Sengoku asked in surprise. The intelligence officer wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his lips moving a few times, but he still spoke under immense pressure:
"It's... it's a colonel in the East Blue who was privately involved in slave trading. Xia Tali was... Luo Yan snatched her from... from that colonel's ship."
"You're saying a Marine was privately selling slaves?"
Sengoku's face turned as black as a pot, his eyes clouded with gloom, and a golden glow seemed to appear on his skin, as if he would erupt at any moment.
The intelligence officer could no longer bear it and collapsed to the ground.
"That colonel has been arrested, but due to the large conscription, he hasn't been dealt with yet."
"Keep that guy alive. I'll interrogate him personally."
"Yes!"
The intelligence officer quickly assented, scrambling away from the execution platform. He truly couldn't take it anymore.
Luo Yan, leisurely sitting atop the frozen Tsunami, didn't know that the series of plans he made for his advancement would cause Sengoku such a loss of composure. Although he saw the intelligence officer reporting to Sengoku, he didn't hear their conversation.
He could use the wind to listen to distant conversations, but he certainly couldn't receive multiple conversations simultaneously, as that would cause the incoming sounds to overlap and become chaotic, resulting in not being able to hear a single word. He could only focus on one or two voices, and his main focus now was the voices from the pirates' side.
"Captain, what kind of intelligence do you think the Fleet Admiral received? He seems very angry."
"Heh! Who knows? Maybe the surprise attack on Whitebeard didn't succeed. The real show is about to begin. Watch closely."
"Captain! Look, that guy can also summon bats. Will I be able to use his blood as advancement material in the future?"
Xia Tali noticed Moria releasing Shadow Bats on the battlefield, and her eyes instantly sparkled.
Luo Yan followed her gaze, then smiled and shook his head.
"The peak of your Pathway is called 'Moon Pathway'. It symbolizes beauty, life, some plants, some darkness, and some strangeness. The bats that guy creates look like bats, but they are actually shadows, so they can't be used as advancement material for you."
Luo Yan spoke with certainty because he knew very well which Pathway Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit belonged to; it was the fruit that formed the Uniqueness of the Hanged Man.
Hanged Man Uniqueness: Dark-Dark Fruit plus Shadow-Shadow Fruit plus any fruit symbolizing defilement/corruption/shadows.
"Moon Pathway..."
Xia Tali repeated the word softly, then suddenly thought of something, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.
"So that's it! No wonder I always have a strange feeling when moonlight shines on me, and my spirituality significantly increases during a full moon."
"Heh! Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I taught you mysticism. I originally planned to teach it when we had deeper cooperation with the Revolutionary Army, but now that I think about it, some knowledge cannot be told to the Revolutionary Army, but it can be told to you. I'll give you a special lesson later."
Although Luo Yan had intended to cooperate with the Revolutionary Army from the beginning, he had no intention of teaching them all the mystical knowledge he knew. In fact, the Sequences he would tell the Revolutionary Army would only go up to Sequence 1, not Sequence 0, so he naturally couldn't tell them the symbols of true gods.
Xia Tali's eyes sparkled, blinking at Luo Yan.
"Captain, does that mean I'll become even more beautiful later?"
After Xia Tali became a Vampire, her appearance and figure significantly improved. She thought that was the limit, but now it sounded like it wasn't.
Luo Yan nodded, a strange smile suddenly appearing on his face.
"Do you know what the Sequence 1 of the Moon Pathway is called? It's called Goddess of Beauty. She is the symbol of beauty!"
"Goddess of Beauty? Captain, I want to be the Goddess of Beauty!"
Xia Tali's eyes became even brighter. Luo Yan heard this and burst out laughing:
"Hahahaha! If that day ever comes, I will definitely marry you. Otherwise, if I cultivate a Goddess of Beauty and she benefits someone else, wouldn't I be very depressed?"
"Okay, then I'll marry you."
Xia Tali agreed without thinking. Luo Yan had only said it casually and didn't take it seriously, after all, he was only Sequence 4 now, and Xia Tali was only Sequence 7. Goddess of Beauty was still too far away, and it might not even be possible.
He said it just to tease Xia Tali, so he naturally didn't take Xia Tali's reply to heart.
"Then Captain, what does Little Golden Monkey's Pathway symbolize?"
The symbol of the Sequence's peak completely captivated Xia Tali, and she eagerly pressed for more.
Luo Yan glanced at the battlefield, estimated that it would be a while before he needed to make a move, then smiled and nodded, beginning his explanation.
"Little Golden Monkey's Pathway, the peak is called 'Mother' or 'Mother Earth Goddess', symbolizing the cycle of life. Everyone, every plant, every life, has its end and will return to the earth, buried in the soil, to sprout, grow, and blossom again, generation after generation."
Luo Yan wanted to be lazy, so he directly plagiarized the dogma of the Mother Earth Goddess Church. Xia Tali listened very carefully, and after listening, she nodded while her lips moved, seemingly savoring the words.
"It sounds like there's some overlap with the Moon Pathway, also symbolizing life, plants, and animals."
"Haha! If you can become the Goddess of Beauty, I'll tell you why their symbols overlap."
Luo Yan playfully acted like a charlatan for a moment. Xia Tali pouted, showing a hint of dissatisfaction, but she didn't press further and instead continued to ask:
"What about Little White Sable? What does Little White Sable's Pathway symbolize?"
"Little White Sable's Pathway symbolizes order and rules."
"Oh~ order and rules... Then what about yours? What does your Pathway symbolize?"
Because the question involved Luo Yan himself, Xia Tali changed her address from "you" to "you (formal)" to express that she had no intention of offending.
Luo Yan smiled and had no intention of hiding it: "It symbolizes the omnipotence of sea, land, and air."
Xia Tali's mouth slightly opened, and she nodded in realization: "No wonder you can breathe underwater and fly. So that's how it is. What about Luo Ta?"
"Luo Ta's Pathway symbolizes war."
"War? I thought it symbolized a foul mouth."
Xia Tali pouted, complaining slightly. Luo Yan smiled, about to speak, when he suddenly heard a loud bang, followed by seeing a large section of ice on the opposite side of the entire battlefield swept by a slash, causing large chunks of ice to fall.
"Hawkeye!"
Luo Yan's eyelids twitched, and his gaze immediately locked onto Hawkeye on the battlefield.
At this moment, Hawkeye was sheathing his sword on his back. Luo Yan's gaze seemed to trigger his Observation Haki. He suddenly looked up towards Luo Yan's direction, and Luo Yan immediately retracted his gaze.
"So sharp!"