At the same time, he tilted his head, dodging Mihawk's incoming attack, and with a twist of his fist, struck the back of the blade. The peculiar force made Mihawk's hands tingle, seemingly about to loosen their grip on the sword hilt, but then held it tightly and quickly slashed upwards.
Sage spread his hand, steadily catching the black blade that was slashed downwards. With a kick straight to Mihawk's chest, his foot sank into his abdomen, and while kicking him away, he pressed down on the blade and forcibly snatched it from Mihawk's hands. Then, holding the blade, he swung it sideways, striking the approaching Boa Hancock and then the spinning blade cut through Crocodile in mid-air, causing him to burst into sand.
As it spun, the black blade flew over Uta's head and landed steadily on the ground next to the fallen Mihawk.
"Strength, skill, experience, it seems all there, but ultimately it's not one's own will in control. A shell without will cannot exert its original power. If Mihawk had come himself, even without Haki, his sword couldn't have been taken from him. For a swordsman, the sword is life."
Sage shook his head: "Too weak, just summon Tot Musica, I am more curious about what it looks like."
The singing stopped, and Uta instinctively took a step back, staring at Sage with a complex expression.
Clearly, able to hear her singing but somehow not falling into her world which means the opponent is certainly tricky.
In reality, she is not that omnipotent, and those well-known great pirates like the World's Number One Great Sword Master, the Empress, couldn't even stop him.
"Why?"
Uta asked: "Why are you pirates so despicable? Many fans send me letters expressing their troubles, and 60% are about pirates! Their husbands, wives, children, properties were all lost because of you wicked pirates!"
"60%? Where did that data come from, did you investigate?"
Sage laughed: "Having 30% would be good enough, which indirectly suggests that even if forcefully balanced, some blame cannot be avoided after all."
It's true that pirates are fierce and destructive, but to say 60% of the world's losses are caused by pirates...
Not that powerful.
The great sails called Sage and said he plundered the entire first half of the Grand Line.
In reality?
He only robbed a few islands.
Compared to countless islands in the first half, it's nothing, just because those islands are a bit more prosperous, a bit more famous.
It's obviously balanced to them.
Sage wasn't trying to balance as a great saint, but the key thing about pirates is inherently balancing, some things can't be avoided as long as plundering happens, something unclear can always be placed on him.
Of course, big accounts can't be balanced, for instance, Sage never robs places with saving functions like exchange shops. He also warned local banks that to balance would cost them.
He's not without underground world connections.
All the sins pirates committed in the seas, at most only account for 30%, the rest 70% belong to the rulers.
What Uta said about 60%... that means another 40% is truly terrible, blame that can't be shifted.
"That's why I want to create a happy and peaceful world!"
Uta shouted: "As long as everyone is here with me, there will be no more conflict, and this, I am about to accomplish!"
Swoosh!
Just as she finished speaking, a beam of light swiftly shot over, projected on Uta's face, covering her entire field of vision.
Bang!!
The beam exploded in mid-air, Sage struck a clapping pose, turning to look back, his tone suddenly became cold, "What are you trying to do?"
"Oh~ so scary, no need for such expression."
A flash of light in the sky crystallized into Kizaru's figure and further out at sea, a large silhouette of battleships appeared.
The Navy arrived too!
"We have an agreement, Sage." Kizaru chuckled.
"You're aware of that."
Sage grinned: "You intend to kill this woman, but my subordinates are still here."
"I wasn't aiming, just a reminder, Sage, what are you hesitating for? She's close to dying, if you don't knock her out now, it'll really be too late. According to estimates, once her concert finishes, 80% of the world's population will fall into her Song Song World, and the world will be destroyed."
Kizaru said: "Even now, it's already 40%. This matter, you don't want to happen, right."
No matter how adversarial, there is one essence that remains unchanged; no one wants the world destroyed.
The World Government doesn't need a destroyed, empty world without people.
Similarly, neither does Sage.
"I don't think it's purely a reminder... after all, if there's no room for maneuvering in the situation, sacrificing 40% of the people is probably within your consideration too, otherwise it gets more troublesome then."
Sage sneered, "My important subordinates are here, it's impossible for you not to have ulterior motives."
Kizaru shrugged, "My position is that of an enemy, but personally I don't see it that way... what do you plan to do?"
He really was here to remind.
Because of issues related to Vegapunk, Sentomaru, and Kuma, Kizaru is still relatively easy to talk to regarding Sage's issues.
Or rather, from the beginning, he never had any bad feelings towards Sage.
Reading a lot of books has its perks too.
It can help understand what the world truly is, pirates are unavoidable, but a pirate like Sage with conditions, with a bottom line, and one that doesn't trouble civilians on that bottom line, is actually very rare.
Such a person poses no threat to the world.
Whether he is a threat to the World Government is not Kizaru's concern.
After all, he is merely an Admiral.
"Rest assured, she won't die, if I want to kill someone it might be tricky because of strength issues, might not be a 100% certainty. But making sure someone doesn't die, it's not that difficult."
Sage glanced at Uta, "Overusing the ability leading to rapid physical exhaustion, hmm, similar to that Straw Hat, both are life-burning types. So keeping her so she only falls asleep without dying, I can manage."
"Not making a move now is only waiting for her to summon Tot Musica."
Kizaru was startled at these words, "I thought you intended to stop... what do you want to do, Sage?"
"To verify a hypothesis."
Sage glanced sideways at Kizaru, pointing up to the sky, "If this thing is really as I imagine, then the true form of some things, might very well be this thing here. Since it can change, I can too!"
Kizaru immediately shut his mouth, raising a hand with a gesture of surrender.
He didn't want to hear it at all.
That empty Void Throne might truly be just a decoration for the kings.
But to the perceptive Kizaru, some things are not so simple.
Long ago, he had suspicions, but without evidence, he wouldn't investigate, it remained hidden in his heart.
But after the Egghead incident, the Five Elders all appeared, and Saturn became a skeleton, bringing out what was hidden in his heart again.
The Five Elders, in the common impression, are just the Five Elders, high above, rarely seen by anyone.
Even for important Navy generals, it's just decades of interaction, and once retired, that's it, no clear idea about what the Five Elders are doing, even if there's documentation, there was sometimes different appearances of the Five Elders depicted.
But is it really like that?
He interacted more with Saturn, and the arrogance in his words implied living for hundreds of years, seen through everything in the world, much like an ancient monster.
At first, he might have thought of them as experienced but turning into bones... some things naturally came to mind.
That was considered the most forbidden thing!
The World Government has a master!
Kizaru wanted nothing to do with it.
But now Sage seems to be testing something and even wants to transform into that!
The essence of the ability, is it Tot Musica?