In the end, Lu Yue decided to let nature take its course. Anyway, on this great sea, if there weren't many Pirates, there would be many Marines.
However, it wasn't without good news. Although they didn't encounter any Navy Warships on the following journey, they still encountered Pirates.
The total funds stored on Lu Yue's ship had already reached two hundred and fifty million.
Moreover, when eliminating these Pirates, it wasn't just her, Kuina, and Platinum Longlong anymore. Over the past few days, Nojiko had completely familiarized herself with the power of the Yuki-onna. Since this was a new partner, Lu Yue had also checked her virtual panel. Currently, she didn't even possess the strength of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, so she naturally needed more time and opportunities for experience.
Therefore, the Pirates they encountered over the next few days were basically all left for her to handle.
This also shocked the captured Pirates once again. They never expected that the new Little girl joining the Pirate Crew formed by these powerful Little girls would also be so strong. The Navigator Pirate, in particular, felt utterly ashamed, and at the same time, he genuinely envied Nojiko's good fortune in obtaining such a powerful Devil Fruit and encountering such a miracle.
And Lu Yue also saw that Nojiko's strength was increasing.
Just like that, three more days passed. The total time of five days was up, and Lu Yue naturally completed the previous mission. She obtained two Observation Haki cards, plus the ability to randomly receive one powerful Devil Fruit.
After five days of sailing, they finally reached their destination this time: Syrup Village.
It was not far now. Meanwhile, just behind Lu Yue's disguised merchant ship, not far away... undoubtedly, it was Garp's warship. They had already chased them here and were truly close to Lu Yue's disguised merchant ship. It was estimated that they would catch up soon.
Garp stood on the deck with his fists crossed over his chest, looking out at the sea ahead without turning his head, and said.
"Bogard, can you confirm it now?"
"Yes, Mr. Garp. According to our multi-faceted investigation, the two girls we almost ran into last time, who disguised themselves as fishermen and escaped right under our noses, are currently ahead of us. We estimate we will catch up to them soon."
"The reason why all the warships we sent out in the East Blue couldn't find them before was that they immediately disguised their fishing boat as a merchant ship. They looted the contents of a ship, added a few captured Pirates, and after a thorough disguise, they slipped through, fooling many of the personnel on our Navy patrol ships."
"The Navy 16th Branch we visited previously was also destroyed by them. According to the investigation, they seem to have gone there to invite a new partner onto their ship, also a girl. Currently, there should be four female members on their ship. The details are still unclear; the clues left behind where these young women acted are too few. But I believe this is a female-led Pirate Crew, and they are all still young, at an age considered 'young women' on the high seas."
"Then there are some men, but they are likely the Pirates they previously captured, working for them."
"We set off from the destroyed Navy 16th Branch, questioned the villagers there about the direction they left in, and pursued them. Combined with the numerous Pirate Crews recently active on the sea, and the incidents where our Navy patrol warships were destroyed and attacked..."
"After our calculations, their next specific destination should be Syrup Village. We will arrive after sailing for a while longer, and we might even run into that group."
Bogard immediately said respectfully from the side, explaining the whole story of the incident. But the most important thing was the last sentence: they would catch up very soon, especially if the other party stopped in Syrup Village for a period of time, they might be able to corner them right there.
"Hmph, that's excellent. To dare do such a thing, destroying so many of our Navy Warships and harming so many of our Navy personnel! The dignity of the East Blue Navy has almost been shattered by them. I must use my Iron Fist to teach them a good lesson. A bunch of young women, are they trying to become lawless?"
Garp shouted coldly, then pulled out a small flag from somewhere unknown.
"Mr. Garp, this should be their Pirate flag. We also obtained some previously, from those distressed Marines, or rather, distressed Pirates." Bogard said immediately upon seeing the small flag, and he surprisingly pulled out a flag himself.
It was indeed a small flag, a small piece of cloth stuck onto a small bamboo skewer. The cloth was the standard black used by Pirates, but it featured a white skull pattern. The skull wore a pink sun hat, which had a small white rabbit design on it. On both sides were two feathered wings, purple on the left and gold on the right.
This was actually the Pirate flag personally designed by Lu Yue, and it had already gained the approval of Kuina and the others, who thought it looked quite good.
At the same time, it was easy to see that just like Luffy called his Pirate Crew the straw hat, and the Pirate flag had a straw hat on it...
Lu Yue also took the pink sun hat she wore as the symbol of her Pirate Crew, and the name of her Pirate Crew was the Pink Hat Pirates.
Of course, Kuina and the others accepted this point. They naturally knew that Lu Yue wanted to form a Pirate Crew of young beauties, consisting of strong individuals and powerful ability users.
And both the name of the Pirate Crew and the appearance of the Pirate flag at this time fit these criteria.
Pink Hat represented that they were beautiful, young, and lovely, while the wings on both sides represented their dual strength.
Professional ability and powerful strength.
But at the same time, they had also asked Lu Yue why she wanted to leave these small flags behind. Lu Yue's answer was that they were already starting to make a name for themselves, and this was also to leave a unique mark of their Pirate Crew after every battle or act of destruction.
It was also considered a stylistic format for their Pirate Crew in the future. Regarding this, the others could only agree, and they thought it was indeed quite fun. 'You are the Captain, you make the rules,' and since it was reasonable, there was no issue.
"It's not bad, but I absolutely won't give them the chance to display a large flag," Garp said with a sneer. "Speed up the advance."
"Yes." Bogard quickly went to make arrangements, speeding up the warship once again... However, no matter what, Lu Yue and her group were definitely the first to enter Syrup Village.
They docked the ship at a simple pier. Thinking of the battle that might ensue, Lu Yue immediately said something that both shocked and delighted all the captured Pirates before she even disembarked.
"You should know that there is a small boat on the ship, right? You can leave now. As agreed, I only needed to recruit two partners to let you go. The one in this village is someone I am determined to get. According to our agreement, you can leave now, but do not go in the direction we came from. There are Navy Warships behind us, and a very important person is aboard."
Lu Yue said with a slight smile.
"Thank you, milady."
"Then we'll be going."
"Milady, you truly keep your word."
"We wish you continuous good fortune on the sea, milady."
"Thank you, ladies, for your trustworthiness and grace."
After saying these words, the Pirates immediately took the small boat and left eagerly. After all, they had been coerced, so there was naturally no affection between them. Of course, Lu Yue felt the same way about them, and Kuina and the others were expressionless.
And truthfully, if it weren't for the sake of keeping her promise, she would not have let these once heinous Pirates go.
But since she had said it, she had to follow through.
However, hehe.
"Remember, if we meet again on the high seas in the future, whether you are Marines or Pirates, the next time, just wait to go to hell."
Lu Yue said with a mischievous smile. Keeping a promise didn't mean she couldn't issue a threat.
The Pirates, who had already sailed a distance on the sea in their small boat, were instantly startled, cold sweat pouring down their bodies. It was clear that they hadn't yet recovered from the terror Lu Yue and her group had inflicted upon them over the past few days, and their hearts were still filled with dread.
"How about we find a more normal, ordinary job instead?"
"How about we start a small seaside restaurant? We could totally do that with our group."
"That's a great idea. It's better than living in constant fear as a Pirate."
"Then it's settled. Let's start a business together."
"Okay, I agree too."
These guys could no longer be considered Pirates; they were genuinely going to start a restaurant next.
Clearly, Lu Yue's words were truly effective. Lu Yue herself would probably be surprised that her words directly caused a group of Pirates to turn over a new leaf.
Soon, this group of Pirates slowly disappeared from their sight. Well, to be precise, they left in another direction, vanishing over the horizon.
"Lu Yue, are we going to abandon our fishing boat?" Kuina said, looking reluctantly at the boat, as she had bought it and they had spent so much time on it.
"That's right. It was only temporary, just like the previous pirate ship. Besides, this isn't a proper pirate ship. Even the ship we might acquire here that resembles a pirate ship will only be temporary. Our real pirate ship must be built in Water Seven. They have the best Shipwrights and the best materials there."
Lu Yue said expressionlessly. Although she really wanted to nurture a ship spirit for fun, this fishing boat should probably be excluded, right? The real pirate ship she wanted had to be a luxurious large pirate ship, like the Thousand Sunny.
However, as for this fishing boat—knowing that it was essentially still a fishing boat—she would still ensure it had a good ending. She wasn't such a heartless person, after all, this boat had accompanied them for so many days.
"Long Long." Lu Yue turned around and said with a smile.
Platinum Longlong nodded, then handed a ring to each of them.