The red light traveled at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, finally landing in front of Aunt Shakky's bar.
The light dissipated, and Osiris's body shrunk, coiling around Ye Chen.
"Ye Chen, is this it?" Esdeath looked around, as if searching for something. Just now, Ye Chen had told her they were going to find someone extremely powerful.
"Let's go, it's inside," Ye Chen pointed to the bar entrance not far away.
With that, Ye Chen walked in first, followed closely by Esdeath.
As Ye Chen pushed open the door and stepped inside the bar, several surprised voices rang out.
"Lord Ye Chen, are you alright?"
"Lord Ye Chen, you're back!"
The Kuja warriors, upon seeing Ye Chen, came forward one after another, surrounding him.
"Alright, I'm fine," Ye Chen said with a smile.
"I knew it, Lord Ye Chen must be fine."
"Lord Ye Chen, how are the Marines? Did they make things difficult for you?"
Soon, various questions from the Kuja warriors started again, giving Ye Chen a headache.
Finally, Ye Chen spent ten minutes answering their questions.
"Are things handled?" Aunt Shakky stood behind the bar, a cigarette between her right fingers, asking indifferently.
"Mm," Ye Chen nodded. After a pause, he asked, "Where's Uncle Rayleigh?"
Hearing this, Aunt Shakky called out to the back, "Rayleigh, Ye Chen is here."
"He's back?" A moment later, Rayleigh's hearty voice came from the back.
Rayleigh, with a full head of white hair, walked out from the back door and approached Ye Chen, scrutinizing him carefully. He asked with some doubt, "Completely unharmed? Kid Ye Chen, did the Marines not show up?"
Ye Chen broke out in a cold sweat. Does he want me to come back covered in injuries?
But it was no wonder Rayleigh was puzzled. It was simply impossible to fight an Admiral without a single scratch. Even at his peak, Rayleigh wouldn't dare claim to face an Admiral completely unscathed.
"Quite a few came," Ye Chen didn't specify who came, just that people did.
It was up to Rayleigh to figure out. Besides, he didn't need to explain everything clearly to Rayleigh.
"Never mind, it's good that you're fine," Rayleigh patted Ye Chen's shoulder. Just then, a cold light appeared between the two of them.
"Let go," Esdeath said coldly, her face covered in frost.
Rayleigh's pupils instantly constricted upon hearing this. He had noticed Esdeath from the moment she entered, but since he wasn't familiar with Ye Chen, he hadn't asked.
"Esdeath, let go. He's not hostile," Ye Chen said to Esdeath, then turned to Rayleigh, "Sorry, Uncle Rayleigh, she's a bit on edge."
"It's nothing," Rayleigh shook his head. "Is she your crewmate?"
Ye Chen paused for a moment, then nodded. "Mm."
However, Rayleigh's words reminded Ye Chen that he didn't have a pirate crew, or rather, his own faction.
Initially, when he learned he had transmigrated to the world of One Piece, he wanted to join the Marines, but later, after saving the three Hancock sisters and destroying the Heavenly Tribute, thereby offending the World Nobles, becoming a Marine was definitely out of the question.
Since he couldn't be a Marine, then he'd be a pirate.
After all, pirates had no restraints and were very free.
"Speaking of which, I still don't know what your pirate crew is called. Is it just the two of you?" Rayleigh asked with a smile.
Ye Chen smiled. He knew Rayleigh had always been curious about the power behind him. "That, I won't say for now. You'll know in a while."
A strange glint flashed in Rayleigh's eyes, and he smiled, "Then I'll wait."
"Mm," Ye Chen nodded. "We still have things to do, so we'll be leaving first. Thank you for taking care of Lisa and the others earlier."
"It was no trouble at all, no need to thank us," Aunt Shakky said indifferently from the side.
"Even so, thanks are still due." With that, Ye Chen took out a Devil Fruit from a treasure chest and placed it on the bar.
"Then we'll be going," Ye Chen said, and then led Lisa and Esdeath out of the bar.
Watching Ye Chen leave, Rayleigh sighed slightly. "It seems this sea is about to stir up another storm."
"Just them?" Aunt Shakky hinted.
Rayleigh burst out laughing and replied, "Just them. That woman just now, her strength is definitely not weak, at least not weaker than an Admiral."
"Possessing such strength, there are quite a few other pirate crews," Aunt Shakky said calmly, her expression unchanged.
"What if this is just the tip of the iceberg?" Rayleigh said.
"...In that case... this force is a bit terrifying," Aunt Shakky replied after a moment of silence.
"The unknown is the most terrifying," Rayleigh shook his head and said.
Aunt Shakky nodded as if in agreement.
The unknown, no matter when, is always the most terrifying.
...........
"Lord Ye Chen, it's here," Lisa pointed to the Nine-Snake Pirate Crew's ship docked not far away at a port on Sabaody Archipelago.
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