Chapter 467

Early the next morning, as the sky began to brighten, Aokiji bid farewell to Zhang Jie.

"Admiral, you expended a lot of energy yesterday; why not stay for a few more days?"

Zhang Jie tried to persuade him to stay, feeling somewhat reluctant to part.

Aokiji was a top-tier powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of the ocean's pyramid; although he lacked Conqueror's Haki,

his Armament and Observation Haki were both at their peak, and Zhang Jie felt he had benefited immensely from their exchange.

After all, the only teacher he had been in contact with before was a retired old pirate, Old Luo Er.

Sometimes, the techniques Aokiji mentioned casually were tricks that Old Luo Er had never grasped in his entire life.

Zhang Jie could not bear to let such a living secret manual just walk away.

"Ah-la-la, business in the Navy is busy, and as an Admiral, I must lead by example, so I won't linger."

Aokiji casually found an excuse, his attitude firm.

He had not forgotten the sense of threat he felt the previous night.

Although he did not know why Zhang Jie had abandoned the idea of attacking him, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall,

and he did not want to linger for long in a place that could potentially threaten his life.

"Alright, I look forward to our next meeting, Admiral."

Seeing Aokiji's firm attitude, Zhang Jie could say no more and could only express his regret.

"Hum, Admiral Aokiji, here is your bicycle."

The intelligent system Black God delivered Aokiji's mount at the opportune moment.

Out of a habit of maintaining mechanical creations, it had even performed maintenance work like applying lubricant to the bicycle.

The entire bicycle looked brand new.

"No need to see me off, I'll be going now."

Aokiji jumped onto his bicycle, somewhat impatiently, and used his freezing ability to create an ice path to depart.

'Aokiji must have realized something.'

Watching the back that was almost fleeing in a panic, Zhang Jie stroked his chin and speculated.

At the same time, he gave a thumbs-up to his own wise decision to abandon that tempting idea last night.

Even if Aokiji's Observation Haki had not reached the level of foreseeing the future like Katakuri's,

it was likely only a step away,

and he possessed a sense for danger similar to the "Way of Utmost Sincerity,

which can foresee the future" from the Dragon-Snake world, making a sneak attack almost impossible to succeed.

To this, Zhang Jie could only say that Admirals and Emperors are indeed top-tier powerhouses, each with their own tricks up their sleeves.

"Hum, Master, because of your battle with Admiral Aokiji,

the route has deviated; would you like to modify the destination or the route?"

"Display the map."

An electronic map encompassing the Four Blues and the Grand Line was projected onto Zhang Jie's iris.

Hmm, although the Calm Belt is very restrictive to the widely used sailing ships,

with the help of various strange Devil Fruit users and the black technology hidden by the World Government,

the map of the Calm Belt was still quite detailed.

Aokiji being able to find him quite accurately was partly due to this detailed map.

Although ordinary people and pirate crews at the bottom of society could not access such detailed maps due to the neglect and deliberate blockade by the higher-ups,

it was naturally impossible for one of the largest pirate crews in the New World, the Big Mom Pirates, not to have one.

Any navigator who has been to sea knows that on the ocean, besides a good ship,

the most important thing is to have a detailed nautical chart recording all routes and dangers.

If the Big Mom Pirates did not even have this, even if Big Mom's combat power was superb,

it would be impossible for them to be entangled with the Navy and other Emperor-level pirate crews for so many years.

After all, other factions were not without high-level combat power that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Big Mom Charlotte Linlin.

When high-level combat powers check and balance each other, the soft power of their subordinates becomes very important in the competition.

And this gave Zhang Jie an opportunity to pilfer—just like the materials used to build the Black God,

this detailed nautical chart was also pilfered by Zhang Jie from an important island of the Big Mom Pirates.

Zhang Jie: Thanks to the top donor, uh... I should say the top donor sister for the sponsorship (hands pressed together, grateful, grateful...).

However, given Big Mom's age, should I call her the top donor aunt?

Hmm, these are all minor details; anyway, most of what Zhang Jie has been eating and using during this time

was Big Mom's not-so-friendly sponsorship.

On the electronic map, there were two routes marked by Black God in green and red.

The green one was the original route, while the red one was the route traveled after deviating from the original trajectory.

Zhang Jie glanced at it and discovered that because he had gotten carried away during the previous battle and there was no fixed battlefield,

the current route had deviated from the original planned route by over a hundred kilometers.

However, what Zhang Jie was more concerned about now was not the route deviation,

but Aokiji, who had already whipped his horse and disappeared at the end of the ocean:

"The route has deviated so much; I hope he has a navigation instrument like a Permanent Pose on him.

Otherwise, it would be hilarious if a dignified Navy Admiral were trapped on the ocean because he couldn't find the route."

As for being swallowed by the ocean like other pirate crews and merchant groups that lost their way, that was unlikely.

Given Aokiji's strength and fruit ability, if one were to ask which of the three Navy Admirals

has the strongest survival ability on the ocean, it is none other than him: the Ice-Ice Fruit can freeze the ocean,

preventing him from falling into the sea and drowning like other ability users because there is no place to stand.

Secondly, he can condense the moisture in the air to provide fresh water, avoiding the tragedy of a dignified Admiral dying of thirst.

Filling his stomach is even simpler: with one "Ice Age,"

he can catch countless fish, shrimp, and even Sea Kings in one fell swoop.

As for the other Navy Admiral, Akainu, let's not even mention him; the Magma-Magma Fruit is most countered by the vast ocean.

Even Kizaru might lose his footing and fall into the sea due to exhaustion from having no place to stand.

The World Government and the Navy sending Aokiji, rather than other actors like Kizaru or Garp, to find him,

besides Aokiji having the gentlest personality and being suitable for contact, may well have taken this into consideration.

Ignoring Aokiji, Zhang Jie instructed Black God: "Plan a new route, destination remains unchanged."

"Hum, understood, planning the most suitable route with the shortest travel time."

Deep in the Calm Belt, having left the Black God, let down his guard,

and returned to his lazy self, Aokiji suddenly felt something was amiss:

"Ah-la-la, did I forget something?"

During the time Zhang Jie and Aokiji were sparring, the World Government had already used the "Big News"

and the channels of Morgans, president of the World Economic News Paper, to spread the news of Zhang Jie joining the Seven Warlords of the Sea across the entire ocean,

attempting to use the feat of "recruiting" Zhang Jie to consolidate their own rule.

And the first to receive the information, besides the World Government itself and the Navy,

were naturally the other Seven Warlords of the Sea who were now in the "same camp" as Zhang Jie.

In Alabasta, at the Rain Diners, "Sand Crocodile" Crocodile, who had a clear scar on his face

and was chomping on a large cigar, pinched the intelligence issued by the World Government:

"Another loser who was scared out of his wits by a Pirate Emperor and chose to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

He had great doubts about Zhang Jie's battle record;

he was a man who had once challenged Whitebeard head-on and "retreated unscathed"!