"Are you alright, Saul?"
On the sea, a dark-complexioned white-haired woman was looking with a worried expression at an enormous man.
"Olvia…" Jaguar D. Saul — a gentle-natured giant Vice Admiral of the Marines.
But that had been a few days ago. By now, he was probably a wanted traitor of the Marines himself. Thinking of that, Saul sighed.
But he was naturally optimistic and didn't dwell on it. Instead, he asked directly:
"Olvia, where are we right now?" He looked up and realized he was on a ship's deck, so he quickly asked.
Saul had originally been the Marine officer sent to capture Olvia.
He'd actually succeeded in catching her, but after talking with Olvia, he felt his sense of justice was in conflict. So he'd single-handedly sunk two warships and let Olvia escape.
Saul remembered passing out from falling into the sea. He never expected to open his eyes and see Olvia right beside him.
Had they ultimately failed to escape the Marines' pursuit after all?
"We're on an Inazuma ship!" Olvia saw through Saul's worry and explained, "Actually, they contacted me half a year ago, but I didn't respond at the time — I wanted to be cautious. I never imagined…"
At the time, Olvia had been something of a skittish bird. A mysterious force reaching out to her — of course she hadn't dared make a move.
But to think they'd appeared at such a critical moment and saved her life.
Olvia didn't know much about pirate affairs, but at this point she was willing to try anything.
Saul, on the other hand, frowned and asked: "Inazuma?"
Honestly, a Marine like him who held firm to his sense of justice naturally had little fondness for pirates. And Inazuma was classified by the World Government as a pirate crew — a great pirate crew at that!
So great that even the slightest move from Inazuma could shift the balance of the entire sea!
The current sea wasn't like the future. The New World pirates hadn't yet established a stable balance among themselves. The Seven Warlords had taken office, but they weren't playing much of a role yet.
The Seven Warlords system was something the World Government had created to try to contain the new generation of pirate forces.
Mihawk, Katakuri, and Doflamingo were specifically meant to deal with those greenhorn pirates who'd just entered the New World. Basically, any supernova who ran into them was as good as dead.
The remaining four could barely scrape by in Paradise, bullying clueless little pirates. Trying to use them to restrain Ren and Whitebeard? That was a pipe dream.
Give it another twenty years, and maybe.
The Seven Warlords bundled together did have Yonko-level combat power, but the problem was those seven weren't of one mind. Even tied together, most of them would just phone it in.
It meant nothing for already-established forces.
And for the new generation of pirates, the impact wouldn't show for several more years.
So when Saul heard the word "Inazuma," he was clearly surprised.
Just then, a woman slowly stepped out.
Jasmine squinted, tilting her head up to look at the enormous human in front of her, and said with mild displeasure: "Do you have a problem with Inazuma?"
Saul looked down at the woman before him, running through the wanted posters he'd memorized several times in his head. He couldn't match her to any of them. Could she be someone without a bounty?
He was a bit puzzled but didn't think much of it.
For this mission, Ren hadn't sent Yukiko and the others.
In truth, their bounties had also gone up a little after the battle in Totto Land.
Those four, plus the returning Shutendouji, were among Inazuma's most prominent figures. The Marines, the World Government, and even the World Economy News all paid them close attention.
By comparison, Ren himself had cultivated an image of being reclusive as far as the Marines were concerned.
It was actually similar on Whitebeard's side. That old man rarely fought personally these days. In a few more years, not just Whitebeard himself but the entire Whitebeard Pirates would gradually fade into the background.
With neither side sending out their commanders, Whitebeard's division leaders and Inazuma's Fatui naturally became the most watched figures in the entire New World. Whenever the World Economy News spotted them making a move, they'd speculate about these great powers' intentions.
Then came a string of reports…
Not exactly false, but with plenty of "reasonable" speculation…
Saori, Jasmine, and even Iris still had no bounties to this day. The first two didn't have much combat ability anyway — ever since setting sail, they'd either been handling paperwork on Seirai Island or traveling around with Ren.
Iris had always styled herself as Ren's personal bodyguard, but that position was about as useful as that one Mongolian Marine Admiral — completely useless.
Iris (tactical lean-back): What does a real Seven Warlord even look like?!
So Jaguar D. Saul had no impression of Jasmine at all. But plenty of pirate crews had people like that — handled odd jobs, served as ship's doctor or cook, no combat ability. He didn't find it strange.
He said: "Young lady, let me meet this ship's captain."
Whether to thank them for saving him or to decide whether to take Olvia and leave, Saul intended to meet whoever was in charge first.
Even though he'd technically betrayed the Marines, he didn't have any particular fondness for pirates either. He could even be described as deeply wary of them.
He hadn't dealt with Inazuma much before, but he did know about the time his friend Aokiji had been intercepted by Inazuma's people in Totto Land.
The result was Totto Land's destruction, and the fires in Totto Land waters had been spreading for over three months now.
If Inazuma was going to get involved in the Ohara situation too, then even setting aside the uniform he used to wear, Saul owed it to his own sense of justice to meet whoever was running this ship.
But his words enraged Jasmine!
"Hah?! Who are you looking down on?!"
"I'm the captain!"
Jasmine puffed up and shouted.
This big guy was so annoying! Did she not look like a captain to him?!
Infuriating!
Her strength wasn't bad, after all. She might not match Yukiko and the others, but she'd mastered two types of Haki and was no weaker than some of the Marines' commodores!
"You're this ship's captain?" Saul said in surprise.
He never expected Inazuma to send over a young girl who didn't even have a bounty. He'd assumed that no matter how much Inazuma downplayed this, they'd at least send someone from the Fatui Harbingers or the Skirmishers.
[
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