The weather in the sea areas of the New World is unpredictable, especially the atmospheric currents and magnetic field changes in the middle and lower layers, which are incredibly bizarre.
This forced Taro to fly very high; however, doing so also increased the difficulty of confirming his position.
Fortunately, he was not alone on this journey!
The news-delivery seagulls under the press tycoon Morgans were clearly very professional; they also flew at this altitude before reaching their delivery zones.
Taro only needed to pay attention: if a large flock of seagulls flew down below the clouds, it meant an island must have appeared below.
If only a few seagulls descended, it meant there was merely a passing ship below!
Taro was glad he had caught up with this army of delivery workers, as it made judging whether an island had appeared much easier.
A news-delivery seagull looked warily at this "oversized seagull" that had been flying with its flock the whole way, finally confirming that this fellow was likely a flying human.
Its professional spirit drove it to approach Taro, plucking a newspaper from the red newspaper bag hanging around its neck and signaling Taro to buy it.
"I have no money, not even a single Berry on me!" Taro's mouth twitched.
"Can you give me one for free?"
The seagull looked at Taro with some disdain, wondering how someone who could actually fly could be so poor that they didn't even have a 100-Berry coin.
Being looked down upon by a seagull made Taro feel quite annoyed.
"I'll owe you for now and pay you back later. I'm a Marine; surely I won't stiff you for 100 Berries?"
The seagull hesitated, appearing somewhat skeptical of Taro's identity as a Marine. After a good while, it approached again and offered the newspaper to Taro.
Taro reached out and took it. "Thanks!"
Then, he spread the newspaper open and began to read.
Today's headline was:
"Marine World Conscription Concludes, Highest Combat Power Marine Three Admirals Complete!"
Taro already knew this news and had little interest in it.
The secondary headline was:
"Pirates Atrocity, Invading Germa Kingdom!"
This was "fake news"!
Taro knew the details and skipped it!
Looking further down, he finally saw a piece of information that piqued his interest.
"Arrogant, Cruel, Demon! 'Cannibal' Bartholomew Commits Another Crime!"
This was Luffy's die-hard fan, that Barrier-Barrier Devil Fruit Ability user!
This guy is starting to make a name for himself!
He'd have to keep an eye on this fellow later; if he wants to enter the New World, he'll have to pass through the Sabaody Archipelago sooner or later. If he really is a bloodthirsty guy... Taro wouldn't care if he was Luffy's little fanboy or not, he'd take him down all the same!
While he was thinking, another flock of seagulls descended.
An island appeared below!
Taro dove down even faster!
The wind howled and the snow fell heavily; this was a Winter Island!
The view was entirely white, with a pitch-black forest in the center of the island, and the few existing villages were all located on the island's edges.
After landing, Taro knocked on the door of a family's house.
The one who opened the door was an old man. Seeing Taro dressed in summer clothes, he looked very surprised and then somewhat fearful.
"Th-This... My Lord, you..."
Taro tried his best to show a kind expression.
"Old man, I'm just asking, is this island called Narikude?"
The old man froze for a moment and shrunk his neck back.
"Narikude? No, it's not! This island is called Zheilibaide!"
Hearing this, Taro's eyes suddenly turned cold.
Damn it.
'Nali-good' (There's good) and 'Zheili-bad' (Here's bad)?
There are islands like this?
Were that guy Katakuri and the old man in front of him playing a joke on him?
The old man was startled by Taro's suddenly cold expression. With a thud, he knelt on the ground, his whole body prostrate, and said tremblingly,
"My Lord, this place really is called Zheilibaide, this old man isn't lying to you!"
Taro took a step forward and helped the old man up from the ground.
Only then did he notice there were also two small children, about three or four years old, hiding in the corner of the house.
Frowning, his Internal Energy surged, and his Observation Haki immediately spread out, sweeping across the entire island.
After some reconnaissance, his brow furrowed even tighter.
"Where are the young people of this island?"
The feedback he received from the presence of life was entirely from elderly people and children with weak breathing; there wasn't a single young man or woman.
"My Lord, the young people on the island were all captured by a group of people and taken to the nearby island of Xebec-good to work!"
The old man, who had been helped up, looked even more hunched, his voice full of fear.
Xebec-good?
Rocks D. Xebec?
"Don't be afraid, old gentleman, I am a Marine! I won't hurt you!"
Taro calmed his emotions and smoothed the wrinkles on the old man's collar. "In which direction is that Xebec-good? And what kind of people took them away?"
The old man looked up at Taro in surprise, and only after a long while did he lower his gaze again.
"To the northwest. Over 10 days ago, a group of vicious pirates stormed the island and took away all the able-bodied people!"
Taro nodded and smiled again.
"Thank you!"
With that, he turned and left.
"Marine big brother, are you going to save Daddy and Mommy?"
The two children ran a couple of steps toward the door, their eyes a mix of hope and hesitation.
The Marine control in this sea area was extremely weak; the old man had only seen Marines a few times in his life, and the two children had only ever seen them in newspapers.
Compared to the old man's despair, the children still held onto their expectations of the Marines.
Taro turned around, looked at the two children, and smiled even more brightly.
"I will!"
Upon hearing this, the children's eyes instantly filled with joy.
Taro turned back around, his smile fading.
Provided they are still alive!
Internal Energy gushed out, and Taro transformed into a Falcon once more, heading northwest.
Whether judging from the prankish island names like Narikude and Zheilibaide, or from the island name Xebec-good,
Taro was very close to Blackbeard now!
Xebec-good Island was not far away, with a straight-line distance of less than 50 kilometers.
Ten minutes later, Taro arrived above the island.
He looked down at the entire island from the air; it was a volcanic island with an active volcano in the center, currently emitting steam.
At the foot of the volcano, countless humans were cutting down the forest, clearing a large area of open ground.
Several vicious pirates were monitoring everywhere, occasionally whipping the hard-working civilians with leather whips.
On a high platform that had already begun to take shape in the center of the clearing, Taro saw that familiar pirate flag.
Three frowning skulls, with X-shaped crossed bones paired with cross-shaped bones.
It was Blackbeard's pirate flag, no doubt about it!
Taro dove vertically, rushing down toward that high platform.
"Screech~"
Cutting through the air, he let out a piercing howl.
The pirates responsible for supervising the work looked up at the sky in surprise, seeing a black dot trailing a cyan vortex, leaving a long trail in the air.
"Boom~!"
Taro stepped heavily onto the high platform.
"Rumble~"
The high platform instantly disintegrated, Rocks shattered, and dust rose everywhere.
As the dust settled, Taro stood atop the ruins, looking at the pirates with disdain.
"Blackbeard, where is he?"
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