"That's something you can waive too!"
He glanced around at everyone, spread his arms, and grinned, "Join me!"
"I am short on personnel, lacking quite a few subordinates on the way to the New World, become my subordinates. We're all Pirates, but there is only one Pirate King forever. You may look down on the Sea Emperor and the Navy Admiral of the old era, but you cannot ignore me who is in the same era as you!"
People of the new era will always challenge the old era, but as of the same era...
"The difference between us is too great, so much so that I believe you are not qualified to challenge me. So, join me! Only then can I become the Pirate King!"
The fallen Urouge trembled for a moment, just about to clench his fist and attack, but Sage took his hand and pulled him up, quickly tapping him, making Urouge stiff in place.
"Especially you, my cook's hand is broken, you will bear this loss..."
He sneered at Urouge, who was much taller than him, "With such big build, you should be able to carry a lot of spoils. You must sell yourself to me."
Others can be handled slowly, Sage can demand money or people.
Mortal life or whatnot, right now is not the time to consider it. After all, not everyone can fully develop the Op-Op Fruit, we can talk about that later if the thought arises.
He is still so young!
Not yet in the stage where you worry about your own aging with such feeble will!
By contrast, money is important.
But as for Urouge who broke his cook's fingers, he cannot let him go easily.
Judging from this guy's eyes, he doesn't seem as defiantly unruly as that red-haired fellow.
And judging by the outfit, he's a monk...
Monks are good.
He already has a fortune-teller; adding a monk specializing in rituals can boost his fortune, making him seem less unlucky.
"D-Dreadful fellow!"
At this moment, Kid barely managed to pull his head out from the tree roots on the ground, glaring fiercely at Sage and shouted, "I will never join you, I am..."
Poof!
A sound pierced through his flesh from behind, causing him to collapse once again.
Lucci appeared behind him, with a finger stained with blood. He glanced at the fallen one, slightly frowned, stepped over him, and walked to Sage's side.
"Have you gathered enough information?" Sage asked.
Unlike the Pirates, after CP9 deployed in Shampodi, they went to gather robbery intelligence; they are the professionals in this area, unlike other underlings who play while watching, not comparable to them.
Although the place is quite big, it's not easy to gather everything.
"Not yet, but... what you wanted has arrived." Lucci said gravely.
"Oh?"
Sage's pupils dilated, the smile widened, "Those things have arrived?"
In the street behind, due to a conflict, there was no one nearby as everyone ran far back to watch.
As the island chain's illegal territory labels suggest, people here are not timid; conflicts and battles are almost commonplace.
Among the crowd, a man nearly four meters high suddenly rushed out, pale-faced and frantically shouting, "Help me!"
"Just remove it, please, just remove it! I won't be a Pirate anymore, I just want to go home, I won't be a Pirate anymore!"
His hairstyle resembled a Joker's hat split into points, wearing a cloak-like captain's outfit, the whole person also looked like a Joker from a deck of cards.
"Captain of the Demon Pirates, 'Demon' Dias."
Lucci said, "The bounty is sixty million Belly."
But the bounty isn't what's important; a sixty million bounty isn't worth Lucci mentioning here.
The key is that this fleeing guy has a shackle around his neck...
He's a slave.
"Please, please, help me!"
Dias shouted frantically, "I gave up going to the New World, please help me! Just open the shackle, let me go home! I have family too; I have a wife and kids. My kids are still waiting for me; I haven't seen them in years. I won't be a Pirate anymore, I really won't be a Pirate anymore!"
He rushed forward rapidly, instinctively going to grab at the center's Sage, "Help me!"
From his posture, it seemed he wanted to perish together with Sage.
Bam!
Lucci kicked hard, knocking the charging Dias heavily to the ground, and another kick made him puke blood.
Even so, he didn't know where the will came from, swiftly stood up again, still advancing towards Sage, "Please help me, unlock it!!"
Just as his hand was about to grab Sage, he caught a glimpse of his gaze, causing him to hesitate momentarily. The hand that originally shot out swiftly trembled slightly and froze there.
"Calmed down?" Sage asked.
Dias nodded instinctively.
"A slave of the Heavenly Celestial Dragons?" Sage asked again.
Dias continued to nod.
"Will it explode if you move too far away?"
Sage glanced at the man's neck, noticing the collar shackle with a mechanism, "What do you want to do?"
Dias became agitated again, "I want to get this shackle off! If I can get it off, I can go home! You're Pirates, right? Please help me, I'm begging you, help me, otherwise..."
"Otherwise, if it explodes, we all die together?"
Sage sneered and walked a few steps forward. This sudden movement actually made the agitated Dias take a few steps back, as if the man in front of him was some kind of ferocious beast.
"Was it I who captured you?"
"No, no." Dias took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm.
"Was it the Heavenly Celestial Dragons who captured you?"
"Yes, yes..."
"Do you hate me?" Sage continued to ask.
"No, I don't hate you."
"Do you hate the Heavenly Celestial Dragons?"
"Hate!" Dias's emotions seemed on the verge of collapse again.
"Then why the hell aren't you going after the Heavenly Celestial Dragons, instead of coming after me?"
Sage shouted, "You already have the courage to die with someone, so why not have the will to die alongside the Heavenly Celestial Dragons?!"
This shout left Dias stunned, and he said instinctively, "Because... you're not as bad as the Heavenly Celestial Dragons."
"So I should die because of that?"
Sage laughed angrily, "You're a Pirate, right? As a Pirate, you gain what you want and do what you intend by using your strength. Even if your strength is inadequate, your will must not waver. A bounty of sixty million isn't exactly low; whoever dealt with you, go take revenge on them."
"I, I..."
Dias mumbled, his lips trembling, his already pale complexion turning even paler, his face showing fear, clearly not having thought this far.
"If no one can save you, and you're going to die anyway, why not give it a try? Dying alone, or capturing someone who's not your enemy to die with, won't harm the Heavenly Celestial Dragons much, but attacking the Heavenly Celestial Dragons... might make you the savior who ensures Pirates won't become slaves anymore in the future."
Sage laughed quietly, pointing at him, "Think about it, using your death in exchange for those people never daring to enslave Pirates again, so they will avoid a whole profession. From then on, Pirates might at most be imprisoned in Impel Down but will no longer be enslaved, everyone will remember you!"
"Fisher Tiger climbed the Red Earth Continent barehanded, rescuing a large number of slaves in Mary Geoise, once becoming a hero in the eyes of Fishmen and a savior in the eyes of slaves. You could do that too, die together with the Heavenly Celestial Dragons, and you might become a new Pirate King in the eyes of Pirates, and a great hero in the eyes of slaves!"
His expression turned hideous, "Being a Pirate, isn't it for fame and fortune? You've already been captured, your wealth is gone, but your reputation... you can still earn it!"
Once these words came out, the Super Rookies who had just calmed down were all stunned.
Kid, who had been supported by Killer after being attacked with a Finger Gun, didn't even have time to get angry. At this moment, he widened his eyes, "Are you crazy?!"
Going against the Heavenly Celestial Dragons?
Even someone as crazy as him hadn't thought of such a thing.
Besides, this wasn't just about teaching a lesson, it was about killing the Heavenly Celestial Dragons?!
"No, no, I can't!"
Dias abruptly stepped back, shaking his head quickly, "Those are the Heavenly Celestial Dragons, you can't do that!"
"Beep, beep, beep..."
The collar around his neck suddenly started to emit a beeping sound.
"Help me!!"
Dias widened his eyes and couldn't hold the shout anymore.
Boom!!
His entire neck exploded, the bomb inside the shackle erupted into a thick cloud of smoke, with the blast wave blowing Sage's hair tips, turning the man into a blackened figure, and he fell heavily to the ground.
"What a pity... didn't accept my proposal."
Sage shook his head, "The life and death of a Pirate is normal, your will was too weak."
With that, he looked forward, baring his snow-white teeth, "However, I've found something of value..."