"Moreover, in a couple of days, news of you defeating Captain Krieg will probably spread."
"Besides, even without new achievements, just recruiting the former Black Cat Pirates and Krieg Pirates, consolidating all those officers, is enough for the Marines to offer a high bounty."
After analyzing, Gin looked seriously at Alan: "To be honest, I don't recommend targeting Arlong. His strength is far greater than rumors suggest."
"Oh?"
Alan's interest was piqued.
Arlong's power was indeed formidable. The East Blue branches didn't know much about his crew due to Captain Nezumi, but headquarters had detailed intelligence.
After all, Arlong was released by the headquarters as a bargaining chip, just to maintain the World Government's relations with Jinbe, so the headquarters wouldn't act against him lightly.
From Gin's words, it seemed he also had some understanding of Arlong.
"Have you interacted with Arlong's crew before?"
Alan asked curiously.
Gin nodded silently, pressed his lips, and said, "Across the East Blue, pirates with bounties over ten million aren't more than ten in total. The highest is Arlong, with a bounty of 20 million."
"After obtaining the title of king of the seas, Captain Krieg also set his sights on Arlong, the only pirate in the East Blue with a higher bounty. However..."
Gin lowered his head, thinking, and continued: "We failed. Even with a huge numerical advantage, as long as the Fish-Men dive underwater, we couldn't pursue. They could damage our ships and cause serious losses."
"Arlong's individual strength surpasses even Captain Krieg. Even using tactics like gas bombs, he could still dive underwater to evade."
"In the end, we suffered far higher casualties and had to retreat from the Conomi Islands."
Looking up at Alan, he said in a deep voice: "Captain Krieg has monstrous strength and can wield a weapon weighing one ton, while Arlong's power surpasses that..."
He had personally experienced Alan's strength. The profound techniques were incredible, but judging from the impact, Alan's power was likely not much stronger than Krieg's.
Gin didn't believe Alan's martial skills could make up the gap against Arlong.
"I see. Being able to swing a one-ton weapon is indeed monstrous strength for a normal person."
Alan stroked his chin, nodded thoughtfully, then glanced around, finally fixing his gaze on several cannons being maintained.
"These are the main guns on the side of the warship. They fire 18-pound cannonballs. Without the carriage and wheels, the barrel weighs about 1.5 tons."
As he spoke, Alan walked to a cannon nearly two meters long, about his height.
All the pirates focused their gaze on him, puzzled.
Alan bent his four fingers on the cannon mouth, hooked his thumb underneath, and firmly gripped the barrel with his palm.
As if anticipating what he was about to do, Gin's eyes showed astonishment mixed with curiosity.
The next second…
Alan's arm muscles bulged, and under the pirates' incredulous eyes, he lifted the 1.5-ton cannon with one arm!
"What!!"
The pirates were shocked, their jaws dropping, eyes wide open.
"He single... single-handedly lifted the cannon!"
"That's a 1.5-ton main cannon!!"
Alan stood tall, one hand in his pocket, looking completely at ease while slowly raising the horizontally suspended cannon above his head.
Heh, forget lifting a 1.5-ton cannon.
Even with an extra 500-kilogram weight, he could lift it the same way.
Gin's mouth hung open, completely stunned into silence.
If Alan had used this kind of power during their previous fight, a punch to the jaw would probably have knocked him out on the spot.
With a punching speed so fast it was almost invisible to the naked eye, if it had landed directly on a lethal spot like the throat or temple…
Recalling his previous encounter with Alan, Gin felt an inexplicable shiver of fear.
"Using it for training is a bit light. Wielding it freely like a weapon isn't that easy, but..."
Alan smirked and said, "Arlong had better not stay at this level, or it would be too disappointing."
Then, he slowly placed the cannon back on its mount, his movements so steady that it barely made a sound.
"Alright, carry on with what you were doing. I'll go check on how the repainting of the pirate flag is going."
Alan said with a smile while patting Gin on the shoulder before stepping away.
After he left, Gin, still dazed, finally came back to his senses and couldn't help but watch Alan's retreating figure.
The more he interacted with him, the less he seemed to understand the depth of Alan's limits.
"Um... Captain Gin..."
"Do you think... Captain Alan could beat Arlong?"
"I... I don't know either."
Facing his subordinate's question, Gin pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and could only answer like that.
Based on Alan's current performance, he might be roughly on par with Arlong, but… he suspected Alan's strength went far beyond that.
...
Back in the first-floor dining hall, Alan walked toward a corner.
Besides meals, the dining hall also served as a place for pirates to entertain themselves.
Drinking and playing cards were the most common activities, with groups gathered together, accompanied by cheers and groans.
Yesterday, they had just received over 800,000 belly. These pirates, who could never hold onto money, immediately started spending it recklessly.
Weaving through row after row of people who were gambling, Alan finally reached the corner of the dining hall.
On a table covered with white canvas, most of it draping to the floor, sat a young man with long curly hair and glasses, carefully painting.
Beside him were two buckets of red and white paint.
Noticing movement out of the corner of his eye, the man looked up.
"You're here, captain."
"Mm, how's the flag repaint going, Randy?" Alan nodded slightly, chewing on a cigar as he asked.
The young man called Randy quickly picked up a black flag and unfolded it for Alan to see, smiling, "The flag is finished, captain. How's this?"
The pirate flag still featured Alan's previously designed pattern: a terrifying skull-lion head with fangs, two knives crossed behind it.
Compared to Alan's rough sketches, this flag was much more exquisite, with fine, detailed work, full of shape and spirit.
Randy had painted the mane in alternating red and white, making the ghost-lion pattern look even fiercer and more majestic.
"Not bad."
Alan picked up the flag, looked it over, and smiled in satisfaction. Setting it down, he pulled a small stack of belly from his pocket.