Near Elbaf.
A Navy warship was anchored nearby. When the injured Rona appeared aboard, the entire ship was thrown into an uproar.
"Admiral Scarlet Snake, you're injured?!"
"Damn it, was it those giants from Elbaf?"
"Everyone, stay alert!"
"..."
The warship descended into chaos until Major General Aila, Rona's adjutant, stepped forward.
"Shut up, all of you!"
The short-haired female Marine looked straight at her superior, her gaze utterly unyielding as she asked, "Admiral Rona, what happened on Elbaf?"
The warship was not far from Elbaf, so the Marines had more or less noticed the commotion on the island.
But trusting Rona, they had not boarded the island without permission.
After all, they were the Navy.
And Elbaf was not an Affiliated Nation.
One wrong move could spark a conflict between the Navy and a non-government Affiliated Nation.
They had also believed that, with Rona's strength, no one could possibly notice her just taking a stroll through Elbaf.
Who would have thought—
When Rona reappeared, she would be so badly injured.
One of her shoulder blades had nearly been cleaved apart.
"Uh, it was actually nothing much."
Faced with Aila's eyes that seemed capable of seeing through people's hearts, Rona changed the subject. She could hardly say that she had gone up there, fought an old man, and nearly lost, could she?
"The White Wolf Pirates were up there?"
"!!"
Rona was instantly startled by Aila's words. She had not said anything.
Seeing the shock in Rona's eyes, Aila helplessly rubbed her forehead.
How long had she been Rona's adjutant?
Ever since Rona had first gained her own warship, become a Navy Major General, and received the authority to act independently, Aila had been her adjutant.
Rona, who normally could not be bothered to care much about anything, only ever became completely serious when she encountered the White Wolf Pirates.
At first, Aila had assumed that Rona held a grudge against the White Wolf Pirates.
But after several successive battles—
Including several times when the Navy had laid down an inescapable net to capture the White Wolf Pirates, only for the plans to fail because of Rona's greedy and reckless advances—
Aila understood.
There was definitely something going on between Rona and the White Wolf Pirates!
The fighting was real.
The beatings were real too.
But whenever it came time for Rona to deal a killing blow, she was unwilling to do it.
Then Aila had accidentally heard that when Rona was young, her hometown had been attacked by pirates. The one who had driven those pirates away was Magnus, before he became a pirate.
Everything suddenly made perfect sense.
Aila had even imagined a sprawling tragic romance: Rona admired Magnus and joined the Navy, swearing to strike down the pirates who had destroyed her hometown, only to discover that the person she admired had become a pirate. Thus began their love-hate saga.
The most important thing was that Rona knew Magnus, but Magnus clearly did not know Rona.
He probably just thought she was some annoying Marine who had come out of nowhere.
Damn it, were they the leads in some third-rate melodramatic novel?
Aila had always felt that if Rona kept letting the White Wolf Pirates go without explaining why, sooner or later it would blow up in her face.
See? Hadn't it blown up already?
Aila did not believe the White Wolf Pirates had escaped from the Navy's grasp so many times simply because they were strong enough.
There had to be an inside traitor!
And that traitor was right beside her—her immediate superior, no less.
"Admiral Rona."
"Alright, alright, stop talking. This time, I was in the wrong. Next time, I'll definitely go all out and bring you all with me to throw that old man into Impel Down!"
Though she said that, Rona felt that Magnus had become rather troublesome now.
Aila thought Rona went easy on the White Wolf Pirates whenever she encountered them.
But that was not true.
Precisely because he had once been the person she admired, Rona wanted even more to capture him.
To ask him why he had become a pirate.
So Rona had never held back. She had always fought Magnus with everything she had.
It was just that the recklessness of her youth had gradually faded with time and age, leaving behind nothing but a pure obsession.
She wanted to capture Magnus!
Not to ask him why, but simply because she wanted to capture him!
Five years ago—
It was the first time Rona had surpassed Magnus in pure strength.
And it was also the first time—
She felt that the recklessness she had once possessed was no longer out of reach.
But what followed—
Was disappointment.
So the White Wolf Pirates were nothing more than this. Even White Wolf Magnus, once so arrogant and unstoppable, would gradually weaken with age.
That meeting made Rona realize that Magnus had truly grown old.
He was no longer high-spirited.
No longer young and reckless.
No longer bold and unrestrained.
Although the White Wolf Pirates had still escaped that time, Rona's desire to pursue them had gradually faded.
Even this time, when she had suddenly decided to visit the land of giants—
It had only been to give closure to her long pursuit.
And then, Magnus had driven her back head-on.
Rona did not know what Magnus had done over the past five years.
But the Magnus she saw seemed reborn.
At that moment, it was as if the navigator who had saved her from the ruins when she was a child had appeared before her once more.
Still so high-spirited.
Still so young and reckless.
Still so bold and unrestrained.
When Magnus injured her, she did not feel the slightest frustration. Instead, an immeasurable joy rose within her.
This was the person she had been chasing all along!
This was White Wolf Magnus!
Amid the stunned gazes of the Marines, the female Navy admiral let out a hearty voice that also sent chills down their spines.
"Haha, Magnus, you won this time."
"But next time—"
"I won't show you any mercy!"
"Achoo!"
High above Elbaf, Magnus was seated atop the giant eagle Batian had transformed into, pursuing the fleeing CP0 when he suddenly sneezed.
"Am I getting old? Why do I suddenly feel cold?"
He felt as if something were watching him.
"It's probably from losing too much blood."
Rocks looked at Magnus, whose wounds had yet to fully heal, and curled his lip.
"If you're injured, then go back and lie down obediently. Leave what comes next to us."
"To Ripley, not to you."
Magnus mercilessly refuted Rocks, a faintly mocking smile on his face.
"Right now, you're no match for those CP0 agents below."
Forget Rocks—if those CP0 agents had not been injured, even Ripley could not have fought three of them alone.
"Hmph."
Rocks turned his head away in displeasure. Magnus pretended not to notice and looked toward Ripley.
"Ripley, are you ready?"
"Mm!"
On the giant eagle's back, a tiny figure barely the size of an ant nodded emphatically. Looking only at her size, no one could imagine that her true form was a giant nearly twenty meters tall.
Magnus placed Ripley on his palm and gently tossed her toward the drifting little boat below the giant eagle.
"Then go down!"
Before you continue