Magnus: I Feel Like Something's Staring at Me!

Off the coast of Elbaf.

A Marine warship was anchored nearby. When Rona appeared on the ship with injuries, the entire vessel was thrown into a commotion.

"Admiral Scarlet Snake, you're injured!?"

"Damn it, did those Giants from Elbaf do this?"

"All hands, on alert!"

"..."

Chaos erupted on the warship until Major General Aila, Rona's adjutant, stepped forward.

"All of you, shut up!"

The short-haired female Marine looked directly at her superior, her gaze unwavering as she asked Rona, "Admiral Rona, what exactly happened on Elbaf?"

The warship wasn't far from Elbaf, so the Marines had some awareness of the disturbances on the island.

However, trusting Rona, they hadn't landed without orders.

After all, they were Marines.

And Elbaf was a non-governmental affiliated nation.

A single misstep could lead to a conflict between the Marines and a non-governmental affiliated nation.

They also believed that with Rona's strength, no one would be able to detect her just by taking a stroll through Elbaf.

Who would have thought.

When Rona reappeared, she was so severely injured.

The shoulder blade on one side was nearly shattered.

"Ah, it's nothing, really..."

Meeting Aila's gaze, which seemed to pierce through her very soul, Rona looked everywhere but at her. She couldn't possibly say she had fought an old man and almost lost, could she?

"The White Wolf Pirates are up there?"

"!!"

Rona was stunned by Aila's words. She hadn't said anything.

Seeing Rona's shocked expression, Aila helplessly rubbed her forehead.

Did Rona think she had been her adjutant for how long?

Ever since Rona first got her own warship, became a Rear Admiral, and gained the authority for independent action, Aila had been her adjutant.

Rona, who usually didn't pay much attention to anything, only became fully engaged when encountering the White Wolf Pirates.

Initially, Aila thought Rona had a grudge against the White Wolf Pirates.

But after several subsequent battles.

There were even times when the Marines set up elaborate traps to capture the White Wolf Pirates, but Rona's eagerness for credit led to failure.

Aila realized.

There was definitely something going on between Rona and the White Wolf Pirates!

They fought, yes.

They were beaten, yes.

But when it came to delivering a fatal blow, she became unwilling.

Until Aila accidentally heard that when Rona was young, her hometown was attacked by pirates, and the one who repelled them was Magnus, who hadn't become a pirate yet.

Everything suddenly made sense.

Aila even imagined a story of hundreds of thousands of words where Rona, while admiring Magnus, joined the Marines, vowing to strike down the pirates who destroyed her hometown, only to discover that her object of admiration had become a pirate, leading to a dramatic saga of love and hate.

The most crucial part was that Rona recognized Magnus, but Magnus clearly didn't recognize Rona.

He just saw her as an annoying Marine who appeared out of nowhere.

Damn it, are they the male and female leads from some third-rate melodrama?

Aila had always felt that if Rona kept letting the White Wolf Pirates go without explaining why, she would eventually face consequences.

And look, here were the consequences.

Aila didn't believe that the White Wolf Pirates could escape the Marines multiple times because they were strong enough.

It must be an inside job!

And that inside person was right beside her, her own superior.

"Admiral Rona..."

"Alright, alright, stop talking. It was my fault this time. Next time, I'll go all out and bring you all along to capture that old guy and send him to Impel Down!"

Despite saying this, Rona felt that the current Magnus had become somewhat tricky.

Aila believed that Rona always went easy on the White Wolf Pirates whenever they met.

But that wasn't the case.

It was precisely because he was someone she once admired that Rona wanted to capture him even more.

To question him, why did he become a pirate?

That's why Rona never held back; she always fought Magnus with all her might.

It was just youthful impulse, which gradually disappeared with the passage of time and the increase of age, leaving behind only pure obsession.

She had to capture Magnus!

Not to ask why, but because she wanted to capture him!

Five years ago.

It was the first time Rona had surpassed Magnus in pure strength.

It was also the first time.

She felt that her past impulse was no longer out of reach.

But with it came.

Disappointment as well.

So the White Wolf Pirates were nothing special, and the arrogant White Wolf Magnus would also gradually weaken with age.

That meeting made Rona realize that Magnus was truly old.

No longer spirited.

No longer wild and unrestrained.

No longer bold and unconventional.

Although the White Wolf Pirates escaped again this time, Rona's desire to pursue them gradually faded.

Even this time, when she impulsively went to the Land of Giants.

It was only to give herself closure for this long pursuit.

Then, she was repelled by Magnus head-on.

Rona didn't know what Magnus had been doing for the past five years.

But the Magnus she saw seemed to have been reborn.

At this moment, it was as if the navigator who had saved her from the ruins in her childhood had reappeared before her.

Still so spirited.

Still so wild and unrestrained.

Still so bold and unconventional.

When she was injured by Magnus, she didn't feel the slightest bit of dejection; instead, she felt infinite joy.

This was the person she had been chasing all along!

This was White Wolf Magnus!

Amidst the astonished gazes of the Marines, the female Marine Admiral let out a hearty voice that sent chills down their spines.

"Haha, Magnus, you won this time."

"But next time."

"I won't hold back anymore!"

"Achoo!"

In the sky above Elbaf, Magnus, who was sitting on the giant eagle transformed from the Giant Batian and pursuing the fleeing CP0, suddenly sneezed.

"Am I getting old? Why do I suddenly feel a bit cold?"

He felt like something was targeting him.

"It's probably because you've lost too much blood," Rocks said, looking at Magnus, whose wounds hadn't fully healed yet, and pouting.

"If you're injured, just go back and rest. Leave the rest to us."

"It's not to us, it's to Ripley," Magnus retorted mercilessly to Rocks, a half-smile on his face.

"You're no match for those CP0 guys down there right now."

Let alone Rocks, even if those CP0 weren't injured, Ripley wouldn't be able to fight three of them alone if she went down.

"Hmph."

Rocks turned his head away in dissatisfaction. Magnus pretended not to notice him and looked at Ripley.

"Ripley, are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

On the back of the giant eagle, a tiny figure, almost as small as an ant, nodded heavily. Judging by her size alone, one could never imagine that her true form was a Giant nearly twenty meters tall.

Magnus placed Ripley in his hand and gently tossed her towards a small boat drifting below the giant eagle.

"Then, go down!"