Chapter 301: This Pirate Crew Is Suspicious!

"The Stussy and D-Field factions must also have recognized Knight Gao Wen's potential!"

"My lord Tai Zuo Luo, we still have a chance to enter now; once Gao Wen fully establishes himself and secures his footing in the New World, it will be far harder to get in."

Baka La desperately urged, trying to persuade Tai Zuo Luo to invest in Gao Wen.

As Tai Zuo Luo's assistant, she understood the current state of the Huang Jincheng better than anyone else.

Vast wealth had granted Tai Zuo Luo immense power, but it had also turned the Huang Jincheng into the fattest piece of meat in the New World.

Although Tai Zuo Luo chose to bow before the Celestials to secure the World Government's protection and become a member of the Fudejia Alliance, this did provide a degree of deterrence.

But should Tai Zuo Luo show signs of decline, the World Government might be the very first force to strike at the Huang Jincheng!

Yet if, behind Tai Zuo Luo, there stood not just the World Government but also one of the Four Emperors, the outcome would be entirely different.

Baka La saw this clearly, and so did Tai Zuo Luo.

After all, his understanding of his own situation was deeper than Baka La's, yet he remained silent in the face of her plea.

He considered himself a competent merchant, and merchants excel at weighing costs and benefits; they know how to set aside personal grudges and humiliation, letting all things yield to profit!

To that end, he had even bowed before certain Celestials, leveraging their support to firmly establish himself within the World Government.

Logically, Tai Zuo Luo had no reason to reject Baka La's proposal.

But whenever he recalled Gao Wen's face, and the countless films he had watched, and the woman in those films who shared the same fate as Stella…

Tai Zuo Luo felt something burning in his chest.

"This matter…"

Tai Zuo Luo clenched his teeth:

"We'll discuss it later."

"There's been a problem with the business in Britannias—I must go there in person."

Seeing this, Baka La understood instantly that Tai Zuo Luo had instinctively rejected her proposal; yet the more he resisted, the more determined she became:

"My lord Tai Zuo Luo, now is the best time—!"

"Baka La!"

Tai Zuo Luo's eyes turned bloodshot; he slammed his palm onto the desk, shattering it:

"This is an order!"

Baka La trembled, feeling the invisible aura radiating from Tai Zuo Luo, cold sweat breaking out on her back:

"Yes!"

"Hmm."

Tai Zuo Luo took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and said:

"Even if we are to invest in one of the Four Emperors, there are better options available right now."

"There's trouble in Whole Cake Island—Big Mom hasn't shown herself in a long time; this is the perfect moment to offer aid."

"This matter isn't urgent for now."

He glanced at Baka La, saw her still looking panicked, and patted her shoulder to comfort her.

Tai Zuo Luo continued:

"Instead, that old fool in Britannias unilaterally canceled all our arms orders, and even halted our operations there under various pretexts."

"These goods came from Doflamingo; if we mishandle this, we won't fear Doflamingo himself, but the Beasts Pirates behind him are a major problem."

"This is the urgent issue."

"I will go there in person with Dai Si; meanwhile, you and Tanaka will temporarily manage the Huang Jincheng."

"Yes!"

…

…

…

On the Sabaody Archipelago, near Forest 013, in an abandoned shipyard.

Countless decommissioned pirate ships were moored here, many of them beached and half-submerged in seawater.

The hulls of these pirate ships were all corroded, covered in vast patches of crimson rust.

The Lionheart Knight stood moored here, looking distinctly out of place.

Shortly after the battle ended days ago, Lei Li began coating Gao Wen's ship with a protective film, with Franky assisting—progress was swift.

On the beach, shouts rang out repeatedly as dozens of burly men trained under the blazing sun.

Sweat streamed down their bronze skin, glinting like precious gems in the sunlight.

"Ura~~~!"

Beipo, his fur pure white, roared as he dragged a massive boulder, leaving deep grooves in the earth behind him.

His body had visibly swollen again, his height now exceeding five meters; paired with his increasingly ferocious fangs, he resembled nothing but a pure war machine!

"Beipo, your purity is too low!"

Chopper stood beside a decommissioned pirate ship, slamming his iron fists hard against its hull.

The ship's hull was pockmarked with dents, many of which still bore fresh bloodstains.

"You must train like me to achieve true strength!"

"Woooh—!"

Hearing Chopper's encouragement, Beipo's weary body somehow summoned fresh strength, his pace suddenly quickening.

"Pioneer!"

"Pure White Pioneer!"

Not just these two.

Zoro, Sanji, Xiang Keluo, Akin, Van Auger, and Luo—everyone was immersed in cultivation, even displaying signs of nearing qi deviation.

The more exhausted and weary the body became, the closer it was pushed to its limits, the more one could feel a strange sense of pleasure.

From the inside out, it made people involuntarily utter those words...

"Kimoji~"

The sun set behind the mountains, and the bright moon hung high.

Lei Li, who had been applying the coating to the Lionheart Knight, put down his work and was just about to find a spot to sit, drink a little wine, and reminisce about past adventures, when he turned his head and saw Gao Wen and his group cultivating with desperate intensity.

"Hmm?"

"Are pirates of the new era already this involution-obsessed?!"

The corner of Lei Li's mouth twitched.

For a moment, he couldn't help but doubt his entire life.

After all, if they had been this obsessed back in their day, who knows, they might have already achieved their goal in that era.

Luo Jie wouldn't have had to gamble everything on this era...

What nonsense!

He recalled those famous newcomers he had seen before and finally confirmed that those people were no different from himself.

It was Gao Wen and his group who were the anomalies!

"Wait... which pirate crew doesn't hold banquets at nightfall, doesn't drink until hungover, doesn't indulge in pleasure, but instead becomes obsessed with cultivation?!"

"Are these guys pirates? Can these be proper pirates?!"

After muttering a few complaints, Lei Li shifted his gaze back to the crowd cultivating diligently; once he calmed down, a few degrees of admiration grew in his heart:

"No wonder Knight Gao Wen could reach this step at such a young age."

"These pirates under his command must have been influenced by him to cultivate so diligently."

"After all, a captain is not only the leader of a pirate crew but also their spiritual role model, setting an example for everyone."

"Knight Gao Wen must also be cultivating hard somewhere? He..."

Halfway through his sentence.

Lei Li noticed Gao Wen, who was also sitting on the deck.

Contrary to his guesses.

At this moment, Gao Wen was sitting leisurely on the deck, drinking wine, eating snacks, and gazing at the night scenery in the distance; his entire being was relaxed—where was the domineering aura he had displayed during his duel with Hawk Eyes just a few days ago?!

What hard work?!

Lei Li turned to look at the crowd on the beach cultivating to the point of self-forgetfulness, then looked back at Gao Wen sitting on the deck.

He opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

Unexpectedly, Gao Wen misunderstood the gesture, thinking Lei Li wanted to eat but didn't know how to ask, so he proactively shared some snacks from his plate with Lei Li and casually clinked glasses with him.

"Cheers!"

Lei Li hesitated for a moment but ultimately couldn't hold back and asked:

"Are they always like this?!"

Gao Wen nodded.

"And you are always like this?!"

Gao Wen nodded again.

"Mm."

"Wait... why?"

Gao Wen smiled slightly:

"Perhaps because of love."

"..."

Lei Li shot him an annoyed glance.

He finally confirmed that Gao Wen was the only normal person on this ship.

The other crew members' obsession with cultivation had reached a nearly insane level!

This wasn't right!

It was nine parts out of ten not right!

But precisely because of this, Lei Li became increasingly curious about Gao Wen and his group.

With nothing else to do.

Lei Li simply sat on the deck until late at night, wanting to see just how long these crew members under Gao Wen could persist.

But the result left Lei Li dumbfounded.

In terms of physical capability, these crew members under Gao Wen naturally could not compare to the batch from Luo Jie's ship back in the day.

But collapsing again and again, only to stand up again and again, the tenacious will displayed by Gao Wen's subordinates had reached a level that even Lei Li found admirable!

By the time Xiang Keluo and the others stopped, the hour hand in Lei Li's hand had already passed two o'clock in the morning.

Lei Li couldn't help but ask:

"What exactly are you cultivating so desperately for? Simple strength, or to establish a foothold in the New World?!"

Akin paused, reached up to touch his chin, thought for a moment, then nodded:

"Both of those."

"Feeling the body grow stronger step by step, breaking through limits again and again, it's simply intoxicating!"

"But more importantly, we cannot become a burden to that man."

"That's right!"

Chopper nodded heavily, deeply agreeing with this:

"The Captain's strength is far greater than ours."

"But according to Captain Ah Jin's understanding, back in the East Blue, the Captain was nowhere near this powerful; he was even crushed by that Hawkeye with absolute superiority, yet now the Captain can already defeat Hawkeye."

"This can only mean the Captain is growing at an unimaginable speed; every bit of progress within this must have required countless efforts and sweats. As crewmates, how could we possibly give up?!"

These words immediately drew unanimous agreement from everyone.

"I followed Captain Gao Wen from the East Blue, witnessing his entire journey of becoming stronger!"

"Although we have never seen him cultivate, no matter how great one's talent, every portion of power is accompanied by sweat!"

"He must be secretly engaging in involution somewhere we don't know about!"

"Cough, cough—!"

Xiang Keluo cleared his throat twice; seeing the surroundings fall silent, he finally looked straight at Lei Li and spoke:

"I can testify to this point."

"That fellow Gao Wen is an extremely competitive existence."

"He's probably the type of student who claims orally that he hasn't worked hard, but privately strives harder than anyone else."

"Deliberately putting on an air of ease and indifference is merely to lull opponents into complacency."

"That fellow is exactly that kind of person!"

Lei Li paused, thought about Gao Wen's earlier posture which was skilled beyond skilled, and shouted inwardly:

That relaxed and comfortable posture, that casual approach absolutely, absolutely cannot be faked; that fellow is absolutely not the kind of person you describe!

If you ask why...

It is naturally because that fellow and I are of the same kind, and the scent of one's own kind absolutely cannot be deceived.

Just as Lei Li was about to speak, Ah Jin and the others had already returned to the cabin; along the way they talked and laughed, their words filled with contentment.

Seeing this, Lei Li swallowed the words he had been about to say.

After all, the truth was too cruel; for these people, immersing themselves in illusion might not be a bad thing.

The sea breeze blew, bringing wisps of chill.

Instinctively, Lei Li tightened the cloak on his shoulders, took a sip of the strong liquor from his flask, then picked up the snack Gao Wen had sent over and put it into his mouth.

The corner of his mouth unconsciously curved into a slight smile.

"Youth."

"How wonderful~"

Inside the cabin.

Cavendish slowly opened his eyes and saw a series of familiar faces.

"You were also captured by Gao Wen's group?!"

"Captain..."

Cavendish's deputy nodded, explaining with a look of dejection:

"Not long after you left that day, that man named Xiang Keluo attacked us."

"In merely an instant, our ship was destroyed by him."

"Naturally, we were no match for him and were captured on the spot; fortunately, there were no casualties, which counts as a blessing in disguise."

"Tsk—!"

Cavendish spat out a mouthful of saliva; the filthy prison gave him goosebumps, making his whole body feel uneasy.

That his companions had come to no harm was indeed a blessing in disguise.

Just as Cavendish was pondering how to escape, a piercing sound of a door pushing open came from afar.

Creak~!

Blinding light shone through the cabin door, causing Cavendish to instinctively squint his eyes.

Gao Wen and Xiang Keluo walked in side by side.

Cavendish's combat power was quite decent; during the Dressrosa period, his base form possessed strength approaching that of a Navy Vice Admiral, and after his second personality, White Horse, awakened, he might have already approached the Bai Yin limit.

Of course, the current Cavendish might not have reached that step yet, but a Bai Yin-level combatant would still be a nice addition to Gao Wen's group.

It would be best to recruit him; if he was unwilling to bow his head, then they could only send him on his way to the afterlife.

"Knight Gao Wen, you bastard who stole everything from me!"

"I don't recall having any grudge with you."

Gao felt somewhat baffled.

"You still claim not to know!"

Cavendish gritted his teeth in anger:

"Ever since you debuted, every newspaper, every magazine, has been filled with reports about you, and all of this originally belonged to me!"

"So this is your reason for attacking us?!"

Xiang Keluo's mouth twitched; he truly could not understand why someone would gamble their own life and those of their companions on such a boring reason.

Gao Wen recalled Cavendish's jealousy toward the Straw Hats during the Dressrosa period and instantly understood the situation.

"Of course!"

Cavendish snorted coldly, then noticing the fearful looks of his companions, he couldn't help but speak up:

"This matter was my own stubborn doing and has nothing to do with them; you may dispose of me as you wish, just let them go!"

Hearing this, the coldness in Xiang Keluo's eyes eased slightly, while Gao Wen's eyes gradually brightened:

"If what you want is attention, to be worshipped by others, and to enjoy flowers and praise, I do have a method."

(End of Chapter)