"Ah!"
Mute let out a beast-like whimper, seemingly very displeased.
Sage plopped down on a chair, pulled a cigar from his cloak, and just as he bit it in his mouth, Mute was about to charge, but Pearl slid in on his knees and respectfully lit the cigar for Sage.
"Sage... Captain."
Urouge asked, puzzled, "Why not take this opportunity to take down Kizaru? With the Heavenly Celestial Dragon here, defeating him would boost your reputation even faster, right?"
"What's the point of that kind of victory? False fame is useless in the New World, and it will eventually be shattered."
Sage shook his head and said, "Some people, even if they're called new Sea Emperors, would be exposed when encountering the real deal. Victory not gained in true battle is meaningless. The New World values reputation, but it values strength even more!"
"Do not underestimate these strong opponents. They are bound only by themselves, not by any noble status. Otherwise, he wouldn't be an Admiral."
Sage glanced at the Heavenly Celestial Dragon at his feet, a trace of disdain in his eyes.
The Pirate Emperor is wanton, and it is this wantonness that is full of Haki and possesses supreme strength.
But the Navy Admiral is not much less impressive. Though they may not be as wanton, their courage and will to dance with shackles on the edge of a blade is also commendable, and under the support of the greatest overlord of the sea, what they have gained is not insignificant either.
Using the Heavenly Celestial Dragon as a hostage to then defeat an Admiral?
Such naive tactics would only be believed by small pirates as successful.
Kizaru doesn't care about the Heavenly Celestial Dragon; the only reason for the talk now is simply to adhere to the rules.
"These guys... it's not as if they haven't died before." Sage sneered.
For the strong, no one cares about such things.
Sage isn't talking with Kizaru primarily; it's because an Admiral represents the World Government to some extent. He is leveraging Kizaru to actually communicate with the World Government.
The strong don't care, but the World Government cannot possibly be indifferent.
Everyone wants to save face...
"Go ahead and rob." Sage waved his hand, signalling his men to go out and plunder.
The key points are roughly established. Which places are worth robbing and which aren't will be indicated by CP9 members leading these pirates, providing locations.
"Having just arrived here, with no achievements to my name, I shall also go."
Unable to sit idle, Urouge hugged his large pencil and, along with a group of Holy Professionals, joined the robbery squad.
At this time, the outside world was already devoid of the surrounding Navy; they had all gone after those Super Rookies, leaving no one to guard anymore.
They're all smart; since the hostages have been rescued, the remaining Heavenly Celestial Dragons who weren't rescued aren't their issue to intervene with, and doing so poorly might even make the Heavenly Celestial Dragons remember them bitterly.
Those guys are not reasonable people; if they were truly reasonable, they shouldn't have come down at this critical moment in the first place.
When Sage's men went out, apart from those Navy responsible for observing movements from afar, there wasn't one surrounding them... except for a tall man guarding there.
"Huh?"
Urouge had just stepped out the door when he was stunned. A line of sweat rolled down his face with a strange smile, "The 'Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma! This guy actually came too!"
"Kuma?"
Lily followed the wide-open door, saw the towering figure guarding at the front of the door, and was just about to alert Sage but noticed something was off.
She had seen this Seven Warlords of the Sea member in the Devil's Triangle Sea Region, but now with another glance, the towering physique, the same attire, and the equally expressionless face all remained, yet the aura and intensity sensed through Observation Haki were completely different.
"No, it's not Kuma..."
Lily said in a deep voice, "Kuma isn't this weak."
"Hmm..."
Renedia furrowed her small eyebrows, red dots bursting forth in her eyes as she gazed at that massive figure from afar.
"It feels like a dead thing, just like the stuff I invent... Sage, what is that?"
"Indeed, it's not Kuma."
Sage propped one leg on the armrest, adopting a comfortable pose, biting his cigar as he chuckled, "Urouge, leave the robbery to others, and you guys go and try, see how many it takes to handle it."
"You know?" Lucci's eyes flickered beside him, "This must be the first time something like this has been deployed, and it's placed in Shampodi, only because of the abundance of pirates to test its battle power?"
"What is this?" Lily asked.
Having arrived at the scene from the back door and originally secretly observing the battle between Sage and Kizaru, Owl from the CP9 members couldn't hold back any longer, hopping and jumping to the front stage, blurting out: "It's..."
"Peacekeeper."
Lucci didn't give him a chance, stating plainly, "A weapon, the cost of which is comparable to a large battleship, possessing astounding combat power, used by the Government as a tool against Pirates."
"The cost of a large battleship? Condensed into a single person?" Sage was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter, "The legendary Battleship Man, huh!"
"I don't know what you mean by that, but..."
Lucci clenched his fists, staring directly at the Peacekeeper guarding the door, "I also want to see what the difference is."
Lily stepped out first, and upon reaching the door, the White Thunder at her waist also unsheathed. From behind her followed Marika and Renedia.
"A weapon? It looks just like a person, to have such a weapon resembling the Seven Warlords of the Sea. I'm curious to see what level its strength has reached." Marika smiled.
"If it's a weapon, then break it apart!" Renedia exclaimed excitedly, "I want to see what kind of weapon this is!"
"Let me go first."
Urouge walked out from the back, clutching the rhombus-shaped big pencil, "I'll try it first as the vanguard since I just joined."