Chapter 423: Rotation
Chapter 423: Rotation
Norton Sag's face was nowhere to be seen by Carla, as the crowd was simply too large.
When she arrived at the location with her cart, not only was the port out of sight, but she couldn't even see a single person through the sea of people blocking her path.
The people had formed a spontaneous line, cheering as they went. The line was so long that Carla couldn't see the end, and she was certain those at the front couldn't see either, yet they continued to cheer.
This Disaster Pirate Fleet was far too popular among the people under their rule!
"Thank you, young lady, but it's no big deal. I'm quite well-known around here, and everyone knows this is my cart."
The old man, after cheering, turned back to thank Carla, "But thank you, young lady. Here's a clay doll I made myself."
He picked up a cute, chibi-style clay doll from the cart that resembled Norton Sag, dressed in a full pirate captain's outfit. Before Carla could refuse, he had already placed it in her hand.
"I don't really need it..."
Carla instinctively wanted to refuse, but before she could finish her sentence, the old man had already pushed the cart and walked away, leaving her stunned.
However, she didn't remain dazed for long before another voice sounded from nearby.
"Kafus, 63 years old, was once an ordinary artisan in Augustine Castle of the Garres Kingdom. Before Sag arrived, he was worried about not being able to pay his taxes and was on the brink of starvation. After Sag's arrival, he was relieved of the heavy tax burden and regained his vitality."
"He makes clay and stone art related to the Disaster Pirate Fleet and accepts custom orders for gold, silver, and gems. He is now quite famous in half of the district and can afford the fifth-tier tax. He is a typical example of someone whose life was changed due to the arrival of pirates, either through destruction or the establishment of a new order."
Carla turned her head and noticed a person with a square-shaped long nose and a duckbill hat standing beside her, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
"You..." Her heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously tensed up in a defensive posture.
"There's no need for that. In this place, you're the intruder," said the square-nosed man.
"Come with me. Although the captain didn't instruct us, if you don't show up at the banquet, we'll be blamed for incompetence. At this moment, you're here as a potential customer," he said, walking towards the palace.
"Who are you?" Carla narrowed her eyes.
She recalled the bounty posters of the Disaster Pirate Fleet and was certain she hadn't seen this person before. However, her instincts told her that this individual was powerful, and they shouldn't be unknown.
"My name is Kaku, and I'm currently a..." Kaku paused and smiled, "...shipworker."
As he walked towards the palace, he said, "Follow me. Your time for wandering around is over."
Carla stared at Kaku's departing figure, dazed for a moment before realizing what had happened. She smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking she hadn't been noticed, but someone had been watching her all along.
Inside the Storm City Palace, in a spacious bathhouse adorned with luminous stone bricks, Norton Sag lay naked in a large bathtub. His hands were spread out, and his head rested on a soft pillow behind him. Several scantily-clad maids attentively scrubbed and massaged him.
Sag leaned his head back, exhaling a puff of smoke. A maid promptly clipped a cigar, lit it, and carefully placed it in his mouth.
After taking a satisfying puff, he gestured for the cigar to be removed, and another maid opened a bottle of red wine, pouring it into an exquisite golden cup. He took the cup and drank half of it in one go.
"Lord Sag," one of the maids, whose body was submerged in the bath, offered him some prepared fruit.
No matter how luxurious the Doom Star was, it couldn't compare to the comfort of the palace. For Sag, even the most extravagant voyage was still a voyage, and only the palace offered true decadence.
"In addition to Nico Robin, who arrived earlier, Revolution Army officer Carla also came with them. During their waiting time, they seemed to be searching for some information in Storm City and its surroundings. Kaku has gone to inform her."
A blonde woman in a secretary outfit, holding a notebook, stood behind Sag and reported, "Additionally, I've summarized the recent situation in Orlara. I've compiled a report..."
"Go and report to Lily. I don't like listening to this. I only want to know if my plan has encountered any issues," Sag interrupted, waving his hand.
Before the woman could finish her sentence, Sag's hand emerged from the maid's soft embrace and turned towards her. "It's been a while, Califa. You've quickly adapted to your secretary role, haven't you?"
The person behind him was none other than Califa, a former CP9 member and current CP0 member.
"It's part of my job," Califa said, pushing up her slightly reflective glasses and looking at Sag's outstretched arm. "And this, Captain, is sexual harassment."
"Hahaha, you're still so amusing!" Sag laughed. "What?"
"A change of personnel? Has Lucci arrived?"
"No, he's now considered a commander. He's here to replace Gabra and the others. It's just me, Kaku, and Bruno. Kaku is now a shipworker, I'm your secretary, and Bruno opened a tavern nearby."
Califa explained, "After all, they've been here for quite some time. If they don't report back soon, the higher-ups might assume they've turned into pirates."
"Well, it's hard to say. Never mind, you're here now, so just do your job." Sage smiled.
The ambush in the Green Country was no longer a concern for Lucci, who had instructed Kaku to leak information. The only difference was that the owls would be more straightforward, while these people might take a little longer.
But overall, it wasn't too bad.
Upon his return, Sage met Califa and realized that his intelligence network was undergoing a shift.
The seven former subordinates of CP9, except for the unmoving Lucci, were divided into three teams for rotation.
Gabra and his team had been there for over a year, and it was impossible for the World Government to keep them there indefinitely. Even though Sage knew they would pass on information, he couldn't guarantee what might happen over time, so it was safer to recall them.
Then, by rotating the teams, they ensured the authenticity of the intelligence from both sides, preventing Sage from being misled.
However, Sage didn't really care about this. He only needed the information and people to do their jobs.
Loyalty didn't matter; no one paid attention to such things.
Absolute loyalty didn't exist among humans; as long as they were powerful enough to prevent their subordinates from having ulterior motives, that was enough.
As for the future, let's focus on the present for now. Despite being one of the Four Emperors, he still didn't have the qualifications to think about the future.
Moreover, compared to those three comical fellows, Sage was curious to see what kind of unique contributions this new intelligence organization, with its different style, could bring him.
After all, variety is the spice of life.
"Brrr, brrr, brrr."
The sound of a talking cricket rang out on Califa's body. She reached into the valley between her breasts and took out a small talking cricket, deliberately moving to a corner to answer the call without disturbing Sage's bath.
"Yes, I understand."
Soon, after Califa's response, she walked out of the corner, covering the talking cricket to prevent it from hanging up, but no sound could be heard.
"Captain, Nico Robin and Carla have arrived at the banquet hall. Marika asks, what's the scale of this gathering?"
"Well, they're relatives. It's rare to see them, and when people become wealthy, the first thing they want to show off is their relatives."
Sage waved his hand, "For lunch, prepare around six hundred dishes and set up a grand spread."
This was his most lavish lunch, consisting of six hundred dishes. Normally, such a feast required advance preparation, and even with the entire kitchen staff assisting Marika, it would still take two to three hours to get ready.
In the past, Marika had a team of nearly five hundred chefs helping her prepare Sage's three daily meals, and even then, they needed at least two to three hours of advance notice.
Now, with six hundred dishes, if they wanted to be quick, Marika's signature dishes might be limited, but the scale would be impressive, and the other chefs' dishes wouldn't be too bad either. Everyone except Sage could praise the food as delicious.
However, Sage wasn't in a hurry. He was enjoying his bath, and waiting for two hours was quite normal. It was still morning, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.
Even if it took a little longer, it was about business negotiations, so it didn't matter.
Nico Robin, representing the Revolutionary Army, wouldn't be discussing flowers, snow, or order issues with him; it would be about armaments and supplies.
Sage was in a pure seller's market, and there was no shortage of buyers.
As Califa continued to relay the message from the corner, Sage relaxed further, sinking deeper into the bath. He closed his eyes, allowing the young and beautiful maids with their slender figures to continue their work on his body.
After about an hour or two, Sage's muscles relaxed, and he opened his eyes, standing up in the bathtub. Two maids held a white bath towel, waiting for Sage to step out of the bath and wrap it around his lower body.
As Sage moved, several maids followed with towels, drying him as they guided him out of the bathroom and into the luxurious resting area. They dried his body, blew his hair, and waited for him to extend his arms. Then, the maids prepared new clothes and helped Sage dress.
At this point, he didn't even need to put on his clothes.
Except when he was on the ship, where personnel issues required Bellana to take care of his daily needs and prepare his clothes for the next day, Sage didn't lift a finger when he returned to his base. He only focused on cultivation.
After all, he had worked hard to conquer territories and improve the people's livelihood so that he could enjoy such luxuries.
He was different from those down-and-out pirates, who either wore tattered jackets for a thousand years or ancient shorts for ten thousand years, baring their arms and showing off their scars while foolishly shouting about becoming the Pirate King.
This time, Sage had changed into a white shirt, with the collar buttoned up at the neck, leaving only a single button undone. Over it, he donned a double-breasted black and red suit, exuding a valiant aura akin to that of a navy officer.
He then draped a black and red fur cape over his shoulders. At first glance, one might mistake him for a younger version of Doffy.
"Tsk, copying my style from years ago, Doffy. You owe me royalties!" Sage chuckled at his reflection in the mirror and strode towards the banquet hall.
Inside the hall, beneath an enormous ornate chandelier, four women sat, their eyes locked in a tense standoff.
At the long table, Robin and Carla sat on the right side towards the back, while Lily and Renetia occupied the left side closer to the front, each with refreshments before them.
The tension was primarily between Renetia and Carla, who kept stealing glances at each other. Lily, unperturbed, calmly sipped her tea, while Robin had opened a book and was engrossed in reading.
They had already caught up on old times, having met on several occasions before.
Robin had been straightforward about the purpose of their visit, leaving nothing hidden.
The atmosphere grew silent.
After two hours of holding back, Carla couldn't contain herself any longer. "Boom Hammer, at such a young age, you bear such a high bounty. Are you the next generation captain of the Cataclysm Pirates?"
"Eh?"
Renetia paused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Next generation? That doesn't sound too bad. After Sage grows old, will he pass the captain's position to me? Ah, no, he'll probably outlive me. I don't have Life Restoration, after all."
Sage had once mentioned that he needn't worry about his lifespan; he would live longer than most and remain in his prime for an extended period.
This was due to his exceptional Life Restoration abilities, which allowed him to recover from any injury.
Ordinary people, even those who maintained robust physiques and formidable fighting prowess into their seventies and eighties, typically lived to be a hundred years old.
Occasionally, there were those who exceeded this lifespan, but they were rare.
Sage was undoubtedly one of those rare individuals.
Although Renetia was twelve years younger than Sage, the age gap would become negligible in sixty years, with seventy-two and eighty-four years being essentially the same.
Moreover...
"Sage might even achieve immortality!" Renetia said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Carla asked subconsciously.
"Teehee, I won't tell you. You've been sneaking glances since you arrived, wanting to ask but too afraid to. You're so sneaky!" Renetia stuck her tongue out at Carla.
"I'm not happy about being called sneaky."
Carla paused for a moment, then laughed. "There's a rumor on the high seas that you possess one of the Three Ancient Weapons, the Pluto Technique. Is that true?"
Unlike Franky, who also kept his skills under wraps, only those who had interacted with them knew about Franky's abilities. The news of Pluto being in Franky's hands had been buried until Sage acquired the blueprints.
By then, all eyes on the high seas were on Sage, except for the World Government, who didn't care about Franky, and even within the World Government, not everyone knew.
But for Sage, it had become a rumor. Renetia had heard whispers at ports that she had mastered Pluto, and not just that, but that she had control over Pluto the God of the Underworld, and that the Doom Star was Pluto. Especially after the news of the destruction of Green Country broke."
"It's true!"
Renetia didn't care. She puffed out her chest proudly, revealing her small tiger teeth. "My Pluto Technique is the best in the world! When it comes to shipbuilding, no one on the high seas can match me!"
She wasn't a mainstream scientist on the high seas; this was more of a side job for her. She had a deep understanding of shipbuilding and weapon-making.
Of course, this was her own classification.
One couldn't say that a weapons scientist wasn't a scientist.
"The weapons you want to buy are all made by me. The biggest advantage is their durability and resistance to water and impact. The same goes for ships, whether merchant or warship; they are absolutely safe and can navigate most seas. Of course, except for Sage's storms!"
"I've said it many times; it's not my storm!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a familiar voice sounded from the doorway.
The group turned to see Sage, now in a suit, followed closely by Califa, striding towards them. He plopped down in the main seat and burst into laughter, addressing Robin.
"It's been a while, Robin! Have you given up being a pirate and joined the Revolution Army? What's the deal? Has your captain retired?"
(End of Chapter)
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