With a total of over thirty thousand naval troops, respectfully kneeling before Roa under the leadership of their various commanders, King exclaimed, "It's truly magnificent! Only Boss could achieve something like this so easily, right?"
It was almost as if a deity had descended, and all beings naturally prostrated themselves in worship. However, if the Boss he followed truly was a god, he would only be an evil god bringing disaster to the world. King simply hoped that Joy Boy, whom he followed, would change this world. As for whether it would become better or worse, he didn't care.
"It's only natural," Bullet, clad in thick winter attire, said, crossing his arms, unsurprised. Such individuals didn't even have the capacity to say "no" to Boss.
"In that case, we'll have a sufficiently powerful force in the West Blue," Dylan also said with satisfaction. To be honest, these eight naval forces might indeed be a terrifying power in the West Blue, but for Calamity Company, they were just meh. Thirty thousand naval troops? That's a lot? The second batch of artificial soldiers, cultivated a few months ago, already totaled over fifty thousand. Nowadays, besides selling weapons, Calamity Company could even rent out armies to participate in remote wars.
The strength of the naval force commanders? Either Bullet or King alone would be enough to sweep through these eight pirate groups. Their only purpose here was to stir up trouble in the West Blue for Lord Roa.
Dylan felt quite emotional internally. He was the executive who had followed Roa the longest. He had been by Roa's side since Roa was five years old and had just joined the Rocks Pirates. It could be said that he had personally witnessed Roa's step-by-step journey from being alone to where he was today.
Calamity Company, though not yet a top force in the New World, was definitely only beneath the Roger Pirates, the Flying Pirates, and the Whitebeard Pirates—the three top monster-led pirate crews. Dylan couldn't help but sigh, It hasn't been easy for Lord Roa all this way—
Uh. He suddenly froze, then let out a sudden, understanding laugh. It actually seemed super easy all this way. He hadn't encountered any significant obstacles at all. Whether it was Kaido or Big Mom, or Garp or Zephyr, or even Shiki or Roger, even monsters like them couldn't stop Lord Roa's progress.
Indeed, Lord Roa was born to stand at the pinnacle of the sea. It wouldn't be long. After the era of Rocks ended, the era of Lord Roa would immediately follow!
"Oh, an unexpected surprise." Roa eyed another man kneeling before him with a touch of curiosity. "You said you're the King of the Flower Country?"
The middle-aged man, somewhat shifty-looking, trembled slightly, respectfully kneeling before Roa, cautiously replying, "Yes, Lord Roa."
Roa raised an eyebrow. "Call me Boss!"
The King of the Flower Country quickly spoke, "Yes, Boss!" The relationship between the Flower Country and these naval forces was closer than he had imagined. He had initially thought it was like the relationship between the World Government and the Warlords of the Sea. But he hadn't expected that even the King himself would personally come out to save Chin Jao.
However, despite being a king, he was no different from the others who were kneeling. Come to think of it. Roa's eyes narrowed. If he could turn most of the world's kings into his Dependent Ghosts, wouldn't the pirate world become like Toriko (Manga about gourmet hunters)?
However, this thought was quickly dismissed. Now was not the time for a full-scale war with the World Government. Once news leaked, Im would probably show up with the Holy Knights and the Five Elders. As for non-affiliated countries, who knew how many millions of islands there were in this world? In his past life, the Earth had over fifty thousand islands larger than one square meter. In this world, there were no large continents besides the Red Line, only the remnants of land submerged by seawater. Marco even said there were tens of millions of islands worldwide. Roa felt it was truly unnecessary to search for them country by country.
"Then, from now on, you will act according to your usual practice." Roa said.
"You mean?" The King of the Flower Country dared not lift his head, only asking cautiously in a low voice.
"Go to war when necessary, expand when necessary." Roa said casually. He quite admired the Flower Country. This was undoubtedly a nation brimming with martial spirit, constantly waging wars and expanding its territory. Apart from non-affiliated countries, wars with affiliated countries were also commonplace. Even the World Government found it difficult to interfere directly; they usually only mediated internal conflicts between affiliated countries.
As for why the Flower Country, despite its brazenness, hadn't faced retaliation, it could only be said that the role of the eight naval forces became apparent. Any enemy forces entering these waters would be ruthlessly attacked by them. In West Blue, many people knew that these notorious pirates had an unclear relationship with the Flower Country, but no one had any evidence. The end result was that the Flower Country became a dominant force in West Blue, with very few countries daring to provoke them.
"Win over some people, then fight others. Don't let the West Blue be idle."
"Yes, Boss!" The King of the Flower Country had no objection to Roa's command. This was, in fact, what the Flower Country had always been doing. Successive Kings of the Flower Country had a dream: to emulate the Germa Kingdom of the North Blue and conquer the entire West Blue, turning this vast ocean into their inland sea.
"As for you all," Roa looked at the commanders, "staying near the Flower Country to cultivate yourselves would be a waste. Leaving one naval force is enough. The rest of you, go do what pirates should do."
The strength of these naval forces was actually quite decent. After all, several of the commanders were essentially at the level of Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals. Although Marine Vice Admirals were often treated as stepping stones in the original story, getting effortlessly defeated by various strong individuals, their actual skill level was quite high. At least in the West Blue, few could compare. As long as they didn't encounter peerless masters like Fujitora or Ryokugyu who seemed to appear out of nowhere, they alone would be enough to cause immense chaos in the West Blue.
"Understood, Boss!"
Finally. Roa turned back. He looked at the ice field, which was as smooth as a giant mirror. Since I'm already here, it seems a bit rude not to take anything with me. So. Roa took a slight breath, and then.
"Roar!"
Sound waves instantly transformed into an invisible, enormous blast of air that spread out, causing the entire ice field to violently shake. Roa's roar, like Charlotte Linlin's strange screams when she lost her sanity, was also infused with Conqueror's Haki, further amplifying the destructive power of the sound waves. So, at this moment, even though it was just a small test, thick cracks still appeared on the mirror-like surface of the ice field. Large chunks of ice protruded into icebergs, and an equal number of ice chunks receded into crevasses. In the blink of an eye, the perpetually frozen ice field, which even Chin Jao had to exert his full strength to break, completely shattered.
The gold and silver treasures buried deep beneath the ice field were finally exposed to the sunlight.
"Hmm?" Roa tilted his head. How come, both in terms of the form of attack and the destruction caused, my sound wave attack is so similar to Whitebeard's shockwaves?Oh right, sound waves are essentially vibrations. However, the continuous stretch of treasure was still quite visually impactful.
"Judge, send people to move your research funds."
Next, it was time to meet the legendary Five Families.
The great snail fleet did not stop in the Flower Country. After all, it was a World Government affiliated country. If they were to linger there, CP would surely pay them a visit soon enough. Exposing their whereabouts wasn't the issue; if the Flower Country and its naval forces were to be "justly executed" by the government, wouldn't this trip have been in vain?
So, the great fleet rumbled towards the island where Morgans had arranged for the leaders of the Five Families to meet. However, on the sea chart leading to that island, Roa saw the name of another island.
"Ohara?" Roa raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Ohara is a world-famous sacred land for archaeology," Dylan, who had been greatly embarrassed by getting lost in the North Blue over a year ago, had since diligently studied a lot of knowledge about the Four Blues. Ohara, of course, was no challenge for him. "The world's most excellent archaeologists gather there. Its status in the archaeological world is as renowned as Elegia's in the music world."
Roa, of course, didn't need Dylan to introduce Ohara to him. His eyes narrowed. What a coincidence, actually?
"Let's go there then, it's on the way anyway." Roa said.
Dylan was slightly stunned. Was Lord Roa interested in archaeology? However, such doubts were unimportant. As Calamity Company's chief steward and Roa's right-hand man, he merely nodded respectfully. "Yes, Boss."
Roa was naturally interested in the hidden history. Without understanding Im's true nature, he always felt unsure about going to war with him. However, Ohara hadn't really discovered anything substantial; they probably knew even less than Roa. Still, although the sacred land of history held nothing of particular interest to Roa in terms of historical research, the Tree of Knowledge did contain many lost technological documents. In online forums of his previous life, Old Man Vegapunk, the world's greatest scientist, was jokingly called an archaeologist. There was no helping it, since those technologies buried in the dust of history were far superior to those of the current era. If Vegapunk could excavate, why couldn't Judge?
Since he was already here, he had to visit. So, the snail fleet headed straight for the archaeological sacred land.
Ohara, this sacred land in the hearts of archaeologists worldwide, was actually not very prosperous. The island, not very large in area, didn't even have a proper city, only a few scattered villages and small towns. Although it was an archaeological sacred land, it didn't mean that everyone living on the island was an archaeologist. In reality, to become a truly recognized scholar, one had to undergo systematic study and pass examinations by other scholars. The vast majority of people living on the island were still ordinary folk. And being ordinary folk, they needed to make a living.
Thus, there were quite a few fishing boats in Ohara's nearby waters. These fishermen were the first to see the gigantic snails rumbling across the sea.
"What's that?" The fishermen were initially confused.
"Run!" Then, their faces instantly changed color as they frantically rowed towards the shore. No matter who was coming, staying at sea now certainly wasn't a good idea. The moment they hastily docked their boats, a gigantic snail had already directly driven onto the shore. Facing the mountain-like behemoth, the fishermen secretly swallowed their saliva, frozen in fear. As it drew closer, they could clearly see a palace on the snail's back.
"Finally arrived." A young voice came from the snail's back. "Oh! Is that the legendary Tree of Knowledge? How magnificent! It's almost like the Treasure Tree Adam from the Giant Kingdom."
"Let's go, let's take a look."
The fishermen subconsciously looked up and saw the young man standing at the edge of the platform on the snail's back. He was very handsome, very young, and then.
"Calamity Roa??" One fisherman cried out in terror, instantly falling to the ground, his face turning incredibly pale, his voice trembling as if his teeth were chattering.
Calamity Roa?? The other fishermen were equally terrified out of their wits. Even on their remote little island, that name was still thunderous!
Roa took a slight sniff. "Very good." This was the benefit of fame. He didn't have to do anything; he could just show up somewhere and immediately gain an advantage. Thinking this, the snail rumbled forward, ignoring whether there were cliffs or fields ahead, crushing everything without hesitation. It left behind only a group of still-terrified fishermen. They paused for a moment, then exchanged glances, and without hesitation, took off running. They had to quickly inform the entire island that the true monster had arrived, and all of Ohara was about to be plunged into destruction!
However, their actions were entirely superfluous. The recklessly advancing giant snail naturally caused a huge sensation along its path. And when the people whose attention was drawn saw Roa standing on the snail's back, fear had already begun to spread across the island.
"Roa? Is that Calamity Roa?"
"What is that monster doing here?!"
"Quick! Notify the Marines immediately!!" The residents along the way fled in terror, shouting these words.
Dylan, standing behind Roa, found it somewhat amusing. "Marines? If they want to send Marines to subjugate us, they'd at least need someone of Sengoku or Garp's caliber, wouldn't they?"
Roa paid no mind to these reactions. He simply watched the Tree of Knowledge growing ever closer. This towering tree, with a canopy that covered the sky, grew in a small lake, connected to the island by a single path. Its enormous trunk had been hollowed out to form a library. Coincidentally, as the snail stopped in front of the library's main entrance, the door opened. Perhaps having received some news, several people, led by an old man with a very distinctive appearance, rushed out of the library. The old man's hair extended outwards on both sides in fan-like topknots, coupled with similarly shaped dense whiskers, making him look like a clover.
"..."
The two parties collided head-on. The clover-like old man's pupils constricted the moment he saw Roa. Roa leaped from the snail's back to stand before them. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Clover."
The old man, known as Dr. Clover, was stunned again. A few seconds later, he took a deep breath, looking at the handsome young man before him, and spoke seriously, "Roa, we were just about to welcome you."
"Oh?" This time, it was Roa's turn to be surprised. "I didn't know I was so popular. Indeed," he stroked his smooth chin, "handsome people get preferential treatment everywhere they go."
Dr. Clover simply stared steadily at Roa, ignoring his nonsense. "I wanted to talk to you a year ago because you seem to know many things." He paused, then continued, "Now that we've met, I feel it's even more necessary." The fact that his name contained "D" was known to very few people in the entire world.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Roa directly took the initiative, striding past the archaeologists, and leisurely walked into the Tree of Knowledge. Behind him, Bullet and the others immediately followed. This time, even Judge came along. Judge was also very interested in the documents stored within the Tree of Knowledge.
The archaeologists, of course, were angry but dared not speak about Roa's rude actions. This was a monster with a bounty of two billion Berries. Although a monster with an even higher bounty had come a year ago, that one was much easier to talk to. The scholars turned their gaze to their leader.
Dr. Clover took a deep breath, then turned and followed Roa and the others back into the library.
"Wow, how magnificent!" Roa looked up. The entire interior of the large tree's trunk had been completely hollowed out. Looking up from below, one could barely see the top of the library, and the walls were densely packed with bookshelves filled with all sorts of books.
"Amazing!" As a scholar, no one understood the preciousness of knowledge better than Judge. The price of books was never cheap, after all. Due to inconvenient transportation, the circulation of books was quite difficult. Therefore, some rare, unique copies could almost be described as priceless. He praised repeatedly, "It's hard to imagine how much time and effort this must have taken!"
"This is the accumulation of generations of scholars," Dr. Clover's eyebrows softened slightly upon hearing their praise, but his tone remained flat. "They are a precious treasure of the whole world."
"Roa, I wanted to meet you a year ago when Roger came," Dr. Clover, who had long been accustomed to the storms of the sea from his years of adventuring and collecting documents around the world, had no fear of Roa. "I'm just very curious, how did you know we were researching the Poneglyphs?" When Olvia brought Roger to the Tree of Knowledge and explained his purpose, Dr. Clover almost had a heart attack from fright. After all, once news of their Poneglyph research leaked, the World Government's iron fist would likely come crashing down immediately. Fortunately, Roger had the same goal as them, so the Roger Pirates were warmly welcomed here a year ago.
But, if that was the case for Roger, what about Roa? Would he leak this information to the World Government? For a year, Dr. Clover had been uneasy because of this. So when Roa sought him out now, he actually felt a sense of relief.
"I guessed." Roa said casually. "If I had to say who in the world had the ability to decipher ancient texts, it would only be you."
Dr. Clover pursed his lips, of course knowing Roa was just fooling him. "And then?"
Roa asked with interest, "What happened after Roger arrived on this island?"
"He left with a scholar." Dr. Clover answered honestly. "They are going to search for more Poneglyphs, find the legendary Great Treasure, and uncover the truth of the Void Century."
"Very good." Roa nodded in satisfaction, then pressed on, "Is that scholar's ability okay?" What if it's a trap, and they run into problems deciphering the Road Poneglyphs later and can't find their way?
Dr. Clover looked at Roa with some surprise. Didn't Roger say a year ago that they had just fought Roa and Shiki? Why does he seem to care so much about Roger now?
Before Dr. Clover could answer, one of the scholars who had accompanied him out angrily spoke up. "Olvia is our top scholar, second only to Dr. Clover! You shouldn't doubt her professional ability no matter who you suspect!"
Top-notch? That's good. Roa nodded in satisfaction again.
"Huh?" His nodding motion suddenly stiffened. Roa looked at the scholar in disbelief. "Who did you say?"
"Olvia? Is that Nico Olvia?"
Holy shit! Roger, what the hell did you do?! What about my Robin?!