No matter when, age was always what women cared about most.
Especially for ultimate old maidens like Rona.
She had spent half her life thinking of nothing, training daily just to capture Silas. Finally letting go of her obsession, and now hearing this...
Were these even human words from Silas?
"Haha, sorry, sorry, I was just joking because you seemed too excited. If you are truly willing to liberate those enslaved by Celestial Dragons, I will definitely help you through hell and high water!"
Seeing Rona's sword about to reach his throat again, Silas quickly changed the subject.
"But Admiral Crimson Snake, you must be prepared for this, right?"
"Call me Rona!"
"Alright, Miss Rona."
"Just Rona!!"
"Rona, Rona."
Silas quickly raised his hands in surrender, feeling like Rona might be going through menopause. Someone her age... Noticing Rona's gaze becoming sharp, Silas quickly stopped his thoughts from wandering.
"Rona, though I agreed to help you rescue those enslaved by Celestial Dragons, I first need to ask, how much do you know about them?"
"Arrogant, conceited, pompous, worthless..."
Rona practically listed every derogatory word in her mind about Celestial Dragons, which to her was simply fact.
"But these worthless Celestial Dragons have still ruled this world for eight hundred years, have they not?"
"The Celestial Dragons have a force."
After some consideration, Rona shared what she knew.
"They are called the Holy Knights, with authority to judge Celestial Dragons. Besides CP0, they are the strongest defensive force for Celestial Dragons."
"Ordinary Holy Knights members are not extremely powerful. Average great pirates can handle them. But their Devil Fruit abilities are very troublesome, plus they have 'immortality' abilities."
"For your White Wolf Pirates, besides you, probably no one could escape unscathed."
The White Wolf Pirates Rona mentioned did not just refer to new members like Rocks but included veterans like Roya.
In other words, even with Roya's peak bounty of 190 million Belly, he could not defeat an ordinary Holy Knights member.
"Additionally, the Holy Knights have both a commander and vice-commander."
"Both possess 'immortality' abilities too."
"Their strength rivals yours and mine!"
This was information only a select few knew. Only those who became Marine Admirals like Rona were qualified to know. Many Marine Vice Admirals knew nothing about the Holy Knights, only thinking Celestial Dragons were rice buckets who only ate and slept.
But Rona noticed Silas's face showed no surprise.
"Do not look at me like that. I have opposed you Marines so many times. If I did not know how strong my opponents were, I would have died countless times already."
Across from Rona, Silas shrugged.
"But these are just enemies we might encounter, right? If they are truly that troublesome, then this operation would not be rescuing slaves. We would be making ourselves slaves."
How terrifying were two Admiral-level fighters who could not be killed no matter what?
Put it this way.
Silas's current strength exceeded Rona's. In one-on-one combat, he could completely suppress her. Victory was just a matter of time.
But what if Rona had an "immortal body"?
Then, unless Silas found a way to break her immortality, his chances of victory would approach zero.
However, Silas clearly knew there was no absolute "immortality" in this world. So-called "immortality" was mostly effects granted by Devil Fruit abilities.
As long as it was Devil Fruit power, Haki had ways to counter it.
The difference lay in finding the right method!
Seeing Silas show no fear even upon hearing the Holy Knights had two immortal Admiral-level fighters, Rona laughed heartily. "Haha, worthy of the man I value! You really do not take such guys seriously."
"Do not worry. Holy Knights members are more indolent than you imagine. Without orders, they will not act at all. We are just liberating slaves, not attacking the Holy Land Mariejois."
"As long as we time it right, we will not necessarily encounter them."
Silas was not surprised by Rona's answer.
After all, decades later, a fish-man climbed the Red Line and liberated slaves enslaved by Celestial Dragons. How many helpers did he have?
Destruction was simpler than protection.
Whether at Sphinx or Elbaf, he had been on the protecting side in battles.
This time, roles should change!
Clink~
Silas and Rona's glasses collided.
"Let us set the time after the World Council. The Marines will be escorting member nation kings home then, leaving headquarters much more vulnerable."
"Good, I will await your message."
With an inside source like Rona, the Marines' secrets were completely exposed. If Silas still did not dare venture into Mariejois, that would be too cowardly.
Of course, Silas did not completely trust Rona.
Who knew if this was an elaborate Marine trap for him?
But this possibility was slim.
Having the Marines use Celestial Dragons' safety as bait to lure him into causing havoc at Mariejois?
Even ten of Elephant Yama would not dare!
He was just somewhat moved. He had thought people like Kong with righteous hearts would be easier to persuade, but unexpectedly it was Rona, who seemed like a madwoman to him, who chose to defect.
As Silas pondered this, he suddenly found himself shrouded in shadow.
"Silas, do you know what I most want to do if I capture you?"
"What?"
"Test your capacity, of course!"
Rona licked her lips, grabbing Silas's clothes and dragging him toward a nearby inn.
"Boss, check please!"
Everyone around looked at Silas with envious eyes. Though they had noticed Rona seemed ready to attack Silas earlier, they had no intention of interfering.
Initially thinking Silas and Rona were enemies, who knew they would end up with Rona dragging Silas to a nearby inn after chatting?
What they wanted to do was obvious!
Though Rona still wore sunglasses, both her figure and partially visible profile showed she was a great beauty.
And the hat-wearing Silas, whose face could not be clearly seen, was obviously quite handsome too.
Turned out to be another pair of lovebirds!
In the distance, Newgate, who was following Rocks searching for traces of giant slaves while holding binoculars, suddenly witnessed this scene.
He immediately cried out, "Oh no, Big Brother Rocks! I saw that female Marine Admiral. She beat the Captain to his knees..."
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Rocks snatched Newgate's binoculars, but when he looked, no one was there.
"That female Admiral is no match for the Captain. How could she beat him to his knees? You must have seen wrong!"
Besides, if Silas had really fought an enemy, how could there be no commotion at all?