Fully Equipped, Storms on the Horizon!

Across the entire sea, the Straw Hat Pirates' total bounty could only be considered that of a small pirate crew.

But in terms of strength alone, within the first half of the Grand Line, the Straw Hat Pirates were unquestionably among the best.

Although they had not encountered any particularly formidable opponents on their journey, the growth of the crew's strength had not slowed because of the low intensity of their battles.

With Luffy's help, even Sanji, who had devoted himself to making delicious food to win Nami and Vivi's favor, successfully awakened Observation Haki and Armament Haki.

Whether one had mastered Haki could be called a dividing line.

It determined whether a pirate crew was qualified to enter the New World.

For any pirate crew capable of making its way through the New World, mastering Haki was the most basic requirement, practically the threshold for entry.

And now, this Straw Hat Pirates crew truly possessed both the strength and the perspective needed to venture into the New World.

Having received formal Marine education at Marine Headquarters, Luffy's horizons had long since broadened. He knew exactly where his strength stood on these seas. Although his behavior still seemed somewhat absurd, Luffy knew very well who he could provoke and who he could not.

Thus, after arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago with his crew, Luffy and the others kept an extremely low profile.

Luffy had slipped out of Marine Headquarters, and he knew just how powerful Marine Headquarters' intelligence network in the Sabaody Archipelago was. To prevent Sengoku from discovering his movements, Luffy did his best to stay inconspicuous.

Luffy was afraid Sengoku would send a commander he could not handle and forcibly drag him back to Marine Headquarters.

To avoid drawing attention, during the time their ship was being coated,