Urouge: "..."
"Captain, my name isn't Old U, it's Urouge. Also, a monk typically only prays for those doomed to die."
"Enough! Just perform the ritual, it's not like I'm asking you to perform a funeral. Change your service!" Sage rolled his eyes.
If the World Government really doesn't budge, he honestly considers diving deep underwater—an unavoidable last resort.
There are only these two paths.
He must go to the New World. Now is not the time for messing around here. If this continues, the eyes from the Four Seas and even the first half will all converge on him. If they pursue further, it's likely even Vice Admirals won't come; it'll definitely be Admirals.
Having a Heavenly Celestial Dragon in hand is useless. Those who care about them have always been the World Government, not the Navy...
Moreover, he intends to be a landowner, not to engage in meaningless life-and-death battles here.
If this continues, the ultimate result will surely be the dissolution of his hard-earned team. At that time, regardless of whether he survives or not, he'll need to start over.
Missing the golden opportunity to seize territory.
As for bad luck and such...
He knows he's indeed somewhat unlucky, but he never fears it.
Regarding splitting troops...
Sage hadn't considered it. There is indeed a way for all of them to reach the New World, and that is Lily taking people to Fishman Island and Sage heading to Mary Geoise, then meeting up in the New World.
But Sage dislikes that method.
Doesn't that imply he's afraid of bad luck?
He's lived for over twenty years and has never feared this thing!
You can't avoid it just by being afraid.
As for failure...
Destined to fail so just don't do it?
The key is, how do you know it's destined to fail without trying?
If you don't even have that confidence, let alone being a pirate, you couldn't even be a sea turtle.
"A mere Sea King thinks it can stop my stride?"
Sage said, "I might as well just slay my way through it!"
While speaking, he glanced around, "Where's the stuff?"
"Blueno."
Lily called out, and Blueno opened the air door, pulling the Heavenly Celestial Dragon out from the alternate space.
"Just in case, I hid him."
Sage took a glance at Charlos, whose head was buried in the ground, trembling, and sneered indifferently before addressing the gathered subordinates:
"Hey, tell them, I'm only waiting half a day. If there's no news by then, I'll take this guy to the New World and auction him off to those pirates. Ordinary folks wouldn't dare to want him, but pirates certainly would! Isn't Big Mom collecting various races? Since the Heavenly Celestial Dragon claims to be non-human, she'd definitely be interested!"
The subordinates burst into laughter, and some fixed their fierce gaze, observing everyone's expressions.
Sage never concealed the presence of special agents on the ship, so his subordinates knew, although the captain didn't care, they did...
If any suspicious behavior is noticed, it could be a reason to address it properly.
The captain once said that the existence of special agents isn't an issue, but people must be keen; once discovered... the consequences are unpredictable.
After all, those agents aren't as upfront as CP9, recognized by the captain.
However, regular agents still maintain some level of professional ethics, and in some aspects, might even be more skilled than CP9. All subordinates behaved normally.
"Marika, I'm hungry, prepare a meal; keep it simple this time, forty-eight dishes."
"Understood, I'll get to it right away." Marika smilingly headed to the Death Star, taking the chef team to start cooking.
Knowing they'd spend some time at Shampodi, they had not only robbed treasures but also a significant amount of food ingredients; thus, there's no shortage of food.
If push comes to shove, they'd even spend money to buy it.
All intended targets had been robbed, and for the rest, they'd adhere to moral standards.
In about an hour, the carefully prepared dishes were brought out one by one by the chef team and maids. The dishes were indeed different between Sage and his subordinates, not that theirs were inferior, but instead used some ordinary ingredients, perhaps considered premium, but certainly not rare.
Perfectly seared beef drizzled with sauce, honey-roasted meat leg, six-degree cooked wild chicken, fish soup, lobster, noodles...
Whether meat or vegetables, all were exquisite and delicious.
The chef team led by Marika had gained some achievements.
Only at Sage's dining table were golden-lipped fish, sashimi made from black tuna, bright red lobsters, creamy meat slices, extremely fresh ham even nobles can't eat at every meal, and meat from Sea Beasts and Sea Kings' essence parts—extremely rare ingredients that money can't always buy. Paired with salt collected from Water Seven, these constituted top-tier delicacies.
Even kings weren't as indulgent as Sage, let alone common pirates...
Even Sage himself, having plundered the first half almost entirely, amassed such a food stockpile to sustain this extravagant consumption.
Quality has its rationale, and so does expense.
These ingredients, aside from providing extreme enjoyment, offered immense energy, continually using Life Return, nourishing his body.
After being satiated, Sage patted his stomach, intending to go fishing during his leisure, when Lily suddenly called out, "Sage."
Sage paused, didn't even move his head, and sat back down, "Don't bother me when I'm about to relax, do you have no sense of timing?"
Suddenly appearing among the crowd was a guy wearing a bowler hat, draped with a blue polka-dot scarf. His entire outfit was a white suit, and his face was unknown whether covered with a mask or intentionally painted white, making it impossible to see his real appearance. His eyes were round, one black and one white, resembling a robot.
His sudden appearance startled the surrounding subordinates, instinctively drawing weapons to aim at him.
This person acted oblivious, merely staring at Sage. His voice was deep, showing no emotion.
"My name is Guernica, a special agent of the World Government, here for Charlos Saint."
"White, and wearing a mask..."
Lucci scrutinized him, squinting slightly.
Other members might not know, but Lucci knew something. This outfit belonged exclusively to the direct agents of the Heavenly Celestial Dragon, known as the 'Heavenly Celestial Dragon's Strongest Shield', and referred to as the 'World's Strongest Intelligence Agency'..."
"CP0?"
Sage sneered, "Hiding and pretending, dressed like a model yet hiding your face... Well, at last, someone capable of speaking has come in, as the previous bunch were all messes that didn't understand rules. Hopefully, you know the rules."
Lucci looked at Sage with some shock but upon reflection, wasn't surprised.
Sometimes, the information he disclosed was perhaps even more than what the agent himself knew, being from O'hara...
"Indeed."
Guernica slowly approached, first glancing at Charlos before bowing to Sage, "I was ordered by my superiors to greet you, and bring you my superior's message..."
He paused, seemingly mimicking someone's voice, turning slightly low, "Stop messing around, if you want to proceed just go, a Heavenly Celestial Dragon was not meant for your insult."
Then, his tone returned to normal, "As such, the World Government agrees to your terms, release Charlos Saint, and we grant you passage through Mary Geoise. Furthermore, we have a new proposal... still concerning the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"The World Government sincerely invites you to join the ranks of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. No conditions are necessary, just need your response to the World Government's summon when called upon... For this, we're willing to offer certain conditions in exchange for your joining."