A familiar yet strangely mocking voice suddenly came from behind her. "I thought that guy sent something else over again. I didn't expect it to be a person. Let me take a look at who this is."
Princess Vivi: "...?!"
The sound startled Princess Vivi. She abruptly turned around and looked at the tough man in front of her, who had a cigar in his mouth, wore a black coat, and was looking at her with an indifferent expression.
Princess Vivi froze again.
"Oh my, oh my, it's actually our princess!"
The tough man in front of her looked at her, flicked the cigar in his hand, and continued in a mocking tone. "Has your adventure already ended? That was faster than I expected! Princess—"
Before he could finish speaking, he seemed to see something, and his expression instantly changed. "Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Let go right now! Don't hug me, you idiot!"
"Ah, ah, ah, I actually got sent back."
However, in the face of the tough man's disdainful words, Princess Vivi did not care at all. She still hugged him tightly with an excited and happy expression. "I missed you so much! Mr. Crocodile!"
"You kid!!!"
Looking at Vivi burying her head in his chest, Crocodile's face darkened.
Just as he was about to impatiently turn into sand to get away, he seemed to sense something and fell silent. He flicked the cigarette in his hand and said in a calm tone: "Looks like you've been chased pretty badly by the Marines."
"Yes! Very badly! Mr. Crocodile."
Princess Vivi said pitifully, then lifted her head. The grievance on her face instantly disappeared, replaced by a happy smile as she looked at Crocodile. "But it was quite interesting! Mr. Crocodile."
"Looks like it still wasn't bad enough."
"Mr. Crocodile!!!"
…
"You've really got some nerve!"
At the same time, the Umbrella Corporation's fleet had already returned to its base.
When Rayleigh saw the Umbrella Corporation's base, the one the entire sea had been searching for, was actually hidden in a place like this, he could not help but raise an eyebrow with shock on his face.
"No wonder Marine Headquarters hasn't been able to find your base all this time. So you hid it in a place like this!"
As he spoke, he sighed with emotion, then, with a tone of schadenfreude, said: "I really wonder, when that Fleet Admiral at Marine Headquarters finds out, will he be so furious that he launches another Buster Call on this place!"
"Who knows… maybe Marine Headquarters has known for a long time already, they just never said it out loud."
Hearing Rayleigh's words, Ian didn't really care.
After casually brushing it off with a couple of sentences, he looked at the ships that had already entered the harbor and docked. "Time to get off the ship."
After saying that, he ignored Rayleigh and directly led the others off the ship.
Nearby, Luffy, Sanji, and Franky also curiously looked at the legendary Umbrella Corporation.
They were no longer as ignorant as when they had first set out to sea. After experiencing so many things, they already understood clearly what the Umbrella Corporation represented on the seas.
Otherwise, they would not have asked Ian to train them.
It was just that they didn't know where Zoro and the others had been sent.
What was their situation like now?
Had they found suitable training methods?
Although they had already agreed on the three-month pact, everyone still felt somewhat worried in their hearts.
And what kind of training would the Umbrella Corporation put them through next?
"Was this place rebuilt?"
Unlike the Straw Hat crew, Rayleigh didn't think about all that. Instead, after getting off the ship, he curiously and astonishedly swept his gaze over the island, unable to help but let out a sigh.
"There's no trace of Ohara left at all. If I hadn't been here back then, I probably wouldn't even recognize that this place is Ohara."
"Ohara?"
Hearing Rayleigh's words, Luffy, who had been curiously looking around, turned his head in confusion. His gaze landed on Rayleigh as he said with a grin, "Uncle Rayleigh, where is Ohara?"
"Idiot!"
As soon as those words fell, before Rayleigh could say anything, Sanji beside him spoke up with a helpless expression. "This place is Ohara."
As he spoke, he took the cigarette from the corner of his mouth, his eyes carrying both curiosity and seriousness.
"Judging by what Mr. Rayleigh said, was this place once destroyed by the World Government?"
"And from how it sounds..."
Franky also leaned over. "It seems like this place can't even be mentioned anymore?"
"Hahaha, what a bunch of clever little guys."
Facing the curiosity of the three, Rayleigh didn't mind.
After smiling and nodding, as if recalling something, his eyes grew hazy, and he spoke with a tone full of emotion. "Ohara, the famous archaeological Holy Land of the West Blue."
"It possessed the greatest number of scholars in the world and the largest library, the Tree of Knowledge. It was a sacred land of knowledge that countless scholars longed for."
"A sacred land of knowledge and the largest library in the world, the Tree of Knowledge? That really sounds incredible!"
Hearing Rayleigh's words, Franky, as a scientist who also respected knowledge, showed a hint of astonishment on his face. "But why would a place like that be destroyed?"
"Because they researched things they shouldn't have researched."
Rayleigh didn't hide anything. He sighed, shook his head, and continued. "The World Government believed that Ohara's research posed a threat. In the end, they launched a Buster Call on this land of scholars. Everything on the island was destroyed, whether people or knowledge. Even the name Ohara was completely erased from the map!"
The three: "...?!"
Hearing this, the three of them froze, shock and horror written clearly in their eyes.
They had not expected the World Government to do something like this, to erase the Holy Land full of knowledge, and even wipe out all traces of everything on the island.
It was simply too terrifying!
The three exchanged glances, then looked back at Rayleigh.
Franky then spoke with a heavy tone: "What did Ohara research?"
"What did they research? Nothing much, just a piece of history that had been hidden..."
However, before the cheerful-looking Rayleigh could finish his words, a voice suddenly came from the side.
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