Kuina nodded. "If he's been a pirate hunter in the East Blue all this time, his progress shouldn't be that great."
She also deeply resonated with Hera's words; her own rapid progress was because she followed Hera to various places to challenge strong opponents, which was why she grew so quickly.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Hera said, "Set out."
Nami sat in her usual chair in the control room, connected the power supply to start providing electricity, and asked Hera, "Captain, where are we going this time?"
Hera didn't speak for a moment, then after thinking for a bit, said, "I remember a Kid Pirate Crew from the South Blue that seems to have been making quite a stir lately. Do we have their location?"
Upon hearing this, Nami dialed the Marine Intelligence Department to inquire.
After the inquiry, she told Hera, "According to the intel, they should be heading towards the Sabaody Archipelago. Their sailing position can be roughly deduced."
Hera said, "Then let's set out. We'll take a slight detour on the way to the Alabasta Kingdom to see if we can find them."
Nami looked for the eternal pose for the Alabasta Kingdom, placed it on the map, and activated the argo's auto-navigation function.
Ain asked curiously, "Which pirates are they? Have they been targeted by you as soon as they entered the Grand Line?"
Hera said, "I'm going to see a childhood friend. How can I not prepare a meeting gift?"
Ain suppressed her curiosity after hearing this.
On the other side, on the going merry, Luffy and the others were bidding farewell to the Okama they were leaving, also sailing towards Alabasta.
After hearing Hera's purpose, Reiju checked some information. A copy of the newspapers from every region would be sent to Hera, which she usually just threw into the argo's database.
Looking at the data on Alabasta, Reiju's brow furrowed: "This country is suffering from a severe water shortage right now. If this continues, internal strife is very likely to occur."
Ain also looked and asked Hera, "The Shichibukai Sir Crocodile is also there. Are we going to find him?"
Hera nodded. "Crocodile wants to steal the country of Alabasta to find something. Our trip this time is also to stop him."
Kuina was a bit worried. "Do you have evidence? He is currently a Shichibukai. Without evidence, we cannot act rashly."
Hera said, "Don't worry. Once we get there, someone will help us find the evidence."
Kuina remembered the pirates Hera mentioned: "Are you talking about Zoro and the others?"
Hera nodded. "That's right. The Straw Hat Pirates will help us find evidence of Crocodile's crimes, and what we need to do is ensure this country doesn't fall into civil war."
Hera intended to use Crocodile's Baroque Works to train Luffy and the others, but she couldn't let Alabasta's civil war break out. On the other hand, Hera hadn't seen Luffy for a long time, so this was a good chance to see his progress.
Nami steered the argo forward, while also searching for the movements of the Kid Pirate Crew Hera mentioned.
Not long after sailing, a dark shadow appeared on the argo's radar. Ain used the Float-Float Fruit to fly up, standing in the sky looking at the shadow, and discovered a Pirate Crew's ship with a huge skull decoration.
Ain reported the news of the Pirate Crew she saw to Hera, mentioning that the pirate flag's design was a blue gear, with a skull in the center whose mouth had a stitched pattern.
Hera knew she had found the target she was looking for.
Meanwhile, on the Kid Pirate Crew's ship, Kid's close friend Killer looked at the sky; he seemed to have just felt a gaze from above.
Looking at the clear sky, suddenly, a shadow flew towards the Kid Pirate Crew's Victoria Punk.
As the shadow drew closer, everyone on the Victoria Punk saw clearly that it was a ship flying in the sky—more accurately, a Marine warship.
A pirate who looked remarkably like a zombie reported to Kid: "Boss Kid, a warship flying in the sky is rushing towards us."
Kid, with Red Hair, wearing goggles on his head and a black overcoat, walked out of the cabin: "Oh, Heat, have you had too much to drink? How could a warship be floating in the air?"
After Kid stepped out of the cabin, the scene before him made his mouth drop open in shock, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
After the initial surprise, Kid became excited: "Quick, brothers, we're going to attack and seize this ship! Once we know the secret of how this ship can fly, who else on this sea can beat us?"
Kid used Magnetism to control the metal on his ship, wanting to build a bridge to the warship, while his other hand assembled a mechanical cannon to blast the argo.
"Marines on that ship, get the hell out here!"
Before the members of the Kid Pirate Crew could attack along the platform Kid had built, they discovered to their horror that the sky had turned dark.
The City of Devouring Time enveloped the area. Hera and her companions stepped off the ship onto the air. In mid-air, Hera spoke: "Oh? Who did you say should get the hell out?"
Kid suddenly felt the metal he was controlling being pulled by another force; it was Ain's Float-Float Fruit, and she was fighting him for control.
The pirates who had just climbed onto the steps were shaken off, falling onto the deck and being dragged into the darkness by the City of Devouring Time.
Seeing his companions disappear into the shadows upon the first encounter, Kid roared angrily, "You bastard, where did you send my partners?"
Hera said indifferently, "They're dead, of course. Probably on their way to hell by now."
Killer, wearing a mask and having long blonde hair, recognized Hera: "This height, this rank... there's no mistake. You're the youngest Marine Vice Admiral, Hera, aren't you?"
"How could a powerhouse like you end up in the first half of the Grand Line?"
Hera was originally quite happy to be recognized, and her mood improved, but when she heard that Killer had actually recognized her by her height, that happiness immediately turned into rage.
'Saikū' converged in Hera's hand as she landed on the Victoria Punk. With a flash of her body, she was already in front of Killer. Her white military saber glowed with a dark red light as she delivered a slash.
Even Killer, known as the 'Massacre Soldier', couldn't withstand Hera's wrathful strike. His black Armament Haki was shattered in one blow, and he collapsed, spitting blood, his fate unknown.
Seeing Killer severely injured in a single exchange and slowly sinking into the City of Devouring Time, Kid roared, "Hera, you bastard!"
Haoshoku erupted from his body, pressing down on Hera. For a moment, Ain was shaken by Kid's aura, and her Float-Float Fruit ability was suppressed by the Haoshoku. Kid finally assembled his ultimate move.
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