Chapter 434

"Better than nothing."

Locke waved his hand uninterestingly, feeling somewhat bored.

Just one or two Devil Fruits really didn't catch his eye anymore.

A person's vision.

Always rises with their strength!

"Our current strength..."

Locke muttered to himself, pondering as he spoke: "Emperor-level! Ordinary Emperor-level powerhouses, as long as they don't flee before we get close, basically cannot escape our grasp!"

Fingri's death!

For Locke and the others, it was more than just a harvest of supplies.

It was also a test and verification of their own strength.

Emperor-level strength!

And among the Emperor-level, it was quite a formidable one at that!

If dealing with an average Emperor-level powerhouse, as long as they were caught, they could basically be killed with certainty.

Locke initially possessed the strength to slay an Admiral!

It was no longer relying on Akame's Teigu 【Murasame】 to take a side path, using the curse poison of a one-hit kill.

But a real, head-on confrontation.

Being able to take the opponent down and kill them was undoubtedly a leap in progress.

Finally, there was no need to be like before.

Encountering an Emperor-level powerhouse meant taking all sorts of detours, setting ambushes in advance, being terrified, and resorting to a bunch of miscellaneous means. Although they succeeded, Locke didn't want to keep walking a tightrope.

If you walk the night path often, you'll eventually run into a ghost!

This time!

He finally had real, solid power; it was no longer a castle in the air built on tricks!

It also meant that Noxas was no longer a rootless duckweed, but had the power to truly compete on the sea!

"The strength of the Moon Shadow Pirate Crew... should be approaching that of the Emperor's crews of the future..."

Locke whispered softly.

A weakened Emperor's crew is still an Emperor's crew. The core officers Fingri cultivated at the cost of resources were not a bit weaker than those of an Emperor's crew. As for himself, perhaps due to the decline of old age, his strength had decreased, but in terms of speed, having developed the Shadow Plane and blood-sacrificing his subordinates, he was absolutely at the top of the Four Emperors!

Even so, he was still slain by Locke.

Noxas's strength was no longer in doubt!

"With the trend of their hype, the news of the great pirate Fingri dying in Noxas should soon occupy the front pages and become common knowledge in the North Blue."

Locke frowned slightly.

·· ·······Begging for flowers 0 ······

It was as if he could already see the news spreading and the countries of the North Blue shocked to the point of falling to their knees.

"So~"

"Should we strike while the iron is hot?"

"Should we send troops to sweep through the North Blue and conquer it completely?"

Leone rubbed her hands, her fighting spirit burning.

Grabbing territory and such.

She was very familiar with it!

This was her old profession; although there were some differences in scale, it should be roughly the same.

"No—"

Locke's calm voice poured a bucket of cold water on Leone.

He shook his head.

Under the intentional guidance of Najenda and Esdeath, Locke had also grown a lot.

At least...

He could see through some obvious open schemes clearly now.

... 【'..... 0

What Fingri said at the moment of his death was nine times out of ten true; there was no need to lie to him about this.

Sheele's Imperial Arms characteristics also verified this.

So...

He really came to deliver battle achievements.

And the person who could drive a great pirate like him, sparing no cost, to make such a big scene.

Did he still need to guess?

There was no one else to think of besides the World Government.

"They really have a lot of tricks."

Locke smacked his lips, picked up the red wine at hand, and took a light sip.

The sweetness of the grapes and the mellowness of the wine underwent a chemical reaction on the tip of his tongue. His black-and-white eyes also flickered with obscure light, and killing intent surged, appearing vaguely.

"Your Highness is right."

"We cannot act rashly like this."

Najenda nodded, clearly having seen through the core, and agreed: "We have nothing to do with the Moon Shadow Pirate Crew; Fingri's raid must be inextricably linked to the World Government."

"Hype! The other side just wants to make a big scene, letting Fingri use his defeat to confirm the previous rumors. Directly making our Noxas the target of public criticism... pushing us into Rocks' position, making various member states and forces wary, leaning more towards their camp, and maintaining stability..."

"Although we successfully killed the invaders, we also fell into their calculations."

"Even if we play along, the World Government hasn't lost a thing."

The face under the hat brim showed some disgust.

Najenda saw through these twists and turns very clearly; she was from the upper class, after all.

Only the world where Fingri was injured was achieved.