"What… happened here?"
Over an hour later, high in the sky above the sea near Queen of Spring City, Sabo sat cross-legged on the back of a crow, his pupils contracting as he swept his gaze over the scene below.
On the vast sea surface within sight, he saw shattered, listing pirate ships.
He saw pirate flags and sails floating on the waves.
He saw broken keels, masts, and decks.
And he saw the corpses of pirates, drifting in the water, looking as if they had only recently died.
Without exception, the expressions on the faces of these dead pirates were filled with despair and terror.
One could easily imagine what kind of terrifying opponent they had faced before their deaths.
"I don't know. But… look over there, people are washing down the ground near the port. The battle seems to be over."
The usually quiet Crow suddenly spoke.
His voice was so soft that if Sabo hadn't long been used to it, he wouldn't have been able to hear him at all.
"It's already over? What was the outcome of this battle? Is old man Jonathan alright?"
Sabo narrowed his eyes, looking toward the distant harbor.
In his heart, he was worried about Jonathan.
After all, according to the leader, that old man was already eighty-seven years old this year.
"Crow, fly higher so we don't get spotted. Let's get closer and take a look… huh? Wait! What's that?"
Just as Sabo was about to tell Crow to fly higher and approach the airspace above Queen of Spring City, out of the corner of his eye he suddenly saw a large, fat figure floating on the sea, drifting back and forth with the rising and falling waves.
If you didn't look carefully, you might mistake it for a giant pufferfish.
But Sabo, with his sharp eyes, upon recognizing the fat corpse's build and appearance, was shocked to his core, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Crow! That person… if I'm not mistaken, that's Chinjao the Drill, right?"
Sabo wasn't entirely sure.
Crow flapped his wings and brought them closer, hovering just three or four meters above the corpse.
Looking down at the plump giant man, soaked by the sea, with his flat-topped head and the signature number '12' on his left eye — the symbol of the 12th generation pillar of the Happo Navy —
Both Sabo and Crow fell silent.
After a long pause, Sabo finally murmured in a strained voice, "The legendary pirate of the old era, Chinjao the Drill… a brutal guy with a bounty over 500 million Berries… he's actually dead. Who killed him? Was it old man Jonathan?"
"Perhaps. After all, the opponent was once the world-renowned King of Hunters. Anyway, let's go over and see what's happening."
Crow muttered softly, then with a flap of his black wings, shot up into the sky with Sabo.
Soon, they were hovering several hundred meters above the busy Queen of Spring City.
Directly below them, a large crowd was cleaning up the harbor battlefield and clearing the ruins in the city.
Both Sabo and Crow noticed the specks of white scattered among the crowd.
"Marines! Could it be that the Marines helped end this fairly large-scale battle so quickly?"
Sabo's expression shifted slightly.
"But looking at the number of Marines below, it seems like there are only a few hundred at most. And the pirates that Grelov gathered this time were said to total over twenty thousand. Among them were Chinjao and the powerful Grelov himself." Crow didn't seem to agree with Sabo's idea.
But soon, the two almost simultaneously thought of a possibility.
"Marine Admiral!"
They practically spoke in unison, voicing what was on their minds.
To them, the only way the Marines could crush a twenty-thousand-strong pirate fleet led by two powerful figures in such a short time was if one of the Marine Admirals, the highest combat strength of Marine Headquarters, had been involved.
"Huh? I see old man Jonathan! That's great — he's okay. Crow, let's find a more concealed place to land. I want to go over and check."
Sabo spotted Jonathan standing on the harbor below and immediately patted the black crow beneath him.
"Wouldn't that be too risky? If there's really a Marine Admiral in Queen of Spring City, we'd be in danger."
Crow hesitated slightly.
"Taking a bit of risk is worth it. Don't forget how much we owe old man Jonathan. We didn't even make it in time for the battle. If we don't at least go take a look, we'd really have no face left."
Rorschach's sleep was deep and heavy — it wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that he finally woke up.
As he stretched his sore body and stepped out of the room where he had rested the night before, he was surprised to find that the city streets, which had been terribly damaged in yesterday's battle, had already been repaired about seventy to eighty percent.
This made even Rorschach marvel at the determination and efficiency of the city's residents in restoring their home.
But as he rubbed his rumbling stomach and walked to the harbor, he was surprised to see a large group of familiar figures, hammering and working busily on the docks.
Out on the sea, two sea trains — one new and one old — were docked.
"Mr. Iceburg? Pauly? When did you all get here?"
Rorschach walked forward in surprise, looking at Iceburg, who was busy and drenched in sweat, and Pauly, who was directing the shipwrights from the outer Marine ring of Water 7 — that is, the Galley-La Company shipwrights.
"Rear Admiral Rorschach!"
Hearing the voice, Iceburg looked up and, upon seeing Rorschach, immediately broke into a smile.
Not far away, Pauly, seeing Rorschach appear, was even more excited. He hurriedly ran over, stood up straight, and gave a crisp military salute.
"Rear Admiral Rorschach! The entire Marine force of the Water 7 branch is here. Please give us your orders!"
"Pauly, what are you doing? I'm not your direct superior — I don't have the authority to give you orders. You're a branch commander of a Marine base now…"
Rorschach smiled wryly.
But before he could finish speaking, Pauly cut him off.
Pauly's face was full of excitement as he raised his voice and shouted, "Rear Admiral Rorschach! I've witnessed the justice you uphold! You will always be my commanding officer! Please give us your orders!"
"Rear Admiral Rorschach! Please give us your orders!"
Behind Pauly, two loud voices — Oimo and Kashii — stood tall alongside a large group of shipwrights dressed in Marine uniforms. Following Pauly's lead, they stood up straight, raised their hands in salute, and loudly called out.
Their voices were so loud, it was as if they shook the air around them with a buzzing vibration.
"Uh… you all keep doing your work, help restore the city to normal life and order, yes, that's it."
Rorschach felt a bit creeped out by these fanatical-looking folks and hurriedly threw out a few casual words.
"Yes! We will strictly follow the rear admiral's instructions! We will complete the task perfectly!"
Pengen immediately turned around and led the shipwrights back to work.
Rorschach wasn't sure if it was just his imagination — but it seemed like these shipwrights were suddenly working much faster.
And far away, throughout the city and along the port, the bustling crowds, stirred by Pengen and the others' loud shouting, all lifted their heads and looked over.
In an instant, waves of people, countless fiery gazes, converged on him.
The fanatic look in those eyes made Rorschach feel utterly uncomfortable.
"What's going on with everyone?" Rorschach scratched his head in confusion.
Iceberg wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel draped around his neck and smiled at the sulking Rorschach. "Isn't it because Rear Admiral Rorschach has once again done something earthshaking?"
"Earthshaking?" Rorschach twitched the corner of his mouth. "That's way too exaggerated, isn't it?"
"Exaggerated?" Iceberg laughed and shook his head. "Not at all. Defeating a pirate grand fleet of twenty thousand people all by yourself — in everyone's eyes, that's already a god-like feat."
"Who said that? When did I single-handedly defeat a fleet of twenty thousand? It was obviously all of us working together that won the battle."
"Come on, Rear Admiral Rorschach, don't be so modest. You turned the tide, saving Queen Spring City from the hands of the brutal pirate fleet."
Iceberg raised his hand and pointed toward the crowd. "These are all royal city residents and your naval soldiers, and they all said it themselves. Haha, we've been hearing all about your heroic deeds in yesterday's battle all night. Now you understand why everyone is looking at you with that kind of fanatical, worshipful gaze, don't you?"
As he spoke, Iceberg teasingly pointed to a large group of girls not far away.
"See? Look at how those girls are staring at you."
"Huh?"
Rorschach looked over, a bit blankly, and saw a large group of girls he'd never met before standing there, staring at him with eyes that looked like they might pounce at any second.
When he looked over, he even heard some girls squeal — and then faint softly to the ground.
And it wasn't just one.
"What the hell, what's going on here?"
Rorschach was completely dumbfounded.
"These are all lovestruck young girls who, after hearing about your heroic deeds, were pushed by their parents and families to come here, hoping to marry you. Well? Tempted yet?"
Iceberg smiled cheerfully at Rorschach — but then suddenly froze.
Because right in front of him, Rorschach had already disappeared.
Iceberg turned his head and saw that the young naval officer who had just been here was now running awkwardly back into the city, head down.
"Haha, young hero, beloved by all."
Iceberg's face carried a warm smile.
In his eyes, just like in everyone else's, there was genuine admiration for Rorschach.
On the opposite side of the royal city, away from the port —
Rorschach moved like the wind, slipping through the city, dodging the crowds, and arriving at the deserted seaside.
"Those women are too scary. That look in their eyes — it's like they wanted to eat me alive."
Rorschach let out a long breath, recalling the brief encounter just now with a look of lingering fear.
He really couldn't handle being stared at by everyone with that goosebump-inducing gaze.
It was like being stripped naked, smeared with honey, and thrown onto an anthill.
Absolutely unbearable!
Gurgle gurgle…
"Uh, I'm hungry."
Rorschach clutched his empty stomach, thinking about whether he should go back and find Sera and the others to get some food.
But just then, Rorschach suddenly noticed a few sneaky figures among the distant seaside rocks, whispering and talking.
The other party was so focused on their conversation that they didn't even notice Rorschach spotting them.
"Huh? That old guy Jonathan — who's he talking to?"
When Rorschach got a good look at the two people speaking with Jonathan, his brows instantly lifted.
"Those two… should be Sabo and the Revolutionary Army North Army Commander, Crow, right? Why would Revolutionary Army members be mixed up with that old guy Jonathan? Wait… actually, that's not impossible."
Rorschach suddenly remembered something Jonathan had accidentally let slip yesterday in the underground treasury passage.
"Manpower might not cut it, but don't forget, there are Devil Fruit abilities in this world that defy reason."
Indeed, there were quite a few ability users in this world who could easily create such massive underground spaces.
And among the Revolutionary Army, there just happened to be a Paramecia-type Push Push Fruit user — the Revolutionary Army West Army Commander, Giant Morley.
The Impel Down Kamabakka Queendom was pushed out by her ability.
Thinking of this, Rorschach suddenly smirked and then abruptly raised his voice in a loud shout:
"Alright, Jonathan, you old fox! You're actually colluding with the Revolutionary Army! Caught you red-handed this time!"
(End of Chapter)
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