"Captain! The ships are all ready!"
Paul and Isaac trotted over, wearing flattering smiles.
"Yeah!"
Xia Luo gave a faint grunt and walked towards the ship.
Seeing Xia Luo's demeanor, Paul and Isaac showed no reaction, as if this was the natural way things should be.
After all, a sword master should have a certain air of pride.
They didn't know that their captain had already reached the realm of a great sword - master. If they did, they'd surely be overjoyed, even more so than if they themselves had achieved the rank of sword master.
When they got on the ship, it was like an ancient clipper. It was incredibly fast. Ordinary naval ships couldn't catch up, and even the warships of the Admirals would not be its match.
Xia Luo's goal this time was to go to Askar Island to obtain the Seven - Star Sword. It wasn't a sightseeing trip; he just wanted to go and come back as soon as possible.
Xia Luo estimated that the round - trip would take nearly two months. When he came back, it would probably be around 1483.
Looking at the sailors on the ship, there were only about twenty of them. However, twenty people were more than enough to operate this ship that was less than fifty meters long.
Besides his seven capable subordinates, there were also over a hundred pirate minions in Xia Luo's Eighth Division of the Rocks Pirates.
Some of them were members of the Wild Wolf Gang who had been following Xia Luo on Kame Island. However, there were very few of them left, and now only a dozen or so remained alive.
Xia Luo appointed each of them as a small - team leader in charge of ten people.
They were responsible for managing the pirate minions.
And Xia Luo had entrusted the management of these pirate minions to Carter.
He didn't have the time to deal with them himself.
These pirate minions lived very idle lives. Besides training with Carter, they would use the monthly stipend given by Xia Luo to have a good time on Honeycomb Island.
Xia Luo didn't really care. Except when taking them on missions, they could arrange their own time.
Since they were pirates, Xia Luo didn't want to nag and manage them like a mother.
Moreover, these people were just expendable. If sent into battle, they would only hack with knives or shoot from behind. They had little combat ability.
All they could do was clean up the battlefield and collect some spoils after the battle.
Xia Luo didn't expect them to achieve anything significant.
"Captain! We're ready to set sail!"
Paul and Isaac came to Xia Luo's side to report.
All the crew members were prepared.
"Alright! Head for the first half of the Grand Line."
Xia Luo said.
"Yes!"
The two of them nodded in unison and began to give orders to their subordinates.
The ship slowly pulled away from the dock.
It gradually disappeared from sight off the coast of Honeycomb Island.
The departure of Xia Luo, the captain of the Eighth Division of the Rocks Pirates, from the island was immediately noticed by those on the island who were observant.
They quickly activated their intelligence networks to investigate.
Among them were quite a few spies from the World Government or the Navy Headquarters.
Buru buru buru! Navy Headquarters, Staff Department! The Den Den Mushi kept ringing.
"Hello! This is the Navy Headquarters."
And on the other end...
"I'm CP0. Xia Luo (Charlotte), the captain of the 8th division of the Rox Pirates on Hive Island in the New World, has set sail. The destination is unknown. The Navy Admirals should be on high alert!"
After saying that, the voice on the other end hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Hearing the news, Tsuru immediately found Steel - Bone Kong and started discussing.
Zefa was also there.
"What? Charlotte has left the island?"
Zefa immediately stood up after hearing this.
"Zefa, what are you going to do?"
Steel - Bone Kong quickly barked.
"Admiral Steel - Bone Kong, I'm going to arrest the pirate Charlotte and throw him into Impel Down."
Zefa said seriously with a straight face.
"Sit down!"
Steel - Bone Kong frowned in annoyance after hearing this.
"Admiral Steel - Bone Kong!"
Zefa complained.
"Sit down!"
Steel - Bone Kong shouted loudly.
After being shouted at by Steel - Bone Kong, he could only sit down.
"Zefa, don't be like this. We understand your eagerness to catch Charlotte, but we can't act blindly. After all, there's the entire Rox Pirates behind him. One wrong move could have far - reaching consequences, so we must consider the big picture."
After seeing Zefa sit down, Steel - Bone Kong's tone couldn't help but soften.
As one of the three he favored.
Steel - Bone Kong still had some patience.
"Yeah! Zefa, we still don't know what the other side's purpose is. We can't strike blindly. What if it's a trap?"
Tsuru also comforted him from the side.
After hearing this, Zefa slowly calmed his impatience.
"Yes! Admiral Steel - Bone Kong!"
"Hahaha! That's right! I heard you're getting married. We'll come to your wedding for a drink then!"
Steel - Bone Kong changed the topic.
After hearing what Kong said, Zefa also showed a faint smile from the bottom of his heart.
"Yes! When you get married, call Garp and Sengoku over too. Let's have a drink together!"
Tsuru also said with a beaming smile.
When it came to Garp, Steel - Bone Kong was full of anger.
"Garp takes a leave every year around this time to go back and see his son. Doesn't he know the Navy Headquarters is short - handed?"
Steel - Bone Kong complained. Although he was talking about Garp, there was no blame in Steel - Bone Kong's eyes.
"Hahaha! Garp always tells me he wants to train his son to be a Navy. He said he'll send him to the Navy Headquarters for me to train in a few years when he grows up."
Zefa said with a smile.
Just thinking about his old partner Garp sending his son to him for training, he couldn't understand what Garp was up to.
"That's good! By then, Garp's son will also become the Navy's top combat power!"
Somehow, the topic that was originally about Charlotte suddenly shifted to Garp's son.
And in the East Blue!
"Wow kaka kaka kaka! Dragon, your old man is back!"
Garp, wearing a Navy vice - admiral's overcoat, pushed open the door with a basket of fruits in hand and laughed heartily.
"Dad! Dad!"
The little Dragon, only a few years old, looked at Garp in horror when he saw him.
But Garp ignored it, thinking it was a look of joy.
On the other side.
Charlotte stood on the bow of the ship, surrounded by storms and rough waves everywhere.
The sailors on the ship were desperately furling the sails.
Xia Luo was watching this scene.
He didn't expect to be so unlucky. After sailing for about a day, they encountered a major sea storm.
He didn't know if it was bad luck or if God was playing a joke on him.
They saw a wave nearly twenty meters high approaching them.
Everyone was panicked and hugged tightly whatever they could hold onto around them.
"Damn!"
Xia Luo saw such a high wave. If he didn't act, his ship would be destroyed.
Whoosh!
Xia Luo drew out the long sword from his waist. He sent out a Hundred - Meter - Long Sword Slash that cut across the turbulent sea and rushed towards the huge wave.
Just when Xia Luo thought he could split the huge wave, his sword slash was actually withstood by the wave.