High in the azure sky, Chrollo sat at the bow of the ship, lost in thought.
The recent battle had made Chrollo fully aware of his own shortcomings.
When facing the true top-tier combat power of the pirate world, he currently only had ten minutes.
A true ten-second... cough, ten-minute man.
And that ten-minute window only existed if Bonney was present.
On this sea full of monsters, that was far from enough...
Through the [Visual Eye], Chrollo had learned earlier that Borsalino's various stats hovered around 90.
"In other words, an average stat of around 90 represents Admiral level..."
Chrollo stroked his chin, analyzing.
He took out a fountain pen and began writing and drawing on a piece of paper:
[Im / Sun God: ???]
[Rocks: Estimated average stats 100+. Top-tier in all three Haki types, Ryou, Conqueror's Coating...]
[Prime Whitebeard / Roger: Estimated average stats around 100. Top-tier in all three Haki types, Ryou, Conqueror's Coating...]
[Navy Admirals / Four Emperors / Five Elders: Average stats around 90. Top-tier in two or three Haki types; some mastery of Ryou and Conqueror's Coating.]
[Emperor's First Commanders & Other Top Tiers: Average stats around 80. Top-tier in one Haki type, Advanced in others.]
[Warlord (Shichibukai) Level: Average stats around 70. Mid/High-tier in one or two Haki types.]
[Vice Admirals / Top Supernovas / Average Whitebeard Commanders: Average stats around 60. No Haki or Basic Haki.]
[Average Supernova: Average stats around 50. No Haki.]
"Phew—" Chrollo blew on the paper to dry the ink, looking satisfied.
"That's about the gist of it... excluding outliers like Hawkeye and Garp."
Based on this tier list, without the ability of Bonney's Age-Age Fruit, his current physical stats were merely at the level of a weak Warlord.
Of course... the number of abilities he possessed was slightly higher than the Warlords...
As for the other members of the Phantom Troupe, their strength was basically at the level of an average Supernova.
"This level of strength isn't going to cut it~" Chrollo sighed and shook his head.
They had already caught the attention of the World Government. Coupled with the malicious reports from those ill-intentioned people on the Black Whale, the Troupe would sooner or later have to fight the World Government.
"The World Government..."
The Five Elders plus the Navy Admirals meant facing eight Emperor-level powerhouses directly, not including the unknown Im and those Admiral candidates.
Pirates were a mixed bag, fighting their own battles.
Even with his skills in manipulation and alliances, Chrollo didn't think he could unite them.
Therefore, when the day of the great war truly arrived, the only ones he could rely on were the Revolutionary Army.
But the Revolutionary Army had very few true top-tier fighters.
At best, Dragon was the only Emperor-level fighter, plus Sabo as a First Commander level.
Their power was far from enough...
"I need to strengthen the Troupe members quickly..."
Using his own people was always the most convenient option.
Chrollo felt an increasing sense of urgency regarding time.
Given the Troupe's talent for causing trouble, they would probably clash with the World Government within two years.
Of course... he would never admit that he was the one directing all the trouble they caused!
Besides, this world didn't just have strong fighters; it also had terrifying things like Ancient Weapons and genius scientists like Vegapunk.
Chrollo was becoming more and more convinced that this place was the Dark Continent!
It was just too dark, okay?!
"Forget it, forget it—" Chrollo shook his head, clearing his mind.
Thinking too much was useless; he needed to increase his strength first.
He summoned [Skill Hunter] and looked at the panel.
[Player's Current Total Reputation: 69,400]
[Time until next Point Shop refresh: 12 days...]
He needed to scrape together 30,000 points within 12 days to snag the Door-Door Fruit!
With the Door-Door Fruit's ability, future operations would be much more convenient!
Thinking of this, Chrollo looked up with determination, gazing ahead and pointing to the sky.
"Nami, set a course for Alabasta—"
"Crocodile and Robin—the Great Chrollo is coming for you!!"
---
The combined bounty of the Baroque Works members definitely exceeded 300 million, which was enough to gather the money for the Door-Door Fruit.
But...
"Don't we reach Alabasta right after crossing Reverse Mountain?!"
Impatience appeared on Nami's face.
"Didn't you already get the nautical chart marked with strong individuals from the Revolutionary Army?!!"
A vein popped on Nami's forehead.
"Don't you possess an extremely keen 'intuition' for the sea?!!"
The vein on Nami's forehead pulsed harder.
"Aren't you known as a genius navigator?!!"
Nami's rage maxed out.
"So why can't you find where Baroque Works is?!!"
Chrollo tilted his head, his eyes full of confusion.
Nami's anger hit the limit. Fire erupted in her eyes as she raised a fist the size of a sandbag high in the air...
Bonk—
An unprecedentedly loud noise exploded on the deck.
"What's going on?" Bonney poked her head out of the cabin curiously to watch.
"Nothing happened," Chrollo, sporting a massive bump on his head, looked at her expressionlessly and spoke quietly.
"......"
Bam—
Bonney slammed the cabin door shut faster than she ever had in her life!
"I didn't see anything—"
After closing the door, Bonney's chest heaved, a look of lingering fear on her face.
"Good thing I reacted fast. If I saw Chrollo looking like that, that man would probably silence me!"
"But... so the strongest combatant on this ship is actually Big Sister Nami? She hides it so well!"
Bonney thought to herself.
---
Nami blew on her still-smoking fist with an unkind expression and said huffily:
"I'm a navigator, not a GPS, okay?!"
"I can only bring you to the Kingdom of Alabasta where Baroque Works is located. You have to find their specific location yourself!"
"Besides, none of the islands recorded on this pure gold Log Pose are Alabasta! Getting you guys this far was already thanks to my intuition and the sea chart working together!"
Chrollo rubbed the big bump on his head and said miserably: "Got it..."
He understood Luffy a bit now... Nami really was a temperamental woman!
Originally, ever since he abducted her to the ship, Chrollo could clearly feel she was infatuated with his handsome appearance and grateful for his act of saving Cocoyasi Village.
But everything changed two days ago when he gave the Heavenly Tribute to the Revolutionary Army!
Nami had wailed like a banshee all night looking at the empty treasure chests.
And then she turned into this current state—punching and kicking him at the drop of a hat, hot one minute and cold the next!
Are all women this fickle?
I really don't understand women!
Ahead lay the only entrance from the East Blue to the Grand Line—Reverse Mountain.
Nobunaga steered the Black Whale smoothly over the peak...
The Float-Float Fruit really solved his immediate problem.
Otherwise, with the Black Whale's massive size, it would have been impossible to ride the currents through Reverse Mountain to get to the Grand Line.
Chrollo looked down.
He saw a breathtaking, awe-inspiring sight.
Five waterways converged from all directions, driven by an invisible force, rushing straight and frantically upward along the steep cliffs of the Red Line!
The seawater crashed against the rocks with thunderous noise, and the spraying water refracted brilliant rainbows in the sunlight.
They had finally reached Reverse Mountain.
Traveling to another world was worth it; otherwise, he would never have seen such a magnificent wonder in his lifetime.
This counted as a successful check-in.
Sea Circle Calendar, March 16, 1520.
The Spiders finally stepped onto their grand stage.
...