brush...
clatter!!
Luo Chen arrived at the camp shortly afterward and stood at its entrance.
"Yes, it's Mr. Luo Chen. He's back. It seems he's accomplished what the Commander entrusted to him. Go and inform the Commander; I'll go and receive Mr. Luo Chen!"
Here, as Luo Chen retracted his wings and landed back on the ground, two soldiers patrolling not far away saw him. One of them, a higher-ranking sergeant, gave an order to his companion and then quickly ran over to greet him.
Another soldier, following his superior's instructions, jogged inside to inform their commander, Vice Admiral Romas, of his Luo Chen.
"Mr. Luo Chen, you're back! Thank you for your hard work. Please come inside and have a seat. My men have already gone to inform the commander, and he will be here soon to discuss matters with you. Please make your way inside..."
The officer came over and greeted Luo Chen very warmly, introducing himself.
"Okay, let's go in together then. By the way, did you manage to take over those Supernovas successfully? They didn't escape, did they? I won't acknowledge them if they did!"
As Luo Chen followed him into the corridor, he asked him about Hawkins and the other Supernovas.
"Hehehe, Mr. Luo Chen, you underestimate us too much. Now that you have already defeated them, how could we possibly miss this opportunity and let them go? Shortly after you left, we used Seastone to secure them, and they are now imprisoned in the base's cells awaiting transfer to the Impel Down to serve their sentences!!"
The sergeant chuckled and answered.
"Oh! Really? That's good. But could you take me to see how those Supernovas are doing now?"
Luo Chen nodded thoughtfully, then asked another question.
"Hehe, you'll have to speak with our commander about this. We subordinates don't have the authority to make this decision. I'll ask the commander for you later..."
The sergeant, walking along, chuckled as he continued, picking up where he left off.
"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you later..."
"Yes, we've arrived. Please go in; the commander should be waiting for you inside!"
As they spoke, the two arrived at the place where they had greeted Luo Chen earlier. The officer respectfully stepped forward, pushed open the door, and invited Luo Chen in.
"..."
Luo Chen nodded to him and walked into the house. As soon as Romas saw Luo Chen arrive, he immediately got up to greet him.
"I have been waiting for you here for quite some time. Welcome back, Mr. Luo Chen. Admiral Kizaru's subordinates have already reported what happened earlier. I hereby declare that our transaction is now complete. This is your reward. Would you like to inspect it yourself?"
After exchanging pleasantries with Luo Chen, Romas got straight to the point, pointing to the treasure chest beside him and saying...
"Hmm, no need. I have complete faith in Vice Admiral Romas's character. I've already notified my companions on the way to come and collect the box; they should be here soon. You can give it to them then."
Let's talk about what's next, the Shichibukai summons. Besides that, there's something else I'd like to Vice Admiral you, Vice Admiral, about the Supernovas in the dungeon. Do Vice Admiral have time to discuss that now?"
After listening to what Romas said, Luo Chen shook his head and then steered the conversation toward their most important and crucial topic of the day: the Summit War... the gathering of the Shichibukai.
"Haha, I knew you'd bring this up, Mr. Luo Chen. Don't worry, I would have brought it up even if you hadn't."
Upon hearing this Romas burst into laughter, but after a moment, his expression turned serious as he addressed the speaker.
"Every Shichibukai must participate in this recruitment event, or they will be stripped of their title. Mr. Luo Chen, since you're already here, I believe you're ready to depart. No need to wait for the other Shichibukai Shichibukai, to arrive; we'll set off immediately. We won't keep you waiting too long!"
"But hasn't Xiong already been there? Why do we still have to wait for him?"
Luo Chen knew that Xiong was probably going to undergo final modifications to completely transform himself into an emotionless robot, but no one had found out about this yet, so he couldn't say it directly. He pretended to be confused and asked.
"Hehehe, Mr. Bartholomew is on government orders to carry out some kind of plan, but he should be back tomorrow, so don't worry..."
Romas himself was not very clear about the matter, and spoke vaguely, thus avoiding the main topic.
"Well, then I won't ask anymore. By the way, Vice Admiral Romas, I have another request. I'd like to see if you can make a decision. Could I go to Impel Down with you when you're escorting those Supernovas? I'd like to see Fire Fist Ace, the spark that ignited this incident, and fulfill a wish I've always had?"
Luo Chen finally revealed his ultimate goal to him: to go to Impel Down, not only to see Ace but also to confirm whether the trajectory of fate had changed after his intervention, and whether Luffy could successfully infiltrate the island with Hancock's help.
"This... I'm sorry, your request is far beyond my responsibilities. I'll report this to headquarters right away and see if they'll agree. If they don't, then don't blame me..."
Romas paused for a moment, then raised his head and stared intently into Luo Chen's eyes for a while. After confirming that he did not detect any ill intentions in Luo Chen's eyes, he spoke in a deep voice.
"Don't worry, if headquarters disagrees, I have nothing to say, and I won't blame you!"
Seeing his seriousness, Luo Chen also nodded in response with a serious expression.
"Excuse me, I'll take my leave for a moment..."
Romas immediately took his leave and went to dial Sengoku's number at Sengoku, informing him of the matter in detail. After Sengoku considered it for a moment and replied, Romes respectfully responded before hanging up and returning to his post.
"Mr. Luo Chen, I have already informed Fleet Admiral Sengoku of this matter, and he has agreed to your request. If you are not in a hurry to go now, we can set off immediately. As for Mr. Bartholomew's matter, we will leave it to someone else. What do you think?"
Romas walked to his seat and relayed the reply that Sengoku had given him to Luo Chen.
"I have no objection, but if possible, please arrange for the soldiers to prepare to depart immediately. I'm already eager to see what abilities Ace, the one who ignited this great war, possesses to ignite a conflict between two major powers."
Luo Chen's tone was somewhat impatient. Although he didn't know if Luffy had arrived at Amazon Lily and met Hancock yet, he still didn't want to miss this opportunity. After Romas relayed the headquarters' reply to him, he urged him to set off immediately.
"Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away. You can sit here for a while, and we'll set off shortly."
Seeing his eagerness, Romas immediately arranged for his subordinates to prepare everything, most importantly the escort of the Supernovas.
Not long after, Romas came with his adjutant and several soldiers to inform him that he could board the ship.
"Oh, so fast! I thought I'd have to wait a while longer!"
Luo Chen said in surprise.
"Hehe, our navy has already arranged everything properly. All that's left is to escort the Supernovas onto the ship. Now, Mr. Luo Chen, please come with me. We'll set sail now!"
Romas chuckled and replied, then waved his hand, inviting Luo Chen to join him on a journey to the Impel Down.
"Okay, let's go!"
Luo Chen nodded and followed the group. They quickly boarded the ship, and under the skilled operation of the navigator and crew, the warship slowly sailed towards the Impel Down.
With this, the Sabaody Archipelago arc comes to an end, and the prelude to the Paramount War is about to begin.