nusjuro said, rubbing his temples.

If they lose so much and still can't get the Blood-Eyed Ninja's corpse... then Saint Nusjuro might find this loss unacceptable.

Just then, Saint Vowchuri said, "Do you think... is it possible that the Blood-Eyed Ninja didn't actually die?"

"You think he brought those Sea Kings?" Saint Mars asked, glancing at his old friend.

"That's possible."

"I know what you're trying to say," Saint Mars said, "But the one who can command the Sea Kings is the legendary Fish-Man Princess, not a human!"

"What's more, the Blood-Eyed Ninja is a man!"

Therefore, the other person could absolutely not be the legendary Mermaid Princess.

Upon hearing this, Saint Vowchuri paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's true."

It seems he was overthinking it.

"Don't worry, that guy is definitely dead," Saint Peter said. "This is something that Saint Shamrock and Borsalino both confirmed."

They were still willing to trust the judgment of these two Admiral- ranking generals.

"Then there shouldn't be any problem," Saint Vowchuri nodded.

Although they might not get the Blood-Eyed Ninja's body, at least they can confirm that the guy has been killed.

This can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Thinking of this, Saint Vowchuri and his other old companions exchanged glances, then sighed silently.

After a moment, Saint Nusjuro said, "I wonder how Morgans ' newspaper is coming along."

The Blood-Eyed Ninja's body can be searched slowly, but releasing the newspaper cannot be delayed!

"The newspapers will be released tomorrow," Saint Saturn said. "Then we'll know the details."

"Will that guy try anything funny?"

"He wouldn't dare."

Morgans wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics at a time like this if he didn't want to die; otherwise, he would be making an enemy of the World Government!

That guy wouldn't do that if he were smart enough.

"That makes sense," Saint Nusjuro nodded.

Just then, Saint Saturn stood up, took his cane, and walked out step by step.

Where are you going?

"I'll go out and see," Saint Saturn said, "To see if I can collect a blood sample from the Blood-Eyed Ninja."

If blood samples can be collected, research can also be attempted.

Will this work?

"It's better than doing nothing," Saint Saturn said calmly.

After saying this, the old man pushed open the door and left.

The four people inside the room exchanged glances, then sighed silently.

"Why..."

Their losses this time were simply too great!!