Aokiji is purely overthinking.
What Uehara Naraku is about to do next is really not dangerous at all; in fact, it's rather leisurely. What danger could there be in strolling around a Newbie Village?
After the group split up, each of them continued on to their destinations. Uehara Naraku also checked the rewards for defeating Aokiji.
Side Quest: Defeat Navy Admiral Aokiji (1/1), task completed. Reward: Life Energy 150,000 points, Armament Haki 150,000 points, Observation Haki 150,000 points.
Side Quest: Recruit an Admiral-level subordinate (1/1), task completed. Reward: Life Energy 100,000 points, Armament Haki 100,000 points, Observation Haki 100,000 points.
The feeling of cheating is indeed pleasant.
Uehara Naraku leisurely glanced at his doubled attributes and then looked at the next peculiar task.
Hidden Task: Make the coldest person in this world feel warmth (1/1), task completed. Fixed reward: Summoning Contract Ice Crystal Phoenix Anivia.
Summoning Contract Ice Crystal Phoenix: Summon Anivia to participate in battle, consuming Life Energy 10,000 points.
This system has some substance.
It can even produce fixed rewards like this.
Uehara Naraku couldn't help but want to praise his system a bit; was it because Aokiji is a bird that this ice bird Summoning Contract was rewarded?
Anyway, he didn't lose out.
Uehara Naraku's gaze fell on Nico Robin. She seemed to be deeply preoccupied, having no idea what she brought to her boss.
Thanks to Uehara Naraku as the navigator, they didn't need to avoid any adverse weather and quickly reached the end of their voyage.
Whiskey Peak.
Many bounty hunters used to be stationed here, mostly working under the manipulation of Baroque Works. But not long ago, they encountered a powerful pirate, and many were driven away.
However, with the pirate's departure, the bounty hunters returned, continuing their work of deceiving rookie pirates just entering the Grand Line.
"Deceiving those pirates..."
Uehara Naraku looked at the town below Whiskey Peak and couldn't help but feel a bit wistful: "Come to think of it, we're all the same kind! I also like deceiving pirates... With so many like-minded people here, the future is bound to be interesting."
"..."
Nico Robin's eyes flickered.
No, you are not like them.
These guys only deceive pirates with bounties of a few million or ten million Belly at most, but you—you deceive the Seven Warlords of the Sea right off the bat...
Moreover, these bounty hunters deceive pirates purely because they want to kill them swiftly; as for Uehara Naraku deceiving Crocodile, it's solely because he's afraid Crocodile might die too easily...
"This will be our place to make a living in the future."
Uehara Naraku's gaze turned somewhat unclear as he continued, "If we ever want to leave here, we'll probably have to wait for Mr. Crocodile to transfer us back."
His words sounded a bit resentful.
Both Hoshigaki Kisame and Nico Robin couldn't help but want to write a "miserable" label for Crocodile preemptively.
"Well..."
Nico Robin adjusted her hair and spoke softly, "Mr. Naraku and Mr. Kisame can also act freely because it's mainly me managing the affairs of Baroque Works. Crocodile rarely intervenes..."
Before she'd finished speaking, Nico Robin was already a bit regretful.
Couldn't she just entice the two to stay peacefully in Whiskey Peak?
Whiskey Peak is so small, what trouble could Uehara Naraku cause here? If they were allowed to act freely, who knows what kind of chaos they might wreak on the sea!
"Then why are we still stopping here?"
Upon hearing that he didn't need to stay to gain Crocodile's trust, Uehara Naraku's attitude changed instantly: "These bounty hunters are terrible at deceiving people; I don't want to be with them. Let's set sail to Inverted Mountain, we're going to the East Sea!"
"Such a turncoat..."
Nico Robin couldn't help but massage her forehead.
Weren't you just saying you'd get along with these bounty hunters?
Looking at Uehara Naraku, Nico Robin couldn't help but sigh and say, "Mr. Naraku, but to go from the Grand Line to the Four Seas, you can't pass through Inverted Mountain;
Due to ocean currents, if you want to return to the Four Seas from the Grand Line, other than abandoning the ship to climb the Red Earth Continent, you'll have to find a way through the dangerous Windless Zone..."
This danger is relative.
The most dangerous aspect of the Windless Zone is the Sea Kings, enormous creatures several hundred to several thousand meters long, capable of easily tearing apart any ship.
For Uehara Naraku and Hoshigaki Kisame, encountering a Sea King isn't too much trouble for them.
Unless they encountered a Sea King several kilometers long, the other Sea Kings aren't really a threat to them...
Of course, even a several-kilometer-long Sea King would just be an extra dish for Uehara Naraku, who possesses the Complete Form of Susanoo.
They stopped at Whiskey Peak for a day.
Nico Robin handled the matters here, rearranged a few former Baroque Works employees, and then the three of them left for the Windless Zone.
Windless Zone area.
A Navy warship was sailing slowly because, without any ocean wind in the Windless Zone, it could only rely on its own power to move forward.
For the Navy, crossing the Windless Zone was not dangerous.
Because below this Navy warship was seastone, a material that makes the entire warship no different from the sea, thereby not attracting the attention of Sea Kings.
However, the sailors on these warships were not complacent. After all, the presence of seastone preventing attraction did not mean they wouldn't coincidentally encounter wandering Sea Kings. Therefore, a Navy lookout was observing from the ship, vigilant of any Sea King appearances.
Just as it was the hottest time, the Navy soldier suddenly felt a breeze brushing his cheek, and he couldn't help but wonder, "Hey, is it windy?"
The next moment, he suddenly realized!
This is the Windless Zone, how could there be wind!
When the Navy soldier quickly turned his head, he saw a small sailboat, its sails open, sailing fast with the wind!
"Colonel Tina, it's windy!"
"Colonel Tina, there's a ship!"
The Navy sailors on the whole warship moved with the news, standing on the deck, watching the small sailboat speed up more and more until it gradually approached them.
The highest-ranking officer on this warship was a Navy Headquarters Colonel named Tina, who was also a Paramecia-Type: Cage-Cage Fruit user.
A sexy woman with long pink hair came out, precisely the leader of this warship, Colonel Tina.
The beautiful Colonel pushed up her sunglasses, surprised as she felt the sea breeze blowing, "Windless Zone... how can there be wind... Tina has never seen such a situation..."
"Maybe those people on the small boat are causing this!"
A Navy sailor next to her vigorously pointed at the small boat approaching the warship, "Colonel Tina, what kind of Devil Fruit ability is this?"
"Tina... doesn't know."
The beautiful Colonel hesitated and shook her head, her gaze also slowly falling on that small boat, and she saw the three people on the boat.
A woman.
A man.
A Fishman.
"Colonel Tina!"
The person beside her also saw those three people and immediately recalled the wanted notices issued recently, "The Child of the Demon, Nico Robin with a bounty of 80 million Belly, Shark-man Hoshigaki Kisame with a bounty of 15 million Belly, and that pirate with a bounty of 8 million Belly!"
"..."
Tina saw the weakest among them, the little pirate on the small boat, squinting and smiling while waving at her, and the beautiful Colonel's face suddenly turned furious!
Tina immediately gave the order to attack the small boat, "Capture them! Even if they don't look like bad people, they have indeed violated the law!"
This Colonel Tina certainly did not know that the Navy Admiral Aokiji had recently been beaten like a dog by the one she deemed weakest... Even if this Colonel Tina knew, she would still launch the attack without hesitation!
On the small boat.
Nico Robin sat on a chair reading a book, Uehara Naraku and Hoshigaki Kisame leisurely sipping juice, with him generating the gusts that propelled the small boat in the Windless Zone.
As they passed a Navy warship.
Uehara Naraku also saw the pink-haired, sexy beautiful Colonel on the warship and flashed a bright, cheerful smile at her.
Just when they thought this chance encounter would end, black spears suddenly shot toward their small boat!
These were created by the Paramecia-Type: Cage-Cage Fruit's ability!
All these black spears were as hard as steel, fired from cannons, and easily capable of piercing this small boat!
Hoshigaki Kisame quickly put down his juice, clasping his hands to form hand seals, wanting to prevent their small boat from being destroyed!
"Hey, never mind!"
Uehara Naraku grabbed Kisame's arm, shook his head, and said, "This small boat isn't worth it, if they're offering a ship, let's just switch to another!"
Just as Uehara Naraku was preparing a larger ship for his raid on the East Sea, this boat was indeed too small to even hold Nami's orange trees!
Upon hearing Uehara Naraku speak, Nico Robin instinctively raised her head, a string of question marks on her face, wondering what kind of inhumane talk this was?
The next moment.
The small boat was instantly pierced through by those black iron spears!
The Navy warship chasing the small boat seized the opportunity to catch up, with Navy Headquarters Colonel Tina biting her cigarette, about to announce the capture of Uehara Naraku's group, "Tina declares you pirates are..."
"Your warship has been requisitioned by our Baroque Works."
Uehara Naraku on the small boat interrupted Tina, took a deep sip of the juice in his hand, and looked darkly at the Navy Colonel, "I really didn't expect, that in this sea, there are still people daring to attack members of our Baroque Works!"