The sky was now completely dark. Looking out at the distant lights gradually brightening in thousands of homes, a brilliant smile spread across my face once again.
"Alright! I'm even more motivated—tomorrow I'll work hard again!"
As for now, after a busy afternoon, I'll head back to the cafeteria for dinner. Let me grab my little umbrella and get going…
Eh, wait…
Where's my parasol!!!
——————
Sky.
Shano, aided by Aerial Dance Skill, sped at full velocity toward the direction of Ten Thousand Nations, glancing at the flow of information on the system interface as he went.
The biggest gain from this trip to the Deep Sea Prison was, of course, gathering all the souls required for the Demon Tree Barrier.
Secondly, he managed to recruit Shiryu, who hadn't yet become twisted and corrupted—as long as he gets the right fruit in the future, this guy's strength could easily reach the Highest Cadre Level.
And lastly, he managed to fleece a ton of rewards.
Although King of Newspaper and Buggy hadn't been imprisoned, and the prisoners in Impel Down were mostly just side characters and extras now,
Their generally strong abilities still provided a considerable sum of points, so his wallet—which was previously empty and ringing—was suddenly bulging again—
[You sacrificed Douglas Barrett's giant food bowl and received 2,500 points]
[You sacrificed Lonely Red's braid and received 2,100 points]
[You sacrificed Mikita's parasol and received 85 points]
[You sacrificed Rain of Shiryu's collection of adult magazines and received 1,800 points]
[You sacrificed Magellan's double horns and received 2,800 points]
...
Total points received: 14,085; remaining points suddenly shot up from 5,900 to 19,985.
Without surprise, Magellan contributed the most.
These so-called double horns were actually his beloved Weapon, which he could pull out to hack people; after all, this guy's pure-blooded human, not any relative of Kaido.
As for the parasol…
That was just out of old habit. Damn, this cursed occupational quirk—he'll probably never shake it off.
He used to take others' stuff last year without a shred of guilt, but now the girl's on the straight and narrow, so he can't pull the same routine.
Even though he used a magical gadget from Doraemon World as compensation, Shano still felt pretty embarrassed about it.
Bruu bruu~
Fortunately, at this moment, the Radio Snail rang, saving him from further awkwardness.
"Sir, the matter you asked the intelligence department to investigate with full dedication has finally yielded results."
Once he picked up the Radio Snail, Kuina's calm voice came through.
"Oh?"
Shano's gaze sharpened instantly. "I'll be there right away. Get the intelligence department head to meet me, pronto."
Just a few days ago, before he even left Impel Down…
He'd caught the scent of the Heavenly Celestial Dragon's hunting game from Bevony's tip and immediately called Kuina.
Endgame's intelligence department began operating at full tilt, tracking clues in the North Sea region.
North Sea is vast.
Endgame's current intelligence Power is enough in the New World, but expanding it through the entire North Sea should've been quite a stretch.
But Shano is a transmigrator.
He knew very well: since this is the so-called "Heavenly Celestial Dragon's playground," the site favored by the World Government must be a non-allied nation.
And places like the Four Seas are mostly dominated by allied nations.
Especially in the North Sea.
In recent decades, after successive power struggles between the Germa Family and the Donquixote Family, endless wars have raged.
Under such grim circumstances, only four non-allied nations have made it this far.
This instantly narrowed the search range greatly!
Following this logic, the intelligence department focused on those four countries, and finally, after piecing together a web of clues, they locked in the target—
"Lubunier Kingdom."
Inside Endgame's meeting room, a figure draped in a gray coat bowed respectfully to Shano:
"Sir, this is our intelligence department's final deduction."
He looked around forty—slender build, stern face, subtle scars at the corners of his eyes, and the habit of chewing on an unlit pipe.
His name was Victor, personally chosen by Shano months ago as the department head.
He'd formerly been Deputy Director of the World Government's secret agency CP-5.
He'd even worked alongside Spandam, heading to Water Capital to investigate the whereabouts of Pluton.
But, moved by Fishman Tom's heroic feat in building the sea train, he couldn't bear to see the legendary shipwright be framed and secretly lent a hand.
This incurred Spandam's grudge—a routine framing and setup later, Victor was expelled and hunted down by CP itself, so he faded from public view for years.
Until months ago…
After watching the Shampodi livestream, deeply affected, he took the initiative to head to the New World and joined the Endgame crew.
Relying on his years of spy experience, he quickly helped Endgame build a brand-new, efficient intelligence network from scratch and earned Shano's trust.
Calm and competent, a man you could absolutely count on.
His ability was Zoan-type·Chameleon Fruit. He could conceal his Qi and blend seamlessly into any environment—a natural-born espionage talent.
That's exactly why he's survived the CP Department's pursuit to this day, unscathed.
"Lubunier Kingdom, huh?"
Shano thought for a moment. "I vaguely recall—that's the hometown of King of Lie Noland, the guy who was executed four hundred years ago?"
"Yes, sir. The legend of Golden Land is still a laughingstock there."
Victor nodded faintly, took out a stack of photos from his coat. "This country used to be an allied state for a long time, but decades ago, after missing two consecutive Heavenly Tribute payments, the World Government struck it off permanently. That monarch was even beheaded by Germa Kingdom's army."
"Our informants say that for the past couple weeks, the country appears calm with business as usual, even sea routes aren't blocked off, and prices are all normal."
"But—there've also been frequent comings and goings of CP0 agents, disguised, around the Royal Capital, plus a ton of supplies being transported via secret channels up to the North Coast cliffs."
"Supplies?"
Shano looked at the photos.
The cracks of the Thorny Jungle showed, in blurry detail, a squad of white-coated figures unloading cargo at the cave mouth—every wooden crate bore the World Government's emblem.
"Over a hundred crates. After the CP Department pulled out, our people checked— all filled with provisions, food, Weapons, ammunition, and so on."
"In addition, sir."
Victor said gravely, "We also found a lot of surveillance Radio Snails in the jungles on the Royal Capital's outskirts, all expertly hidden. Clearly, they mean to turn the entire country into a massive hunting ground under their control."
"The timing?"
"No confirmed date yet, but judging from CP0's activity level, it's probably within this week."
"Within a week…"
Shano stood, walked to the window, and gazed north, his eyes growing icy. "A bunch of brainless fools, huh."
The North Sea Lubunier Kingdom is no minor country; it's got over 300,000 people!
Just to let those bubble-headed fat pigs have their fun, the World Government actually intends to turn the entire nation into a hunting ground—utterly deranged!
"Goddamn bastards!"
Standing behind him, Kuina gripped her sword's hilt, cold light flashing in her eyes. "Sir, should we take action right away?"
"Of course."
Shano turned, voice low and resolute:
"Transmit my orders. Combat Corps Units 1 through 12, commence gathering at once! Also, have all undercover lines in the North Sea increase surveillance of nearby waters. Pay special attention to any movement from Mary Geoise—report immediately if anything's off!"
"Yes, sir!"
Kuina and Victor answered in unison and rushed off to carry out their orders.
Shano took one last cold look in the direction of North Sea.
Looks like killing those four Heavenly Celestial Dragons at Shampodi was still too few! Not intimidating enough!
Compared to the massive family of Heavenly Celestial Dragons built up over eight hundred years, that counts for nothing!
No matter. This time, he'll make up for it…
Hunting game?
Heh—with him, and the now-powerful Endgame crew, it's time these fat pigs saw clearly…
Just who is the Hunter in this game!
And who, is the prey!