Sudden Development

"It's you—the Asura Pirates who shook the world a few days ago. I can't believe so many important figures came here." Cricket sighed, smoking his pipe.

"What important figures? Compared to the real big shots, we're just a bunch of nobodies. We'll wait for your good news." Rogge waved his hand and boarded the ship to leave.

"What is this upward current?" Ham asked Rogge.

"Quite a few people in Mock Town know about it. Go look into the records when the time comes; I'll leave that to you. Cook, our ship needs reinforcing. This won't be a joke—we're going to shoot straight into the sky, and the ship has to withstand that impact," Rogge said.

He was rather emotional too. He never thought he would get to personally experience what it felt like to go up.

Noon two days later would surely be an exhilarating moment.

After returning to Mock Town, they ate, drank, and generally enjoyed themselves for two days.

Perhaps because they did not want to provoke Rogge's group, the pirates on the island had been quite well-behaved these past two days. No one caused trouble or fought. They kept their heads down and did not even dare argue too loudly, afraid they might somehow offend Rogge's group.

Though they did not dare provoke Rogge's group, one of Rogge's companions went and provoked them instead. More accurately, the one provoking them was not even human, but a dog.

That was right. Billy had run away.

Two days later, Rogge's group had finished their preparations, and they had caught the South Birds as well. To ensure accuracy, they had captured three of them.

But when they were catching the South Birds, Jerry had taken Billy along. That dog was no harmless little thing. They had assumed it would