The warship slowly approached Ohara, yet there was almost no reaction from the people on the island.
It wasn't until the ship docked steadily and York's group successfully landed that someone finally realized what was happening with delayed hindsight.
"That doesn't look like a normal warship..."
"It's pirates! Pirates are here!!"
"It's the remnants of the Rocks Pirates!!"
"Oh my god! So many of them! We're done for, Ohara is going to be destroyed!!"
...
The residents of the island's town were in a panic.
Because of the God Valley incident, almost everyone now knew that the remnants of the Rocks Pirates were in the West Blue.
This was also a major reason why York and the others were recognized.
"Sigh~ How troublesome."
York sighed lightly.
He wanted to keep a low profile, but the local residents were completely tactless.
Holy white light radiated from his body. A large number of residents running chaotically in the streets stiffened, then fell to the ground one after another, falling into a deep sleep.
"Pleasure of Sleep!"
Since keeping a low profile was the goal and blowing things out of proportion wasn't York's intention, he didn't use his usual ability.
*Thud, thud...*
One by one, the town residents fell. York and his group passed through the town smoothly.
Then, they aimed directly for the base of the giant tree in the center of the island.
Before long, York and the others arrived at the base of the legendary Tree of Knowledge.
The scholars, having already received the news, gathered together, blocking the entrance to the Tree of Knowledge.
Leading them was an old man whose hairstyle and beard combined to look like a clover.
He stepped forward and questioned York, who had turned off his ability after leaving the town: "Pirates!!"
"This is a hall of knowledge; there is no treasure here that you desire! What do you want here?!"
"If it is to destroy this island! We will immediately notify the nearby Marine branch!!"
York raised an eyebrow.
"So you haven't notified them yet?"
"Truly worthy of being scholars; your minds are much more flexible than those foolish guys in town."
Pausing slightly, York explained: "We are not here to seek war."
"As the saying goes, there are beauties in books, and houses of gold in books. We are here to seek the treasure of knowledge!"
Dr. Clover was slightly surprised.
It was the first time he had heard of pirates being interested in knowledge.
"Enough chit-chat. We intend to borrow books from your library for a period of time."
"During this period, if you don't make a scene—good for you, good for me, good for everyone—we will leave on our own after satisfying our needs."
"But if you insist on hating evil as if it were your enemy, refuse to let us read, and notify the Marines, then I will have no choice but to destroy this island!"
York raised his hand, releasing a holy light tentacle from his palm.
At a speed Dr. Clover couldn't react to at all, it rapidly touched and bound a male scholar.
This male scholar had no room to struggle; he instantly fell into a vortex of pleasure, a foolish grin appearing on his face as he slowly slumped to the ground.
The scholars let out low cries of alarm, and Dr. Clover's expression became thoroughly grave.
"Are you sure you can do what you say?"
"To be precise, you have no choice!"
The corners of York's mouth curled up, revealing a faint smile.
"Destruction or cooperation, you can only choose one of the two!"
Dr. Clover pondered for a moment, then finally stepped aside proactively.
"The ocean of knowledge is open to anyone! Even pirates are no exception!"
"However, I also hope you can abide by some rules of the library and not destroy books at will!"
"Otherwise, even at the risk of the entire library being destroyed, I will absolutely not let you stay on this island!!"
York nodded slightly.
"Naturally!"
...
With negotiations concluded, York's group successfully moved into the Tree of Knowledge Library and began a life of reading and studying.
During this process, the library's administrator and leader of the scholars, Dr. Clover, personally went to greet the mayor of the island's town.
He told them to turn a blind eye and not to report it; otherwise, everyone on the island would suffer along with them.
The mayor nodded repeatedly.
York's bounty of 3 billion Berries, along with the others all having bounties over 500 million, played a huge role at this moment.
Just seeing these amounts, the residents could clearly recognize the massive gap between them and York's group.
Thus, York and the others settled down smoothly on this island.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
Kaido was the first to find the life of reading unbearable. He went alone to the back mountain to train his physique and fruit ability.
York instructed him not to leave the island and not to harm the residents, but otherwise, he could do whatever he wanted, so he stopped managing him.
After a few more days of what was boring to others but actually enjoyable reading life for York, he noticed a familiar figure on the island.
To be precise, this person had been staring at them with vigilant eyes since the first day they landed.
But since there had been no action, York ignored him.
Until today, York finally recalled inadvertently that this person's appearance seemed somewhat like Garp's son.
Associating this with the original plot, where Garp's son personally came here after Ohara was destroyed and firmly established his will to create the Revolutionary Army.
Thus, that evening, York intercepted this young man.
"Monkey D. Dragon, Garp's son, is that you?"
A trace of surprise flashed across the face of the intercepted man, but he calmed down quickly.
"How did you know?"
York was just bluffing, not expecting it to be true, and laughed immediately: "Because your looks are somewhat similar to Garp. Besides, there is no fear in your eyes when you look at me; ordinary people can't achieve your level of composure."
Dragon's face became heavy, and he asked in a deep voice: "So... are you planning to finish me off here?"
"Why would I do that?"
York chuckled.
"But I am indeed curious why you, as Garp's son, would appear here."
"Logically speaking, Garp's hometown is in the East Blue."
"You are neither in your East Blue hometown nor following your old man at Marine Headquarters, but appear alone here in Ohara in the West Blue..."
York looked Dragon up and down, examining his attire.
Simple cloth clothes, but wearing a hood, and he had been dressed like this for days.
Although not certain he was hiding his identity, there should be some intent to do so.
Dragon fell slightly silent.
Knowing that if he didn't satisfy the other party's curiosity, he definitely wouldn't be let go easily.
So he said in a low voice: "I hid here from God Valley."
York realized instantly: "Deserter?!"
"No!"
"If it were just fleeing before battle, given your old man's current status in the Marines, it would be settled with just one sentence."
"So... you actually took action against the Celestial Dragons on the island, right?"
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