Jozu and Thatch walked to Akira's side, asking with worried expressions. They had been scared to death just now.
...
Akira shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I just suffered a little injury. I'll treat it myself later."
In fact, he hadn't suffered any serious injuries. He had just been hit a bit hard by Alvin Simpson's attack.
Fortunately, Armament Haki had blocked most of the impact, so he had only suffered a minor injury.
"Did everyone suffer any casualties?" Akira naturally asked about the people from the Whitebeard Pirates.
Jozu smiled and said, "It's just a bunch of trash. Some people were just injured. No one died."
"That's good." Akira breathed a sigh of relief. The people they had brought were all elites from the Whitebeard Pirates.
It should be known that there were only a little over a hundred people in the Whitebeard Pirates' main force. Each of them was an elite. Losing one would be a big deal.
While Akira and the others were talking, Jinbe walked over quickly. He had many wounds on his body.
However, he didn't care at all, and said gratefully to Akira and the others, "Captain Jozu, Captain Thatch, this little brother, and all the brothers from the Whitebeard Pirates, thank you so much this time. You saved our Fish-Man Island."
Jozu smiled and said, "It's nothing. This was Dad's order. However, Brother Jinbe, your strength is very strong. How about it? Are you interested in joining our Whitebeard Pirates?"
Jinbe was stunned when he heard this. He hadn't expected that Jozu would actually recruit him.
However, he quickly reacted and said, "I'm just average. I'm far from being as good as you. Moreover, I'm now His Majesty's guard, so..."
Jozu nodded and said, "I understand. This matter is naturally up to Brother Jinbe. However, if Brother Jinbe wants to join a pirate group one day, please give priority to our Whitebeard Pirates."
Jinbe said solemnly, "Definitely, definitely."
During the battle just now, Jozu had seen Jinbe's strength. Among those fish-man warriors, only a few could catch his eye, and Jinbe was the most outstanding of them.
That was why he had opened his mouth to recruit Jinbe.
At this time, Neptune also walked over quickly with Queen Otohime and the others. Jinbe quickly introduced, "This is His Majesty Neptune, the king of our Fish-Man Island, and this is Her Majesty Queen Otohime."
Akira and the others all said very politely, "Your Majesty, Your Highness."
Neptune and Queen Otohime were also very polite. Neptune first exchanged a few words of greeting with Akira and the others, and then opened his mouth and asked, "How is Whitebeard doing recently?"
Although Whitebeard had let Akira come out this time, he didn't speak at this time. Instead, he handed over the power to Jozu and the others. So Jozu said with a smile, "Dad's body is very good. He can eat a sea king every day, haha."
Neptune also laughed and said, Speaking of which, I haven't seen him for many years. Back when we were young, we even ventured out on the sea together. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.
He has also become the best pirate in the world, while I'm just an insignificant person shrinking back on Fish-Man Island.
Thatch smiled and said, "Your Majesty is too modest. Managing a country is such a big deal. Not just anyone can do it well. Your Majesty is also a capable person."
Neptune smiled, and then looked at Akira, asking curiously, "Just now, I heard this little brother's name. He has the same surname as Newgate. Could it be that he's Newgate's son?"
Akira said, "Like everyone else, I'm Dad's son. Dad thinks highly of me, so he gave his surname to me."
"I see." Neptune nodded in understanding. The difference between Akira and Whitebeard was really too big, so he had some doubts.
Queen Otohime opened her mouth and said, "Thanks to everyone's help this time, our Fish-Man Island was able to get through this difficult time. Please come with us to Ryugu Palace to rest."
Akira and the others naturally wouldn't have any objections. They had come to Fish-Man Island this time to discuss matters.
A huge battle ended with the defeat of the pirate alliance. After Akira and the others left, the people watching the excitement around also slowly dispersed.
However, this battle was still fresh in the memory of many people. Especially Akira's appearance made many people know that another super rookie had been born in the Whitebeard Pirates.
Although Fish-Man Island was just an island, its prosperity was not bad at all. Moreover, every generation of fish-men had lived on this island, accumulating huge wealth. This wealth was completely reflected in Ryugu Palace.
Akira and the others saw all kinds of glittering crystal gems and the like everywhere in Ryugu Palace. The entire Ryugu Palace was built extremely luxuriously.
Although the Whitebeard Pirates were the strongest pirate group in the New World, their wealth wasn't actually too much.
After all, they had to support so many people, and also provide cultivation resources. So the people of the Whitebeard Pirates lived only a little better than ordinary people.
Of course, this was mainly because the Whitebeard Pirates didn't burn, kill, or loot.
But even so, Akira and the others were only slightly surprised after seeing the luxury of Ryugu Palace. They didn't have too much shock.
Akira didn't know what others were thinking. Anyway, he didn't care at all.
In the pirate world, wealth was secondary. Only strength was the foundation of everything. With strength, other things would naturally come as well.
The treatment in Ryugu Palace was indeed impeccable. The food and drinks were all very good.
However, neither Akira and the others, nor Neptune and the others from Fish-Man Island, put their minds on this, because they had more important things to say. ...
Akira secretly gave Jozu and Thatch a look, telling them not to speak first. Although Neptune was Whitebeard's friend, if they wanted to rely on the Whitebeard Pirates now, they had to pay a sufficient price.
After all, one thing was one thing. His friendship with Whitebeard hadn't reached the point where he didn't need anything.
Seeing Akira and the others not mentioning the matter of Fish-Man Island at all, Neptune and Queen Otohime exchanged a look.
After being king and queen for so many years, they immediately understood what the other side meant. If it had been before, they might have had a higher attitude.
However, after experiencing today's matter, they not only owed the Whitebeard Pirates a favor, but also realized the weakness of their own Fish-Man Island. So joining the Whitebeard Pirates' command was imperative.
So Neptune coughed lightly, and took the lead in saying, "Captain Jozu, Captain Thatch, I was the one who asked Newgate for help this time.
I don't know what kind of conditions are needed for our Fish-Man Island to join your Whitebeard Pirates' command."
Jozu and Thatch both chuckled, and then Thatch 3.0 opened his mouth and said, "Dad only told us to come and help. As for the specific matters, he didn't say anything to us, so we're not very clear."
Thatch's meaning was very clear. We won't open our mouths. It depends on whether you yourselves have sincerity.
Akira basically didn't ask about this kind of thing. What he was more interested in was Jinbe, who was sitting next to him.
Originally, Jinbe wasn't qualified to sit down as Neptune's guard. However, he had played a very important role in this matter, so Neptune had let him sit down and accompany them.
While Neptune and Thatch were discussing, Akira was chatting with Jinbe on the side. Moreover, because Jinbe's personality was forthright, and he was very grateful to Akira, the two of them chatted very harmoniously, and regretted not meeting sooner.
Akira didn't know what Jozu and Thatch had discussed with Neptune. However, after a long time, they finally reached a consensus. Fish-Man Island officially became a territory under the Whitebeard Pirates' command.
Every year, they had to pay a certain amount of resources to the Whitebeard Pirates. As for what it was, Akira wasn't interested, and even less would he ask, because he was now planning a major event.
After staying in the Whitebeard Pirates all this time, Akira knew that it was difficult for him to have any more breakthroughs and progress. In these years, he had been letting the people of the Whitebeard Pirates pay attention to the Devil Fruit he needed.
However, he hadn't found a single one. He felt that he couldn't continue like this.
Sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you'll retreat!
Akira was very clear about the future pattern. The future was full of threats and opportunities. If he couldn't become stronger, he would inevitably be eliminated in the great era in the future.
So he urgently wanted to become stronger. Therefore, after many considerations, he decided to embark on the journey alone.
This kind of thought wasn't a momentary impulse for Akira. Instead, he had already considered it for a long time. In the Whitebeard Pirates, his growth was very slow, because there was no pressure.
Even if there was Whitebeard's guidance, it was useless without actual combat and experience.
So after staying in Ryugu Palace for a day, Jozu and Thatch prepared to go back. Then, when they went to look for Akira, they only saw the letter that Akira had left behind. The content of the letter was very simple.
It was just to let them tell Whitebeard that he wanted to make a name for himself on the sea alone, and then return to the pirate group.
After seeing this letter, Thatch said with a wry smile, "Dad told us to be with him in order to watch him. I didn't expect him to still run away. How are we going to explain to Dad when we get back?"
Jozu said with an indifferent expression, "Just tell the truth. Anyway, he's already run away. We can't tie him back."
Thatch tilted his head and looked at Jozu, and asked, "I say, Jozu, did you intentionally let him go?"
Jozu said with dissatisfaction, "Thatch, don't slander me."
However, Thatch still had a disbelieving look on his face. In fact, Jozu was indeed intentional. However, it wasn't that he intentionally let Akira go, but that he didn't care at all.
On the Whitebeard Pirates, Akira was closest to Marco. However, Jozu was the one who took care of him the most.
Because Jozu's Diamond Fruit was given by Akira, Jozu had always been grateful to Akira. His relationship with Akira was much deeper than others.
He could naturally see Akira's thoughts, so he didn't have any intention of stopping Akira. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for Akira to escape from under their noses.
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