"So that was it. You agreed to it?" Pofitas smiled as well. Indeed, for people like them, challenging something more difficult was immensely enticing.
"Mm. Of course, it can only happen once he becomes King!"
"You..." Pofitas sighed helplessly.
"He insisted!" Crocodile spread his hands helplessly.
"He insisted, so you..."
"Don't worry, I haven't given up. When facing a powerful opponent, there's no shame in learning!"
"Understand him, analyze him, then defeat him!" At that moment, Crocodile seemed to have returned to when he had first set out, utterly fearless.
Crocodile and Pofitas's conversation seemed not to consider whether Ryan could become the Pirate King.
Because in their hearts, if the opponent who defeated them could not become King, then no one else in this era, aside from that man, could do it either.
This was their recognition of Ryan, as well as confidence in themselves.
The New World was vast, with countless islands. Some people might spend more than a decade there and still fail to visit every island in the New World.
Yet the New World was also small. At the slightest stir, everyone would know.
Not long after Ryan left Shark Island, nearly every notable figure learned that the Blood Sword Pirates had successively defeated the recently surging Red Hair Pirates and Cross Guild.
This was both building momentum and increasing the difficulty.
Soon, the World Economy News Paper published an article specifically reporting on the Blood Sword Pirates' recent deeds and the life story of Ryan, the Bloody Swordsman. The writer and planner was none other than Morgans, vice president of the World Economy News Paper.
The headline read: [Shocking! The King of the Great Age of Pirates Is About to Appear!]
It had to be said, they truly were in the news business. That headline