Chapter 195

"Ha~"

Luo En sat lazily on the soft belly of the cat-cobra, which lay on its back with swollen bumps all over its head, yawned, and turned to look at Duke Inuarashi, whose head was planted upside-down into the ground.

"Is this enough?"

Duke Inuarashi's tail twitched.

That day, Luo En took Luo Bin into Whale Forest and found the crimson red signpost stele, which indeed recorded sea coordinates—but they were extremely fragmented; with only this information, it was impossible to determine the location of the final island, Laugh Tale.

"All four signpost steles must be gathered together."

After copying the content of the stele, Luo Bin walked up to Luo En and handed him the paper.

"Luo En, you keep this."

"Copying?"

Luo En, with his eyes closed, asked her.

Luo Bin nodded, took his hand, and placed the paper in his palm.

Luo En thought once, and the copy instantly vanished.

"Let's go."

Luo En stepped toward the exit.

Just as he turned to walk away, a strange sensation came from behind him.

Luo En's body stiffened slightly and he stopped in place.

"Luo Bin?"

"Don't speak. Just a moment… just a little while…"

Luo Bin pressed against his back, closed her eyes, whispered softly, tears at her corners.

So much had happened since entering the New World, especially the assassination attempt by Ash, which had left her utterly hopeless.

When Ash crashed down, she truly believed everything was over.

She thought she would never see again the man who had reignited color into her life.

Until that moment.

She finally understood how vital this man was to her.

After arriving at Wudao, Luo Bin decided to stop evading her own heart.

Inside the cave holding the crimson stele, silence reigned.

………………

While Luo En and the others rested on Wudao.

News continuously emerging from Dressrosa and Wano Country stirred the New World into a frenzy, sending shockwaves across the entire ocean!

【Breaking News! Former Marine Admiral Zephyr and the Traveler Luo En teamed up and killed Doflamingo in Dressrosa, wiping out the Donquixote Family! This news is absolutely true!】

【Explosive News! The Traveler Luo En clashed with 'Ash', the foremost of the Three Beasts of the Beasts Pirates, over the sea, destroying a Wurendao; Ash was brutally beaten by the Traveler Luo En and is now missing, his life and death unknown!】

【Huge Event in Wano Country! The Traveler Luo En brought Ash to Kuri Island, crushed Ash's head in front of Kaido, then battled Kaido—one of the Four Emperors—above Kuri Island; Kuri Island was destroyed! Kaido of the Beasts Pirates was severely wounded; the Traveler Luo En is missing, his life and death unknown!】

Countless people were stunned into silence, their scalps prickling, unable to speak for a long time.

Whether the World Government at the top, the Navy, the dominant sea power, or the other three Emperors ruling the New World, none could ignore the Traveler named Luo En anymore.

172, Influence, the Determination to Grow Stronger! (Combined, Happy New Year!)

World Government.

The highest level where the Five Elders reside.

"What nonsense about a traveler yearning for freedom—he's nothing but a madman defying the gods, just like any other pirate!"

"Is this boy trying to replace Kaido and become the new Emperor of the Sea…?"

"It's probably more than that—he has Nico Robin, who can read the Poneglyphs, on his ship. His ultimate goal may be that place…"

"Laugh Tale… damn it, Luo Jie."

"Reaching that place won't be easy. As long as we hold the final crimson signpost stele, no one will ever reach that island."

"But this boy's existence is too irritating—we must find a way to eliminate him."

"Any good ideas?"

"We can stir up conflict between him and those others, making them attack him. Xia Luote Luffy probably finds him equally irritating."

"You mean have the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates join forces against him?"

"Indeed, it's a good way to weaken both of them."

"Have CP0 handle it."

"What about the Navy?"

"Sengoku should be able to judge the situation well…"

……

Even though no news about Luo En had yet emerged from Wano Country—he was still missing, his life and death unknown.

Yet no one on the entire ocean believed he was truly dead.

Calls for Luo En to be recognized as the fifth Emperor of the New World had never been louder; even pirates with bounties over a billion expressed admiration for his deeds and declared their intent to join him.

For a time, the Traveler Luo En overshadowed even the Four Emperors in the New World.

Hawk-Eye, one of the Seven Warlords, appeared in the New World; some said he came to find Luo En and challenge him to a duel.

The Big Mom Pirates, taking advantage of the Beasts Pirates' weakness, swallowed up several of their territories, making the Whole Cake Kingdom even stronger.

Ace, former captain of the Blackbeard Pirates and user of the Mera Mera no Mi, officially joined the Whitebeard Pirates as captain of the Second Division, his bounty further increased.

The underworld of the New World experienced its largest power struggle in nearly a decade, with the situation shifting unpredictably and spiraling out of control.

With Doflamingo dead, the Beasts Pirates—one of the Four Emperors—plunged into decline, while the Traveler Luo En's Sky Calamity Travelers rose powerfully.

The previously stable situation was gradually being broken apart, as if a storm capable of overturning the entire world was slowly brewing within the New World...

The Marines had certainly noticed this, but found it difficult to take control.

As long as that variable that had triggered this storm—the Traveler Luo En—remained in the New World, they would never know what would happen the next moment.

It was precisely this kind of existence—impossible to track, impossible to predict, yet brazen beyond measure—that troubled the upper echelons of the Marines the most.

As Fleet Admiral, Sengoku was currently very annoyed.

"Killing Doflamingo, killing King the Conflagration, attacking Kaido—all within three days. Just how many more incidents does that bastard intend to create?!"

"Who knows."

"What do you mean 'who knows'?!"

Sengoku casually grabbed something off the desk and hurled it at Garp, who was eating senbei, and said irritably: "To a large extent, the fact that that troublesome fellow has grown to where he is today cannot be separated from you!"

"Why do you keep bringing that up? Haven't I already been reprimanded? This matter has nothing to do with me anymore."

Crunch, crunch—Garp munched on his senbei, easily dodging the pen holder Sengoku had thrown at him, then turned his head to look at Tsuru beside him: "Right, little Tsuru."

Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Tsugu did not pay him any heed. She looked at Sengoku and said: "If he can keep the Four Emperors in check like this in the New World, it's not necessarily a bad thing for us. The main trouble is that we cannot predict his next move. In the New World, he's like a ticking time bomb—you never know when he'll disrupt the situation again and create some super incident we can't accept."

"Well said. That is precisely what worries me most." Sengoku braced both hands on the desk, stood up, and said through gritted teeth: "And the New World is of paramount importance—any small disturbance there will spread across the entire sea. If the situation there is disrupted... it will surely cause an unimaginably terrible catastrophe for the whole sea!"

Hearing this, even Vice Admiral Tsuru aside, Garp's expression gradually grew solemn as well.

"So you're still planning to use the previous method—send our top combat power to encircle and kill him?" Garp stared at Sengoku.

"The result was that he killed Doflamingo while being pursued jointly by Aokiji and Huang Yuan. This is enough to prove that method isn't really workable."

Garp spoke, then took a bite of the senbei in his hand.

"Unless we change the target of capture to other members of the Sky Disaster Travelers, thereby forcing him to submit."

Vice Admiral Tsuru pinched her chin in thought: "Still, I don't recommend doing that either."

Sengoku looked at her: "Little Tsuru, do you have any ideas?"

"I think if the Marines could improve relations with him and have him replace Doflamingo's vacancy as the new Warlord of the Sea, that would be the best thing for the current situation." Vice Admiral Tsuru looked at Sengoku.

"We could use him to contain the Four Emperors, and at the same time keep ourselves informed of his movements—no more wasting two Admirals and elite troops on him..."

Sengoku listened to her words, frowning deeply as he slowly sat back down, crossing his arms: "What you say, little Tsuru, might... indeed be the best method. But now it's too late."

"Indeed. That kid did attack Mariejois after all. The World Government and the Celestial Dragons would never agree to it, no matter what."

Garp spoke, tossing the remaining half-piece of senbei in his hand into his mouth.

Vice Admiral Tsuru said nothing more.

"Let's recall Huang Yuan first."

After a long silence, Sengoku spoke: "The Four Seas and the Grand Line also need manpower. We can't keep wasting our top combat power on that fellow."

"Aren't you worried he'll cause some major incident again?"