Under the blue and white sky, a magic carpet sped across, leaving a white trail in the air.
"How are we going to explain this to the boss? He entrusted you with such an important mission, and you messed it up, almost killing yourself and getting all injured. What kind of punishment do you think the boss will give you when he sees this?!" On the magic carpet, a thin, ordinary-looking man said to his companion lying beside him, whose body was wrapped in bandages and whose breath was weak.
They were Asmodeus, who had just said goodbye to Chaton and his group and was preparing to return to report, and Mammon, who was severely injured and unable to get up.
"This is my own business, you don't need to worry about it. You should take care of yourself!" the injured man, Mammon, said coldly.
"Oh dear, is your attitude towards your savior this bad?" Asmodeus teased him from the side.
"Hmph, savior?! If you hadn't been so afraid to fight him and let them escape, what right do you have to make such sarcastic remarks?!" Mammon, feeling the fist-sized piercing pain in his chest, replied calmly without even flinching.
"Hahaha, whatever you say, you're definitely not escaping punishment this time. Come back and say that to me after you've been punished by the boss. Gotta go!!"
Asmodeus witnessed firsthand the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins personally punishing those who failed in their missions or disobeyed his orders.
After he made his move, all those people disappeared without a trace, and their positions were later filled by replacements. Now, apart from the first three, the rest of them have been replaced two or three times in the last twenty years. Obviously, Mammon will not escape death if he goes back this time, so he has no intention of continuing to argue with him.
"..." Mammon didn't speak again after he shut his mouth, focusing on recuperating so he could return and face the leader's punishment.
Turning to the Navy, after carrying out the Buster Call issued directly by the World Government and the headquarters, everyone returned to their respective ships to prepare for their return to headquarters.
"Miss Gion, this time..." Chaton stood beside Momousagi, hesitant to speak. Clearly, several Vice Admiral, especially Vergo, knew about Momousagi's intention to let her leave and had reported it to Fleet Admiral Sakazuki. This time, she would not escape punishment no matter what. Even Chaton didn't know how to tell her.
Momousagi knew what the other was thinking and intended to share the punishment, but she wouldn't let her companion bear the responsibility for her mistake. She decided to take all of Sakazuki's blame herself. "Don't worry about me, Tokikake. The responsibility for getting them to leave this time rests entirely on my shoulders. No matter how much Fleet Admiral Sakazuki scolds me, I will take it all on. It won't implicate you..."
"But..." Chaton wanted to say something more, but Momousagi interrupted him.
"I understand what you mean, but really, it's not necessary. Tokikake this, I might really be sent out to capture them, but that's a good thing for me too. It can be used to completely sever the last remaining connection between me and him, just like Vice Admiral Garp did!" Momousagi held the Konpira sword (oh right, this sword was actually placed on another small boat by someone after Luo Chen escaped, waiting for them to come and retrieve it). At this moment, she was gazing into the distance, her heart filled with heroic spirit, as she spoke.
"Hehe, Vice Admiral Garp is... well, let's see what Fleet Admiral Sakazuki says when we get back!!" Chaton wanted to say that Garp was chasing the Pirate King but ended up developing feelings for him, repeatedly pushing him to the brink of death but never actually killing him.
But after thinking about it, he decided against it. He sighed, stood beside her without saying a word, and together they gazed at the distant sea, their thoughts unreadable.
Let's turn back to Luo Chen and the others.
" Monbuma, are you sure our ship is in this direction?" They were drifting on the sea in their small boat, and George, who was more impulsive, felt that they had been sailing for most of the day without even seeing a glimpse of an island. He couldn't help but doubt Monbuma's words and asked.
Monbuma took out a timer from his pocket, gazed at the stationary pointer, and said confidently, "Don't worry, it's over here. Although I don't know the exact location, just follow the direction the Eternal Pose is pointing..."
"Is that really true?" George was still somewhat skeptical of his words.
"Kid, do you think you've become arrogant just because you've gotten stronger after a year?! You dare to question me? I said it's here, it's here, what else could it be?!" After being questioned by George repeatedly Monbuma couldn't help but get angry and scolded him loudly.
"That's exactly how it is. You know, I'm a genius navigator, and I haven't even seen a single person after sailing for so long. Is it wrong for me to question you?" George saw the other man stand up and scold him. He was already short-tempered, and after rowing for most of the day, he was extremely bored and couldn't help but start arguing back.
"Come on then... who's afraid of who? I'll teach this impolite brat what it means to respect the elderly and care for the young!!"
"Respect the elderly and care for the young?! You, with a physique dozens of times stronger than a normal young person, you call that respecting the elderly and caring for the young?! Are you out of your mind?!"
"Hmph, he's still older than you, isn't he? As a junior, you should show deference to your senior; it's just basic courtesy!"
"You call yourself a senior? I could knock you down with one punch!!"
The argument escalated, and the two stood up, staring at each other and shouting insults.
"Sigh... really, they started arguing as soon as they met..." Lulith shook her head and said.
Sitting next to her, Nayako watched as the two seemed poised to escalate their argument and potentially come to blows. Worried, she said, "Is this really a good idea? If we don't separate them quickly, they might really start fighting..."
Phil, who was behind them, explained nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Miss Nayako, George and Mr. Monbuma aren't like that. They're just venting their emotions during this argument; they won't actually fight!"
Nayako was still somewhat skeptical, glancing at them again before asking, "Is that so?"
"Alright, you two should shut up now. Hurry up and check how much longer it will take us to reach our destination..." After the two had been arguing for a while, Luo Chen finally spoke up, directly exercising his authority as captain to address them.
"Oh, I know, give it to me!" Hearing Luo Chen's words, the two had no choice but to stop arguing and then reach out to Monbuma to ask for the things.
"What?!" Monbuma was puzzled by his words and scratched her head to ask.
"Idiot, the map has Eternal Pose!!"
"Oh, here you go!!"
Monbuma nodded, then took out Log Pose and a nautical chart from his pocket and tossed them to him.
"Hey hey hey... Why were you so rough? What if you broke them?!" George quickly reached out and caught them, then breathed a sigh of relief and scolded Monbuma.
"Take it or leave it, it's up to you!!"
"You!!"
"What, don't you need food anymore?"
"Uh... hehe, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have treated you like that. Mr. Monbuma, please be magnanimous and forgive me this time!!"
As someone who had worked alongside Monbuma and had the closest relationship with her, George knew her personality very well. Sure enough, after he shamelessly praised her a few times, Monbuma pretended to be generous and let him off the hook this time. The change in the two clowns left Nayako and the others somewhat bewildered.
"Heh, see? I told you! They're very close. This is just normal banter and greetings. Don't take it too seriously!" Seeing this, Phil couldn't help but spread his hands and laugh as he spoke to the others.
"Uh..." Violet and Nayako were still a bit stunned by the change and couldn't quite process it, staring blankly at the two of them.
As they talked, the ship continued to approach its destination, and in the blink of an eye, the faint outline of an island appeared in their view.
That was their destination, Shipbuilding Island.