Chapter 343: Garp's Doubt
Accompanied by Uma's voice spreading across the entire world through the broadcast Transponder Snail.
What followed were exclamations of shock from countless countries around the world.
The meaning behind everything Uma had said carried enormous weight.
"It's one thing for the Fish-Man royalty to be there, but there are actually Giants..."
"Regent, King of the Underworld, and Queen?"
"I've heard of him, it's said that the contemporary King of the Underworld of the Giant race is the son of the previous Giant King, with a physique surpassing normal Giants—it should be that blindfolded guy!"
"So saying, this is all true? The Fish-Man race and the Giant race... have joined 'The Zodiac'?"
To be blunt, just the news at this moment was enough to change the situation of the entire sea.
Who didn't know the strength of the Fish-Man race and the Giant race?
Even the weakest of the Fish-Man race possessed stamina and physical strength tens of times greater than ordinary humans, and could swim in the deep sea—in fact, a large part of why they fetched such high prices as slaves came exactly from this.
And the Giant race went without saying.
After all, Elbaf was publicly recognized as the world's strongest country.
It was said that the army formed by the Giants of Elbaf was said to be a match for the strongest faction of this sea in its prime, 'Marine Headquarters'.
Over the many past years, whether it was the 'Four Emperors' or the 'World Government', they all wanted to draw the Giant race into their camp.
But now, according to Uma, these two races had both allied with The Zodiac.
And this wasn't all.
"The Ship of Stars 'Aster'... should be referring to this giant ship?"
"And the Star Garden Starosia, what is that? An island? Or a stronghold?"
"Are those phantoms that appeared behind 'Uma' just now mirages? Or some kind of ability?"
In that instant, this question almost became the focus of the entire world's attention.
Because anyone with a little bit of understanding and cognition of the world could clearly realize—the news revealed by Uma at this moment was genuinely world-changing information.
The significance of any single word in his speech could rival the birth or fall of a Four Emperor.
Up to today, the power of The Zodiac had long been recognized by the world, and many factions and powerhouses had already evaluated and investigated The Zodiac.
In the evaluations, The Zodiac was naturally a faction not to be trifled with—just from the fact that a mere six Zodiac members were enough to kill a Four Emperor, every Zodiac member was currently confirmed to be a top-tier powerhouse on the sea.
But until now, The Zodiac had always had a very fundamental problem.
And that was they were too mysterious.
Other than the major incidents they caused when appearing, their existence had almost never been discovered by anyone in the world.
They were like a group of ghosts, shocking the sea and demonstrating their presence on one hand, but never truly showing their faces on the other.
There were even some claims on the sea that The Zodiac itself might not exist, but was merely an organization fabricated by a few powerhouses for unknown purposes.
But now, facts told them... their thoughts were completely wrong.
The Zodiac not only existed, but even had a flagship named 'Aster'—it was an island ship as massive as a continent, and for some reason, had deep-sea Sea Kings acting as escorts.
The Zodiac also had their own headquarters. Although it was impossible to confirm whether it was an island or somewhere else, in short, it seemed to be a stronghold named 'Starosia'.
This made quite a few people continuously guess in their hearts that The Zodiac not only truly existed, but had almost certainly been developing in secret for many years just like the Revolutionary Army.
And more crucially...
"The Giant race and the Fish-Man race have already joined them."
This news made the nobles of many kingdoms in the world shudder even more.
It's no exaggeration to say—relying on the armies of the Fish-Man race and the Giant race, plus the individual strengths of The Zodiac and the Star Lord, powerhouses whose strength had already surpassed comprehension, this combination was already enough to overwhelm almost any country on the sea, even...
"With this kind of strength, even the Four Emperors are completely incomparable. What do these people want to do in the future?"
"They can almost declare war directly on the World Government, right!?"
Thinking of the things The Zodiac had always done, a portion of observant people could glimpse this bone-chilling truth.
Everyone's gazes slowly shifted towards the direction of Mary Geoise.
After the Void Century, the world had been ruled by the World Government for a full 800 years.
During these 800 years, countless powerhouses had emerged, including legendary figures like Rocks, the Pirate King, and the Four Emperors, but they could never truly shake the authority of the World Government.
And now, a behemoth truly capable of directly clashing with the World Government had already begun to take shape!
Of course, this wasn't all.
Because to the vast majority of ordinary people.
They actually didn't care much whether the World Government's rule was shaken, nor did they care whether Kings and nobles were worried and afraid—that was all too remote from their lives.
So what they heard was actually Uma's final words.
"Starting today, this ship will sail the world?"
"Anyone can board the ship and enter the 'Star Garden' to undergo trials, and as long as the trial is successful, their wish can be fulfilled?"
If these words were spoken by an ordinary person, they would clearly have no credibility whatsoever, sounding like something out of a fairy tale.
But coming from the mouth of The Zodiac, coupled with the horrifying spectacle on the broadcast screen right now, the situation was different.
Just like the Pirate King Roger's final words before his death that made people madly rush to the sea.
Over the past year or so, people all over the world had witnessed with their own eyes the spectacular feats accomplished by The Zodiac.
Plundering the Heavenly Tribute, eliminating Seven Warlords, assassinating Kings, establishing Neverland, overthrowing a Four Emperor... the things they had done were countless, and they had long possessed a reputation rivaling that of the Pirate King.
Especially that mysterious Star Lord—the miraculous power of that single strike piercing through the Red Line, its scar still marked the Red Line to this day.
So, people's hearts were moved!
Especially those people who had long been oppressed by royalty and nobles and lived in pain, this was even more true—and regrettably, the number of such people on the sea even constituted the majority.
"Do you think these words are true? Why do I feel like it's a conspiracy?"
"Of course it's true—when has The Zodiac ever gone back on their words?"
"Conspiracy? What do you have for others to conspire against?"
"If that ship can truly come to the sea area I'm in, I must definitely get on it... My Ranni died of illness two years ago, I... I want to see her one more time!"
"Forget about wishes, I heard 'Neverland' is where The Zodiac 'Sheep' lives, I want some Fountain of Youth water to give to my mother!"
Across the entire sea, conversations like this were almost everywhere at this moment.
At the same time, the portion of observant people from earlier turned their attention to another place.
And that was...
"How will the Government react to this?"
They knew this was the true crux of the problem.
The Zodiac appearing in such a high-profile manner, from any angle, was undoubtedly a provocation to the World Government!
And what Uma said, that starting today the 'Aster' would sail the seas, was something even the Four Emperors didn't dare to do in the past—even for the Four Emperors, their territory was confined to the New World.
Unlike the disturbances on the sea.
Right now within the Star Hunter Unit...
"No news at all?"
Sabaody Archipelago, former Star Hunter Unit Command Headquarters.
The archipelago that had existed here for hundreds of years had sunk along with the Sunlight Tree Eve during the giant waves and natural disasters earlier.
Now, there were only the coated ships of the Star Hunter Unit that had resurfaced.
Leading among them was a warship with a dog head bow.
That was naturally Garp's own warship—after he assumed the position of Commander of the Star Hunter Unit, this warship 'HQ-3', which originally belonged to the Marines, logically joined the Star Hunter Unit as well.
And right now, on the warship.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp... there is no news at all from the Government's side. I asked Admiral Borsalino, and he also hasn't received orders to act."
Garp was sitting squarely on the bow of the ship, and his adjutant Bogard was reporting to him beside him.
"This is certainly miraculous."
Hearing this, Garp stroked his stubbly chin and couldn't help but say: "Are those guys in the Government actually sitting so still this time?"
In all fairness, although Garp didn't know the full picture, as the Commander of the Star Hunter Unit he knew more intelligence than most.
For example, he knew that the cause of this incident was the World Government wanting to destroy 'Fish-Man Island' and the 'Sunlight Tree Eve'.
Judging from the current situation, the Sunlight Tree Eve might indeed have been successfully destroyed by Roy.
But before the Government could act against the fleeing Fish-Men, Fish-Man Island was saved by The Zodiac.
For some reason, Garp's first reaction was actually a sigh of relief.
His next thought was that the Government would immediately make a move against The Zodiac.
But the fact was that neither he nor Kizaru, who was right in the nearby sea area, had received orders from the Government to act.
"Mm... how strange."
Garp muttered like this, but he didn't feel anxious either.
Thinking back and forth, he attributed his initial emotion to a quiet sense of relief—if possible, he also didn't wish for Fish-Man Island to be destroyed by the Government.
"Hahaha, those guys from The Zodiac, although they are dangerous guys, they do things quite well."
Thinking of this, the old man also burst into hearty laughter.
"Vice Admiral Garp, we should now..."
Bogard beside him, however, familiarly ignored his superior's words and asked with some hesitation.
With no orders from the World Government, how to proceed was Garp's call.
"Hah?"
Garp glanced at Bogard as if looking at an idiot: "Since the Government hasn't even issued orders, why should we worry about it?"
While speaking, he picked his nose: "This old man actually has an interest in fighting The Zodiac, but under these circumstances, there's no need."
Saying so, he looked to the side: "Notify all members of the Star Hunter Unit, do not attack, first send the civilians to a safe place!"
Bogard also instantly understood Garp's meaning.
Because at this time, beside Garp's warship, the head of a giant Sea King at least a thousand meters long had already poked out.
Its gaze burned as it looked at Garp and the warship here—very clearly, as long as they showed hostility, this Deep-sea Sea King would immediately attack.
Of course, although Deep-sea Sea Kings are terrifying.
As a top-tier powerhouse of the sea, Garp wouldn't go so far as to fear it.
However, Garp not being afraid didn't mean the other ships of the Star Hunter Unit weren't afraid—one must know, every single warship of the Star Hunter Unit right now was carrying a considerable number of civilians from the nearby sea area.
Logically enough, as long as the World Government didn't issue commands, Garp naturally had no reason to attack at a time like this.
"But then again, The Zodiac said this ship will sail the sea... with this kind of size, even with Sea Kings escorting it, that wouldn't be easy to do, right?"
But then, Garp looked curiously at the Aster.
Although he saw the Aster surface from beneath the sea with his own eyes—could a ship of this size really move smoothly on the sea?
And exactly when Garp said this.
VMMM!
Everyone present saw simultaneously.
On that continent-like island ship, movement had already begun.
They saw that massive island ship seemingly act like a living creature, its form beginning to change.
A tail fin grew out of thin air at the bottom of the island ship, and above the ship, flickering starlight, both real and illusory, sprinkled down on the surrounding sea surface.
Any sea surface sprinkled with starlight took on a transparent hue resembling a dream.
And it wasn't just the sea surface—even the giant Sea Kings swimming near the Aster were also covered by starlight at this moment, their figures gradually becoming translucent.
Quickly...
VMMM!
The tail fin swayed, and that giant ship, like the King of all Sea Kings, began to move amidst the surrounding Sea Kings.
"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"
That familiar drumbeat sounded again, and the speed at which that massive giant ship sailed became faster and faster.
But what was bizarre was.
Although the giant ship had already started to advance and accelerate, its passing didn't generate massive waves or smash the reefs it passed by as Garp expected.
On the contrary.
When this ship moved, it did so in complete silence, without a single wave — if they didn't actually see that ship moving, and even saw Giants and Fish-Men standing on it, the surrounding sea barely registered its presence.
It and those Sea Kings even passed right through all the reefs in their path.
Like a mirage converged from starlight, it gradually sailed away from this sea area.
"It really left..."
And Garp, looking at the back of that ship gradually moving further away, also shook his head: "The Zodiac... truly strange guys."
Without a doubt.
The sudden actions of The Zodiac this time, and the bizarre attitude of the World Government, left even old Garp feeling that something was off.
"What exactly... are these guys scheming?"
(End of Chapter)
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