She was reflecting.
Sage recruited subordinates and encountered Garp.
Attacking Logue Town, he met Zephyr.
Seizing Alabasta, he was besieged by the Navy.
In Demon Valley Town, while recruiting subordinates, he encountered one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Doflamingo.
Attacking Anu Country, he also encountered a rare powerful adversary.
Now attacking the City of the Spring Queen... only a storm? Although it triggered a tsunami, it was just a storm after all.
For Sage, wasn't it too simple?
Something feels off.
But looking at Sage's confident smile, Lily silently shook her head.
Maybe she was overthinking again...
Four days later.
The Death Star reached Gourmet City.
This time, there was no storm, and it even stopped, with the sky clearing up.
If nothing unexpected happened, Sage could complete one of his smoothest robberies here.
If, nothing unexpected happened...
Boom!!!
The island shook as if it had triggered an extremely strong earthquake, mixed with waves bigger than normal tsunamis, almost submerging half the island.
Apart from the submerging, gigantic objects, each as big as half an island, bizarre and varied, fell within the island. Their immense size caused tremors, making the island groan as if it could shatter at any moment.
Sea Kings!
And large Sea Kings!
But now, these gigantic Sea Kings each had a hole in their bodies, and their blood dyed the island a blood-red color.
And among these fallen Sea Kings, Sage threw a fishing rod, looked down at the sea that submerged his lower body, his face looking terrifyingly grim!
Unlike him, the people on the Death Star, anchored far from the beach, were full of dread and fear.
"Sage, are we still robbing?" Lily stared blankly at the corpses of the Sea Kings for a long time before coming back to her senses.
The beach leading to Gourmet City was now occupied by the bodies of Sea Kings, like mountains blocking the way. Even the beach itself was obstructed by a Sea King's body, separating them from the Death Star.
Accidents have occurred after all.
Similarly, as a Magnetic Field Island within the Grand Line, this island is famous not only as a necessary route for the Sea Train but also for its waters teeming with rich fish resources.
Gourmet City was born under these conditions.
Relying on abundant fish and food transported by the Sea Train, the towns on the island gradually became prosperous.
The fish here don't even need to be caught since the island's terrain is surrounded by beaches, offering natural landing points. Gourmet City is not at the port but behind the beach.
Because tides frequently rise here, after they recede, a large number of fish settle on the beach to be caught by the locals.
But this is exactly where the problem lies.
Upon hearing about the abundance of fish, Sage was immediately intrigued. After disembarking, he directly found a place to start fishing.
But never could he have expected that today would be a day of high tide, and a rapid one at that.
Gin and his men had just stepped onto the beach, preparing for the robbery, while Sage found a place to sit and had just cast his fishing rod.
The tide quickly spread out. Because he wanted to pick a good spot, he didn't start fishing from the ship but chose a place on the beach near the sea.
But the tide surprised even Sage, submerging half his body in an instant...
And that's how the Sea Kings came.