The Holy Knights?

The Marines in the meeting room immediately rose to their feet.

Xia Le, however, looked grave.

"What's wrong, Xia Le?"

"The South Blue should be an easy assignment, right? My North Blue is the real headache. It's full of tough opponents!"

Kuzan sighed.

In truth, assignments in the Four Blues weren't difficult. The problem was the sheer area they covered. If pirates were determined to flee, the Marines had few ways to stop them.

"I'm afraid my South Blue will be harder than yours!"

Xia Le sighed.

"How hard could it be? It's not as if you'll run into Roger!"

Kuzan teased.

Xia Le's mouth twitched, but he ignored his old friend.

Because he knew full well that, going by the timing, Roger really was probably in the South Blue.

As he left the meeting room, Sakazuki hurried after him again.

"What is it?"

Xia Le's voice was flat.

"Next time, I won't lose to you!"

Sakazuki gritted his teeth.

"Heh."

Xia Le merely laughed and strode past him.

Roger was weighing far more heavily on his mind. He had no time for this sore loser, still at the height of his hot-blooded youth.

Should I leave him alone?

Or should I capture him and bring him in?

Xia Le stepped out of the Headquarters Building into the sea breeze and murmured to himself.

P.S. Thanks to Yu Yi Wang Danshui, Jian Qi Liu Xing, and reader 20190719094033644 for the monthly-ticket support!

The Holy Knights?

The meeting ended quickly, as Marine meetings usually did.

It left Xia Le troubled, though the feeling didn't last long.

As he remembered it, after reaching the final island, Laugh Tale, the Pirate King Gol D. Roger disbanded his crew, hid on Baterilla Island in the South Blue, and married Portgas D. Rouge.

Roger should be busy trying to start a family with Rouge right about now, shouldn't he?

That was his guess.

After nearly a year of peaceful life, the world-famous Pirate King would turn himself in to Marine Headquarters.

What is the Pirate King like now?

He had carried a gravely ill body all the way to becoming the Pirate King. In the end, his health—or perhaps other factors—had forced him to disband his crew and disappear onto a Nameless Island in the South Blue.

Even if Roger hadn't turned himself in a year later, he would have had little time left to live.

So what condition was Roger in now? How much of his strength at its peak remained?

Learning that he had been assigned to the South Blue had set Xia Le's mind racing.

He suddenly felt nervous, then eager, and then an indescribable fighting spirit surged within him.

How far was he now from the Pirate King, the World's Strongest?

Could he defeat Roger in a head-on fight?

With that anticipation in his heart, Xia Le remained at headquarters for about a week.

When the Seastone Warship technology reached the headquarters shipyard, it prompted a program to retrofit warships. Because of Xia Le's successful mission, his warship was given the same highest priority as Sengoku's and Zephyr's ships.

Seven days later, the warship was ready.

That meant he could set off for the South Blue.

Xia Le wasted no time. Many Flag Officers assigned to nearby areas had already departed. They hadn't waited for their warships to be retrofitted and would have the work done later.

At the harbor, Xia Le ran into Borsalino, who was also preparing to sail.

"Long time no see, Xia Le."

Borsalino approached with a broad smile. Then he glanced at Crocodile, Bullet, and the others behind Xia Le, and his expression shifted slightly.

"You and your subordinates all look terrifying!"

Xia Le burst out laughing.

"You're the most terrifying one here!"

Borsalino waved a hand. "I just want to do my job in peace."

He paused, then sighed.

"But the world's been anything but peaceful lately!"

"Pirates, Marines, the World Government..."

"Every one of them is scarier than the last."

Xia Le caught the implication in his words. "What do you mean, Borsalino?"

"Has the World Government made a move too?"

Borsalino looked around. His smile faded, and he lowered his voice. "You haven't heard?"

"They're clearly even more concerned than we are about the impact Roger has had."

"This time, they've sent Cipher Pol to investigate Roger and his crew's movements."

"There have even been sightings of the Holy Knights."

Xia Le froze. "The Holy Knights? What are they?"

"Who knows?"

"They sound terrifying, though."

"But I don't know whether they're involved in this."

Borsalino shrugged and straightened up.

Xia Le fell into thought, wondering what forces the World Government had at its disposal.

They chatted a while longer. Borsalino curiously poked Xia Le's well-developed chest and clicked his tongue.

"You've changed a lot in two years."

"That powerful body of yours could send plenty of delicate young beauties cowering and trembling in the corner of a bed."

Xia Le was speechless. "You dirty old man."

"Heh."

"I'll accept 'dirty,' but I'm still young. I'm only a few years older than you."

Borsalino shook his head.

Then he stretched and looked toward his warship, which was ready to depart.

"I should get going too!"

"When all this is over, I'm definitely taking a nice long leave."

Xia Le had no answer to that. With a touch of envy, he said, "Sometimes I really do admire the way you clock in, do your work, and leave on time."

"It is a job, isn't it?"

With his back to Xia Le, Borsalino waved and boarded his warship.

By then, Slo was waving to Xia Le from his own ship.

"Then we should get going too."

Xia Le sighed softly.

The warship slowly sailed through the Gate of Justice. Slo and Mina then bent over their charts, carefully studying the route ahead.

"Since our ship can cross the Calm Belt, there's no need to sail through the Grand Line to reach the South Blue."

"We can cross the Calm Belt to our east and enter the South Blue directly."

The two soon settled on a sailing plan.

Xia Le had stopped involving himself in handling the ship long ago. Once he set a destination, his navigator and Shipwright carried out the work flawlessly.

More than once, it had made him appreciate having capable people under him.

The ship entered the Calm Belt at around two or three that afternoon.

The moment it crossed in, everyone's expression changed. The difference was unmistakable.

The sails, full a moment before, went still. Robes and cloaks stopped fluttering. Nothing in the air moved them.

There truly was no wind at all!

Even the sea beneath the warship lay eerily still.

Xia Le found it astonishing. Everything in the world moved, and movement stirred the air, creating wind and currents.

A butterfly flapping its wings somewhere far away might raise a storm on the other side of a strait.

That was how movement connected all things.

Put simply, the Calm Belt made no scientific sense, yet it undeniably existed.

Evens, Rosinante, and the others leaned over the rail, tense and on guard.

Huge shadows floated silently just below the surface, their presence alone filling everyone with dread.

There was no doubt about it. They were Sea Kings.

Crocodile and Bullet stared down at the water with grim faces. Neither said a word.

Xia Le had never seen creatures so enormous. The sight left him awestruck.

He had seen giants—Saron was one—but even they seemed small beside these rulers of the sea.

As the warship sailed on, they saw one larger than all the rest. It was as big as a mountain, floating like an island with only its black-scaled back above the water.

A terrifying, colossal creature!

A little later, they made out an island thick with jungle.

"There's an island in the Calm Belt?"

Crocodile sounded surprised.

"Amazon Lily. The island of the Kuja."

"Only women live there!"

Bullet spoke in a low voice.

He had heard tales of the island while sailing with Roger.

They watched the island from afar as they passed it.

By evening, the ship had crossed the Calm Belt.

A light breeze brushed over them, and everyone's spirits lifted.

"We've reached the South Blue!"

"That was fast!"