Lord of the Stars of the Grand Line

"Ah, the fleet is behind us. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to hold out, so I came ahead."

Aokiji turned around and continued, "This time it's not your fault, but after things are settled here, you should still apply to be transferred back to headquarters."

“Smoker, there’s no need to get into conflicts with those guys. The Grand Line has become increasingly dangerous in the last two years. If you stay here, you won’t have any chance of promotion.”

Listening to his old classmate's advice, Smoker fell silent and couldn't say a word for a long time.

Seeing this, Aokiji didn't care and resumed his carefree state, saying, "I'll go to the island first. You can wait for the warships to arrive and then follow me."

After saying that, Aokiji turned around and walked alone towards the island.

He came here on another mission: the Naval Headquarters. Sengoku and his men take this matter extremely seriously!

Because the sudden appearance of so many islands simply doesn't make sense under normal circumstances!

However, such a situation has occurred before; it was a unique tactic of the previous generation's great pirate, Shiki the Golden Lion!

As old rivals of Shiki, Sengoku and Garp immediately considered this possibility. If that were the case, then this would be a huge problem...

Therefore, a general-level combatant was immediately dispatched to intervene in this matter!

Five more days passed, and the supporting fleet had long since arrived. In addition to the navy, there were also some members of the CP9 intelligence organization, who were sent by the World Government to investigate.

As soon as they arrived, the group went ashore and began a thorough search of the more than ten islands!

No matter how many islands there are, they can't withstand a large population. After five days of searching, all the secrets of this island were exposed!

But in reality, they didn't find anything. They only found out that the ferocious beasts had been deliberately drugged, which is why they were like this. And on this island, only the IQ Tree could affect these ferocious beasts.

But those trees were now extremely rare; they had been almost entirely destroyed in the battle between Luo Feng and the Golden Lion…

The remaining items were collected by the Navy and the World Government for further research.

Aside from that, they only found the ruins of the Golden Lion's palace. All the useful items were taken away by Luo Feng and his group, so the Navy naturally couldn't find anything. In the end, they only found the bodies of Indigo and the others.

The news was brought back to Marineford, the naval headquarters, and Sengoku immediately convened a meeting with all the high-ranking officers!

"It's almost certain that it's that guy Shiki. When I was chasing him back then, I found him on the sky islands, but those were all islands on land. He used the Float-Float Fruit's ability to float them in the air."

Garp crossed his arms, his gaze serious, and shared his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, the older generation of naval high-ranking officers, including Marshal Sengoku and Staff Officer Tsuru, all nodded in agreement.

They were all powerful naval figures from that era, so they naturally knew more about these things.

"That must be them. Judging from the images of the corpses Kuzan sent back, that clown and the gorilla seem to have been seen on Shiki's ship before."

Sengoku nodded, practically making a decision. This was the Golden Lion Gang, who had disappeared for nearly twenty years after escaping from prison!

"But they're all dead, and we haven't seen the Golden Lion. Could it have been General Kuzan who did it?"

At this moment, a young vice admiral from the Navy Headquarters spoke up and asked a question.

"No, when they were found, those people had already been dead for many days."

"Judging from the traces left there, a great battle must have taken place. Judging from the current situation, the Golden Lion's crew may have been defeated."

"These people must have been hiding in the sky all these years. Now that the Golden Lion has disappeared and the islands are out of control, they fell into the East China Sea. That should be the explanation."

"However, we don't know who attacked them (Nuoqian Zhao)..."

"In the East Blue, is there really someone this powerful? Someone who could actually defeat that Golden Lion guy..."

Vice Admiral Tsuru, the chief strategist and the navy's strategist, calmly analyzed the situation.

“Xiaohe is right, Sengoku. Didn’t you say that Smoker reported a few days ago that a mysterious powerful figure appeared near Loguetown?”

Garp chimed in, munching on a few senbei crackers, and asked Sengoku.

"Yes, but he's just a young man, how could he possibly have the strength to defeat the Golden Lion..."

Zhan Guo frowned, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

"According to Smoker's report, that young powerhouse possesses the terrifying ability to summon meteorites. There shouldn't be anyone like that in the East Blue..."

"Could they be from the Grand Line? Why haven't I heard of anyone with such abilities all these years?!"

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Arrival in Alabasta, All Members Meet!

A group of high-ranking naval officers were having a frantic brainstorming session, analyzing Luo Feng's background in various ways.

They even pulled up the Navy's top-secret information files on all noteworthy individuals in this sea area, checking them one by one to see if there was a match...

After searching for most of the day, we still had no clue. The only one that even remotely matched the summoning of the meteorite was Fujitora Issho!

But that's ridiculous. It can't be him. Although Fujitora hasn't joined the Navy yet, his age doesn't match up. He's an old man, from the same generation as Sengoku and the others.

Furthermore, Fujitora had no reason to attack Shiki...

Finally, having no clue whatsoever, this unsolved case had to be temporarily shelved. Sengoku gave the order for Aokiji to exterminate all the irrational beasts on the island, leaving none alive!

Because they don't have enough time to research such an antidote, and as long as those ferocious beasts are not dealt with, the navy will have to constantly worry about the East China Sea, fearing that they will land in various cities, villages and other places to cause destruction.

Therefore, the only option was to kill them all. After finishing the task, Aokiji broke the ice seal on the archipelago and returned to headquarters. This time, he also brought Smoker and the others along, as Sengoku had requested, to assist in the investigation.

The meeting ended hastily, and in the end, the Navy could only place all its suspicions on that young, powerful individual.

At the same time, the Navy and the World Government dispatched many clandestine intelligence teams to search for young, powerful individuals who matched their abilities on this vast ocean.

But... how could we possibly find it!

On the same day, somewhere along the Grand Line, the construction and facilities there rivaled those of a television station, and a group of people were busily working.

"Quickly, make these two messages the front page headlines, and get them out immediately!"

A huge white albatross, dressed in a black suit, was constantly directing its subordinates, spitting everywhere.

This is none other than Morgans, the president of World News & Economics!

Almost all news reports and live television broadcasts about this sea originate from here.

This president may not have many other merits, but his nose is exceptionally sensitive; he can detect many secrets within the Navy and the World Government!

On the same day, this guy somehow learned about the Golden Lion and immediately ordered it to be on the front page!

Almost at the same time that the navy dispatched search personnel, countless carrier birds carrying this explosive news flew out from here...

That same afternoon, at the port of Alabasta, Luo Feng's sailboat appeared and docked at the shore.

"You're back already? I haven't had enough fun on the way here..."

Luo Ling clicked her tongue in amazement, still somewhat unsatisfied. Then, she added, "However, there's no rush. We'll be at sea soon, and there will be plenty of time!"

Upon hearing this, Robin and the other girls couldn't help but facepalm.

Their captain had left them speechless on the journey home, as he seemed to enjoy wandering around even more than the women themselves!

To be precise, I wandered around various food streets and other similar places...

Nochiko felt this most deeply, because this young captain was a complete glutton!

Throughout the journey, whenever she was on the boat, she was basically always preparing food, afraid that Luo Feng might want to eat it someday and then there wouldn't be any left.

This forced her cooking skills to improve rapidly in just over ten days...

The only person who could make a chef's culinary skills improve so rapidly by eating is probably Luo Feng, a foodie!

After Bartolomeo 'packed' the unconscious Golden Lion, the group disembarked and headed towards the rainy area.

Throughout the entire kingdom of Alabasta, Baroque's spies were everywhere.

Of course, at Lofeng's request, Crocodile had long since withdrawn his surveillance of the royal family and was no longer threatening the country, but spies in important ports and other places were still indispensable.

After all, on the surface, he is still one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a great pirate!

The news of Luo Feng and the others' arrival in Hong Kong was immediately relayed back to Baroque headquarters, and Crocodile and Luo naturally learned of it as well.

So, the two stopped training, tidied themselves up, and headed towards headquarters to welcome Luo Feng and the others.

"Hehehe... Luo boy, do you think the captain did this?"

Crocodile was holding a newspaper in his hand, his expression clearly off, as if he had just recovered from the shock.

Even the usually calm Luo was sweating profusely at this moment, and said, "Ah...who knows, it's caused such a commotion. Everyone will know when we see the captain."

Not long after, Luo Feng and his group returned and arrived at the Baroque headquarters in Rainland, where they met up with Luo and Crocodile.

At this point, all the core members of Luo Feng's team have been completely assembled, not a single one is missing!

After getting acquainted and exchanging pleasantries, Crocodile couldn't hold back any longer. He pulled out the newspaper and asked, "Captain, this isn't your handiwork, is it? Hahaha, it's really scary..."

Upon hearing this, Luo Feng looked over and saw two eye-catching headlines displayed prominently in the two front-page frames of the newspaper he had taken out!

Shocking! A legendary pirate, Shiki the Golden Lion, suspected to be a major figure from the same era as Pirate King Roger, has appeared!

A mysterious young powerhouse who summons meteorites? A terrifying figure who personally finished off the Golden Lion! Who is he?!

The extremely eye-catching and exaggerated headline is prominently displayed on the front page, making it impossible to look away. These two paragraphs are the first thing you see!

Even the Navy Headquarters couldn't confirm it, but this headline makes it seem like it's already been confirmed!

"Pfft!..."

Upon seeing these two headlines, Robin, Nami, and the other three girls couldn't help but cover their mouths and burst out laughing.

"That's really exaggerated, isn't it? The headline reads, 'Mysterious Young Powerhouse, Captain!'" Robin teased, and the other girls chimed in.

They were all involved and witnessed the battle firsthand. So much time has passed, so naturally they wouldn't have any particular feelings about it.

I was simply amused by the title.

Luo Feng was speechless at this moment, silently complaining in his heart.

"Could Morgans also be a time traveler? Has the head of UC's Shock Department transmigrated here??"

Seeing the reactions of the others, Crocodile and Law could no longer remain calm.

"No way! Is it true? Captain, you really encountered the Golden Lion and killed him?!" Law's pupils contracted as he asked incredulously.

Crocodile is the same; guessing is one thing, being confirmed is another. Judging from the reactions of these women, the answer seems obvious.

At this moment, Luo Feng stepped forward, nodded, and said, "That's right."

"Shiki, I took him down."

"Barto, put him down."

Chapter 99 Barto and Zoro's Shock! The Seven Warlords of the Sea are actually colleagues?