The next morning, White Ghost's crew got up and left at once. There was no need to stay any longer. No matter where they went, they could still have fun.
King Nirizabello was extremely puzzled. Had he failed to entertain White Ghost properly? He had even arranged a whole group of beautiful, mature women.
If White Ghost had heard that, he definitely would have kicked him.
It was because of those arrangements that the women had been giving him strange looks these past two days.
At night, they had looked downright determined to drain him dry.
White Ghost might have a strong physique and fear no trouble, but even he couldn't handle being tag-teamed forever.
The king and his people escorted them all the way to the harbor. Watching White Ghost leave with several ships full of supplies, they could only sigh in disappointment.
The older nobles were especially upset that they hadn't managed to get any of that miracle medicine from White Ghost.
Still, they weren't too upset.
They hadn't gotten the youth-restoring potion, but White Ghost had sold them quite a few maintenance serums and other little products.
At the harbor, Arya watched the ship gradually disappear into the distance, her thoughts unreadable.
After they returned the night before, their mother had said nothing at all.
She had simply dismissed them and spent a long time thinking alone.
The brother and sister had rushed back overnight and received word at dawn that White Ghost's group was leaving, so they had hurried over specifically to watch from the shore.
They hadn't expected White Ghost to really leave just like that. After exchanging a few polite words with the king, he had boarded the ship immediately.
The siblings exchanged a glance and said nothing.
But after returning to their camp, one elf quietly headed deep into the forest.
White Ghost's group had barely left when a newspaper completely disrupted their plans.
With no other choice, they found an uninhabited island and stopped there to wait for someone to arrive.
Shocking! The world's strongest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, has actually crossed the seas for a man!
Shocking! The man Mihawk has been chasing all this time is actually him!
Shocking! That man has done all this in the South Blue!
As the newspapers spread, everything White Ghost's group had done in the South Blue was reported by Morgans piece by piece.
Helping the poor.
Treating people for free.
Staying until the suffering people could stand on their own feet again before finally leaving.
As more and more people read the paper, the world finally gained a real impression of what life was like in the poorest sea.
The articles also described in detail how those kingdoms had exploited their people, squeezed the commoners dry, and finally expelled them.
People everywhere looked upon the ugly faces of the South Blue's nobles with even greater disgust.
Morgans received countless Den Den Mushi calls demanding that this issue be withdrawn and rewritten more "carefully."
Morgans didn't give a damn.
He even dared report the World Government's dirt. Who the hell did these people think they were?
Seeing no breakthrough with Morgans, those kings and nobles began calling World Government offices instead, demanding a full investigation into Morgans, insisting he be arrested and every one of his feathers plucked clean.
The officials all agreed enthusiastically over the line.
And then did absolutely nothing.
Inwardly, they cursed:
If we could catch that bastard, we'd have done it long ago. You think we need you to remind us?
Most ordinary people applauded White Ghost's crew for what they had done in the South Blue.
Of course, there were also people who sneered at it.
Fake kindness. As long as you yourself are comfortable, why bother caring about others?
The truly high and mighty figures only glanced over the articles before losing interest.
What they cared about was the live broadcast of the coming battle.
Because to better show the sea the power of the world's strongest swordsman, Morgans had personally rushed from the New World to the South Blue.
Out on the sea, Mihawk's small raft sailed forward on its own.
Click.
Mihawk hung up the Den Den Mushi and looked into the distance.
"So you're finally waiting for me?"
"This time, you won't be able to run."
Mihawk's expression wasn't very good.
After Shanks had told him about White Ghost, Mihawk had been paying attention to him ever since.
The first time Mihawk went looking for him had been at Sabaody Archipelago.
That bastard had been out on a mission.
Mihawk waited for several days, and White Ghost never came back.
The second time was in the New World, during White Ghost's battle with Kaido.
The moment Mihawk saw White Ghost's blade turn black, his interest only deepened.
But White Ghost had just come out of a war with Kaido, so Mihawk didn't go challenge him then.
He had planned to wait until White Ghost recovered.
Then he eagerly rushed over—
Only to arrive and find that the man had quit the Marines and gone off to travel the world.
Furious, Mihawk had gone to find Shanks in the New World, intending to see whether Shanks's swordsmanship had improved.
But when he got there and saw that Shanks had lost an arm, all desire to fight vanished instantly.
When Shanks saw the disappointment in Mihawk's eyes, he exploded and drew his sword. The two fought, though no one knew how it ended.
The next time Mihawk heard about White Ghost, it was the news that he had defeated a peak-level powerhouse—who was also a Great Swordsman.
Mihawk became certain then.
White Ghost was exactly the opponent he had been looking for all this time.
So he set off immediately on his little raft.
What was the East Blue?
Just the East Blue.
He could come and go there as he pleased.
Then Mihawk rushed excitedly to the East Blue, only to learn from Garp that White Ghost had already entered the Grand Line.
Mihawk's face darkened, and in a terrible mood, he nearly cut Bogard into pieces when the man came to challenge him.
Garp had almost raised his fist and smashed Mihawk for it.
Afterward, Mihawk reached Twin Cape in the Grand Line, where Crocus told him White Ghost's crew had entered the South Blue some time ago.
Mihawk gripped the hilt of his sword and glared darkly at the island ship White Ghost had asked Crocus to keep an eye on.
Eventually, unable to tolerate it anymore, Mihawk bought information from Morgans.
Morgans generously gave him White Ghost's current location for free and only asked one question:
"Are the two of you going to compete in swordsmanship?"
Mihawk simply answered, "Yes."
After all, Morgans had promised to keep White Ghost's location updated for him free of charge, so it was only fair to give some kind of answer.
After that, Morgans enthusiastically sent out all the stories about what White Ghost had done in the South Blue, then personally rushed there to broadcast the upcoming clash.
A day later, about two days away from the Kingdom of Spirit Wings, on a deserted island—
The island was nothing but bare reefs. Not a single blade of grass grew there. It had no value to develop, so no one had ever settled on it.
White Ghost chose that island as the battlefield.
Even Nirizabello, upon receiving the news, came rushing over on his luxurious cruise ship.
The king had wanted to speak with White Ghost again, perhaps talk about how fate had brought them together.
Unfortunately for him, White Ghost couldn't be bothered with such a schemer.
Using preparation for the battle as an excuse, he flatly refused him.
Once the surrounding kingdoms learned the news, they all rushed over to watch as well.
A battle between people of this level was rare in the Four Seas. Missing it would be a terrible loss.
Inside one room aboard Nirizabello's luxury ship, three black-robed figures were also staring ahead, waiting for the battle to begin.
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