Rayleigh and Shakky exchanged a glance, and Rayleigh spoke up.
"I did leave before, but I've changed my mind now." As he spoke, Rayleigh walked over to the seat Enel had just occupied, glancing up at the hole in the ceiling before sitting down.
"Cyrus said before that we could settle on Sky Island."
"You've decided to settle on Sky Island?" A look of genuine surprise appeared on Crocodile's face.
"I just find what Cyrus is doing to be very interesting."
Saying that, Rayleigh pulled out a crumpled newspaper and unfolded it.
"The Hunter Exam, right? It's being held on Sky Island, am I correct?"
Seeing the newspaper in Rayleigh's hand, Crocodile nodded.
He had just recently contacted Morgans about this matter, as it was Cyrus's direct order.
Although the exam was six months away, given the current progress of the Hunter Guild, there was still a massive amount of work to be done to fully implement it in half a year.
However, Crocodile really hadn't expected that the Dark King would want to get involved in this.
"You left before, so why did you come back and bring this up? Are you planning to join the Hunter Guild?" Crocodile asked.
If Rayleigh really wanted to join, it would be a huge boon.
After all, the Hunter Guild was severely short-staffed right now, and the numerous guild branches to be established in the Four Seas and Paradise already required a lot of capable manpower—not to mention the subsequent construction of the exam site on Sky Island, the formulation of rules, and a series of other logistical nightmares.
As if seeing through Crocodile's thoughts, Rayleigh immediately raised his hand.
"No, I'm just interested in that Hunter Exam. I'm not interested in the other affairs of your guild. Besides, this old man needs a quiet place to settle down later."
His words directly dispelled Crocodile's idea.
Judging from Cyrus's previous contact with Rayleigh, there shouldn't be any problem with allowing them up there.
"Alright, I was just about to send people to Sky Island to support some matters. You can travel with them then," Crocodile agreed after some thought.
"Mm, that works!" Rayleigh nodded after glancing at Shakky.
"Then, what are you two planning to do next?" Crocodile asked.
"There are still some things to take care of here, but it won't take too long," Rayleigh said, standing up.
"You want to go see the passage that the Guild Master cut open?"
"Oh, you guessed?" Rayleigh was taken aback, raising a hand to scratch his head.
"There have been a lot of people like that recently. Those guys are willing to fight the Marines just to see the Guild Master's sword strike with their own eyes," Crocodile said with a dismissive wave of his hand, as if he was already used to such things.
"That's true. If he had used that strike when he fought me, I wouldn't have been able to block it," Rayleigh said with a loud laugh, earning a sharp roll of the eyes from Shakky.
Couldn't block it?
The two of them had changed their minds on the spot after seeing the news reports about Cyrus.
Originally, they had planned to go to Sky Island by themselves, but as a true master of Haki and swordsmanship on the seas, Rayleigh also wanted to see Cyrus's strike with his own eyes, because that kind of power was beyond all known standards.
Watching Rayleigh and Shakky leave, Crocodile fell silent for a moment, intending to contact Cyrus to report this matter.
But just as he took out the Den Den Mushi, Crocodile's expression shifted, and he once again looked up towards the door.
Rayleigh and Shakky had returned, and they had brought someone else with them.
Boa Hancock? Why was this woman here?
Crocodile was very surprised.
He knew that the Pirate Empress had come to the Sabaody Archipelago before, but she had left before Cyrus made his move.
He was puzzled, and so were Rayleigh and Shakky.
They had run into Hancock on their way out, and she hadn't said a word to them, walking straight towards the Hunter Guild headquarters.
That's why the two of them had returned together.
"I want to join the Hunter Guild."
The moment she saw Crocodile, before he could even speak, Hancock stated her purpose.
"Not just me, the entire island of Amazon Lily will join the Hunter Guild," she added before the three of them could even react.
Shakky was stunned, her expression changing slightly.
Amazon lily had always remained detached from the world.
Moreover, although the Hunter Guild had Cyrus as its President, Cyrus had just attacked Mary Geoise, meaning it was conceivable that in the future, the Hunter Guild would clash with the World Government and the Marines many, many times.
Joining now was tantamount to voluntarily stepping into this massive deadly vortex.
If a power like Amazon lily got involved, the status of a Warlord would be of no use at all.
Although Hancock herself was powerful and the warriors of Amazon Lily were mostly skilled in Haki, rushing blindly into such a matter was incredibly dangerous.
"Hancock!" Rayleigh's expression turned serious as he called out her name.
"Rayleigh, this is my decision," Hancock replied with a determined look.
"You..." Seeing Hancock's expression, Shakky was taken aback, but then she understood.
She figured out exactly why Hancock had made such a drastic decision, it was related to the experience of Hancock and her sisters being tricked off their ship and enslaved in the past.
If that was the reason, then what kind of figure was Cyrus, who had killed so many Celestial Dragons this time, in Hancock's eyes?
In fact, it wasn't just Hancock, many more people would make choices because of Cyrus's actions against the celestial dragon.
Although many people were afraid of offending the Celestial Dragons and were in awe of their so-called status as descendants of gods, conversely, there were even more people who truly hated the nobles and the World Government.
It was just that they didn't dare to show this hatred openly.
Perhaps these people, like Hancock, would also have to make some hard choices now.
"I agree..." Crocodile stared at Hancock and was about to formally accept when he saw the Empress tilt her head back to an extreme angle, pointing a finger down at him.
"You are not qualified to to speak to me. I want to see Lord Cyrus."
Crocodile was stunned for a moment before his face darkened.
This woman was exactly as the rumors described!
"Lord Cyrus is not someone you can see just because you want to."
"I don't care. If it's me, Lord Cyrus will definitely see me. You just need to tell me where Lord Cyrus is right now," Hancock demanded.
Rayleigh silently took out a newspaper and handed it to the Empress.
Hancock was taken aback, taking it and glancing at the front page.
"Punk Hazard? Why would Lord Cyrus's location appear on this?"
Although Hancock had a strange and arrogant temper, she was not stupid.
She instantly realized what it meant for Cyrus's location to appear so blatantly in the newspaper.