"Whatever~~~"
Hog shrugged. He didn't care either way. He was just the muscle—wherever the captain pointed, he punched.
"What do you mean 'whatever'? Haven't you all been saying you wanted a fight? There are tons of top-tier warriors here. Aren't you even a little interested?" Ryuen asked, clearly surprised and a bit annoyed.
"Brother Ryuen, don't forget—you belong to me now." Nami said sweetly.
Then, the seven women giggled and made their way toward the commercial district of Island #1, leaving Ryuen behind.
"Forget it, no need to argue with a woman. By the way, Hogg, how much Belly do you have on you right now?" Ryuen said generously.
"I've got about 500,000. Why?" Hogg blurted out, then immediately realized something and looked at Ryuen warily.
"500,000?"
"I've got over 300,000 too. That should be enough. I'm taking you to drink the best liquor around here!" Ryuen ignored Hogg's cautious stare, thought for a moment, then grabbed him and started heading toward Island 13.
"The best liquor? Really?" Hogg's eyes lit up, instantly forgetting that Ryuen was eyeing his money.
"Of course! If we're lucky, we might even catch the owner overcharging someone…"
The two of them walked further and further away.
At the same time, countless birds began spreading out across Sabaody Archipelago.
But they weren't looking for the spies following Ryuen. They were going after the people behind those spies!
Ryuen wasn't planning to let any malicious ones go.
He knew that right now, Sabaody Archipelago was full of people who either wanted revenge against them or were simply curious to see them in person.
And those curious ones… he couldn't just get rid of them carelessly.
The arrival of the Dream Exploration Group at Sabaody Archipelago was something no force in the sea could ignore.
They were that famous now.
Just the orphanage incident alone had earned them endless gratitude from countless people across the sea.
———
On Island 1, inside a talent recruitment agency.
Doflamingo chuckled.
"Fufufufu… So they've finally arrived? I've been waiting for this for a long time. They dared to harm my family—there's no way they're getting away without paying a price. Are those guys here?" Doflamingo turned to a nearby World Government officer.
"They've arrived. Four of them, and they've brought ten CP0 guards with them," the officer reported with his head lowered.
"Ten CP0… Along with us and some other forces… That should be enough, right?" Doflamingo muttered.
His face looked calm, but behind his sunglasses, his eyes were filled with cold malice.
The World Government officer didn't dare respond.
After all, he had once been part of the Donquixote Family back when Doflamingo still lived in Mary Geoise.
"Doffy, what should we do now?" Trebol asked.
"For now, we do nothing. Let those guys make the first move—we just need to keep an eye on them. Violet, you can handle that, right?" Doflamingo turned to a dark-skinned woman with a curvy figure.
"No problem. I can track their movements now," Violet nodded.
But none of them noticed that the agency manager's pet parrot had recorded everything that had just been said.
———
Meanwhile, on Island 1's port…
Two major figures had just arrived!
A pirate ship with a dragon-shaped figurehead and a small coffin boat appeared at the same time, instantly throwing the entire port into chaos.
People backed away in fear, not wanting to get caught up in whatever was about to happen.
The people of Sabaody Archipelago weren't as clueless as those from the Paradise or the Four Seas. They knew exactly who the strongest figures in the world were.
And more importantly, both of their ships had just shown up here!
"Hawkeye?"
"Wait… Why are you here?" Shanks looked at Mihawk in surprise.
He had discussed the Dream Exploration Group with Beckman before. There were definitely many people in the New World who were either interested in them or wary of them.
Their reputation was huge, their strength was a mystery, but one thing was certain—they weren't simple.
That was the general view of the New World regarding the Dream Exploration Group. If this force entered the New World, would it affect the existing powers? That was something everyone there had to consider.
Because of that, Shanks and Beckman expected that once the Dream Exploration Group arrived at Sabaody Archipelago, plenty of forces from the New World would come to investigate.
But what they didn't expect… was that even Mihawk would show up.
Hawkeye didn't answer right away. His sharp, hawk-like eyes glanced at Shanks' empty left sleeve.
This man was a left-hander, yet he had lost his sword arm in East Blue. Back then, it had shocked him for quite a while.
"Hey!"
"Hawkeye, I lost an arm, not my sleeve!" Shanks felt uneasy under that piercing gaze.
Hawkeye withdrew his eyes and said in a cold voice, "There's a promising young swordsman here."
After saying that, he didn't explain further and simply left the port on his own. Meanwhile, the dockworkers hurried in panic to secure the loose pipes and boards.
"A promising young swordsman?" Shanks was puzzled.
"I think he's here for that female swordsman from the Dream Exploration Crew. There aren't many young swordmasters of her level out there right now," Beckman said slowly.
"You mean that girl, Shimotsuki Kuina?" Lucky Roux asked from the side.
"So that's who he's after… Shimotsuki… That's not a simple name in Wano Country." Hearing the name, Shanks suddenly had a look of realization.
"Let's go. First, we'll meet with my former vice-captain, Rayleigh. After that, we'll have a little chat with their captain…"
With that, Shanks led his crew away from the port.
At the same time, news that the Four Emperors' Red-Haired Shanks and the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, had arrived at Sabaody Archipelago spread quickly through the reporters stationed there.
Since Sabaody Archipelago was under the control of the World Government, the well-informed Marines had already started holding high-level meetings over the matter.
On the other side, at the talent recruitment agency, Doflamingo was also caught off guard upon hearing that Shanks and Mihawk had both arrived at Sabaody. He was full of questions.
More than that, he felt uneasy.
After all, he had planned to take care of the Dream Exploration Crew here!
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