The pinnacle of pirates begins with deceiving fate!

The pale flesh of her legs peeked out from the laces, exuding a pitiful and broken allure.

"emmm..."

John stroked his chin and openly began to scrutinize him.

With full thighs and long calves, plus the hazy texture of black stockings, they are indeed a pair of beautiful legs.

However, if you look further up, the waist-to-hip ratio is a bit off, and it doesn't quite reach the level of a wasp waist and perky butt.

Continuing upwards, well... there's no hope to be seen in that barren land.

At this point, John completely lost interest.

What's the use of having a good-looking face? What's the difference between someone with a flat chest and a man?

He withdrew his gaze and calmly gave the order to leave.

"go out."

"What?" The pretty female real estate agent thought she had misheard.

"Get out of my estate!" John's tone turned stern.

The pretty female real estate agent was startled and, not daring to linger, hurriedly left in her high heels.

"Nonsense."

After the female agent left, John raised his hand and used electromagnetic telekinesis to close the manor gate.

Even if it were a flat plain, or even a place with turbulent waves that he preferred, it wouldn't be worthy of negotiating with him.

No woman can use this to blackmail him, never ever!

"Now, it's time to get down to business."

John took out a Den Den Mushi, placed it on the coffee table, blindfolded it, and then dialed Morgans's number.

"One hundred million Berries. I want information on the whereabouts of Bagin Gomstus, a remnant of the Rocks Pirates."

"Uh……"

On the other end of the phone, Morgans was taken aback by the straightforwardness of the unfamiliar number.

But he quickly realized that this must be a long-time client who didn't want to reveal his identity, which was why he skipped the formalities and probing and directly stated the reward and the task at the same time.

"These are the remnants of the infamous Rocks Pirates, worth 200 million Berries!"

"Eighty million Berries, if you don't do it, plenty of others will."

"Okay, okay! I'll take it!"

After hanging up, John then called an intelligence dealer in the underworld, offering a reward for Stussy's whereabouts.

As fate would have it, not long after the Rocks Pirates disbanded, Stussy joined "MADS" as a "guest".

"MADS" is the name of an illegal scientific research organization led by Begabank and funded by "loan shark king" Dufeld.

Chapter 44 MADS

The MADS team, in addition to the world’s first brain, Begabank, also includes scientists such as Kaiser Courant, Vince Mockage, and Quinn.

Such a lineup, if not unique in history, is at least the most luxurious gathering in the history of science in the last hundred years.

"If only we could package the entire 'MADS' team together..."

John only fantasized about it for a moment before abandoning the dangerous idea.

Caesar Courland is a beast who embezzles research funds to live a life of pleasure in the pleasure quarters, and whose cerebellum controls his brain.

Vince McGregor is ambitious but lacks emotional intelligence and fails to recognize his own position, making him prone to doing foolish things.

Even the target of this search, Stusi, is just a fraudulent fellow who tries to take advantage of the situation.

Stussy's role as a "diner" in the "MADS" team is not the traditional meaning of "guests who eat," but rather refers to someone who reaps the benefits without sowing, eats and drinks for free, and occupies resources without making any real contribution.

Among the members of "MADS", Vegabank researches peace technology, Judge researches lineage factors for military purposes, Quinn and Caesar research weapons, while Stussy has not demonstrated any professional abilities and exists only as the "prototype" of a clone.

Packing up these rotten fish and shrimp is just asking for trouble!

"I only need Vegabank to figure out the evolutionary path of 'SIQ'."

John looked up at the starry sky and felt that the future was promising.

The reason he didn't go directly to Vegabank but instead went around in circles and started with Stussy was because he was concerned about the World Government's informants.

Vegapunk, who possesses genuine talent and skills, has long been on the radar of the World Government. If a bounty is placed on Vegapunk's whereabouts in the underworld, it will inevitably attract the attention of the World Government.

Offering a bounty on someone like Stuthy, a nobody who's just filling a position, would not only indirectly lead to Begabank, but would also avoid causing much of a stir.

Next, just wait for the fish to take the bait.

Before the future "Pirate King" Roger started the Great Age of Pirates, the work of the Navy located in the four seas was not actually boring.

Those criminals, ambitious individuals, and restless individuals will not stop causing trouble just because the "secret treasure" is gone.

But if we have to point out the difference, it's that the previous mobile crimes of rushing headlong into the Grand Line have been replaced by local operations and development.

The former is a short-sighted plunder, while the latter is an oppressive act of forcing the hen to lay eggs like crazy...

Half a month later

clang clang

At the port, the assembly bell rang wildly, and the marines of the 153rd branch hurriedly stepped over the gangplank and boarded the warship.

"Where's John? We're about to set sail, where's his navigator?!"

"Hmph! He's probably at some woman's house again, that wretched bastard!"

"A guy who's hated by both the locals and the Fellowes has appeared. Sooner or later, he'll get a beating in the alley!"

Who wants to knock me out?

Just as the marines gathered on the deck to denounce the disorganized and undisciplined fellows, a lazy voice came from the mainmast.

The sailors all looked up and saw a figure peeking out from the mainmast observation tower—it was John, the very person they were all denouncing.

John leaned against the edge of the observation deck, resting his chin on his hand as he looked down at the silent crowd below.

Seeing that they only dared to gossip behind people's backs, but remained silent to their faces, he curled his lip in disdain.

"A bunch of spineless women, can't they just weigh anchor, hoist the sails, and sail out? Do I need to teach them that?"

"Why don't you all just go back to your mother's womb and beg me to teach you how to breastfeed, how about that?"

"John, that's enough!"

Seeing John verbally bullying his colleague again, Reed quickly stood up and interrupted him sharply.

Then, he turned and scolded the group of marines who were standing there, stunned with anger.

"You bunch of women, get moving! If the pirates get away, you're all going to run a hundred laps around the training ground!"

Under the orders of Captain Reed, the highest-ranking officer on site, the marines had no choice but to swallow their anger and get to work, some pulling the anchor chain, others lowering the sails...

Soon, the warship was towed out of the port by a small boat and propelled by the wind towards the sea.

John leaped down from the observation deck, which was several meters high, and was about to go find Reed to ask who the target of this operation was when he saw Reed walking towards him.

"Big brother, can you please tone it down a bit? I'm begging you!"

As soon as the two met, Reed began to plead with a mournful face.

John, however, was amused and argued:

"Is there a problem with me dating a single, beautiful woman who is neither married nor in a confirmed relationship?"

"These guys can't get what they want, so they forbid me from taking action? What kind of pirate logic is that?!"

"You... sigh!"

Reed could only sigh helplessly.

Because John was right.

It all started with that little thing in the crotch...

The mayor has a beautiful daughter named Sabrina, who is in her early twenties and is the goddess in the eyes of all the bachelors in town.

Even many who already had families still harbored fantasies about Sabrina.

However, due to her prestigious status as the daughter of the town mayor, many men hesitated to approach her, either harboring secret crushes in their hearts or stuttering when they happened to meet her.

But this unattainable beauty was won over by John on the very second day after he joined the Navy.

That night, countless men beat their chests in despair and wept under their blankets.

That wasn't the most infuriating thing. What really angered everyone was that John dumped Sabrina just a few days later!

Sabrina would deliver meals to Base 153 every day after that, but John would refuse to see her.

Sabrina's constant tears and pitiful appearance finally caused the long-suffering marines to erupt.

A crowd gathered to demand John's dismissal, and more than a dozen people even stood up to challenge John to a duel.

As for the result...

John is still in Branch 153, while those who started the duel will be bedridden for months.

This is also what's strange about Reed; Colonel Burns, who is intolerant of any wrongdoing, is inexplicably lenient towards John.

It could be said that it almost reached the point of indulgence; no matter how much John caused trouble, he was never punished...

“But it’s really a bit much for you to start something and then abandon it like this…” Reed snapped out of his thoughts and looked at John with disdain.

He considered himself a money-grubbing naval officer, but he wouldn't go this far with a woman.

"How dare you talk like that! I'll sue you for defamation!"

John pointed his finger at Reed's nose.

"Before I got intimate with Sabrina, I made a clear agreement with her that we would not have a romantic relationship and that it was just a casual fling. Afterwards, I would not bother her without her permission."

"I didn't force her, and I certainly didn't deceive her!"

"And she, despite agreeing to the agreement, wanted to marry me afterwards and even wanted me to elope with her!"